Podcast - She Did It Her Way

You have a passion. Maybe it started as a side hustle and leaped into a full-time gig. You may have had fears taking the leap and you probably have just as many fears continuing your journey, staying true to your passion. How do I stay organized? What do I need to know about digital and how people find my business online? Where do I look to stay inspired? How can my business and I be 'big'? Today’s guest, Amanda Franz, addresses these fears. Amanda is the founder, creative director and owner of Wide Eyes Paper Co. Boutique, a stationery, brand, and design studio that she started in 2012. It specializes in custom wedding stationery, offering a variety of printing methods and innovation that separates Wide Eyes Paper Co in a saturated market. In this episode you will… Learn how to stand out in the digital world Acquire systems that keep the creative brain focused Understand why passion and success coexist See the importance of community Know what managing inventory and cash flow with a product-based business looks like Hear milestone moments in business QUOTES: “I really believe in sticking with what you’re good at, hiring people and outsourcing to do the rest. I strongly believe in collaboration and that’s how I run my business, especially when working with clients. I can’t stress it enough to them that I really want it to be a collaborative experience so we’re creating something together.” Amanda Franz “I love being creative, but I also learned that I love being a businesswoman. I love numbers. I have a CPA, that’s one of the biggest things I’d recommend. It’s not a waste of money. It’s such a great investment.” Amanda Franz “I feel like I have more control over my business when I understand money in and money out and that concept.” Amanda Franz “I strategically think through ‘what’s going to be most important today?’ and lately, I’ve just not over-extended myself. Sometimes I try to do too much in one day and then I end up feeling drained and not as productive. I’m trying to tell myself, ‘hey, it’s OK that you only did these things today; that’s enough. And you also want to have space for the other amazing things in your life.” Amanda Franz “Being an entrepreneur is one of the most lonely and isolating places to be. You’re not plugged into any community right away when you own a business. You have to put yourself out there constantly and find the people that you connect with.” Amanda Franz “Passion and success coexist. If you have passion the success will eventually come. I am an example of it.” Amanda Franz “You just start with what you know and what you love doing and don’t worry about what everyone else thinks...I think fear holds people back.” Amanda Franz “My new mantra is, be courageous, try something new, what’s the worst that can happen?” Amanda Franz “My biggest lesson is to keep going, find new ways to be inspired; it doesn’t need to be directly in your field. Go outside. Do something different.” Amanda Franz “I’m sick of letting fear get in the way because I don’t want to live small. I want to show up in, whatever that looks like, and that means fighting for yourself everyday. DO the things that scare you.” Amanda Franz RESOURCES: -Second Street Creative -Style Me Pretty -Asana -Quick Books -Etsy “Braving the Wilderness” “High Performance Habits” “How to Fight” by Thich Nhat Hanh Wide Eyes Paper Co Instagram Wide Eyes Paper Co Website

SDH 240: How To Determine Which Social Media Outlet That's Right For Your Business with Rachel Hollis

Hey guys! Today’s episode I’m sitting down with the speakers to hear more about exactly what they’re covering at the summit and how it will provide value and be beneficial to you and your business. Also, early bird tickets end on March 15th so don’t wait to snag your ticket! www.shediditherwaysummit.com

