Category: Founding Females

person drawing renovation plans

A Leadership Secret No One Wants To Admit

Leadership Coaching

02/20/23

Nicole Wood

We’ve been renovating my condo for a year and a half. It pains me to say this, as my husband and I thought it would be a 3-month job.  We’ve done some of the work ourselves and have hired out a few things to specialists, but the vast majority of the work has been done by our contractor, George. George has been in construction just about his whole life. He has built homes from the ground up. He knows everything. Electrical, plumbing, woodworking, you name it. He’s magical. Throughout this project, my husband, Ed, has been George’s apprentice. Ed is a pretty handy guy to begin with, but he’s learned so much from working with George. Ed is the most meticulous person you’ll ever meet. If something is a millimeter off, it will drive him insane. He will go nuts over a scratch or a smudge that I can’t even see. He wants everything to be just so. In front of our house, a few stairs come up from the street to our front porch and front door. Under those stairs is a strange space that doesn’t really have much of a purpose right now. We got the idea to clear it out and make a little wine room with a wet bar. The first step was to build a reservoir for the future sink we’d install, add some plumbing and then pour a concrete floor. I was honestly in shock watching this process take place. You feel like it should be so official. That there’s a right piece of equipment to use for this reservoir and a right way to attach the piping. Maybe even an Ikea-style kit for putting this thing together. Nope. They used a bucket. One of those orange 5-gallon buckets you get a home depot. They cut some holes in it to attach some pvc pipes and caulked around the edges to make it waterproof. No offense to Ed and George, but this thing looked like a kid’s science fair project. And not even a good one. But it worked just fine. When I took a second to relax the look of shock from my face and reflect a bit, I started to realize that this is what I do at work too. And what I am constantly talking to my team about. We all want there to be a right way to do things. We want insights to the nth degree before building the marketing campaign. We want 40 years of historical data before building the budget. We want the Ikea kit to help us build the new product. We want the perfect solution to execute or automate the process. But that’s just not reality. We don’t have the time or money for the level of research we want to do. We’ve only been around for 6 years and each has been so different, so we just don’t have the historicals we’d want. No technology exists to do the thing we’re trying to do, so a frankenstein solution may be our best bet. Just like with building the house, so much comes down to accepting that there’s no perfect solution and having the courage to go for it anyway. Here’s what I’ve learned from building my business and from George: 1. Rely on principles and frameworks, not memorization. While the bucket solution may have looked haphazard, it wasn’t a random guess. There needed to be something to collect water, a tube for the water to flow and a mechanism to seal it. Though they creatively put something together with materials we could easily acquire that would meet our needs, there was a thorough understanding of the physics at play and the systems required to meet the goal. I’m not saying you should go making stuff up and entirely winging it. Learn principles, learn history, understand best practices and methodologies. And then use the resources you have to create a solution that works for you and your business. Don’t completely wing it, and also don’t try to memorize exactly what worked someplace else and expect it to work for you too. Understand theory and then adapt. 2. Find people who’ve seen it before and know when to challenge their thinking. Having guidance and insights from those who have expertise in your area or who have done something similar before is invaluable. They not only can teach you lessons and tactics, they are tremendous at putting things in perspective. When an issue with our construction feels catastrophic, George always has an anecdote that helps right size the problem. Business mentors and coaches can do the same. Be as open minded and curious as possible and soak up as much knowledge as you can. But don’t take every single thing as gospel. Countless times throughout this project, Ed’s newbie status has served him. George will have a tried and true approach, and Ed will ask, “Wait, can’t we just…” Sometimes there will be a reason we can’t, but often Ed’s fresh take will actually find a better, more efficient solution. Regularly seek out the wisdom of others, but also put it through your own critical thinking filter. 3. Get data, proxies and customer insights, but challenge your temptation to want 100% perfection. We always want to be making data informed decisions. We should absolutely be striving to gather data, conduct research and talk to our customers instead of just hypothesizing. And also, this can be a slippery slope. Especially in cash constrained, quickly moving startups, we don’t have the luxury of taking months and months to gather information before acting. We have to do what we can and then make the best decision possible with the information on hand. I often say it’s easy to disguise procrastination as research. Be honest with yourself about when you truly need more information to be able to move forward and when your fear of being wrong is actually what’s holding you back. 4. Figure out small ways to test

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person writing in a journal

Mantras To Help You On Your Journey

Founding Females

08/19/22

Nicole Shipper

As a female-founded small business with a passion for helping others achieve their dreams, we believe in celebrating the wins of our community. Every month, we feature one Founding Female and the golden truths they acquired throughout their journey. We are endlessly inspired by the courage, grit, determination, and impact that our fellow Female Founders make on the community, and we hope you find that their stories inspire you, too. Check out August’s feature, with Nicole Shipper, below! – There are many mantras I say daily to myself on this journey! The most blaring one for me right now is that friends and family are there to support you but not to be your top clients. I read a quote once stating that you won’t get rich from friends and family, you must inspire strangers. When you are building a business and making a living off of it, you cannot be offended by those that do not understand. They don’t know what they don’t know. Friends and family will indirectly hurt you over and over again, but you must not take it personally or hold it against them. Simply continue moving forward and never lose sight of your goals, whatever they may be. This is a hard truth but I have found it’s the most important thing for me to remind myself in the day-to-day grind. Always look forward and pay attention to those that want your services or products, they are your golden clients – focus all your positive energy and vibes there and not towards those who do not yet understand what you are building! It’s not up to anyone else but yourself to measure your success. Friends and family might have different standards, or have never considered starting their own business, so again, move past what they may think or say to you, and keep pushing forward. ~ Nicole Shipper

