Tag: business woman

Woman Wednesday: Denise

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Q and A with Denise, Kiwi from New Zealand

“We should always be open to change and know that crappy things can also bring positive change and new beginnings, and it’s all part of our personal journey.”


Q: What are you passionate about? 

A: I am passionate about Africa, the people, and their incredible resilience. I am also passionate about my school in a slum in Kenya! My hubby and I founded the school several years ago. Tamariki Education Centre is the name. I wrote my book, “I Share My Heart With Africa,” and from that book, I founded my tour company, Helping Hand African Tours & Safaris, hosting small group tours to East Africa. A visit to the school was on all my itineraries of course. I absolutely LOVED my tours and felt very blessed to be living a life that allowed me to showcase what I called “my” amazing Africa. Then COVID-19 hit…and everything came to a grinding halt! My tours stopped, school sponsorship dropped, and I struggled…for 2 years! Looking back, I think I went into shock! Then the anger set in, then the sheer frustration of it all, and then one day, I woke up, said to myself, “FK this shit,” and got myself together and moved on.

Somewhere during the last 8 months, I started designing a range of swimwear for “mature ladies” (me!). It was brought about by my own frustrations of not finding anything with good coverage and great support but was still fun, gorgeous, with a little bit of class and sass! Kailani Pearl Swim was born. Kailani Pearl Swim is my new#1 focus, and I am super excited about my new direction. I have opened one tour back to Africa for the New Year 2023, and I have decided I will just take one tour a year. My primary focus has shifted to my swimwear business. Our school is going ok, but we lost a lot of our monthly sponsorship, so it’s just simmering at the moment. I STRONGLY believe things happen for a reason. I believe in positivity and always look for the silver lining.

Q: What were your younger years like?

A:  I had a wonderful childhood with fantastic parents and two brothers. At age 40, I learned for the first time in my life, about my African heritage (my grandfather was half-African). Learning this all made perfect sense as to why I was passionate about all things Africa since a little girl. The path I have been on was all “meant to be” and is what led my husband and me to meet our beautiful son, who we met in Kenya as a young man, and who we were instantly connected with. As an orphan at 3 years old, he has no family or doesn’t know of any (at least). So, we brought him into our family and welcomed him in as our son and brother to his siblings (our biological son and daughter). He is now an extremely important member of our extended family. He now has parents, siblings, a grandmother, aunties, uncles, and cousins, who love him.

Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?

A: All aspects of our lives and the journey should be welcomed and embraced. We should always be open to change and know that crappy things can also bring positive change and new beginnings, and it’s all part of our personal journey. We should ALWAYS embrace whatever comes our way. Always look for that silver lining.

Q: What does feminism mean to you?
A: I am quietly passionate about women’s rights and equality. It’s a fundamental right that women are treated equally all through life. I don’t go rallying or standing on soap boxes advocating women’s rights, however. But I believe in 100% equality, of course! My parents were traditional for their era. My dad was the “breadwinner” and mum was the “homemaker.”

MORE ABOUT DENISE: I am a Kiwi, living in New Zealand, but I love to travel extensively (when we can!).

Thank you for reading!

Let’s connect! Here:

My swimwear brand

https://kailanipearl.com

My Helping Hand African Tours & Safaris:

www.helpinghandafricatours.com

My book

My school:

www.tamarikieducationcentre.com

Woman Wednesday: Natalie

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Q and A with Natalie, Melbourne, Australia

“When things become stressful, it’s your values that will drive you.”


Q: What are you passionate about? 

A: I’ve been fortunate to take my interests and passions into the work that I do through creating different businesses in which I get to share those passions with the world. My first business was a travel company, which I had for 15 years. My current businesses are all about sharing my love of wellness, bubbles (champagne and sparkling wine), and business through speaking, writing, and mentoring.

In my wellness business, I brought together my passion and understanding of how important wellness is for a happy life as well as my experience as a former fitness instructor to create Wellness on Time—an online wellness program to help people easily integrate wellness activities into their day. This was before the explosion of online wellness activities that has occurred since the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a niche that I knew would help and benefit people.

My bubbly business—The Bubbles Review. This one really is a passion project—it is a blog, website, and events and tours on champagne and sparkling wine. The idea came from a few different areas, including my love of champagne and sparkling wine.