SDH 238: High Performance Habits Part II with Amanda Boleyn

SDH 237: How Shifting Your Mindset Can 14X Your Business with Jenn Scalia

Have you struggled to find the confidence to take the leap? Or maybe you’ve  stretched your legs out and finally jumped into the next stage of entrepreneurship? Either way fears and questions race through your mind. How big should my audience be? Will I be able to keep up with all of the cultural and technological changes? How do I stay true to myself and audience? How do I monetize my brand as efficiently as possible? Today’s guest, Maggie Lord, has answers to these questions based on her experience as founder and editor of Rustic Wedding Chic and Rustic Wedding Guide. Maggie created a website and tools for brides ten years ago, before Pinterest and Instagram inspiration was even a concept, to provide a space for ideas, inspiration, and resources for brides looking for similar things she needed when planning her own wedding. She has published five books and soon to be six. In this episode you will…  Understand the importance of speaking to a niche audience See how working with advertisers and brands has changed Discover the different ways of monetizing your brand  Master consistent methods for dealing with change Hear about the power of flexibility within entrepreneurship Acquire tips for yielding your biggest ROI QUOTES: “We didn’t really have a formal business plan but I knew what we needed to do to make X, Y, and Z to replace my salary.” Maggie Lord “It was only me. We didn’t have a team of people. I didn’t have tech specialists. I didn’t have anyone helping me with social media. I wore every single hat in the company and I was very glad that I did; because now that we are a little bigger, I know how to do everything. I understand each part of the company, why it’s important and why it needs to be done a certain way.” Maggie Lord “Focus on your niche and focus on how to really connect the most amount of people within that niche who really cares about it. Because you want strong consumers. You want strong readers. You want strong investors.” Maggie Lord “We work really hard with our advertising team to make sure we are bringing content we feel our reader should know about, is going to care about, is going to add something to their wedding planning process.” Maggie Lord “Things change. Your Google ranking is going to change. Your social media following is going to change and you can’t rely on one source. You need to be diversifying how you bring in your money to your company, and you need to be able to always know where you are going to go next so that when there’s a shift in the industry you can still monetize your brand.” Maggie Lord “No matter what stage your business is in you need to be able to treat it with this sort of feeling of it’s already a business, whether it’s bringing in money or not. And if you treat it like a business, it’s going to be a successful business.” Maggie Lord RESOURCES: Coastal Living Magazine Country Living Magazine Maggie Lord’s Website Rustic Wedding Chic Website Rustic Wedding Chic Instagram Rustic Wedding Chic Twitter Rustic Wedding Chic Pinterest Rustic Wedding Guide Rustic Baby Chic Style Me Pretty Website

