Mooring has worked with some of the industry’s greatest names since beginning her modelling career. She has worked with a number of agents and agencies, including @theblockagency (Tennessee), @nymmg (New York/California), @therossagencyinc (Texas), @nichemodelsandtalent (Hawaii), and @soverneigntalent (La). Likewise, she acknowledges her manager and encourager, Marina Masowietsky @mcmmgt (Ca), who works tirelessly promoting, advising, and mentoring the talented young model. 

Mooring grew up in the small North Carolina town of Bath, where she was heavily involved in sports. As a child, her life revolved around athletics. Since she was five years old, she has been playing volleyball, basketball, and softball. While she was heavily recruited in high school to play collegiate women’s basketball, Mooring realized that female athletes typically do not make much money, so she switched gears and began pursuing a modelling career. After a friend saw her senior pictures and a Virginia modelling agency contacted her through Instagram, her modelling career took off. She has been working as a model on a regular basis for the past three years.

Even though modelling and sports are quite different, Abby recognizes the similarities. Discipline and hard work are two of the significant similarities. Her high school coach, Michelle Leathers, paved the way for her with her discipline and never-say-die attitude. Furthermore, her time spent training for sports ingrained in her a winning diet and training strategy. To ensure she eats nutritiously and obtains the right nutrients, Mooring takes Juice Plus and follows a gluten-free, low-carb, and dairy-free diet. During the pandemic, she also switched to online circuit training, which focuses on body resistance motions and lighter weights.

In addition to her busy modelling and acting career, Mooring loves spending time with her family, friends and her dog hiking different trails around Los Angeles. Mooring prioritizes God in her life and is deeply committed to her family and close friends, who have been incredibly supportive. Because Mooring’s mother has lupus, she encourages others to give to finding a cure @lupusorg. Her mother has been her staunchest ally throughout her journey.

Mooring is focused, driven, and upbeat as she continues to hone her acting skills, keep a full modelling schedule, maintain an active social media presence, and work on her degree at East Carolina University online. She puts it this way: “You can be anything if you work hard! I love all the people I’ve met along the way so far: trainers, photographers, models, agencies, agents, hair and makeup artists, publicists, managers, actors and actresses.”

About Abby Ryan Mooring: Abby Ryan Mooring is a model, actress, and social media influencer who has had a great deal of success. The celebrated model has walked the runways of New York Fashion Week and London Fashion Week and has collaborated with some of the industry’s top designers. She is now crossing over to focus more attention on acting. 

The post Abby Ryan Mooring, a top model, is ready to enter the acting world appeared first on CEO Medium.

The commitment to international reach is one of the pillars of Virtue Mental’s activity. Interns and social media ambassadors from all corners of the world assist Virtue Mental’s sponsored mental health professionals by helping to organize Zoom support groups, psychoeducation sessions, conducting outreach and market research, and much more. 

Furthermore, Virtue Mental offers a wide range of support groups focusing on the AAPI, LGBTQIA+, South Asian, and Latinx communities. Visitors to the website may learn about the highly qualified mental health specialists who facilitate these sessions, in addition to crucial facts about the numerous support groups and other related events.

The blog is an important part of the VirtueMental.org website. The blog contains articles on a wide range of topics, including academics and careers, health and wellness, women’s issues, society, relationships, mental health conditions, and more. Each of these articles provides useful information as well as distinct viewpoints on challenges affecting historically marginalized communities and new immigrants to the United States and Canada. Similarly, the website has a large resources page with a host of constructive and useful tools made by Virtue Mental interns to assist with a variety of topics ranging from journaling to mindfulness and meditation to self-care and other essential themes.

In addition, VirtueMental.org also features a section dedicated to the organization’s initiatives. These initiatives include a Social Media Guest Series, Social Media Ambassadors, and the Virtue Mental Podcast. Also, featured in their Meet Me Program. This is their acclaimed six-week free program created to foster friendships among people who share an interest in mental health awareness and activism, similar to a peer mentorship program. Peers speak with one another on their own time and bond through a range of activities such as creating vision boards, yoga, meditation, and more. The next cohort will begin in the spring of 2022.