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team looking at their boss talking

Lessons Learned from Disha Gulati: How to Motivate Your Team

Founding Females

08/15/22

Nicole Wood

It was an absolute joy speaking with my friend and mentor, Disha Gulati, the founder of Here Here Market, for our Founding Females interview series. Disha is brilliant, generous and perhaps what I love most, keeps it very real. Here are my key takeaways from our conversation on How to Motivate Your Team When You Can’t Throw Money at the Problem. Before we got to the discussion around motivating your team, I, of course, wanted to know more about her entrepreneurial journey. Entrepreneurship is objectively an insane career path. Why does anyone subject themselves to something so risky, exhausting and all-consuming? And even if you do decide to pursue it anyway, how do you make it happen? 1. The way in which you work is more important than what you do. I talk to Ama La Vida clients about this all the time. People tend to focus on the company, the job title and the job description. But so often, those things just describe “what” and completely ignore “how.” Do you like to work on a team or independently? Are you okay with ambiguous instruction, or do you need the steps spelled out? Can you thrive in a long-term project environment, or do you need to see wins on the board and boxes checked each day or week?  For Disha, even though the exact business idea was fuzzy, it didn’t matter. She knew that she wanted to be a business owner and wanted the style of work that allows you to move around different departments and problems all day long. This is as important as being passionate about the business idea itself. 2. Create a glide path. There is so much you can do while still employed to build your business and create the pathway that leads you to be a full-time entrepreneur. You can build your network, identify resources, run tests, and build a community. All of these things are invaluable as a business owner, and it makes it a lot less scary to quit your job and make the transition when you already have a network and resources behind you.  But be careful not to go into analysis paralysis. As Disha says, the “business plan goes out the window on day 3.” Don’t create a “zombie business plan” that’s hundreds of pages long and keeps getting tweaked. You need to actually take action and start something before you can tell if your hypotheses are true. There will be a time when you do need to go full-time, so get it as far as you can and then take the leap. “Very few side projects have ever become unicorns.” 3. A big part of starting a company is the village that you have to support you. When Disha started her first business, she had no idea how to find developers, had no clue that investors in her type of business largely don’t reside in the Midwest, and wasn’t super connected in the space she was entering. Now, as a veteran entrepreneur, she sees how valuable having that village around you is. They are the ones who give you feedback, open doors, provide resources, and help you stay on track. Building your network is something you can do now and for free to set you up for success in the future. We then moved on to discuss Disha’s style as a leader and how she motivates her team. While Here Here Market has secured external capital, it in no way compares to the budgets large companies have. She has had to get creative with how to motivate her team, especially when her entire business model got turned upside down during the pandemic. 4. Transparency is key. Here Here Market, initially started a group dining app. When COVID hit, not only did group dining disappear; it became illegal. Imagine trying to get a business off the ground when overnight its ability to operate gets completely erased. Instead of sweeping her fears under the rug, Disha was open with her team. She recognized that no one, not even CEOs, knew what was going to happen. Instead, she invited her team to rethink the business with her. “We rebuilt this company together.” The fact that the team wasn’t in the dark or lied to encouraged them to work hard to figure out how to keep the thing going.  5. Anchor on the mission. One of the many benefits of Here Here is the opportunities it creates for restaurant owners, chefs, mixologists, and others in the food and beverage industry. It’s a new outlet to bring their products to consumers and one that was actually an option when restaurants were closed and quickly going out of business. Disha always reminds her team about that mission. Her whole team knows that each day they show up to work, they are there to help the hospitality industry. She said, “If we can make money that’s great.” But even if not, they were doing something to help this industry and the people in it. That helped every employee to feel and act not just like an owner in the business but in the outcome, we are creating in the world.  Not every business has an altruistic mission or is changing the world, but this lesson can still apply. I recently toured Buffalo Trace distillery and loved a quote they had on the wall. “We make fine bourbon. At a profit, if we can. At a loss, if we must. But always fine bourbon.” In this case, they aren’t saving the world or keeping businesses afloat. They are making whiskey. But the employees here know that the mission is to create an incredible product, and that’s why they come to work and how they show up. 6. Motivation is not one size fits all. You have to understand what motivates each and every team member in the organization. Disha mentioned that for some of her employees that motivation comes from the mission, transforming the industry. For others,

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team laughing and having fun