One of my favorite things to do is to help others succeed through my mentoring, writing, and speaking work. A big shift for me in the past few months has been taking my consulting and mentoring business—Natalie Pickett Mentor—to global markets. By bringing more of what I do online, I get to share my insights to help even more people. It has opened up so many opportunities for me to work with business owners all around the world. Amazing things are happening, including being a coauthor in the international best-selling book ‘Becoming an Unstoppable Woman’ and being featured in great blogs like this one!

Q: What were your younger years like?

A: I’ve always loved business. Even as a young girl, I used to convince my friends at elementary school to play ‘business’ with me. I’d be the head of some corporation or I’d convince my siblings to play ‘shops’ with me and I would work out each item’s profit margin. People think that a business mind is different to a creative mind, but when you can create something where there was nothing, that’s creative. Turning an idea into something bigger, such as a business that benefits everyone who buys from you, is undeniably creative.

I am a child of divorced parents, and my ability to not take things personally, while also realizing that some things are outside of my control, was honed during those early years. My mother was a bit of a ‘hippie’ and my dad was quite conservative, so it was about navigating both worlds. I think that has helped me to be open to listen to new ideas and be able to adapt to changing situations quickly in order to find the best solutions to move forward.

I’m from Melbourne, Australia, but have spent time living in other parts of the world. In my 20s, I worked and travelled the east coast of Australia, then the USA, the UK, and Europe. I returned to Melbourne after seven years, and at age 28, I established an inbound travel company, bringing visitors from all over the world to visit Australia. Almost 30 years on, I have a few different businesses. I still live in Melbourne with my daughter, who is now 19 years old. I think travel is one of life’s best educators; you learn a lot about yourself as well as have a better understanding of others. Experiencing other cultures, language, foods and customs opens up the world to you. Travel (when not in restrictions) remains a big part of my life.

I am a serial entrepreneur, and I have founded multiple businesses with 6- and 7-figure success stories. I’ve certainly had my share of triumphs and so-called ‘failures.’ After closing my travel company during the GFC, I founded a successful consulting business. You learn a lot in starting and growing a business, and you learn so much more when you need to close one. There is a procedural aspect to this understanding, as well as personal growth through that adversity. It gives you the perspective to assess what you really want in life. It is actually an opportunity to restart everything in a new way and make the life you truly want. Utilizing my networks created from my travel company, almost overnight my consulting business became a 6-figure success, and I achieved this by only working part-time hours. This business includes successful speaking and mentoring work where I share my knowledge and real-life experiences to help people take their business and daily lives from surviving to thriving.

Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?

A: Our businesses should work for us, not the other way around. The keys to success with each of my businesses is that they all come from my passion, my core values, and my desire to contribute and share my knowledge with others. When things become stressful, it’s your values that will drive you.

Life (and business) is supposed to be fun! My movement is ‘Living the Dream.’ People think they need to wait until they ‘achieve’ to start enjoying life. I’ve discovered that Living the Dream is less about working hard and more about following your joy. When you operate from a place of joy, that is what you share with others and lots of joyous people makes for a better world.

It is possible to define your own version of success and easily take the steps you need to achieve your goals. It is possible for you to not just Dream the Dream, but Live the Dream. I’m passionate about sharing this with the world, and share that in my writing, my courses, and speaking engagements.

Q: What does feminism mean to you? 

A: I think everyone should be a feminist! When women do well, so does everyone else. Families thrive, relationships are mutually supportive. We are very fortunate in this current day to have had strong women come before us; the Suffragettes fought in a decades-long fight to win the right to vote for women in the early part of the 20th century. And the strong women of the feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s did as well. We get to enjoy the freedoms of those advances that were won for women worldwide. Some may still feel like they are battling inequality, while some may feel they have everything they need and no longer need to fight for it. I don’t see feminism as a battle of the sexes. To me, it is simply about everyone thriving and being supported to do so. It really is something we can all support.

MORE FROM NATALIE:

I’ve recently been featured in some major US media publications, and I share a lot of free advice through my articles and on my social media. I have a free course, which includes me sharing business stories as well as paid opportunities to work with me. You can find the links you need to follow me on the Linktree here: https://linktr.ee/natalie_pickett_mentor

Connect with me.