About Virtue Mental Health: Virtue Mental is an international 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that aims to provide free mental health resources to historically underrepresented populations while also collaborating with other mental health organizations to create a greater impact. Their working concept is “Mental health is just as important as physical health.”

CONTACT: To learn more about Virtue Mental Health, their services, and resources, or to request an interview for a story, please visit their website.

Website: https://www.virtuemental.org/

The post An international non-profit mental health organization has launched an innovative platform appeared first on CEO Medium.

Over the past 12+ years, she’s made every mistake in the book, but failure has been her greatest teacher. Doing everything wrong in business gave her unique insight into what to do right in terms of scaling an online business.

Today Gianna’s focus is on helping passion-driven entrepreneurs grow their dreams and goals into a profitable online business. With vast experience, Gianna mastered the art of teaching and helping coaches go from struggling small businesses to coaches with successful, passionate careers.

When you work with Gianna, you get results. Change happens. Your business (and life) shifts in a powerful way. You never question her desire to lift her clients up. She loves what she does, walks the walk, and shows up authentically in everything she does whether it’s a program she creates or a coaching session she facilitates. You’ll even see her enthusiasm through each post she writes.

What do you do, and what is your goal in business?

I’m a business mentor, high-performance life coach, mindset expert, and multi-passionate entrepreneur. My passion is empowering women to follow their passion. Today, I help entrepreneurs and driven-goal getters turn their passion into a profitable online business. I do this with mindset mapping and strategic marketing funnels.

How did you end up doing business coaching? What was the path that led you there?

Entrepreneurship has always been in my blood. I grew up in my father’s business and always wanted to be the CEO of my own company. I started my coaching career when I was 18 years old as a health coach, and my first company was built right out of my parent’s home office. The rest is history, my coaching and niche has evolved over time, but I’ve been coaching ever since that day.

My brand has evolved as I have evolved. As an individual, I traveled all over the world to countries like India, Cambodia, Thailand, and Tibet while studying yoga, meditation, eastern spirituality, and Buddhist psychology. I then pivoted away from basic health coaching and started working on the mindset with my clients as a performance coach. This was around the time I started marketing my business online.

So how did I become a business mentor? Well, marketing online, I had no idea what I was doing. So, I hired a business coach. At the time, I was really struggling with sales. She approached me with an opportunity to join her team as a Sales Rep as an apprentice. The deal was, I would take all her sales calls and take part in in-depth sales training along the way. This wasn’t my plan of course, but she allowed me to run my business at the same time. It felt right, so I went for it! This role as a Sales Rep eventually turned into a role as a Sales Coach and Chief Marketing Officer of her multiple 6-figure companies.

In the process, I fell in love with empowering women. I wanted to help them start and build businesses. Eventually, I started my own business coaching company. That’s how I pivoted into business coaching and the work I do today.

Tell us more about your brand. How does your business work? And how do you keep going when you’re challenged?

My brand is focused on promoting the Passionate Boss Movement through my coaching programs, 1:1 consulting, podcast, and social media platforms. What does it mean to be a passionate boss?

During my 10+ years of entrepreneurship, I’ve been knocked down SO many times along the way. The term first came to me during one of the lowest moments in my business. It was one of the hardest falls I’ve ever had to get up from. It was in this struggle that I realized what it really took to make it as an entrepreneur. Just to give a little background at this point…

I’d spent all my money and was pretty much broke. All I had was a dream and the strength to keep moving forward.

At that moment I realized you need 2 things to make it as an entrepreneur: LOVE of your work & STRENGTH to keep going. By the way, both are words I had tattooed on each of my middle fingers.

And so, the term passionate boss is an entrepreneur or goal-getter who is living their life & running a business as their core self (their higher/authentic self). She’s passionate and leads from her heart, but is also FIERCE, strong, powerful, and most importantly…RESILIENT. She gets back up, figures things out, and is the ultimate boss in business and in life.

That’s the energy I channeled to get where I am today. And if I’m being honest, without this mindset I don’t think I’d be here talking to you right now because let’s be real: Entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster ride. The highs and lows of what it takes to stay the course and get to your goals break a lot of people before they even get close to the finish line.

