It’s no secret many people are leaving the workforce to seek greener pastures. However, some are taking the opportunity to start their own company rather than joining a new one. If you’ve been toying with the idea of entrepreneurism for a while, you may need a little nudge to take that leap of faith finally. Though it’s definitely not easy, all of these 16 female entrepreneurs will tell you it’s worth it. Here, they share their nuggets of wisdom and inspiration.
“Meet your customers where they are.”
“One of the factors that significantly contributed to the success of my business has continued to be meeting your customers where they are at a particular part of their day. For example, one of my businesses is located across the street from an elementary school. We observed that parents parked in our shopping center for the 7:40 a.m. start of school and then drove off to start their days. I believed that many of these parents could benefit from meeting their outfit needs during that window of time, so we started opening at 7:45 a.m., which is unheard of in specialty retail fashion. It’s also led to customers buying online and picking up in-store first thing in the morning before schedules dominate the day. Listen to your customer’s feedback but also practice analytical observation and adapt your services to address both.”
—Stephanie O’Neill, the founder of Estilo Boutique, established in 2004. They’ve experienced 10 percent sales growth since 2020.
“Use business as a force of good.”
“I’ve always been inspired by the power of positive change and being the change we want to see in the world – it was important to me that we continually evolve and make conscious efforts to use business as a force of good, influencing positive change wherever we have a corporate presence. B Corp is a leader in corporate responsibility, sustainability, and brand ethics. Partnering with B Corp to make sure that our practices aligned with our values was a natural fit.”
—Sunday Riley, founder, CEO and lead Product Formulator of Sunday Riley Modern Skincare.
“Be scrappy.”
“Be scrappy, keep operating costs as low as possible, and reinvest everything back into your business. This means being creative and utilizing every means possible to build your business and get ahead. We launched as a kitchen table start-up with very few resources, relying on free software to build our site, create our brand, and start making waves in social media. One of the few programs we invested in was the design platform Canva, which allowed us to create a beautiful brand with highly visual content and no design background. Social media was an essential tool for us because we could reach a wide audience with no marketing spend. Thanks to our social media presence and the brand we were able to create using Canva, the Elsewhere brand took off and has been growing ever since.”
—Alexis Bowen, co-founder of Elsewhere, launched in April 2021. Within two months of launch, they sold enough trips to cover their operating costs and remain profitable month-over-month.
“Perfection is the killer of progress.”
“You don’t have to have it all figured out right away! If you leap, a net will appear. If you approach entrepreneurship from the place of courage and confidence, with the knowledge that things will grow and change over time, then you can’t fail. Although it’s easy to do, try not to get stuck in perfection paralysis. Not doing something because it isn’t ‘perfect’ is actually just a way of protecting yourself — if you never send that brave email or launch that new project, you don’t have to worry about rejection. But those big, scary decisions often bring the biggest rewards.”
—Jen Berson, the president and founder of Jeneration PR, established in 2005, and Profitable PR Pros Facebook community, created in 2018. Over the past year, revenue has increased by 88 percent.
“Accept the discomfort.”
“Following your dream, starting your business, quitting your day job, or putting yourself out there on the internet is the most exciting thing in the world you can do. Accept that challenging moments will arrive, fires will need to be put out, and you will feel massive amounts of discomfort. When you feel as if you are being stretched outside of your comfort zone, take that as a sign that you are on the right path. Acknowledge how strong you are before you even step foot in the game and remember that strength when things feel chaotic and challenging. It is how you walk through the challenging chaos that will make you the strong, embodied, fulfilled, and powerful woman you are about to become.”
—Scout Sobel, the CEO and founder of Scout’s Agency, established in 2019, and the bestselling author of ‘The Emotional Entrepreneur.’ In the first year of business, they hit a six-figure revenue, and in the second, they grew 250 percent. In their third year, they grew 60 percent and became a team of five full-time employees.
“Action is required.”
“The only difference between an entrepreneur and a dreamer is that one takes action. The path of an entrepreneur requires incredible work ethic, diverse intellect, agility, ability to problem solve, comfort with uncertainty and change, willingness to look in the mirror constantly, but most important of all is that it requires action. I believe entrepreneurism is a calling: if that’s you, being called a dreamer would be an insult, and you would always regret not going for it. What I’d tell you is that 2022 is as good a year as any. Action is the only thing between you and your calling, and the longer you wait, the more you kick the can down the road and live short of who you were meant to be. The world is full of entrepreneurs who started before they were ready…care to join us?”
—Daina Trout, the co-founder and chief mission officer of Health-Ade, established in 2012. Today, Health-Ade is available in 50,000 retailers nationwide and has more than $200 million in annual retail sales.
“Know your competitors.”
“Don’t copy competitors in your field. It’s tempting to “borrow” aspects that you admire, and sure, there’s usually overlap in most fields. However, instead of cheap imitation, you should instead strive to provide your target audience with what your competitors are not providing. Put the time in, do the research, and then find your niche and build. Everyone has their vision, and if you remain true to yours, you will not struggle to stand out.”
—Angie Rowntree, the founder and director of Sssh.com, established in 1999. They have experienced an 80 percent increase in sales year-over-year since September 2020.
“Figure out how you want to spend your days.”
“Make sure you find out how you want to spend your day and what your strengths are; don’t get really good at accounting or reviewing contracts if that doesn’t bring you joy because your time is better spent elsewhere. There’s nothing too small for you to work on and nothing too big for you to dream up. When you enjoy every day and document everything, your day-to-day role will shift faster than you can believe. Don’t let anyone tell you what you aren’t capable of. And finally, don’t be a hero: get sleep, eat well, and take care of yourself.”
