What do you do and why do you do it?
I make entrepreneurship possible for the marginalized and the motivated!
I do it because it’s incredible to be able to use your passion to make a difference in your own life and the lives of others — it’s so fulfilling — but it also feels so out of reach for women that want to start.
Bringing entrepreneurship up to your parents or partners for so many women, especially marginalized women, is often met with “I don’t think this is a good idea.” and “Won’t a real job be better for you?”
There's the traditional way of doing business — make a business plan, have a marketing plan, know your sales projections, have a set in stone idea of who your ideal client avatar is, BUT there’s also the way that happens automatically when we follow our hearts and our passions. We still get to all of those things, but we do it in a way that feels right, aligned, and reinforces our individual strengths along the way.
We don’t have all the answers even with the tangible paperwork required for others to think our aspirations are valid. Without it, we’re actually more dynamic, more real, and the truth is that the passion that drives us is actually THE key ingredient for success.
I’m just here to make our shunned dreams feel possible because they ARE possible and helping people achieve that and attain that level of independence, confidence, and empowerment… it’s the best feeling in the world.
Tell us about a time that life handed you lemons. Did you make lemonade?
I was 25, had just opened my very first retail location (brick and mortar!), and was ready to kill it. The product was water filtration and purification equipment, my dad’s speciality, and he was going to show me the more technical ropes so I could really make this work for us as a family.
Unfortunately, he got into a terrible car accident three days before we opened. I was stuck in a 5-year lease contract for a 3,000 square foot location, and not a clue about what I was doing. The pressure was on — we were quickly losing money, and I was in way over my head. I didn’t know the first thing about the equipment we were selling, and the stress of keeping a 3,000 sq. ft. retail location open WHILE learning everything I needed to know by myself was hugely taxing.
My mental health suffered, I developed anxiety like I’d never had before, and I was constantly under a ridiculous amount of pressure to make the business work — my family’s financial wellbeing was literally riding on it. It took three years for me to be able to get myself out of that situation. We had no exit clause in the contract, and I was so scared about what would happen if we were to just close the doors and leave.
Eventually, I got up the gumption to talk to my landlord (Terry was an awesome guy, may he rest in peace) and negotiated a deal to reduce the size of the store. We didn’t get to get out of our lease entirely, but we were able to reduce the size to 1,200 sq. ft., a much MUCH more manageable deal. At that point, I knew almost everything there was to know about water treatment and was able to ride out the rest of the lease, but I still knew that this was not it for me. Just that relief gave me enough space to make me confront my life and think about what I wanted to do, for ME.
I visited New York that December to check out NYU (I hadn’t really contemplated doing anything about it), but returned from my visit and studied for and wrote my GREs and applied to an MA program in Near Eastern Studies… nothing to do with what I studied in my undergrad, but it felt right. Two months later I was driving home from the store, with Alicia Keys’ New York playing on the radio (a foreshadowing coincidence!), and heard my phone ding. I had gotten in. I pulled over, bawled my eyes out with body-shaking relief for a solid 45 minutes, and proceeded to have the best and most exciting two years of my life… in New York City. I found myself again in that process, and have major gratitude for the situation that led me to make that life-altering move.
What's the best piece of business advice you were given?
“There are two kinds of people — people that do, and people that think about doing.” This isn’t quite advice, but it changed my life. In 2008, I had just started working at a start-up. The founder was an enigma to me — he seemed all over the place, but whatever he was doing was working and it inspired me to no end. The second he said that I knew that I was definitely the former, and it just became part of who I was. The fear was (and is!) still there, but I never let it be the reason I don’t do something, and deciding that I was the person that does in that moment has been the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
Do you have a quote or saying that inspires you? What is it?
There are always reasons to not do something. Do it anyway. (And it’s okay if it takes you a minute to get there.)
Do you ever have moments of self-doubt? What do you do to overcome it?
I don’t think I’ve ever met an entrepreneur who hasn’t! When I'm in that zone (at least once a week!) I think about the people whose trajectories have literally changed with an a-ha moment I’ve been able to create, and sit in that for a moment. I may not be everything to everyone, but if I’ve even made a little bit of an impact (or am able to with sharing what I’ve learned), someone out there needs me and is looking for me right now. The same way even great advice from your parents can feel like a lecture but hearing it from someone else can be life-altering, there’s someone out there who needs to hear what you have to say in only the way that you can say it.
Do you have a book, movie, song or podcast that changed your life?
The Foundr Podcast!! Listening to the entrepreneur stories on that podcast has literally been life-changing, reaffirming my belief that I can do anything because every single one of them started off as normal people. In fact, most of what I know with regards to business strategy and marketing know-how and have been able to leverage to have my own 10-15k months I can most definitely credit to things I learnt from engaging with Foundr content and courses!
How does community play a role in your success?
They say you’re the product of the five people you hang around with the most, and if the past couple of years have shown me anything it’s: that. is. TRUE! Surrounding myself with entrepreneurs has been game-changing. When you see people around you working toward bigger things and achieving them, your subconscious reinforces your belief that you can too. Things that without community around you could take YEARS to achieve get accomplished so much faster, just because of the community around you. And that’s why I love Make Lemonade!