Basically, the term is meant to empower the shit out of you and remind you of your BIG why in your heart. It also reminds you of the mental and emotional strength you need to preserve to keep going.

Your heart sets you off and running, but your resilience will actually determine if you make it or not. That’s why I started this podcast. It’s about helping you fuel your passion, with the strength you need, to get exactly where you want to go and beyond.

As for my clients, I work with them in my group business coaching program: The Online Passion Accelerator and via 1:1 customized high-level coaching + consulting.

What do you hope people take away from this? Do you have a way for people to get started easily?

My mission in life is to inspire women to chase their fears and live their passion. If you’re serious about building your dream business, a business you are passionate about but also one that’s profitable, I can help.

I just released a new free business-building workshop that you’re going to absolutely love. We cover the exact 5-step system that I teach my clients inside my signature program: The Online Passion Accelerator.

It’s an action-based system to help you scale your business to 6-figures (without a big audience or email list). When you sign up, you’ll get a workbook in your email inbox. It goes along with the training. You can work on each of the exercises, so you’re actually taking action instead of just taking in new information.

This workshop is ~60 mins so, yes, there is a time investment, but it’s a time investment in your business. That’s time well spent! You can sign up here: https://www.passionateboss.com/masterclass

If you’re ready to take action today on your business goals, and you want to know how we can work together, apply for a business assessment call here: https://www.passionateboss.com/applynow

What are the current challenges in your business, and how do you handle them?

Current challenges are balancing all the ideas I have for my business. I struggle with focusing on one project at a time. There are so many creative projects I have planned in my head. I’ve had to get really good at structuring timelines for when these projects can come into fruition.

How did you get started financially?

In the beginning, I used credit to fund my ads.

Where do you see the future of your brand going? What’s the next level for you? And how far do you want to take it?

I am focused on 4 projects for the long-term evolution of my brand:

1. Being of the highest possible service to my current and future clients.
2. Launching my certification program for coaches in 2021 (A transformation & mindset mastery certification program. It’s for coaches who want to up-level their coaching skills and guide their clients through the process of overcoming mindset blocks that prevent them from achieving their goals). This is all still being ironed out and is in the works. You can follow me on social media to get updates on this.
3. Growing The Passionate Boss Podcast
4. Publishing my book about chasing your fears and creating a life beyond your wildest dreams!

Do you have a message for those who are chasing their entrepreneurship dreams and aren’t sure how to reach them?

Never settle. This is your life. It’s your right to go after your goals, dreams, and passions, but don’t be fooled by what you see on your newsfeed. Following your passion and creating a life beyond your wildest dreams is a lot harder than most entrepreneurs portray it on social media.

It’s not all lattes and laptops on the beach, it’s a grind. But it’s a grind that is 100% worth it if you’re going after something which you’re truly passionate about. Your success as an entrepreneur depends on your ability to get up every day and continue chasing your fears. Most importantly, focus on your mindset just as much as you focus on crafting your marketing strategy.

Your marketing strategy can’t work if you have limiting beliefs holding you back or you don’t believe in your own success. Mindset is the foundation of it all, never forget that. Be ready to fail forward and build the strength to get back up every time you fall. Don’t expect to be an overnight success and be ready to be in this for the long-haul. If you stay the course, you’ll get exactly where you want to go and beyond.

Remember to stay in your own zone of genius, focus on yourself, and always be authentic, aka: never try to be like anyone else in your industry. Your superpower as an entrepreneur is your ability to be authentic and true to yourself.

Where to find Gianna online:

Company name: Passionate Boss Coaching ~ Gianna Contillo Badot

Apply for a Business Assessment Call: www.passionateboss.com/applynow

Email Address: gianna@giannabadot.com

Podcast URL: www.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-passionate-boss-podcast/id1501206794

Instagram URL: www.instagram.com/passionate.boss

Free Business Building Workshop URL: www.passionateboss.com/masterclass

The post Gianna Badot Offers Mentoring and Coaching to Passion-Driven Entrepreneurs appeared first on CEO Medium.

Jasmine understands how hard it can be to change your mindset and life. She wants to give other people struggling with their finances the blueprint that she used to improve her financial situation. She’s excited to share how she continuously creates a better life for her family.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and Queen Jazz Reigns.