Where do you begin to create an industry? How do you convince mainstream retailers to take a chance on you? How do convince manufacturers to take a chance on you? Where does your uniqueness lye?  Hey, She Did it Her Way Listeners! Today we get to meet Karen Behnke, the founder of Juice Beauty, an organic beauty product line! She started her first company in the fitness industry right out of college and has since become a serial wellness entrepreneur, with her business ventures spanning 20 years. But she said despite her submersion in the corporate health and wellness industry, like so many other women, she never paid attention to the ingredients that went into her beauty products. Her curiosity about her beauty product’s ingredients was peaked when she became pregnant for the first time in her 40’s. She said she was completely devastated by what was in the average beauty product. She saw ingredients like formaldehyde, and petroleum, and was shocked that she never noticed them before because she had worked with so many experts on quality ingredients in health and wellness products for so many years. Seven or eight years later, she bought the name Juice Beauty and took it upon herself to radically transform the chemistry of beauty. Since her collection has expanded to skin care and makeup, gained Gwyneth Paltrow as a creative director, has been picked up by retailers like Ulta Beauty, Neiman Marcus, and Bloomingdales; and has been up and running for over 12 years! To begin to surpass the conventional chemical standards of beauty products, she had to learn about its current state, so she brought in an in-house group of chemists and product development experts. She said they found that a lot of them start out with glycols, which are petroleum waste products that act as a hydrating ingredient as dense as Vaseline. They also found that natural products start out with water, meaning consumers are paying the top-notch price for a diluted product. Her concept was to start out with organic botanical juices, aloes, shea’s, grapeseed, and guavas; and pack all the products with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. As of a couple years ago, they also released a photo pigments makeup collection, which is plant derived with plant pigments, and no artificial colors or fragrances. Though she was a seasoned entrepreneur when she launched Juice Beauty, she had never dived into the world of cosmetics, so she wasn’t exempt from the turbulence that is early entrepreneurship. She said she had forgotten how hard running a start-up was, and how much she’d have to be involved in every aspect of her business. She said she spent 75% of her time leading product development in the beginning, along with one chemist and analyzed every single ingredient to make sure it was clean and healthful for consumers and the planet. When it was time to bring in more people, she said she also struggled with attracting professionals in the organic beauty industry, because she was so new, and didn’t have the allure of big name brands. Once she became a household name and attracted teams of in-house experts and executives, she said had to learn to transition into a leader and teach her new staff how to convey her message and vision on a daily basis.  One of her goals from day one was to make it hard for consumers to tell the difference between Juice Beauty and another big name commercial brand. She said she wanted her stem cellular CC cream that was made zinc (for SPF coverage), and coconut alkenes, and grapeseed (for beautiful slip and feel), from chemical sunscreen made with oxybenzone, or silicones, and dimethicones. It was very difficult in the beginning, and she said they had problems with their zinc being too heavy, and things turning blue. But through trial and error, trusting her women’s intuition, she navigated the choppy waters of early entrepreneurship, and was able to add Juice Beauty to her repertoire of successful businesses! Get comfortable and enjoy today’s episode as you learn more about Karen and Juicy Beauty’s story!  In this episode you will… Know how to change and upgrade the standards of an industry Be able to go after big commercial brands See what it’s like to start over as the founder of a start-up if you already have an established business Be able to define your company’s goal Start to follow your instincts as a business owner Learn the best way to land investors for your company, and invest in yourself INSIGHTS “It’s kind of a win-win-win. You win with high [ethics] skin care, and vibrant plant makeup. You win with what you’re putting on your skin is healthful, and for the people that care, you win with supporting a company that is really supporting organic farming, supporting the planet, and building a sustainable company from top to bottom.” -Karen Benkhe  “If you have a wrong hire in a very small business, that can set you back a couple of years. Every single hire has to be right…and then sometimes you may have amazing people in the beginning, but they might not make it through with all the change. When it’s a great transition, it that’s wonderful. But when it’s a bad transition, that can really be hard.” -Karen Behnke “I was the lead investor in Juice Beauty…but I’m still surprised when young entrepreneurs come in to talk to me, and they don’t want to put any of their money at risk, [but they] want everybody else to invest. I always say you’ve got to put your own money up…f you’re not going to risk it, nobody else is going to.” -Karen Behnke  “Passion has fueled me. I love business, and I love mission-driven businesses, that’s what I’ve always done. I’ve never been not motivated to get up and go at it every day.” -Karen Behnke RESOURCES Juice Beauty Website Juice Beauty Facebook Juice Beauty Instagram Juice Beauty Twitter

Does the fear of replacing a corporate income hinder you on your journey to solopreneurship? Are limiting beliefs and imposter syndrome holding you back? Would you like to know how some of the continent’s most successful women in business think? Today’s fierce guest, Eleanor Beaton, is here to address these valid concerns, along with many more relevant topics. Eleanor is an award-winning journalist, speaker, and executive coach to powerful women varying from elected officials to leaders of major corporations. She even has her own podcast that aims to help women in leadership positions achieve unprecedented results with clarity, confidence, focus, and grace. Tune in as she shares a wealth of information from growing up in a household of strong women to the secrets behind power and influence. In this episode you will… Discover why women struggle to replace a corporate income after the leap Understand limiting beliefs, imposter syndrome and how to erase them Know the benefits of predictable revenue and how to generate it Find out the truth about confidence and how to get it Learn why women get into the trap of undercharging and how to break free from it Uncover how eight, nine and ten figure business women really think INSIGHTS: “...We can create success and we can do it by breaking old rules, inventing new ones and ultimately doing it our way.” Eleanor Beaton “That’s really what my mission and my team’s mission is to do—to really empower the world by bringing fierce, feminine wisdom to business and boardrooms all over the place.” Eleanor Beaton “When you go out on your own, you have to eat what you kill.” Eleanor Beaton “When I think about what it takes to build a successful business; I think about the triangle. One side is knowledge, the other point is effectively managing relationships and the third part is GSD.” Eleanor Beaton “You really got to bring a sense of urgency to your business development and a real sense of focus, being able to focus on the money without letting yourself be overly controlled by money. I think that’s a dance. It can be a challenging balance.” Eleanor Beaton “Find people who already model the kind of behavior you know is important to you and spend time with them.” Eleanor Beaton “One of the number one challenges of very highly successful women is there are so few of them.” Eleanor Beaton “So much of this is really practical and tactical..Influence and power love small rooms.” Eleanor Beaton “There is a definite choice and intentional bending of the rules in order to achieve the greater good or greater outcome in an effort to do what’s right.” Eleanor Beaton “As women, often, we have a lot of social pressure to be perfect. We don’t want to 'go to school in public.' We want to be perfect before we make the offer, but we’ve got to get over that if we want to roll in the dough.” Eleanor Beaton RESOURCES Eleanor Beaton Website Eleanor Beaton Facebook Eleanor Beaton Twitter Eleanor Beaton Instagram Eleanor Beaton Linkedin “Mindset” by Carol S. Dweck “Personal History” by Katharine Graham “Predictable Revenue” by Aaron Ross “High-Performance Habits” by Brendon Burchard Ellen Pompeo Article

