On this exciting book journey we have the pleasure of interviewing nearly 100 women who are running interesting, inspiring, and innovative companies.
(More about why we are writing the book here and here).
While we of course will be including lots of details in the book and discussing the interviews over the next year, we wanted to share a few tidbits from each amazing interview in the meantime!
We were so grateful to Chloe Jo Berman of GirlieGirlArmy for giving us some time so close to her due date! It was awesome to get to know this Glamazon icon better.
Here’s what we are still remarking on:
Amy – I was taken with how Chloe really demonstrates that being authentic can not only define the way you live but also the way you build your business too. Her unwillingness to compromise her beliefs and goal (to help decrease animal cruelty) has trade-offs, but they are ones that she can proudly live with.
Adelaide – I was so touch by the role that honesty, collaboration, and generosity have played in the creation of the GirlieGirl empire. Chloe is clearly a woman who got where she is by listening to her heart, making true steady-fast relationships with her customers and partners, and by always looking to give as much as she can to others. She is the perfect embodiment of her mission.
As you know we are thrilled about our new book deal!
And oh joy - the interviewing, writing & research has begun!A big part of our book will be including stories, experiences, anecdotes & tips from women entrepreneurs and all of you!
We will be posing weekly questions to help us with our writing and brainstorming. Sometimes we will be soliciting a tip and other times a reflection on your own experience.
Oh the places you can go…! What's the right business direction?
We want to know:
* Was there a point along the way that you felt your business either got off track or that you were unhappy with the way things were? Why? What did you do to correct or change that?
* Have your clients, colleagues, or friends tried to push you in a business direction that you don’t want to go? What have they suggested? Why doesn’t it work for you?
We’d prefer if you reply in the comments because it makes the conversation richer and I think you’ll see that you’re not the only one with the same insights or challenges! If you’d feel more comfortable sending me an email, you can do that too. Adelaide@
People often talk to us about “meaningful work”. We frequently have women tell us that they started their own business because they wanted to do something that was meaningful to them. We also hear countless people who are dissatisfied with their jobs talk about how their work isn’t meaningful.
During these conversations two things always come to mind and sometimes become part of the conversation.
1. Sometimes people don’t realize that figuring out what “meaningful” work means to you is actually hard work in and of itself. It can take some time and experimentation to get clear about this. But regardless it is a part of normal career development and the answer is unique to each person. It is not a given, and it is frustrating when people expect it to be obvious or, worse, when they expect meaningful work to find them.
Of course hindsight is 20/20 when it comes to this. Most of us can craft pretty articulate and clever explanations about how we arrived where we are today. Of course as we were experiencing our own journeys it didn’t feel so clear or purposeful. That being said, most of us who find ourselves doing things we believe are meaningful have experimented along the way, trying things in order to get closer to work that made us happy and that leverage our strengths (and thus don’t feel as much like “work”). And these experiments are not without risks, but they are also not without rewards.
2. On the flip side, sometimes people get too caught up in the overall “meaning” of their work. They expect it to be the ‘be all and end all’ of what’s important. They want their meaningful job or business to fulfill all their needs. Just like your partner can meet every single one of your emotional/social needs (that’s what colleagues and girlfriends are for), your business can meet all of your intellectual and fulfillment needs either. Expecting it to do so is a sure recipe for disappointment.
More than that, it is important to recognize that each one of us work for different reasons. For some work may be infused with passion, for others it may be a means to an end, for others it may be the right combination of financial reward and freedom/flexibility. For others still, work may primarily serve as a creative expression. What’s most important is that you know what work means to you, and to realize that it may mean different things to you over the course of your career and at different times in your life. The consistent factor is that you are in the driver’s seat and it is up to you to determine what is important and worth experimenting and pursuing at each and every stage.
So with that…what does work mean to you? Are you engaged in work that is fulfilling your needs?
On this exciting book journey we have the pleasure of interviewing nearly 100 women who are running interesting, inspiring, and innovative companies. (More about why we are writing the book here and here).
While we of course will be including lots of details in the book and discussing the interviews over the next year, in the meantime we wanted to share a few tidbits from each amazing interview!
We recently had the opportunity to visit MarieBelle (the amazing chocolate shop in Soho – YUM) and talk with owner Maribel Lieberman.
Aside from chocolate intoxication, here’s what stuck with us:
Adelaide – Like many of the women we have talked with, Maribel is a perfect embodiment of her company brand. In addition to luxurious ingredients, it is clear that packaging, presentation, design and style are important to Maribel. (It is not surprising that she has a background in fashion.) Through her business she has created the most gorgeous experience that involves all of the customers’ senses.
Amy – I was amazing by how much love still factors into her work 10 years after she started. Maribel loves to cook and create. She loves her product and she loves that it makes people happy. Her products and business are truly made from love and it shows!
With April comes a new inFOCUS business! We had a great time with Meredith Barnett of The Inside Source and StoreAdore last month and this month are excited to be featuring BottleRocket.
BottleRocket has effectively changed the experience of shopping for and learning about wine with their innovative store layout, friendly and knowledgeable staff members, integrated educational approach, and outstanding customer service.
Starting April 1st we will be posting a series of excerpts from our conversations with Tom Geniesse, founder and business creative extraordinaire!
As always, we will round out the month with a private gathering and "behind the scenes" peek at the featured business.
On April 21st, BottleRocket has graciously invited IGC members to join them for a tasting, tour, and talk.
It is a great way to kick off spring with your IGC companions!
WHERE: BottleRocket 5 West 19th Street (b/w 5th/6th avenues) WHEN: April 21st, 5:30-7:30pm RSVP: Pls send an email to igcrsvp@gmail.com with BOTTLEROCKET in the subject
On this exciting book journey we have the pleasure of interviewing nearly 100 women who are running interesting, inspiring, and innovative companies. (More about the book & why we are writing it: here and here).