I love saying I am a small-town girl living in a big city and as cliché as that may sound, it’s true. I am a Beaufort, SC native with an accounting background. I also have a passion for personal finance among other things. I founded Queen Jazz Reigns to empower individuals who feel stuck in debt and don’t know what to do next. I offer consulting services and assist clients with how to create a budget, and stick with it. I also cover saving, investing, and how to add different streams of income while paying down debt.

How did Queen Jazz Reigns start? What inspired you?

My brand started as a blog. I started writing to it after I gave birth to our beautiful daughter. I wanted to break free from what my friends and family expected of me. And more importantly, I wanted to live my life based on my rules.

It was time to reclaim my throne, grab life by the reins, and take control. That’s how I came to the name of Queen Jazz Reigns.

Growing up, I was taught to get good grades, go to college, and get a good job. And that’s exactly what I did. However, after receiving multiple degrees, I ended up with a ton of student loan debt and about $35K worth of credit card debt.

I didn’t learn how to handle my finances during that time and struggled for years while living on my own. I finally made the necessary changes and realized that my family wasn’t the only family who didn’t discuss money or finances in general.

I think that’s a huge disservice to omit that vital information from your loved ones. Since I struggled with myself, I learned what to do and what not to do in order to get out of debt. I want to share that process with others who may be in the same situation.

I’m currently working on revamping my website. I offer products in addition to one on one consultations. I do this to better serve clients with different financial needs and goals.

How does it work when somebody works with you?

What I do is assess the client’s financial information, then offer a plan based on the client’s goals. For example, if the client doesn’t have a budget or know what it is, I educate them and help them create one. I make sure to do this in the format that best fits their style (paper and pen, mobile applications, spreadsheets, etc.). This varies as every client has different needs and goals. I follow up and check in on my clients to answer any questions they have, and make sure they are still on track. I also make myself available to provide in-depth feedback and offer products and services that I’ve used and loved. These are products that helped me in the past and present.

What message would you like to tell our reader? Do you have a tip that can help them out?

If you are living paycheck to paycheck and feel ashamed…. stop it. According to Forbes, 78% of people were living paycheck to paycheck as of January 2019, myself included. I finally broke the paycheck to paycheck cycle THIS YEAR! My past lessons and experiences made me who I am today, and I am not embarrassed. I’m grateful for the lessons I’ve learned, and I want to pay it forward by empowering others.

I also invested in myself and added multiple streams of income this year. As a result, I’ve paid off over $8K worth of credit card debt in addition to my other debt. I plan to pay off more by the end of the year.

I want people to know that they are not alone. Discussing your finances is not a bad thing. You shouldn’t be embarrassed or ashamed. You can do the same thing I did if you’re willing to shift your mindset and put in the work. You can’t continue to blame your past circumstances. You are given a new opportunity every day that you wake up. Use that opportunity to make a change in your life.

How do you handle challenges in your business?

Time management has been a challenge and still is, especially now. It’s super tough working on my brand, working my 9–5, keeping a toddler entertained, all while making sure I have time to myself, along with my partner. It’s like a never-ending job. This is when taking time off, asking for help, and outsourcing tasks make my life easier.

Keeping a positive mindset is also challenging, but we have to remember we’re human. We’re not perfect, and life is not a competition. One day we’ll all die, so why not live your best life?

How do you manage funding your business?

I currently finance my business on my own. I haven’t received any funding yet. This year has been really good though, and I am grateful!

Where do you see the future taking you? What plans do you have to take Queen Jazz Reigns to the next level?

My future vision and dreams are to scale my brand to the point where I can leave my 9–5 job. I’d like to solely take on clients and create content for a living. I’m planning to retire in 10 years or less. I want to have time to enjoy my family, along with doing things that make me happy every single day. I also want to make a huge impact on others and change their lives, as I changed mine. I’ll be happy as long as I can help at least one person change their life. My goal, of course, is to help more than one person!

What message do you have for other people looking to build a creative business?