Have you ever had moments where it seems like everything is crumbling? Does it seem like everything you’ve built is being washed away? What if life is just closing a chapter, and starting a grander one?  What’s up listeners! On today’s episode, we speak to returning guest, Bri Seeley, an author, coach, and speaker, about that, and then some! Last time we spoke to Bri, she was the co-host of a podcast with her business partner, Thais, and was a life coach. However, since last January, a lot has shaken up in her career and life. After a trip to Bali, everything in her life seemed to be breaking apart at the seams. Her business partnership no longer felt right and their podcast ended, a 10-week training program she had been working on fell apart,  and her closest friendships dissolved. She said everything in 2016 that felt right and was working for her, had thrown itself in the garbage in 2017. While her storm seemed never-ending at the time, she said she realized that her life was doing nothing but realigning itself and making way for newer and bigger opportunities! But this realization didn’t come easy. She said she felt betrayed by the universe, abandoned, and went into victim mode. After months of intense wallowing, she had enough of herself. By April, she had to just throw up her hands, and admit to herself that she’s human, and that life wasn’t going to cater to her every wish. She said she also realized that her business ventures didn’t align with her core truth of freedom. She had always dreamed of living a bicoastal life, and traveling the world, while still working for herself. But the careers she had already started chained her to LA and committed her to 5 events a month there. Once she saw the disconnect between her desires and lifestyle, she began to see how much the failure of her businesses was a blessing in disguise, and a release from a confinement she hadn’t realized she was in.   So she made the decision to change her mindset, and accept her path for what it was, get back on her feet, and go after success once more. She started asking herself how she wanted her life to look, what experiences she wanted to be having and actively began moving towards achieving them. She also began focusing on improving her health and her heart, and the friends in her life that were supporting her, and the loyal clients that never left her even when her businesses went under. She also adopted a Sunday ritual of walking around her local farmer’s market, and stopping by a café to journal all the things that excited her that week, and the things she was thankful for. This weekly practice ended up being the premise of her first book, Permission to Leap. She said the book came to her in January and asked her to write it. She never aspired to be an author, but as she went through her depression, writing became her release. When she finally sat down to write the outline in June, the content flowed out of her, and she finished it in an hour. She then flew to Seattle to hand write her book, and under three weeks, she had written 55,000 words, and returned to L.A with a manuscript. In the next four months, not only had she completed the editing, she completed marketing process, too! By the time she hit Amazon, she already had 100 reviews on her book, and within hours of its launch, she was #1, and is still a Best Seller nine weeks later! Stay tuned and hear more of Bri’s wisdom on making it through dark times, all the details that go into publishing your own book, and what all of Bri’s new businesses look like! In this episode you will… Know how to rebuild yourself after your business ventures fail Be able to recognize when your life is realigning, not falling apart Find your truth, and rearrange your life according Figure out how to dissolve a business partnership Learn to follow your intuition Not allow yourself to stay in the victim mindset INSIGHTS “The biggest thing is being present with whatever is coming up in the moment, and not rationalizing…how I’m feeling. If my intuition is telling me something doesn’t feel right, I have to trust that...I think that’s really been my process across the board.” -Bri Seeley “What the book writing process has given me is more clarity. I kind of knew before what my zone of genius was, and what I really, really did for women. And now I really know…Now I can say with complete confidence that I help women bring their vision to life.” -Bri Seeley “I think the election kind of kicked a lot of women into high gear. I was unwilling to be victimized by the election, and it really lit a fire under me. I can’t pretend that I’m not here for something big anymore. I have to every single day go out of my way to make an impact, and create something in the world.” -Bri Seeley RESOURCES Bri Seeley Website Bri Seeley LinkedIn Bri Seeley Facebook Bri Seeley Instagram Bri Seeley Twitter The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho Alexi Panos Website Tim Ferriss Podcast

