eWomenNetwork is a complete success system for women entrepreneurs. We offer live, face-to-face events monthly across North America and have members around the world.
We offer one of the largest business women's Conferences in North America.
Our goal is to help 1 million women make 1 million dollars in annual revenue.
When you’re the boss, you’ve got a lot of people to shop for. Throughout the year we get closer and closer to the work family we’ve created for ourselves, and when the holidays roll around, we want to celebrate them and thank them appropriately. No matter what holiday your people celebrate, it’s still the perfect time of year to show them you care.
For the person who’s always at their desk: Sitting at our desks all day has a lot of unwanted side effects: tech neck, blue light overexposure, finger cramps. But mostly it’s just plain uncomfortable. A memory foam seat cushion and lumbar pillow are the answer. It’s a lot easier to be productive when you’re not in pain!
For the Work Traveler: The Dell Premier Wireless ANC Headset is a must. Not only does it come in it's own case perfect for travel, it offers active noise cancellation, and a battery life of up to 15 hours. They're comfortable, easy to use, and BONUS: eWomenNetwork members are eligible for an exclusive discount on Dell products and they have a treasure trove of travel friendly tech goodies!
“A mastermind group is a peer-to-peer mentoring group used to help members solve their problems with input and advice from the other group members.”
Have you ever wondered why Pixar movies are so consistently good? It’s because in the mid-90s they shucked the standard model of movie making from traditional studios where all the ideas come from the top and created a collaborative environment where everyone had room to share their ideas and receive feedback. And while that seemed revolutionary at the time for the movie-making business, the idea itself wasn’t new at all.
Famous minds throughout history have utilized the Mastermind process to go from a person with an idea to someone who children study in school over a hundred years later. Andrew Carnegie, Ben Franklin, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, the list goes on. And that’s just from 50+ years ago.
It’s that time of year! The time where couples pair off in dimly lit five-star restaurants to celebrate their love, or (in more cynical cases) try to revive it with a good cut of steak and false promises. Just kidding (mostly). It IS however the time of year I personally enjoy watching delightful romantic comedies while I wait for Reese’s Hearts to go on sale February 15th.
Saccharine reputations of Rom-Coms aside, they have a long and proud history of featuring professional women and entrepreneurs balancing life and love as they navigate their careers. If you look closely between the tropes, the abs, and heels so high most normal people would fall on their face, rom-cons are filled with valuable lessons to apply to both life and business.
You’ve Got Mail
In the days of dial-up and AOL, Kathleen Kelly (aka: Meg Ryan) owns a children’s bookstore on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, when out of nowhere a huge chain, Fox Books, builds its new edifice around the corner. With comfy chairs and deep discounts, the small indie bookstore struggles to keep up with the literary behemoth. Her delightful email romance with industry magnate Joe Fox (played by Tom Hanks) aside, Kathleen Kelly teaches us never go down without a fight. Though it’s worth mentioning that she spent a little too long in the beginning in a state of denial about how Fox Books would impact her business. Time is of the essence, keep your eyes open and don’t let a can-do attitude gloss over very real business challenges.
Keap has helped thousands of small businesses flourish since it's founding in 2001. Their commitment and devotion to the success of small businesses has garnered them a reputation as one of the most trusted resources for entrepreneurs. Here to talk to us about the importance of email marketing for entrepreneurs is Darin Adams of Keap.
D: I was just in a group yesterday and someone was like “You know, I need to hire a virtual assistant because I just can’t keep up with everything.” And I believe in virtual assistants, virtual assistants are great! But the whole point is you should never do something manually that you can set up a system to do. If you can set it up so it happens in automation, do it. The problem with solo-preneurs, entrepreneurs, and the small business owner is you’re wearing four thousand different hats! And it’s extremely difficult to stay on top of everything, that’s why you set up automation to make that happen so that you don’t have to worry about it. The stuff you’ve set up once will happen and run forever.
N: What would you say to the people who think they don’t need email marketing because their social media presence is so strong?
