Q and A with Anessa, from USA, living in British Columbia, Canada
“You have far more influence than you think, even when you don’t speak.”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I am on a mission to increase the number of women participating in our governments, communities, and economies through use of strategic communications.
Fewer than 50% of women-owned businesses will survive to their 5th year due to the same systemic reasons—access to funding and lack of skills in the areas of business finance, strategic planning, and strategic communications (influence, conflict, behaviors, and negotiations.)
I am a Harmoni coach who specializes in bringing harmony to scaling entrepreneurs, their business, and their clientele through strategic use of mindful influence. Specifically, I teach women how to use mindful influence to motivate themselves as leaders, keep their clients engaged through their transformations, and adapt their processes to serve themselves as individuals. I can be reached through both LinkedIn and Facebook.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: I grew up in a large blue-collar family filled with entrepreneurs. My life has been blessed with incredible mentors and parents who wielded mindful influence toward the achievement of my goals. Honesty, in all contexts, but particularly where money and value are exchanged is essential to my happiness as an entrepreneur. I was the first girl in my family to get a degree and move out of state while being the last to marry.
To supplement my athletic scholarship in university, I worked as a wildland firefighter, living and working with four wonderful men. They are one of the many reasons I excelled in corporate America.
For those who may not know, a wildland firefighter is dispatched to the high mountain terrain to suppress fires. The duties of the role include serving as a firefighter or engine operator during prescribed burning and wildfire suppression activities; conducting regular maintenance and repairs on various equipment such as fire engines, tractors, mowers, chain saws, and hand tools. Aside from bearing a child, it was the most difficult mental and physical role I have ever served in. Working with men, living with men, and having to carry all the same equipment while weighing far less, was cathartic. After this, my self-confidence was impenetrable. I pursued this line of work because other work available to me and other young women paid so little.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: You have far more influence than you think, even when you don’t speak. The behaviors and mindset it took for you to reach your first level as an entrepreneur will have to change for you to reach subsequent levels.
Q: What does feminism mean to you?
A: Feminism, to me, means empowering other women through the explicit decision to support them directly and indirectly in my behaviors.
MORE FROM ANESSA: I am always available to entrepreneurs who are in their 2nd year and beyond—should they need a sounding board and not a sales pitch.
Thank you for reading!
I’d love to connect with you! 🙂
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