How did you decide to start your own business? Did you ease into entrepreneurship, or was it a freeform leap off a cliff? Where did you allow that journey to take you? How have you and your business evolved since then? Hey guys! Today we meet Alex Moresco, the founder of A Moresco PR + Content Creation, and star of season one of PR Girl, a reality web series about the fabulous (but mostly nitty gritty) world of entertainment PR! She refers to herself as an odd duck, and does everything from traditional PR, to press outreach, social media management and strategy, event planning, and non-profit work. While her broad range of services is different than most PR firms, she said she loves having her hand in everything; and experiencing all these different fields only gives her an edge on the competition and an individuality that helps her stand out among the rest!  She said A Moresco’s creation started when she was a junior in college, but began as a fashion blog, that she created out of boredom, during her freshman year at DePaul. Once her blog gained traction, she started learning the basics of PR, like how to attract target audiences, build a media kit, and work with brands like Nike. After working with them for some time, she became part of launching their store, The Nike Training Club, and helped them research how to attract 18-25 year-olds, and planned events for the store as well. Unfortunately, the concept store closed when she was almost out of college, and she was faced with the decision of joining the corporate world or take a risk and do her own thing. After some contemplation, she knew she would get comfortable in the corporate world and would lose her drive to go for it on her own, so she took the jump! What sealed the deal was when she was contacted be Hillary Sawchuk, from the podcast, A Drink With. Alex had interviewed  Hillary a couple years before, and she had caught wind of Alex’s  PR work with Nike, and invited her to help her with her PR during the Sundance Film Festival for a couple of weeks. After her work with Hillary, Alex knew PR was the profession for her and fell in love. When she returned to Chicago, she saw an opening to bring her passion and skillsets to the entertainment business, and A Moresco PR + Content Creation was born! With her role in the new series PR Girl, she invites the world to see the reality of the different facets of entertainment PR and centers the show around women empowerment, unity, and positivity, rather than drama. She said she wants people to know that PR isn’t always glamorous and it can be a beast, but every once in a while you get to do something cool, and the wins you get along the way make it worthwhile! Stay tuned and hear how Alex continued to expand her business and media reach! In this episode you will… Hear how Alex handled starting a business and learning she had Lyme disease Start looking at every step of your career as a learning tool Know how to set yourself up for success and organize your business and life See how to create honest and  authentic relationships with clients Figure out how to expand your media reach and platforms Know how to personalize your pitch when getting your business out there INSIGHTS “I think when you own your own PR firm, everything falls back on you. There’s nobody else to point the finger at, and ultimately, if something goes really well, it’s because you’ve done a great job. But if something didn’t go well, it falls back on you, and you have to be a self-starter, and very self-motivated.” -Alex Moresco “People do think PR is so glamorous, and you’re running around in Christian Louboutin heels, and meeting celebrities, and going to parties. But in reality, when you own your own firm, there are no boundaries. So it’s you getting up at like 6 o’clock because you’re stressed out...to then [working] all day until 11 or 10 o’clock at night, to look up and realize you haven’t eaten today…5% of the time you get to do something really cool…you have to make those wins you get along the way worth it.” -Alex Moresco “I love that the whole premise of [PR Girl] is positivity, and women building up other women, and more focused on the career aspect, than the drama that you see in typical reality shows. And I thought it was smart from a PR standpoint. Everything is moving over to web…when you go to sell a TV show from a production standpoint, from an advertising standpoint, you’re hoping for YouTube Red, Facebook, or an online platform because it’s just digitally native, and it’s that much easier to go viral, and produce more views.” -Alex Moresco RESOURCES A Moresco PR + Content Creation Website A Moresco PR + Content Creation Instagram A Moresco PR + Content Creation Twitter