How To Motivate your Team When You Can’t Throw Money At The Problem

Founding Females

07/27/22

Nicole Wood

“So often in life, things that you regard as an impediment turn out to be great, good fortune.” Ruth Bader Ginsburg So much has happened over the past couple years that has companies confused, fearful and reactive. From the Great Resignation to back-to-office campaigns, companies are desperate to get employees excited about the organization and engaged with their peers. Recently I’ve seen everything from offering Sonos speakers to providing daily free lunch to increasing salaries by 30% before an employee has even started try and solve these problems. Now I like free stuff, fun stuff and money as much as the next person, but I am certain that these perks themselves are just not enough to get people to care. Employees need to feel cared about, not bribed, to care about the company in return. Fortunately for startups like Ama La Vida and Here Here Market, the online marketplace (like Etsy) for chefs and culinary creators, throwing money at the issue was never an option. We just don’t have the budgets that the big players have to offer fancy things and fat salaries. And while that feels like a major disadvantage, in some ways I feel it may be a blessing in disguise. Frankly it’s easier to give everyone cool new swag than it is to work out each team member’s flexible work schedule. It’s easier to order lunch for the group than it is to pick up the slack when someone is struggling. It’s easier to host a happy hour than it is to provide support for managers leading remote teams for the first time. It’s easier to ask, “Do you like the ice cream?” than it is to ask, “How are you honestly doing?” But what matters to people more? Perks and high compensation are great. Keep ’em coming if you can. But they aren’t a replacement for humanity. Disha Gulati, Here Here Market’s CEO and co-founder, is one of the most genuine and authentic founders and leaders I know. She truly cares about her team and ensures that she’s regularly checking in with them and supporting them as people, and in turn they support her and her businesses vision. They choose to work for her early-stage startup when they could be someplace with snazzier perks and a better view because they feel valued and appreciated in the way the company behaves … not just in what it gives. I had the incredible honor of sitting down with Disha to learn more about her approach to motivating her team and to share some key learnings for leaders at any type of company. Click here to listen in on the full conversation. When you can’t throw money at employees, you tend to do the hard work of tailoring your workplace to them and supporting them as whole human beings. Turns out that might be much more valuable.

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The Importance Of Building Your Network

Founding Females

06/17/22

Nicole Wood

“You know what’s fire? Cultivating relationships with people who genuinely want to see you win and pouring that same type of love back into them. Building community with the right people.” Michell C Clark The most confident I ever was in my idea, my business plan and myself was the day I left my corporate job to work on Ama La Vida full time. I was convinced that the world needed what ALV was providing and that I was scrappy and stubborn enough to build it into a successful business. Every day since, I’ve doubted myself. I’ve doubted my ability to steer this ship. I’ve questioned why people would want to work for ALV. I’ve worried if we would make it financially. At times I’ve even gotten so lost in the nuance and slog of the day-to-day that I’ve forgotten why we were doing this in the first place. Building a business is a ridiculously difficult undertaking. I don’t care how experienced you are or how well-funded you are. It can feel like a constant battle, and it’s easy to get lost in your own mind. What brings me back to a place of clarity, sanity and optimism is almost never the numbers on the page or the dollars in the bank. It’s the people around me. What’s even gotten the numbers on the page and the dollars in the bank in the first place is not the brilliant business plan I wrote. It’s the people around me. In addition to having the good fortune of an amazing co-founder, I’m surrounded by other smart, caring and generous humans. My group text with some of my closest girlfriends is filled not only with “I believe in you’s” but also with “I’m recruiting for this role. Know anyone’s?” and “I’m struggling to get this deal closed. What advice do you have for this meeting’s?” It’s these ladies that give me the willpower to keep going when it all feels too much.  From legal to sales to PR, I’ve had friends donate time, energy and connections to help get ALV off the ground and continue to grow. When I’ve needed a creative approach to recruiting or a new software to fill a gap, it’s people in my network who have given me answers, solutions and resources. When I’m having one of those – why the heck did I even do this days – it’s other founders who lift me back up and encourage me to stay the course. Networking can feel like a chore. No one hates small talk and awkward exchanges more than I do. But building friendships, alliances and your community is anything but awkward… it’s life-giving. It’s not just an extracurricular activity to do when you have time. It *is* your job. My network (or honestly I prefer to just call them my friends) has given me more answers than Google, more leads than ads and more motivation than any quote on the wall. It’s the people who know us, love us and want us to success that will help ensure it is so. So when you’re ruthlessly trying to decide how to prioritize the bazillion possible things you as a founder can do with your time today, make sure connecting with friends, old and new, is at the top of the list. And the upcoming Founding Females event featuring Disha Gulati, of Here Here Market, will be a perfect opportunity to not only get your questions answered, but be in community with other entrepreneurs and grow your network. Be sure to join us! With love,Nicole

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Finding yourself intimidated by a client or prospect?