—Lizzie Horvitz, the founder and CEO of Finch, established in 2020. Their newsletter has grown 60 percent year over year.
“Do not be afraid to ask for help.”
“Do not be afraid to ask for help; trust your gut and truly believe in what you are doing. There are people out there that may have more experience and are willing to lend a helping hand. Take that help, but know that you are capable and trust yourself. Read a lot and be open to constructive criticism. If you have that palpable passion, it shows, and it will keep you motivated during the hardest of times. Know that those times will come and that you must have the right people around you to help you get through it. Most of all, enjoy the rollercoaster!”
—Camila Soriano, the co-founder and CFO of Volley, established in 2019. Their sales in 2021 are 10x their sales in 2020.
“Leap and the net will appear.”
“The mantra that I often still repeat to myself is ‘leap, and the net will appear.’ The fear that you feel in the beginning is completely normal — in fact, it’s a testament to you stepping out of your comfort zone. The beautiful thing is that once you take this first step, successive leaps and risks get easier to navigate because you’re training your heart and your mind to conquer it with every growth-oriented decision that you make. So embrace the fear, the hesitancy, the feeling of inadequacy! What makes the greatest entrepreneurs so special is that they’ve had the practice of channeling their fear productively and have continued to leap despite it.”
—Rooshy Roy, the co-founder and CEO of AAVRANI, established in 2018. In the last year, their team has doubled in size and experienced 4x growth in revenue.
“Do what you want with conviction.”
“Do what you want with conviction, and trust your gut every step of the way. The process of making your dream a reality is so energizing and exciting, but you have to really dive in and emerge yourself to reap all the rewards. Make sure you’re so passionate about pursuing your idea that absolutely nothing could or would stop you, and then do everything in your power to ensure its success. Also, don’t be afraid to take up space and voice your accomplishments! You should be so proud of yourself, and you never know who you’ll be inspiring along the way.”
—Aimee Yang, founder and CEO of Better Brand, established in 2021. They hit a $1 million run rate within three months of launch.
“There is never going to be a ‘right’ time to begin.”
“The more quickly you can immerse yourself in your entrepreneurial journey, the better. Every day is one step in front of the other, fueled by a complete obsession for what you do. You will make dozens of mistakes daily — but quickly, you’ll realize that people don’t remember that email newsletter you sent with a typo in it; they remember how consistent your emails are once a week every week. Consistency will be the driving force behind your success. If you are still apprehensive, consider this: The concept of someone setting a flat number to your value for an entire year of your life, no matter how much you learn, how hard you work, or what you contribute, is absurd. As an entrepreneur, you have no limits. There are no glass ceilings when you are your own corporation.”
—Anastasia Casey, the founder and CEO of The Identite Collective and IDCO Studio, established in 2016. They’ve experienced $3 million in sales with 73 percent profit margins and 236 percent year-over-year growth.
“Find where passion and market opportunity meet.”
“Business owners often have a lot of passions that do not naturalize into successful businesses, so they should make sure that the business is aligned with passion as well as opportunity in the market. Find business partners that complement their skillset. An entrepreneur’s business partners should be selected carefully alongside a few criteria. One, will this partner bring value to the business? Does the value they bring to the business fill a current gap in the other founder skill sets? And is this a partner that they want to be in the trenches with? The last one is harder to measure immediately, so it may be easier to pick a business partner from past working relationships (a previous boss, colleague, or even classmate) so there is already an understanding of working styles and skillsets.”
—Meagan Carboney, the co-founder and chief brand officer at Jill Razor, established in February 2021. They just hit 500 million views on social media channels, and their flagship Jill Razor Starter Kit has sold out five times since its launch.
“Calm the fear mindset.”
“Taking a leap of faith is a terrifying thing and, yet, the best thing you can possibly do at the beginning is to make decisions from a place of power and confidence as opposed to fear. I look back at mistakes I’ve made or decisions I regret and have realized that every single time I was making those decisions out of fear or desperation. When you switch your mindset from ‘I need to do whatever it takes to get X,’ to ‘if X is right for me, it will come,’ you set yourself up not only for success but a much more solid foundation upon which to build your business. In other words, calm the fear mindset so you can hear your intuition. As women in business — or any situation really — it’s our best superpower.”
—Laura Johnson, the founder and CEO of You & Yours Distilling Co., established in 2017. They hit $1 million in topline revenue in 2020.
“Surround yourself with other entrepreneurs.”
“It’s really important to surround yourself with other entrepreneurs who understand the ups and downs of starting your own business. Join women’s organizations and entrepreneur centers in your area. If there aren’t any, start one. I love to mentor young women, and I always ask one question: ‘who do you admire the most or what role do you want one day?’ Then, I challenge them to research the person to understand their path and what it took to get there. My best advice is to really think about where you want to be five years and ten years from now because what you do today is the start to getting there. If you do not know your path, it will take you longer to get there.”
—Jeannie Barsam, the founder and CEO of Gifting Brands, launched in 2020. Last year, they donated $250K in inventory donations and sales profits to charities.
“View questions as a gift.”
“As an entrepreneur, you will be questioned every single day, with topics that range from the mundane to the major, so trusting your own voice is essential. And the bonus is that if you trust it, others will, too. When those questions come in, try and take them as a gift because they are, but don’t lose your resolve. The first few years of running your own business will invariably come with peaks and valleys, so it’s important to have the stomach for riding out the unexpected, the scrappiness to push up your sleeves and get things done, and the stamina to stay the course no matter how it winds. Your best assets as an entrepreneur are determination and treating people right, no matter where you are in your journey.”
—Miranda Bennett, the founder and CEO of Miranda Bennett Studio, launched in 2013. They are among the 4.6 percent of women-owned businesses that have surpassed $1 million in revenue.