What do you do when the career you always thought you wanted, doesn’t work out? How do you begin to piece your new career path together? How do you know if you’re better off going off on your own? Hey listeners! Today we chat about that with Katie Doherty, who is the founder of La Rousse Shoppe, a resource for photographers to purchase decorative packaging and boxing materials, like La Rousse’s original product the Glass Photo Box! La Rousse originally started out as a platform for Katie to promote her wedding photography, but after not being able to find products to suit her brand’s style and aesthetic, she decided to make products of her own. Since La Rousse has continued to grow as an outlet for her creativity, and now features a blog that showcases customer’s use of their products, and a podcast that shines a light on other entrepreneurs across various industries! Before Katie started La Rousse, was a third-grade elementary school teacher, and had grown up thinking that education and teaching was her calling. Unfortunately, once she started teaching, she became bogged down by the workload and frustrated with its lack of pay. She said she knew that those aspects were just part of what being a teacher meant, but she was surprised at how much it took over her life, and felt it had taken away her freedom and creativity.    She wanted to feel like she was in control of her own life, and have an outlet for her artistic expression, so she decided to explore her side passion for photography. To dip her toes into professional photography, she started to teach herself how to use her DSLR camera through research and YouTube videos, began taking evening classes at a community college, and started being mentored by a friend in wedding photography. Once she felt comfortable enough in her skills, she launched her online portfolio and took the final leap of quitting her job, and moving in with her parents so she could save money, and focus on getting her business off the ground by booking wedding, travel, and child photography gigs. As her portfolio started to grow, and she began taking her presentation more seriously, she started looking for little print boxes to give to couples after their wedding, and have for herself to present her work. As she scoured the internet for something modern, cute, and unique, she could only find clunky wooden, or linen boxes that just didn’t match her brand’s aesthetic.  She then became inspired by entrepreneurs on the podcast, Money Pillow, who had come up with amazing ideas for products, and made their visions a reality by manufacturing and selling them. That’s when she came up with the idea for a glass photo box, and after searching high and low for a similar product, she decided to be the first one to create one!  To get started, she first had to find a supplier and searched Alibaba, which is an e-commerce site that connects buyers to sellers from India and China. After sifting through the site for hours, she finally found a supplier that made a terrarium, which is a glass usually made for vases. He didn’t make the type of product that she needed, but he had the supplies, so she reached out to him with the dimensions of her box, and a sketch. A month later, she got a sample from him, and it was perfect! She proceeded to buy 50 more, and launched La Rousse using Shopify! After a decent start with a few sales, her business began to sink, because she wasn’t sure how to market or reach her target audiences. So she decided to share her business and product with her friend, Phil, who was a fellow wedding photographer and he loved it. He eagerly wanted to hop on as a business partner, which Katie said helped take a lot of the pressure off of her and provided her with a confidant and mentor as she navigated through the rough waters of entrepreneurship.  As orders start to increase, she had to move her inventory and work space to her parent’s garage, and hand packaged and detailed each order, and drove it to the post office. As business increased, even more, she had to hire some girls in her neighborhood to take over that aspect, despite her desire to oversee every little detail of the order. She had to relinquish even more control, as business continued to boom, and they had to hand their inventory over to a fulfillment center in Texas, which cut her out as a manufacturer and sent products straight to customers. Since her brand and products have continued to skyrocket and have been featured in Allure Magazine, Lauren Conrad’s Holiday Gift Guide, as well as MSN’s 25 Holiday Gifts under $100! Hear more of how La Rousse grew, and Katie’s story on this week’s episode! In this episode you will… Know how to create the solution to your problem Be able to find suppliers for your product Learn to let go aspects of your business and outsource Know what to consider when picking a new space for your business Be able to choose the right overseas shipping company for your product Figure out if you want to be a hands-off or hands-on CEO INSIGHTS “I think my dad was taken aback by the fact that I had spent all this money on student loans, to become a teacher, and two years later, I had completely changed my mind…[but] everyone I came across was really supportive, they never had any doubts.” -Katie Doherty “I was talking with a friend…and I very casually brought up this product I was working on, and he thought it was amazing. He was like, ‘Katie, you need to sign me on as your business partner, I can take this to new heights!’ I [thought] a business partner would be a great idea. All of the weight wouldn’t be on my shoulders, I could always go to someone for a second opinion, our just anything really. We have a great open relationship. Ever since Phil started on with me, I’ve seen the business grow times 10, it’s been amazing.”- Katie Doherty “I’m like kind of a crazy perfectionist. I want everything down to the sticker being straight on the packaging, I want it all to be as perfect as it can be. And I was kind of convinced that unless I did it myself, that it would never be perfect, because no one else would care as much as I did. And I really had to let go of that because I bet there are people who pay great attention to detail, so that was one important thing for us as we were looking for fulfillment centers. Who was going to be willing to do a bit of boutique packaging to fit our brand.” -Katie Doherty RESOURCES Katie Doherty Website La Rousse Shoppe Instagram La Rousse Shoppe Facebook Money Pillow by Sean Malarkey Artifact Uprising Alibaba Website