Founding Females

05/26/22

Megan Wholey

As a female-founded small business with a passion for helping others achieve their dreams, we believe in celebrating the wins of our community. Every month, we feature one Founding Female and the golden truths they acquired throughout their journey. We are endlessly inspired by the courage, grit, determination, and impact that our fellow Female Founders make on the community, and we hope you find that their stories inspire you, too. Check out May’s feature, with Megan Wholey, below! – Early in my career (and every once in a while now!), I would find myself intimidated by a client or a prospect. Our team works with successful CEOs, business owners and their families – people who have built incredible careers and amassed significant wealth. I’d want to show up to my meetings with these clients firmly in my role as “expert”, with the right answer to every question, and data to back it up. What I’ve learned, and continue to remind myself, is that the most important thing that my clients are looking for is a thought partner. I may not have the perfect answer on the spot – and that’s OK. What clients need in an advisor is someone who asks curious questions, helps present ideas and options for consideration, and has their family’s best interests at heart. Saying something like, “I’d love to run this question by our experts,” doesn’t tell the client that I’m not capable, it assures them that I’m doing my research and considering all angles. This can be uncomfortable for people who tend towards people-pleasing and perfectionism – I know it is for me, but I encourage women entrepreneurs and business owners to be less concerned with “being right”, and instead focus on “doing right” by clients, team members and other partners. ~ Megan

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ALV Coaching founders, Nicole and Foram

Our New Transformative Coaching Membership

Achieving Goals

08/14/20

Nicole Wood

From the time I decided I wanted to leave consulting to the time I actually quit my job to do ALV full time, about 3.5 years went by. I didn’t spend those 3.5 years twiddling my thumbs. I took a new job and learned a completely different and relevant skill set, I built a business plan, content and tech skills and, most importantly, I built confidence in myself and my idea. Nothing of importance happens over night. And the longer something takes, the more opportunities there are to give up. That’s why I’m so grateful that throughout that transition process, I had my coach by my side. That’s also why I’m so determined to make a coaching membership available to everyone who wants to achieve meaningful, transformative goals or invest in their own personal development. Our Priorities In creating and growing Ama La Vida over the past four years, two conflicting priorities have been front and center for us: Unfortunately, these two priorities are often at odds with one another. The absolute most effective coaching format might be three sessions a week where your coach comes to your house to provides physical accountability and support. But that level of support would be very costly (and potentially inconvenient) to the coachee. On the other hand, it may be tempting to have a couple 30-minute coaching sessions and go on your way. But it is nearly impossible to make life-changing transitions in such a short amount of time and with such little support and accountability. The Balance We had to find ways to balance these two opposing needs and craft a coaching solution that works and doesn’t break the bank. That is what our new coaching memberships do. Over the past four years, our coaching services and programming have evolved and taken on many forms as we’ve tried to perfect how we deliver highly effective, affordable coaching. We’ve introduced complex packages, bundles, and every type of option you can think of. And now, just this month, we’ve simplified everything and launched the most optimal solution to deliver an amazing and transformative coaching experience. Coaching Membership Benefits It’s a no-brainer, really: ongoing coaching memberships with the option to meet with your coach two or four times per month and access to our entire library of eCoaching tools and programs. The end. Here are the benefits to our new coaching membership – the most transformative way to do coaching: Long-term Support & Accountability Making a major career transition, starting a business, changing your relationship with yourself, becoming a more empathetic leader… these are not things that happen in a matter of a couple weeks. Most of our clients are working with a coach for the first time, and they look to us for cues regarding how this whole thing should work. While some goals are more finite, personal development is an ongoing process and journey. Your coach is a partner to you in that for as long as they are still creating value for you. Rather than suggesting to start with a handful of sessions and go from there, we set the stage up front that this is a long-term process. We provide continued support for as long as our clients need. Personalization One of the main reasons people love working with ALV and one of our biggest differentiators is our structured approach to coaching and our thorough coaching tools and curriculums. Often coaches will say, “It’s $X for $Y sessions,” but they can’t quite articulate what will happen in those sessions. That’s not the case here! We have very detailed programming providing the framework for how we coach people through certain transitions. Let’s take career transitions as an example. We have set modules that the client completes week by week in between sessions to help them make tangible progress toward their goals. That’s not going away! However, challenges can arise when we get too rigid in how many sessions we have or have a stringent timeline that might not be realistic. In our new membership model, you go at your own pace, and your coach will assign you modules and other action items based on your unique goals and circumstances. This relieves us of the pressure of conforming to a somewhat arbitrary timeline. We are Not Compartmentalized Many of our clients come to us for career support, but naturally personal goals enter the conversation. Or they come for leadership support, but a health issue has been impacting their confidence at work. We are not neatly compartmentalized beings; we’re human. Therefore we felt it was critical in this new transformative coaching membership to open up our entire library of eCoaching programs (career, leadership, health and life) to all of our clients. While you will still likely come to us focused in one primary area, your coach will weave in concepts, exercises and action items from these various coaching tracks. We want to make your experience as impactful as possible and will tailor your sessions to your needs. Community A membership model is far less transactional than one-off sessions or very short-term support. Already we’re seeing our community of go-getter clients become more engaged and are supporting one another in important ways. We love seeing them answer each other’s questions, cheer each other on, open up their networks to one another and share in each other’s journeys. We’re also offering free and members-only events and perks to continue to provide value to our community and clients. At ALV, you don’t just get access to your coach – you get access to hundreds of other like-minded individuals who want nothing more than to see you succeed. Simplicity No one likes confusing policies and procedures. Us included. This is the simplest and easiest way for us to work together without any unnecessary complexity. To those on the outside, this new launch might not seem like the seismic shift it truly is for ALV. That’s okay! We wanted this transition process to be seamless for our existing