While we of course will be including lots of details in the book and discussing the interviews over the next year, in the meantime we wanted to share a few tidbits from each amazing interview!
Last week we had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Melanie Notkin of SavvyAuntie. She is just remarkable – inspiring, thoughtful, and so very genuine.
A couple things stuck with us:
Adelaide – I was really taken with how SavvyAuntie, in addition to all the community and content it provides, is also a platform for activism. The company is actually rooted in a really powerful social mission about strengthening the American family village and recognizing all the people (women in particular) who are helping to raise our children.
Amy – It was so interesting to me how the creation of Melanie’s business idea came from turning a negatively-defined deficit into something positive and worthy of being celebrated. In the process she helped to elevate the status of PANKs (professional aunt no kids) by building and connecting a community of savvy women. AND, in the process she has never felt happier and more like herself - Take that!
Many entrepreneurs are inspired to start their business based on a gap that they see in the marketplace. The deficit they experience is reframed as an opportunity to bring a solution to market, and a business is born.
This has been an ongoing theme for us with IGC in terms of the workspace and programs and now our book!
Despite avid reading, we had trouble finding business books that we felt spoke to us or the women we work with. We wanted a book which addressed common growth challenges for businesses our size and that included lots of examples of different ways to grow a business.
There are, of course, a lot of great startup business books, but that process is new only once.
There are also a lot of great books that profile businesses that (successfully) adopted strategies that involved funding, high growth, and cashing out. But most women entrepreneurs don’t fall into this category, which isn’t to say that a lot can’t be learned from these books and stories.
What we realized was missing were all of the stories, tips, growth strategies, and examples of businesses similar to those we come into contact with daily. Businesses that have been created to be sustainable, grown steadily over time, and to afford their owners autonomy, creative control, and flexibility – as defined by the owners themselves.
We feel that these stories, while they represent the majority of businesses, are underrepresented in the business book arena. We want to expand the types of businesses being discussed, celebrate these kinds of small businesses, and write about entrepreneurship for the rest of us.
There is not one formula about how to have or build a successful business. There are tens of thousands of incredible businesses out there with lots to share about the things they did right, things they did wrong, ways they have adapted their role, products, and services over time, and how they have made work work for them.
This books aims to help small business owners have aha moments, adopt language that categorizes the growing pains that they are experiencing, bring understanding and insight to their decisions, and explore the solutions that others entrepreneurs have found useful. Most importantly the book aims to help entrepreneurs recognize the validity of their work and the power and opportunity that choosing entrepreneurship brings.
Simply put we are writing a book for second stage entrepreneurs about best practices when building a business that is rewarding, sustainable, and enjoyable.
But of course it is about much more than that.
This book is our way of expanding the conversation of entrepreneurship, demonstrating the multiple ways that people have made entrepreneurship work for them, and encouraging women to do the hard work required to figure out what they want from entrepreneurship and leverage the opportunity that entrepreneurship presents.
In short, we want to showcase lots of models of women making entrepreneurship work for them in order to encourage even more women to do the same.
We know that one of the biggest challenges facing women entrepreneurs is revenue. Unfortunately not enough women led companies are profitable enough and too many are forced to go out of business before they have a workable, profitable business model.I wrote about this in the Huffington post last December.
In response there are often a lot of calls to get more women into tech-related businesses, to take on more investment dollars, and to create companies that are bigger and more visible. We, too, support the creation of women-centric funds, stronger investment pipelines, more training, and stronger networks that set women up for success in the historically male-dominated tech field.
However, we do believe that this only represents and supports one type of entrepreneurial venture - a type of venture that is actually the minority of all small businesses for both men and women.
And more importantly, most of the women we work with aren’t interested in joining these ranks. They aren’t setting out to create the next biggest, hottest thing and many aren’t interested in taking on lots of investment dollars or setting out to grow fast and sell.
So where does a strict or exclusive focus on tech, venture capital, and investment leave these women? Often without the tools, examples, or support needed to build companies that work for them. And worst of all, it keeps them invisible, marginalized, and without the respect and prestige they deserve. (So help me god if I hear the phrase lifestyle – or even worse – lipstick entrepreneur being used to describe a carefully crafted, rewarding and sustainable business one more time!!)
Like so many other trades, entrepreneurship is an art and a craft. And while one size certainly doesn’t fit all, secrets of success, best practices, and principles exist and matter. And we want them to be shared alongside real life examples that demonstrate all the wonderful flavors and modes of entrepreneurship.
What do you need to know and what skills do you need to have to create a company that is rewarding, sustainable, and enjoyable that can also meet your meet your needs over time?
Well, that’s what we will be writing about in the book!
Stay tuned tomorrow for Amy's take on the same questions...
(If this is the first question you've encountered, here's a brief recap:
We're really excited about our new book deal! And oh joy - the interviewing, writing & research has begun!
A big part of our book will be including stories, experiences, anecdotes & tips from women entrepreneurs and all of you! We will be posing weekly questions to help us with our writing and brainstorming. Sometimes we will be soliciting a tip and other times a reflection on your own experience.)
What do you love most about being an entrepreneur or working for yourself?
What benefits must you receive in order to make it all worthwhile?
Have your answers changed over time? Would you have answered these differently when you started?
We’d prefer if you reply in the comments because it makes the conversation richer and I think you’ll see that you’re not the only one with the same insights or challenges! If you’d feel more comfortable sending me an email, you can do that too. Adelaide@
We are Adelaide Lancaster and Amy Abrams. We run a community and workspace for women entrepreneurs in NYC. This blog helps us share interesting news on small business ideas, models, resources, and innovation with our members and other entrepreneurs.
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