How do you define power? What equates to success? Is it by others standards or your own? No fears SDIHW listeners, our guest gives us the scoop on that! Today we meet Perrin Kaplan, who is the co-founder of Zebra Partners; a female-run global marketing and PR firm! Due to their background at Nintendo, they specialize in helping companies in fields of emerging technology, entertainment, gaming, and virtual reality, connect with their customers, and create loyal and active communities! They work with clients from Fortune 500 companies to start-ups, and their diversity reminded them of the stripes on a zebra, because their clients and their needs are never the same. With their broad range of clientele and services, Perrin and her two co-founders are up always up for the challenge, and are ready to share their expertise with companies so they can grow their businesses and become powerhouses! The three co-founders started Zebra Partners 10 years ago after they launched the Wii console with Nintendo. Though Perrin was the head of communications and corporate affairs for 16 years, she felt that it was time to use her talents and skills to go into business for herself, and took her trusted colleagues with her. As a team, she said they always worked beautifully together, with each of their personalities balancing one another, and due to their deep respect and confidence in each other, they haven’t argued once since Zebra Partner’s launch. She said one obstacle she struggled with in the beginning was redefining what success and power meant to her. She lived the visibly powerful life at Nintendo as the head of a major global company and enjoyed all the luxuries that came with it like authority, constant offers from other companies, and all the splurges that her salary could buy. But when her and her partners ventured out on their own, she had to become accustomed to doing business from her laptop at her dining room table, while in sweats munching on a Trader Joe’s salad. All the superficial frills were gone, but she learned to see power and success in a different way. With her own business, she got to construct her own life, choose who she worked with, what projects she took on, built her own rules, and teach her clients and her coworkers something new every day. And even though she said she’s not making the big decisions anymore, her happiness and joy come from the multitude of small successes and the relationships she gets to nourish and build! Get settled in and hear more of Perrin’s story on today’s episode! In this episode you will… Know how to build a good team dynamic Figure out what success and power means to you Be confident in your own decisions and not look to others to feed your ego Know how to train and develop your staff Create an email schedule Learn how to turn away clients INSIGHTS “In corporate, I had many successes, but my ego was being fed often. When you run your own business, you need to feed your own ego, but you have so much more control. They’re both fantastic journeys…but it’s all about being confident in yourself and loving yourself, and not defining your own success by other things and people around you.” -Perrin Kaplan “If you’re having a blue moment, move your moment…That’s the beauty of being an entrepreneur, you can make things be whatever you want...you can run things how you want to get to the successful feeling that you need.” -Perrin Kaplan “Nobody wants to turn away business, but I think if you’re going to always be at your best, and produce the best for companies, it has to be a two-way street where your chemistry is very good…it has to be a relationship, or we have to pass…You have to love yourself enough to know that if you say no to this something better is going to be coming next, even if you have to dig hard to find it.” -Perrin Kaplan RESOURCES Zebra Partners Website Zebra Partners Facebook Zebra Partners Twitter Entrepreneur Website