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how to start a small business from home

How to Start a Small Business from Home

06/30/20

Editorial Staff

Starting a small business from home can offer countless benefits. This includes greater flexibility over your working hours and the freedom to create your ideal working environment and choose your work schedule. You will also have the opportunity to scale your business, build a reputable brand, and achieve your long-term financial goals. Setting up a home-based business may be easier than you think, and anyone has the potential to run a successful company from home. With this in mind, here are some useful tips on starting a small business from home:  Consider your skills and talents  When you start a home-based business, you have the freedom to choose a role that you will enjoy and feel passionate about. Make sure that you consider your skills and talents carefully when brainstorming business ideas. For instance, if you love spending time outdoors and have strong gardening skills, then you could consider setting up a professional gardening business. Whereas, if you have a background in financing and enjoy working with numbers, a freelance accounting business may be more suited to you. Combine your skills, talents, and qualifications to help you come up with possible business ideas. This will help ensure that you are motivated and get long-term satisfaction from your business venture.  Create a separate workspace  One of the challenges of working from home is creating a separation between your work and personal life. It can be easy to let your home business consume your daily life and spread into your leisure and family time. For that reason, you must create a distinct workspace where you can go to complete your work tasks. Ideally, this should be in a quiet area of your home that is free from potential distractions. Make sure that your home office has all of the tools and equipment you will need to complete your business tasks efficiently. This should include a comfortable desk and chair, a quality laptop or desktop, and a reliable internet connection. You can find plenty of useful guides on how to design a productive home office. Start promoting your home business You must start promoting your home business as soon as possible. Advertising and marketing campaigns will help you build brand awareness and secure new customers and sales. This will help you generate leads, improve your profit margins, and grow your home business. Investing in professional marketing services can be an excellent way to promote your startup. For instance, a specialist SEO agency can help you develop a strong digital marketing strategy that will improve your position on search engines and increase online sales.  Stick with a work schedule  As mentioned, one advantage of working from home is that you have more flexibility over when and how you work. That being said, you should still be organized with your time and follow a work schedule. Getting up and starting work at the same time each day will get you into a healthy routine and help you stay motivated and focused on your work tasks. Remember also to take regular breaks throughout the day to give yourself time to relax and unwind.  There is no time like the present to take control of your free time and start a business that allows you to maximize your work environment and schedule through working at home. You’ve got this. Now go make your dreams a reality! 

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Founding Females: Sage sales and marketing

Founding Females: Sage Sales and Marketing

11/21/19

Randi Hill

In this edition of Founding Females: Sage Sales and Marketing I’m happy to introduce you to our Female Founder of the day, Brentney Hutchinson!  Brentney is the Founder of Sage Sales and Marketing. I am super excited to share her story with you today because I have had the privilege of knowing Brentney before she started her company, so it’s been a pleasure to watch her go out on her own and do her thing.  After embracing the term “smarketing” she knew this was the service she needed to provide.  ALV: Let’s start with a fun one, when did you know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?  BH: For as long as I can remember, but not in an “I used to make bows and sell them to my classmates” kind of way. I actually found myself questioning if entrepreneurship was the right path for me since I hadn’t started my first business at age 15 like so many others. With a perspective shift I realized that my first dream of becoming an orthodontist, and later a lawyer, was actually serviced based entrepreneurship. Only time will tell but I feel like I’m on the right path.  ***  Brentney believes that, entrepreneurs are problem solvers. She doesn’t wait for an idea to strike for a cool invention or trendy app! Her favorite part about being in the service industry is the constant human connection.   ALV: Tell us more about your service? How is it changing the world even if in a small way? BH: I think people have spent the last twenty years being laser focused on productivity, efficiency, and technology-and all of these things are crucial to building a strong business.  But over time we’ve lost too much of the human connection.  Working with sales and marketing leaders to improve experiences for both their employees and their customers is my way of contributing to finding a solution.  It’s an added bonus that I get to help sales leaders make more of an impact on their organization, to get noticed by their bosses, or to get that long overdue promotion.  ***  ALV: So, you’re really passionate about what you do, what inspired you to start a business? BH:  Throughout my sales career I noticed that I saw things differently than my peers.  I was never able to take off my marketing hat, which I think was a big contributing factor to consistently being a top performer.   Another key factor is my passion for leadership.  At my last company I wanted to help relieve their frustrations and see them succeed.  I shifted my focus to making a greater impact on the organization through sharing my skills and knowledge internally, and we saw results. I took a step back and saw that I could recreate this and help so many other businesses. What I  did not expect to find was decades of research proving how expensive sales and marketing disconnect actually is.  It’s a very expensive problem, and I have a solution.  ALV: Since smarketing is a new term, what’s a misconception people have about what you do? BH: Most people think of me as a marketing consultant. They anticipate that my pitch is to come into their office poking holes in the marketing strategy, audit their branding, or run social campaigns. ALV: With that in mind, if you could start your business all over again, what would you do differently?  BH: I would take some of the pressure off of myself to create the perfect brand, website, business plan etc. by focusing on connecting with my network to offer help from day 1.  Sure it helps to have a clear vision so that you know how to answer questions, but it matters a lot less when you are talking with people who have firsthand experience with your work.   Hindsight is 20/20! ALV: Hindsight really is 20/20 so, when you think about the advice you would give someone starting a business, what would it be? BH: You can never be too organized with planning your schedule.  Time block, make lists, color coordinate, do it all. And if you’re not the “type A” type, invest in someone to set up a schedule/calendar for you.  Working both in your business and on your business requires a lot of discipline. Also, allow down time for creativity, especially in the beginning.   Doing this has given me time to put so many creative ideas on paper which is not only good for business, it’s good for the soul.  Sure, it’s been scary as hell…I quit a very stable job, and rent is still due every month. But I’m thankful that I didn’t allow fear to keep me from taking risks, because pushing pause has been life changing.  *** Brentney mentioned that starting a service-based business is NO easy game, some days you feel like you can change the world by noon, and other days, you feel completely isolated. What gets her through is remembering that just like sales, it is a game.  ALV: What’s your favorite way to refuel on the days when it’s hard to keep going?  BH: As an extrovert, I thrive in the hustle and bustle. I live for social events in Chicago. But about once a month I go completely off-grid for a day or two to recharge. Turn off my phone, no social media. If I’m lucky, get out of the city and go sit on the front porch with my family in southern Illinois. If I’m in Chicago, I’ll spend the time practicing yoga and cooking an indulgent meal. ALV: When you aren’t unplugged, what is your favorite resource to help you “always be bettering!”? BH: Podcasts. If you struggle with vulnerability podcasts are great because you can just listen without expectation to respond. There’s no need to divulge insecurities.  Plus, podcasts are so efficient! I determine the content, time, and place. Oh, and The Productivity Planner! ALV: As we wrap up, can you tell us who inspires you to do