Insta

Facebook

Thank you for reading!

I’d love to connect with you! 🙂

Comment below!

Woman Wednesday: Jacquelynn

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Q and A with Jacquelynn, Hattiesburg, Mississippi

“Life is so short and so beautiful.”


Q: What are you passionate about? 

A: My first love, outside of being a mother, is music. Ever since I was a little girl, I vividly remember singing my little heart out. My first performance was with my grandmother, Peggy Sue, singing gospel at my baptism, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Which is super interesting to me because I’m an introvert at heart. I’m not passionate about just one thing though. As I mentioned, I love being a mama. But when it comes to work outside of motherhood, I genuinely enjoy helping and pouring into other women. It lights me up! I’m into breastfeeding awareness, embracing your weirdness, helping mamas figure out how to turn their passions into income, creating courses, cooking, writing and singing my own songs, big fan of naps, and all the little things in life. But above all, being a mama and wife is my favorite, and they’re the very reason for all the creating I do. They motivate me. I want to make them proud. I want to set a good example and show them how something can be made from absolutely nothing. Like my children’s book, I Think I Need Glasses. It started with one little idea and evolved once it hit paper. The eBook is my most recently finished project. It’s about a little girl who has an imagination out of this world. She tells of her adventures and life experiences from her point of view, but her older brother pokes fun with her and tells her throughout the story that he thinks she needs glasses. It’s a playful and magical transitional story for children who wear glasses. It’s available for download on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/I-Think-Need-Glasses-ebook/dp/B099V1WH56/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=i+think+i+need+glasses&qid=1627277487&sprefix=i+think+i+need+glass&sr=8-3

My next upcoming appearance/teaching is a super powerful onetime workshop called “Monetize Your Passion” on Thursday, August 5 @ 6pm CST / 7pm EST. The workshop is for creative and passionate aspiring or “stuck” female entrepreneurs. I’ll go over getting clearer with what your passion is and how to turn it into not one, but multiple offers. All the details are on the registration page. It’s going to be pretty epic. I’m so excited! You can also catch my podcast “Just Women Talking Sh!t” just about anywhere you get your podcast. I’m always looking for women to interview, so if you give it a listen and send your story in for an interview, you so should! And last, but certainly not least, I have a free online community for growing and unapologetic women. It’s called Female, Fearless, & Bad-Ass. That’s about all I have going on at the moment!

Q: What were your younger years like?

A: This is a tough one to talk about. Because I truly believe that my childhood and younger years, as an adult, have everything to do with the woman I am today. Fun fact about me: I am the oldest of my mother’s six children. Yes, six. How badass is that? She’s such a fierce and strong woman! Shoutout to my Ma in case she reads this. [She laughs.] Anyway, she did the whole single mom thing up until I was about 13 years old. I vividly remember having a baby on each hip, making lunches, doing dishes, playing house at a young age. Everyone called me a little mama, but it’s all I knew. I remember wanting to buy something but always knew how hard my mama worked to take care of us, so I set up my own lemonade stand. Okay, I’ll be honest. It was a Kool-Aid stand. (Southerners know what I’m talking about.) [She laughs.]

In one day’s work, I made $40. I remember dividing the money up among my sister, cousin, and me. We walked down the road to a florist and I bought my mama some silver dangly ball earrings. She wore those suckers out. I was so proud. I’ve had the entrepreneur bug ever since. I am one of the few in my family to graduate from high school. I did attend college but found myself stuck in this viscous cycle of changing my mind on what I wanted to do with my life over and over again. It became tiring, frustrating, and a total waste of money. I’ve honestly done it all trying to find my place in this big and crazy world. I cleaned houses and babysat as a young teenager, got my first big girl job at a Joyce Leslie women’s retail store, went on to have multiple jobs throughout high school, bartended at 18, cashiered at Goodburger on Chestnut in Center City Philly, became a nanny when I was let go abruptly, continued nanny work for the next several years up until my first child was born, wrote for a local newspaper, freelanced at marketing events, was a personal assistant, cleaned houses yet again as a young mom, waited tables as a single mom, made my way into a daycare where I taught and later worked in the office, was introduced to network marketing and multi-level business models, tried those out and did okay, found myself obsessed with finding the next big thing, failed over and over again, finally went back to corporate America after my first marriage went to crap, worked my tail off, never saw my daughter, ran myself and health into the ground, was scouted by one company, hired just to be fired a week before Thanksgiving of 2019. I told myself I would never allow someone to have such a hold over me. My health was crap, my mood fluctuated, I was so burnt out I couldn’t enjoy the money I did make. Even though it was scary as hell being let go that day and I had no idea what I was going to do, I knew it was all going to be okay because, well, it just had to be. This was yet another test. Fast forward to now—I’m a mother for a second time. I’m creating like I’ve never created before. I’m living authentically and really smelling the roses like I’ve never smelled them before. Because life is so beautiful. I don’t think people stop and think about that enough. We are all here as a result of millions of tiny things that all had to go right for us to even be here. Think about that and don’t take one second for granted. Life is so short and so beautiful.

Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?

A: You have all of the tools to do something great in your lifetime all within you. It all starts with you. I don’t think this is talked about enough. You are so powerful. Your life experiences, wisdom, story, downfalls, triumphs, testimony, all of it. It’s so powerful. I just want to see everyone around me happy, healthy, successful, and wealthy—whatever that may look like for them. And I think that happiness starts at the core. It starts with you. So, take good care of yourself so that you can excel in all the things. Self-love takes priority so that everything else runs like a well-oiled machine. I think several women with past traumas and insecurities tend to seek validation from others. Sometimes, it comes in the form of a romantic partner because maybe she grew up without a father present in her life. (That was me.) Sometimes, it comes in the form of being stuck in a career that makes her unhappy to the core because she was taught that the only way to make it in life is to work her tail off and put her time in like everyone else until retirement, but what she really wants is to somehow find a way to monetize her passion. (That was also me.) All in all, I just want women to realize that they don’t have to settle for someone else’s idea of what life should be like is all. I’ve been there and done that, so if me sharing my story helps others navigate through life and/or business journeys easier, well I’m all in. Just know you can literally do anything you set your mind to!

Q: What does feminism mean to you? 

A: When I think of feminism, I think of how far women’s rights have come in general. It goes to show just how powerful women are. I mean really think about how far we have come in such a little amount of time. And now? I bet if I was to ask any of your readers to name an inspiring woman who makes multiple six figures or more a year…someone would instantly come to mind, no? It isn’t about proving I’m better than or equal to a man. It’s about celebrating the power that’s within us all and shows in the growth and impact we each have in this world. It’s about the growth and impact the women before us had in this world and then the ones before them and so on. The world is so big and so vast, yet we can create such impact that is on a level so deep it changes lives. Like how cool is that? That’s the ultimate girl power if I’ve ever seen it.

MORE FROM JACQUELYNN: I was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. I primarily lived in a small town called Dixie, but I moved away to New York when I was 16. I graduated high school in the Poconos, attended college in Philadelphia, PA, for a year, and moved back down south when I was 22 or so. My roots are firmly planted back in Mississippi with my beautiful family.

Thank you for reading! Connect with me here:

“Monetize Your Passion”

“I Think I Need Glasses”

Podcast

Facebook Group

I’d love to connect with you! 🙂

Thoughts, questions, or comments?

Woman Wednesday: Annie A.

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Q and A with Annie A., South Carolina

“Vulnerability is beautiful.”


Q: What are you passionate about? 

A: I am interested in people. I love intense connections and people who overshare. I’ve also always been drawn towards the spiritual—and I’ve always been an artist. All of those things seemed to funnel me into launching Sweetgrass & Sage.

This year, as violent as it has been for all of us, has been a major catalyst for change for me. I found myself going through an amicable divorce with two sweet babies who I needed to be able to keep at home (both because I am high risk and because my son has special needs), a cross country move, and a 10 year gap in my work history. It was a make it work moment, absolutely. More than that, though, I am a helper, and I realized that I had the opportunity to help other women who are also trying to make it work. We rise by lifting others, and right now so many can use a lift. I believe that the work of women’s hands is it’s own kind of magic, and it is valuable.

Q: What were your younger years like?

A: I was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and grew up in and around Orangeburg. I went to both public and private schools, my dad was a Methodist minister, my mom was an attorney. They’re both full-time grandparents now.

