Wit, Grit, & Magic

“Sugar and spice and everything nice, that’s what little girls are made of.”

I’ve heard that phrase my entire life, and it never quite fit. It’s not that I’m not loaded with sugar and spice, trust me, I’m bursting at the seams over here. It just doesn’t quite capture the spirit inside of me that makes me want to change the world, conquer my fears, and grow something that could change my family legacy. I am an entrepreneur. The inside of women like me wouldn’t be classified as “everything nice” that’s for darn sure. How about this instead: Wit, Grit, and Magic that’s what women entrepreneurs are made of.

It takes a special kind of lady to roll up her sleeves and dive into this wonderful world of business ownership, but it doesn’t come without a stack of challenges. I don’t want to steer you away from taking the leap, but if we talk about it openly, we can learn and overcome sister! We all need more women entrepreneurs alongside us making brilliance happen.

Challenge 1:

Let’s just punch this first one, right in the face, and get it out of the way. Fear.

Here’s the thing about fear, fear is tied to failure, and failure is the absolute worst. We all want to succeed, to win, to be congratulated on a job well done, and to come out on top. Truth is when we try new things, we risk the possibility that we won’t succeed, we won’t win, and our congratulations will go to someone else, while we sit on the bottom defeated. Fear is there before the decision is made for change, during the change, and afterwards hoping the change was good enough for everyone. It’s overwhelming, right?

What if instead, on our next big decision, we had a plan to deal with fear? What if we had a few words of encouragement we say to ourselves that champion us on? The fact is, failure is going to happen so it’s best to go ahead and embrace it, learn from it, and keep moving forward!

Challenge 2:

I’m delivering excellence, why do I think I should be giving it all away for free? Charge your value. I get it, we love to serve, to mentor, and to dedicate time and resources to help others succeed. Yay us! We discuss important issues like wage gaps, and then we forget to remove emotion from our business transactions and we literally create a wage gap in our own companies. I’ve solved this one at my company with a Brene’ Brown word we all need to master: boundaries. If you struggle with this like me, make a set of rules. At Flint Avenue, we dedicate a specific number of pro-bono hours we can part with for the year and when they are gone, they are gone. It gives me the empowerment to say “no” when I need to. The point is, if what you’re doing is worth anything, it’s worth paying for, and that’s fair. You don’t have to feel guilty for not consulting with every big dreamer, and if you find yourself doing that, monetize it baby! Big dreamer sessions are $150/hour, thank you very much!

Challenge 3:

In West Texas, we call it the “good ol’ boys club,” it is an age-old network of been there, done that’s and sometimes it can be hard to crack the code to get in and be included as a business owner. I’ve heard stories of woman-owned businesses closing their doors because they never quite got the traction they needed, and their failure was attributed to this network of impassable men. Is it okay with you ladies if I say another West Texas phrase, “that’s malarkey!” Please don’t make me hand in my Lady Card just yet, hear me out here. Yes, men gravitate to working together, yes they own more businesses (for now), yes it’s not easy to launch a woman-owned small business in that ecosystem. But… it is not impossible. And it’s not an excuse to not try. So here is your rally cry, print it out and hang it on your mirror, “I’m a card toting member of the GOGC!” That’s the “good ol’ girls club” for those taking notes, and I’m the Godmother sprinkling magic dust on all of your businesses to make them grow.

Let’s wrap this conversation up with a little advice. The most important thing you can do as a woman entrepreneur is to believe in yourself and never stop. Even for one day. If you want to start a business, go do it. Be smart about it, have a plan, but go do it. And don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t, because your Godmother already guaranteed your success. You’ve got this in the bag, babe. You’re full of wit, powering through with grit, and bursting with magic!  

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