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Founding Females: Rachel Rowland

Achieving Goals

08/30/19

Randi Hill

Founding Females is back, and I couldn’t be more excited to introduce you to Rachel Rowland.  Rachel is the Founder of Rachel Rowland Photography, a Pittsburgh based photography company that shoots weddings, portraits and lifestyle photography with the focus on telling stories and preserving legacies.  I’ve had the privilege to getting to know Rachel, and let me tell you, I live for her Instastories. I can promise you you’re in for a treat with this one!  ALV: So, what inspired you to start a business?  RR: Well, I studied film and photography in college and had a mentor that is a filmmaker and just always knew that I wanted to do something in the digital media arts field. I got my first SLR in 10th grade and took it on every trip with me and for some reason ONLY shot black and white film, and I am just so thankful when I go back through those images because I honestly had no clue what I was doing, but photography just always felt “right” to me.  Then on my wedding day in 2009, my husband, Jerry, gifted me with my first ever DSLR. It’s crazy because I had never talked about starting my own business or even pursuing wedding photography (although my photo mentors and friends Hot Metal Studio were our photographers, and I was OBSESSSEDDD with their work).  *** While we all know that entrepreneur life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, it certainly has its perks!  RR: I worked a few jobs right after college, and I honestly just hated being told where I had to be and when. I always knew that I was an artist and I was always told that artists don’t make money or get jobs. I was 23 when I started to truly pursue entrepreneurism, and I felt like I was just such a baby at the time and didn’t really realize where I was headed with it. *** Although Rachel didn’t know where she was headed with it, she’s managed to grow her company by staying laser-focused on her goals.  RR: My ultimate goal is to not just take photos that show what the day, the moment looked like but to trigger what it FELT like. Photos tell the story of who we are, what we did and who we loved to the future generations. I want all of my clients to look back at the images I took for them 20 years from now and to see themselves fully. I want them to say, “YES that is ME in a photo, that is us, that is our love.”  I am also very passionate about getting files off of computers and phones and getting them into albums and on to walls. We are in this crazy age where everything has been digitized. We text, we swipe, we share we tweet blah blah blah. But what did our grandparents do? They wrote each other love letters. What did our parents do? They printed photos and shoved them into albums for us to all go home and flip through at our will.  What are WE doing though? Everything is cataloged on some cloud, everything is perfectly curated for social media. What about 100 years from now? Are our great-grandchildren going to sneak up to their parents’ attic, find our smartphones, blow the dust off of them and start swiping through our Facebook page? Or are they going to go find an old leather-bound box, wipe off the dust, open up that book and flip through the pages and images that tell our stories? *** Wow. I don’t know about you, but I definitely have goosebumps after reading that. I’ve spent time thinking about my legacy before but nothing as impactful and specific as this. Knowing this is Rachel’s mission, I’m sure I’m not the only one waiting to see how she impacts the world through the years. However, it’s no surprise to see the impact she’s already making.  RR: Sounds crazy but I have been shooting some of the same people for the last 9 years. I am shooting the last of 3 brothers’ weddings in 2020 after shooting the first in 2015, the second in 2017 and now their growing families. That my clients connect with my work and heart on such an emotional level that they continue to grow with me and become real and important parts of my life.  ALV: How do you celebrate your big moments and your mini moments? RR: Fun fact about me. Any time I book a wedding, no matter where I am or who I am with, I put on Good Vibrations by Marky Mark and the funky bunch and I just straight up dance like a maniac until it’s over. It reminds me to still be thankful for each client that has entrusted me with such an important task and to never ever ever take that lightly. *** Being a female-founded, female-run company, we know that not every day is a celebration, things go wrong, mistakes are made, and disappoints happen. However, every mistake is an opportunity to learn. ALV: If you could start your business over again, what would you do differently? RR: Nothing. I am still here. I am still going. I wouldn’t change a thing. *** Starting a business is scary, and it’s a really different playing field than it was 10 years ago. Yet, the most important advice Rachel would give to a new entrepreneur is timeless.  ALV: What advice would you give someone starting a business?  RR: Be kind. Be humble. Be genuine. Work hard. Be kind. Don’t compare. Work harder. Be kind. Put yourself out there. Ask for help. Fear is the enemy. Be kind. ALV: When you start a business and you run into challenges how do you overcome them? RR: I will just say that challenges come with every job, with every part of life and it’s okay to be down, to feel sad and to reevaluate decisions.