Do it, start now! The perfect time to follow your dream(s) is right now. I’m not saying go quit your job today, but you can definitely start laying down the foundation of your business while working your main job. Don’t give up. If you feel like quitting, take a break, but come back strong.

Company name: Queen Jazz Reigns

Email Address: jasmine@queenjazzreigns.com

Website URL: www.queenjazzreigns.com

Instagram URL: www.instagram.com/queenjazzreigns

The post Understand your Finances and Invest in Yourself: Let Queen Jazz Reigns Show you How appeared first on CEO Medium.

You both offer a stellar amount of business knowledge. Tell us about your businesses, and what you do.

Co-Founders and Co-Hosts: Jacqueline Snyder and Minna Khounlo-Sithep

Jacqueline Snyder and Minna Khounlo-Sithep are the combined force behind top-ranked The Product Boss Podcast. They teach business owners how to grow and scale their physical product-based businesses. They do this by leveraging multiple sales channels and using organic marketing strategies with a like-minded community around them. Jacqueline and Minna are physical product-business experts. They’ve quickly grown into a 7-figure online business by teaching other business owners via digital courses, coaching, and masterminds. They strive to help female-founded businesses not only survive as business owners, but also build businesses that hit over $1 million in revenue, yearly.

Jacqueline and Minna are both minorities and first-generation Americans.

Minna’s family are Tai Dam refugees that escaped Vietnam. They were invited to resettle in Iowa by Governor Robert Ray. Her parents worked in the meat production factories and Minna is one of 4 daughters. She was the first to graduate college and earn her Masters in Business from Drake University.

Jacqueline’s family immigrated from the UK and Israel in the 1970s. Her paternal family fled Morocco in the 1950s due to antisemitism. They found refuge in the newly formed Jewish State of Israel. Her Maternal grandmother was evacuated from London during World War II. She was sent to live in the countryside at the age of 4 and had to hide that she was Jewish. She attended church with her host family. In search of a “better life,” her parents both immigrated to the US in the ’70s. Jacqueline is one of 5 children and the first to attend and graduate college with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts.

In addition to The Product Boss, they each own their own businesses. Jacqueline Snyder is a fashion designer by trade and a business strategist. She is also the founder and CEO of Designer Consulting Co-Op and has over 12 years of experience coaching start-up fashion apparel and accessory brands.

Minna Khounlo-Sithep has over 15 years of entrepreneurial experience. She has her MBA and is the owner of Lil’ Labels, where she sells waterproof daycare labels. Lil’ Labels currently sells on multiple platforms, including Amazon, Walmart and Jet. Minna is an Amazon expert and has helped many fellow business owners start and grow on Amazon.

How did you build, then scale your brand? What does it entail? Also, what about your popular podcast? How does that fit into the brand?

The Product Boss has been able to scale their own successful business. In fact, it only took them 2 years to hit their first million-dollar year. In that time they also launched 5 digital courses. They have 5,000+ students currently enrolled in their digital courses and an online community of thousands of people.

The Product Boss Podcast has been ranked an Apple Top 100 Business Podcast and an Apple Top 10 Marketing Podcast and it continues to grow with half a million downloads to date.

While they are proud of their business’s growth, they’re most proud of their students. Under Jacqueline and Minna’s guidance, The Product Boss students transformed their businesses and lives. Combined, their students have generated millions of dollars in revenue.

The Product Boss was born out of a need. We recognized the gap in the digital course, coaching, and the podcast market.

Jacqueline and Minna are avid podcast listeners and serial entrepreneurs. As members of an online business community of high-performing businesswomen, Jacqueline and Minna struggled to find fellow entrepreneurs that understood the intricacies of product-based businesses. They listened to business guru’s teach about funnels, marketing strategies, and sales growth, but none of it applied to the physical product business owner.

In 2017, Jacqueline and Minna led a business panel on Multiple Streams of Revenue for the fashion industry at the Los Angeles Textile Show. This was the foundation of their now signature course “Multi-Stream Machine”. At the end of the panel, they sold spots to their virtual mastermind. They sold out while still at the conference! They knew they were on to something. In January of 2018, they launched the Product Boss Podcast and created a waitlist for their next round of Masterminds. They have now expanded into digital courses, coaching, and continue to facilitate Masterminds.