I was adopted at a day and a half old. I always knew it—my birth mother was a phenomenal woman and force of nature; I met her when I was 16. She was also a pagan, something which kind of spurred on my own quest for understanding, for lack of a better way to put it. I was an anxious child and have always found peace in nature and through working with my hands. I love the smell of sawdust; I think it takes me back to working on projects with my dad as a child.

Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?

A: Don’t try to fit a mold that wasn’t made for you. Authenticity is contagious. Vulnerability is beautiful. Give yourself permission to be you, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. Just be as kind as you can along the way.

Q: What does feminism mean to you? 

A: I come from a long line of feminists. My grandmother was quite an athlete. She had mostly brothers and thought that she could do anything they could do and refused to be told differently. My mother, her daughter, was the first female sports editor of a daily newspaper in South Carolina. She was the first woman in the Clemson Press Box and in Clemson basketball locker room, and remembers the then coach, Frank Howard, as saying, “They’ll let anybody up here now!” She went on to become an attorney. My aunt, Kate Salley Palmer, was one of only three syndicated political cartoonists in the nation—she worked for the Greenville News. Feminism, to me, means the freedom to follow your happy, however you find it. It means the ability to follow your authentic self, whoever you are. You love traditional gender roles? Excellent! You’re a woman welder? Rock on! My focus was on woodworking in college. Want to mix it up? You do you. Women are strong and capable. The badass in me recognizes the badass in you. Feminism means being able to do your thing and supporting other women doing theirs.

Q: What would you like others to know about Sweetgrass & Sage?

A: Sweetgrass & Sage Box has different business model from others because I find the traditional subscription box model to be a little predatory. Integrity is super important for me. I believe, whole heartedly, in the value of artisan quality work, and whereas most of the big name subscription boxes make the businesses pay to be in the box AND provide their product for free, I pay for the product, and my promotion of the woman-owned small businesses I work for is free. They get a little stimulus from box sales, and new people to try their product. The box recipients get a great deal on things they actually want, and each piece is intended to be something they can have as a tangible reminder of their own inner strength. I’m focused on people over profit, and the quality of each piece is top-notch. You’re not going to wind up with 400 jars of moisturizer you’ll never use.

Spring boxes will be fully customizable and tailored to you so that you only get what you want.

Thank you for reading!


Check out Sweetgrass & Sage here.

Thoughts, questions, or comments?

Let us know! Comment below! 🙂

Woman Wednesday: Elizabeth

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*Note: Woman Wednesday is a part of our blog. Each Woman Wednesday post will feature a woman who would like to share information in the hopes of inspiring and motivating other women. Comments are welcome below.              

Q and A with Elizabeth, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.

“Your passion isn’t always obvious.”


Q: What are you passionate about? 

A: I’m passionate about so many things, but my main one these days is writing. When I was a young girl around 10 years old, I remember using a child-size blue typewriter and writing a short story. I found it a few years ago, and it wasn’t half bad! I’d like to pick it up and finish it one of these days. While I raised my children, writing fell off to the side as there was no time or energy to do it, but now that they are 12 and 14 years old, I have the time to dedicate myself to it again. As a result, I’ve started three businesses that revolve around writing—a mom lifestyle blog, a handmade business, where I knit and crochet character hats and write children’s books to tell each character’s story, as well as a marketing business, where I specialize in content writing for other businesses, specifically newsletters, blog posts, social media, and WordPress website content writing and SEO.

 

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Q: What were your younger years like?

A: My paternal grandmother was an avid reader and life-long-learner and she shared that with me. She also encouraged me to pursue an English degree in university, and I’m so glad that I did because I feel it has helped me be a better communicator. This skill has been used in all my endeavors.
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Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?

A: Something valuable I’ve learned is that your passion isn’t always obvious. It took me quite a while working on my business before I woke up one morning with a lightbulb moment that I love writing.

 

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Q: What does feminism mean to you? 

A: To me, feminism means equal opportunity, respect, compensation for work, and [treatment] as a person in general regardless of gender. 

 

Thank you for reading!

I’d love to connect with you!

Elizabeth Ruth Marketing, Facebook 

Mom Lifestyle Blog

Ruthless Crafter


Thoughts, questions, or comments?

Comment below! 🙂