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Founding Females: LT In The City

08/19/19

Nicole Wood

Founding Females is back with the one and only L’Oreal Thompson Payton, founder of LT In the City, a lifestyle destination for ambitious millennial women at the intersection of work and wellness. It started out as L’Oreal’s personal blog and has since expanded to a brand and media company with a loyal following. ALV: What inspired you to start your business/brand? LTP: At the time I started blogging, I was working full-time as an assistant editor for a luxury home and garden magazine. Let’s just say this was before I discovered my love of HGTV. I wanted to write stories that were important to me and I wanted to tell stories that inspired other women, Black women in particular, so I started blogging and freelancing for outlets that helped me do those two things. *** I love this part of L’Oreal’s story. She didn’t overthink it. Nor did she need a 50-page business plan. She had a knack for storytelling and passion for inspiring other women, and so she started creating opportunities for herself to combine those things in a productive way. LTP: At the heart of my blog is authentic, transparent storytelling. That’s the ultimate goal in everything I write — for women to feel less alone. And the response has been phenomenal, I think we all just crave that human connection and know that we’re not the only ones going through X, Y, Z. *** I can completely relate to this on both sides of the computer screen. I too feel that sharing my thoughts, feelings and story is a powerful way to connect with others. Just ask my husband who will often say, “Are you sure you want to send that personal story to your whole newsletter?” Yes, yes I do. L’Oreal shares this philosophy, and I have felt connected to her through her words time and time again. It has now been nine years of L’Oreal building her company and her following, and yet, it was only recently that she really started viewing it as a business. Like many of us, she has suffered from impostor syndrome. LTP: Even though I’ve been blogging and freelance writing since 2010, I just recently filed for an LLC. Because I have a full-time day job, I never considered myself an entrepreneur … I definitely still carry some impostor syndrome around that word. But I also recognize that I have to practice what I preach, so if I’m encouraging other women to be about their business, I have to walk the walk. These mental hurdles can defeat you if you let them, but I have to remind myself of my talents and what I’ve been able to do. And that helps build that courage muscle so I’m less afraid or intimidated next time I find myself face-to-face with self-doubt. *** I love thinking about courage like a muscle that can be strengthened. More recently I’ve heard the comparison of it to a balloon. You start contracted and rigid, and all you need to do is expand a little bit. Push your boundaries a little further. You learn and can contract back to your comfort zone. The next time you’re more flexible and have the capacity to stretch even further.  And then even further the time after that. But you need to start somewhere! Luckily there has been someone there every step of the way cheering L’Oreal on and encouraging her to think big and act big too. ALV: Who has been most helpful to you on your entrepreneurial journey? LTP: Honestly, my husband. He’s much more business-oriented than I am (I’m definitely more of a creative spirit) and he’s been encouraging me to file for an LLC since forever. He’s always looking out for me, always cheering me on. A friend of mine once said, “The most important business decision you can make is who you choose for a romantic partner,” and I can certainly attest to that. I would not be nearly as successful in my endeavors if I didn’t have him in my corner. *** One of my favorite mantras this year has been to “lift as you rise.” As ALV continues to grow, we are always looking for ways to collaborate with other female-founded businesses or support one another however we can. When you have a platform, why not use it to elevate those around you? L’Oreal lives out this mantra daily, and it really came to the forefront at her anniversary event last year. ALV: What are you most proud of in your business? LTP: Helping women and girls. Last year, I hosted a party to celebrate the fifth anniversary of my blog in its current iteration/my move to Chicago from Baltimore. I was committed to hiring woman-owned businesses as vendors, featuring woman-owned businesses in the swag bags and having the proceeds benefit Polished Pebbles, a mentoring nonprofit for young Black girls on Chicago’s South and West sides. The event was certainly a labor of love, but it was such a great feeling to support small woman-owned businesses and a cause I care about, all while having a great time with my friends and followers! *** In any business venture, you will feel overwhelmed, lost, confused and conflicted at times. It can be easy to move toward the next shiny thing or tempting to quit when the journey gets tough. L’Oreal reminds us that the answers come from the inside out, not the other way around. ALV: What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about starting a business but is scared to? What helped you get started? LTP: It sounds trite, but this journey looks different for everyone. What worked for me may not work for you — and that’s okay. Get clear on your core values and don’t stray from them. Sure, they can evolve over time, but who you are, what you stand for — you mustn’t compromise that for anyone or any paycheck.