Can you tell us more about your brand and how it works? What are your goals?

The goal is to help small creative physical product-based business owners. But, we focus on female-founded businesses. Mainly because we’re both mothers, we understand the challenges of juggling business and family. We believe women need support and resources that help them with balancing these roles.

You often hear about women CEOs “having it all” and managing everything, and they make it seem easy. But they forget to mention all of the people they hire to help them. We as women have been convinced that we have to do it all and do it all by ourselves.

We want to pull back the curtain a bit on the struggle to balance everything and show how to pay for help if you need it or can afford it. For example, I’ve paid someone to do my grocery shopping for years (thank you Instacart). Minna pays for someone to cut her vegetables (thank you pre-cut vegetable section at the grocery store). You can get extra help in simple and affordable ways and still be a great business owner and mother and wife.

We also want to help amplify women’s voices. We find it important to give them a platform to reach more people, even as small start-up businesses that may find it harder to get access to audiences as large as ours. We’ve also really focused on diversity and all women including BIPOC.

TPB offers free weekly workshop-style podcast episodes to our audience. Our goal is to help as many people as possible as they navigate through small business, entrepreneurship, and physical product-based business. This includes makers, manufacturers, drop shippers, and retail store owners.

The goal is to help them grow initially as solopreneurs, then guide them through building a team. The majority of our most successful students are 100% self-funded and operate their businesses from home, or have their own studios and teams manufacturing their products.

Since TPB started, we’ve had small mastermind groups of product-based businesses. These are groups between 5–12 people. We intimately coach and support them in the format of a Mastermind group. Currently, we host two groups.

Here are the Masterminds we provide.

THE TOP MASTERMIND

A MASTERMIND FOR BUSINESS OWNERS WITH A YEARLY REVENUE OF $250,000 TO $1,000,000+

A true Mastermind among peers. A group of multiple multi 6-figure to 7-figure business owners joined and facilitated by Jacqueline and Minna. Leading small teams (hiring and firing), systems, scaling, and buying back your time are frequent conversations.

THE CLIMB MASTERMIND

A MASTERMIND FOR BUSINESS OWNERS WITH A YEARLY REVENUE OF $70,000 TO $250,000

Our Signature Program — a unique combination of group coaching and masterminding. Designed for product-based businesses with yearly revenue of $70k to $250k. For the entrepreneur that is ready to grow their business on more platforms to multiply their sales and increase their visibility.

We also offer digital courses for entrepreneurs who are self-starters and want programs they can work through in their own time.

Since January we have had 5,000 students take our Year of Content Course. We give them prompts on how to create engaging content for their audience and customers without sounding too sales. Oftentimes these business owners don’t know what to say to their customers other than buy now or sell. We give them ways to connect with their customers. This leads to sales, but also creates genuine authentic relationships. We believe people buy from people. In times like these, people continue to support small businesses, especially ones they know, like, and trust. That’s created by showing up and using our content course.

We also created a course as a direct response to Covid-19 and how it changed the landscape for small businesses. When in-person was shutting down, we needed to help our community pivot quickly, get online immediately (even without a website), and keep selling. We launched the Survival Kit Course Bundle where we taught them our framework to pivot and sell.

THE SURVIVAL KIT BUNDLE

CREATIVE AND ALTERNATIVE WAYS TO PIVOT AND SELL YOUR PRODUCTS ONLINE, NOW The exact framework to learn how to transition your business strategy, so you can sell and market more online…so your business can pivot during a crisis and ultimately survive and thrive, with or without a website.

Shows and Markets are canceled “In-Person” is on hold, and stores aren’t buying. Whether your primary sales channels were online, in-person, wholesale, or a good mix of it all… EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED. And honestly, while change sometimes feels scary…creativity and innovation are born in times like these.

We also taught them the secrets to working from home using our DONE METHOD. It was a huge transition working from home with the kids and partner home as well.

We also have our signature course Multi-Stream Machine. The belief goes that a millionaire is a millionaire because they have 7 streams of income. We believe the same goes for successful product biz. They need multiple streams of revenue to grow and be successful. They cannot grow and be a stable business on one platform alone (remember when Amazon shut down non-essential items, retail doors closed, markets were canceled?) They always need multiple revenue streams and we teach them how in this DIY course.