Today we meet Helen Ficalora, the founder of Helen Ficalora Jewelry. Helen specializes in high quality, customizable, heirloom pieces that are made out of precious metals. She said her jewelry designs are meant to inspire beauty, love, and peace, and wanted to create something that was beautiful and meaningful for people to wear. She started jewelry making as a kid, but officially released her own designs in a boutique at her family’s beach resort in Olympia, Washington. She needed something to do other than run the hotel, and her jewelry line acted as a happy escape from her 9 to 5. She also wanted to be a part of a business that was booming all year, and when traffic at the hotel died down outside of summer, her jewelry business provided another revenue stream. To get her line off the ground, she began working on her brand’s PR, and met with magazines, and worked her connections in the fashion industry. What really gave her business wings, though, was the monogram trend. Completely unaware of the demand for monogram jewelry, she had created an alphabet charm collection and got featured as the must-have monogram piece in multiple fashion and lifestyle publications. She became flooded with orders, and was soon was able to open up her own store in New York, with its grand opening featured on the Martha Stewart show! She said her business blew up overnight, and has since become a national brand with brick and mortar stores in Chicago, Beverly Hills, Palm Beach, and Dallas! Hear more about how she decided to open a brick and mortar, how she manages them, and Helen Ficalora Jewelry’s story! In this episode you will… Learn how to start a product line Know the best time to open a brick and mortar store Figure out the best place to open a brick and mortar store to be closer to your audience Be able to choose the perfect managers for your stores Find the perfect person to strategize with Discover your flow INSIGHTS “There’s a lot of intuition being used in people who are successful entrepreneurs, and I feel [that’s] definitely part of my ability; to be able to trust my intuition. I’ve been called the trendsetter, and a lot of that comes from just knowing something’s coming…to be able to create things in front of them.” – Helen Ficalora “I’m the ultimate multitasker. I plow through a million things, and prioritize as I’m moving through it…[I] pretty much just [put] my head down and I just go.” -Helen Ficalora “You can choose how you react to things in life, and how you react…affects how you do in business.” -Helen Ficalora “I don’t think things have to be that complicated. I guess that’s maybe my motto. My jewelry is beautiful. The complicated part of it is some of the designs…but it’s all flowing from a place of simplicity.” -Helen Ficalora “If you love what you’re doing, it’s very easy to do it…it’s not a burden to you…it’s your pleasure.” -Helen Ficalora RESOURCES Helen Ficalora Website Helen Ficalora Facebook Helen Ficalora Instagram Helen Ficalora Twitter The Prospering Power of Love by Catherine Ponder Happiness is a Choice by Barry Kaufman Son Rise: The Miracle Continues by Barry Kaufman Gary Vaynerchuk Website

SDH 228: High Performance Habits Part 1 with Amanda Boleyn

SDH227: How to Choose a Mastermind & How They Can Grow Your Business with Sara Christensen