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Founding Females: Cleancio

Entrepreneurship

07/09/19

Nicole Wood

We’re so glad to see you back here at #foundingfemales, our series where we tell the stories of brave women who declared their independence and ventured out on their own to build the businesses they wanted to see in the world. Today we meet Rocio Lane, founder and CEO of Cleancio, a tech-enabled cleaning company. Cleancio, while available for cleaning services of any kind, specializes in providing hotel-level cleaning for rental units. With AirBnB taking over the world this is one of those businesses you wish you had thought of! Rocio grew up in Bolivia and moved to the US 9 years ago. RL: I didn’t have any friends and my English was a work in progress (I think it still is lol). I’m so thankful for all the wonderful friends and families that have welcomed and help me through this journey. Now, it’s my turn to pay it forward and help others to achieve their goals. *** Long before coming to the US, Rocio was one of those incredible founders who seemed to have entrepreneurship in her blood. Even from a young age, she was not just coming up with brilliant ideas but motivated to bring them to life. RL: At the age of 13 I started selling Christmas cards but soon I realized that the card company was printing all the personalized quotes on a regular printer. I thought, “I can do that,” and actually I can offer different ink colors and more original designs. I took my first earnings, and I purchased blank cards and printed them in-house. I sold Christmas cards to all my aunts, my friend’s Moms, teachers, my Mom’s co-workers. In that moment I knew I’ll never starve. *** Years later, that entrepreneurial spirit was still in full force. She started hosting properties with Airbnb. Her inside knowledge of the vacation rental industry coupled with her clear line of sight to a cleaning problem that wasn’t being solved made her the perfect person to build a business to solve it. ALV: What inspired you to start your business/brand? RL: When hosting Airbnb properties I realized how time-consuming and frustrating it was to schedule and monitor cleanings. I knew I was not alone because when I was able to train and hire my first housekeepers, my friends started to ask me to schedule and monitor their turnover cleanings. Cleancio was born not only to provide a hotel-like service to Airbnb hosts and property managers but to empower all the women and men that work in the cleaning industry. *** This empowerment and reshaping of the cleaning industry is extremely important to Rocio. She mentioned that many cleaning professionals feel invisible. They don’t get the attention or recognition they deserve. RL: I want to empower them and be a part of the happiness that they feel when they go to work. They will tell me that they’ve never had their boss bring them a cupcake on their birthday. We invest in our employees. A lot of them started with us cleaning and now occupying admin positions within the company.   I see people’s lives are changing because of Cleancio and the community we are building, and that’s what gets me up in the morning. *** Putting that much time, attention and care into her employees’ experience has paid dividends. Cleancio has quickly grown from cleaning 2 properties to having 400 active properties (in 2 Markets, Chicago and Miami) in their portfolio in a short time. Rocio attributes this growth to the empowerment of her employees. RL: Caring about your employees makes a huge difference when you deliver a service. When your employees are happy and they also understand your mission they will give an extra 5%. When they are feeling like they’re not just the help, that is reflected in the work they do every day. If we promise something, we deliver what we promise and go above what people expect. That has helped us to grow so quickly through word of mouth. *** Rocio makes it sound easy, but knowing personally how freaking hard it is to start a business, I just had to know the real deal about what she’s had to overcome. ALV: It can’t have been that easy! Tell me what has been a challenge for you. RL: The first year it is crucial for the company and for you as a CEO, you’re like “Am I really a CEO?” A lot of things go through your mind. I had those days where I locked myself in the bathroom, cried and then went back out to my team and carried on. *** Yes, now that I can relate to. That, “Am I really a CEO” question is one I still ask myself to this day. When you’re starting and running a business, you’re constantly reflecting and questioning yourself and your identity as a leader. I’ve had my fair share of bathroom cry sessions. But then you get right back to it and keep going. Another aspect of Cleancio that Rocio didn’t anticipate was the extent to which it would become a tech company. These days, having technology be a component of your business is almost inevitable. But Rocio didn’t realize just how much it would come to the forefront of hers. RL: I was not planning to build a tech company. I had this problem, and I wanted to solve it really really bad. All of a sudden it became a tech company. I’m a true believer that technology makes things better and faster, and a lot of my struggles have been figuring out how to build what we need. We needed to build an app, and I faced the challenge of deciding what to do on my own, whether to outsource or whether to hire. Since we are a startup our resources have to be well thought out.  I’m afraid of making the wrong decision and wasting time and money. I thought to myself, “How am I going to be

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