Multi-Stream Machine is the only implementation program of its kind that not only shows you exactly how to get onto multiple revenue-generating platforms but also teaches you how to grow a sustainable product business with effective systems and more visibility and more sales.

We helped hundreds of students 2x-4x their revenue in months, not years, by using our framework.

We have one student that had $3k in revenue per month when she started with us. After working with us over the last 18-month in our Masterminds, and taking our course, she is now generating $30k per month in revenue.

Do you have any final thoughts you’d like to share?

We help women break through their own glass ceilings they have set for themselves.

We have realized that every major business book we refer to or were referred to is written by men. Oftentimes the books written by businesswomen are more about memories.

Women are looking for help with growing. Many times a business created on Etsy as a hobby or side hustle turns into a full-blown business with little to no outside funding (besides a few that use platforms like Kickstarter). The information out there, including podcasts, were either “makers gonna make “ podcasts that lean into always being the maker of your own products, and not selling out-thinking Etsy and Farmers Markets and craft shows are the only way to go. Or you’d see podcasts created by women running huge corporate companies, but the story and the journey seem too distant and out of reach for our community. Ours shows, even during a pandemic, can help you continue to grow your business (fortunately from home,) and continue to sell so you can grow and support your family and business.

Our groups are one-of-a-kind. It’s hard to find Mastermind groups that are geared towards creative physical product-based female business owners. Especially ones that take a holistic approach to start, growing, and scaling a business that typically starts from home.

Understanding how to scale their handmade products, or make their first hires, or grow their teams is where we can help guide them. We care about how to create the best experience for their families, their employees, customers, and themselves. We talk about how to let go of mindset beliefs that create their own glass ceilings. Together they begin to realize they can grow to become six-figure businesses or seven-figure businesses. We show them the only limit is the limit/ceiling they create for themselves. These women typically pay themselves higher salaries than what they would get in corporate jobs or as teachers or whatever they did before. Oftentimes their husbands are also able to leave their full-time jobs and help with the family business. They are creating legacies for their children.

We want women to feel empowered and that these goals are possible for them. When we ask a female entrepreneur what revenue she wants to reach, she says $100,000. She has set her own ceiling. We want her to believe that instead she could and can reach $100,000 months! That she could have a 7-figure business. That she can hire and manage a team. That she can still pick up her kids from school. That she can still have dinner with her family. That she can do it all. But she can’t do it alone…she needs a strategy. Community. Help. Life Hacks (like having someone grocery shop for her).

We show them that even during COVID when people said to stop selling, to keep selling. It is her responsibility to keep her business operating and growing and employing people. When the big guys couldn’t pivot, she could. When the big guys let go of their employees, she was able to hire them. When people were getting government assistance, she was still contributing to the economy because she did not require assistance. When Amazon could not ship or fulfill, she could and did.

There is power in the small business female entrepreneur. She just needs to know her power. Utilize it. And break through her own glass ceiling.

Did you face challenges building your brand? What everyday challenges do you face? How do you overcome them? What about COVID-19?

The biggest challenge was to have the foresight for our audience, community, and students during an unprecedented time. As leaders, our community looked to us for guidance, so we had to stay up to date and as knowledgeable as possible. We had to find the answers. If we couldn’t find the answers, then we needed to create solutions for our community.

We had to navigate retail environments closing, brick and mortars pivoting to online, in-person trade show canceled, and so much more. We had to invent new ways for our students to show up for their customers so they could keep their businesses afloat.

We also needed to show up for our audience and community more than we ever did. We went live daily on our social media platforms and in our online groups.

We also had to change our entire launch schedule for our digital courses. Our signature course, Multi-Stream Machine, was no longer relevant in April of 2020. That course teaches multiple platforms including Amazon, wholesale, and in-person trade shows. Amazon was only shipping essential products, retail doors closed, and in-person was canceled. The digital course did not apply to product business owners at that time.

To overcome this, we pivoted very quickly. We created a brand new course bundle that taught product business owners how to pivot and continue to sell during the shutdown. We offered them marketing ideas and strategies to lean into selling locally. We showed them how they could sell online even without a website. We taught them how to navigate working from home while their kids and spouses were home as well. We helped them navigate getting through Covid-19 while managing a team that works from home. We even gave them future trends to look to as this global pandemic shifts consumer buying behavior and spending. The response was incredible and we helped hundreds of businesses survive.

By showing up for our community online and helping them through such a tough time we were able to form a significant bond with our audience. And by teaching our students how to pivot and continue to sell during these times, they not only survived, they thrived.

April of 2020 was a record-breaking revenue month for our students. One student sold $30,000 of yarn in one day. Another student who typically has an average monthly revenue of $12,000 per month hit $40,000 in revenue in one month selling planners. Another student had back to back six-figure months in April and May selling pottery. Consumers spent their dollars with small businesses online and our students were there to meet their needs.

By leaning into the ever-changing landscape of small businesses and getting creative, we were able to create an incredible digital course and community even during a pandemic.

How do you handle the finance end of the business?

The Product Boss was started with an idea, the price of a plane ticket and hotel, and our ability to create a business from just an idea. We sold our first Mastermind/Group Coaching Program from the stage with no website. Our first investments were into a Zoom Pro Account (back in 2017 before everyone knew Zoom) and buying our domain name. We registered the business and were up and running. TPB made just under $100,000k in its first year of business. 2.5x its revenue the next year. And is on track to hit our first $1,000,000 year.

We are completely self-funded.

What do you see in the future? Where is The Product Boss headed?

Our biggest goal for 2020 is to continue to grow and stay profitable despite all of the pivoting we have had to do. We want to continue to show up for our community and audience and grow the bond we’ve created over the past four months.

We want to stabilize our product offerings. Our marketing plans, Masterminds, and digital courses have shifted since we first planned them. We’ve had to be reactive vs. proactive during Q2. But as we all shift into a new normal we believe that we can stick to our new plans and continue to provide education, support, and community to our product business owners.

At the end of 2020, we want to look back and know that we helped the economy by supporting small businesses, that we offered support to business owners and helped them provide for their employees and family. We showed that with a bit of adapting, courage, hope, and hard work a small business could survive a global shutdown during a pandemic.

The future of The Product Boss is to grow and help as many small product-based businesses as possible. We want to grow to a multi-million dollar business that is run by two first-generation American women and a team built of women. We want to continue to help women support women. In a time of cancel culture, we saw women cutting down women. We wanted to step in and instead help elevate women and lift their voices. If we don’t take care of each other if we don’t look out for each other, who else will? We will be here to help women globally.

What message would you give to women looking to create something and start making a living through it?

You can start a service business with little to no money. You just need to pitch yourself and get your first client. You can figure things out along the way. It is not the same for physical product-based business owners. They have to develop products, test samples, order raw ingredients, product packaging and sit on finished goods. They also need to sell to customers be it in person, through wholesale, or online. There are a lot more obstacles for product biz to overcome than service. But you absolutely can create a small business if you know your customer well and know their needs. If your product meets their needs, and they let you know by purchasing from you, then you have the start of a business.

We also believe in organic marketing for product-based businesses. Often, they don’t have the budget to pay for ads teams or have money to invest in ads. We strongly believe that you can grow to a seven-figure business without ever paying for ads. In fact, several of our clients and students have done just that through organic marketing.

We teach marketing strategies that have our client’s needs in mind. We teach them how to show up for their customers and grow their email lists in person. We teach them how to reach more customers and grow visibility using other people’s platforms. We teach them how to continue to show up for their followers and customers through email marketing, utilizing social media platforms, and working with micro-influencers to grow their business. This is all possible. Never at any other time in the history of mankind have we had the ability to reach customers and consumers globally for free. By utilizing social media, youtube, Pinterest, you’ve got a lot of options. We want to pull back the curtain and let people know they can do this.

Company name: The Product Boss

Email Address: hello@theproductboss.com

Website URL: www.theproductboss.com

Instagram URL: www.instagram.com/theproductboss

The post Scaling a Product-Based Business Just Got Easier with The Product Boss appeared first on CEO Medium.