D: Followers and likes do not pay your power bills. A while ago Facebook was down for the better part of a day and people panicked because all of a sudden, they realized “I have absolutely no control”, Facebook could go away at any time. Instagram could go away at any time.You use Facebook or Instagram or whatever your preferred platform is as a tool to get people into your database. If you put out a post of Facebook or Instagram or whatever there’s no guarantee anyone’s going to see that. If you have them in your database and you own the relationship, they’re part of your tribe, they’re part of your community and you can communicate with them. You cannot own that relationship if they only know you through social media. I’m all for social media, social media is fantastic, it’s your big billboard, it’s how you say, “come be a part of this”, but you’ve got to get people in your database, because once they’re in your database, now you can nurture them and take care of them. And you do that through email marketing.
It’s August and we all know what that means: we’re counting the days to ICON 2022! We’re more excited than ever to see so many beautiful faces at our largest event of the year. If you haven’t had a chance to check out our website yet, we’re adding more content daily with lots of panels and speakers still to be announced. Let’s check out some of the things we’re most looking forward to!
The Balancing Act Panel.Womenentrepreneurs have a lot of balls in the air at any given time. Many are wives. Many are mothers. Many own and operate multiple businesses. How does one juggle all of that with self-care, while living and enjoying life? Find out on our Balancing Act panel with Briana Dai in conversation with Emmy-Nominated Producer, Donia Duchess and Fitness Model, Paige Hathaway.
The Beauty Lounge. ICON always has a bunch of cool and innovative activations in the vendor area, but we’re especially jazzed to introduce this year’s Beauty Lounge! Impressive experts will be offering all kinds of coveted services from Botox to makeup and more!
Our Humanitarian of the Year. We’re not unveiling our Humanitarian of the Year until the Femtor Awards, but after a year without the award, we are on the edge of our seats ready to share this incredible humanitarian with this year’s ICON attendees!
Let’s pour those cocktails! We have not one, but TWO incredible liquor sponsors this year with EnGINe and Busker Whiskey. It’s an honor to introduce our attendees to two small business startups that offer impeccable quality products. Expect some super cool activations from these two small, but mighty powerhouses.
ICON 2022 is a magical time. But it’s also one heck of an undertaking here at eWomenNetwork. In the time leading up to conference the days are long and brains are bursting at the seams with all of the overflowing to do lists. The eWN community is filled with entrepreneurs who know that feeling well. For you, that time could be tax season, right before an important retreat, the holiday season, etc. It’s different for everyone! With such a busy community of successful entrepreneurs, we figured it’s the perfect time to share with you some of our CEO’s favorite self-care treatments to prep for ICON 2022.
Sandra Yancey recently spent the day at Beauti Science, a Dallas area Med Spa who will be part of our first ever Beauty Lounge at ICON 2022. They’ll be offering services at ICON and we are THRILLED to have them as a partner.
Here are some of Sandra’s favorites:
Botox. This magical little needle does more than just reduce signs of aging. Did you know it also has been proven to stop migraines, reduce excessive sweating, and reduce joint pain? And that’s just the beginning. But perhaps the most immediate benefit of botox is the years it takes off your face with no surgery needed. Everyone has different feelings about the aging process, the most important thing is that you feel good about yourself.
PRP Facial. Otherwise known as the “vampire facial”, the PRP Facial utilizes microneedling. Microneedling is a pain-free, non-invasive way to stimulate collagen production. In addition to reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, this treatment also helps with sun damage, rosacea, and has been known to shrink pores. A great service for people of all ages, this facial is a great way to give you a CEO glow.
Don’t wait. While the nature of social media gives you the freedom to create and post on the fly, in this instance, waiting till the last minute will not serve you. The holiday season is only so long and when you wait till the last minute to take advantage of social media, you’re taking away the chance to bring in as much revenue as you could have with better planning.
Map out the opportunities. First look at the well-known national sales days: Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Super Saturday, and the day after Christmas. Then look at any days that hold a special place for your business or industry. Finally, take a look at local opportunities that support organizations with local business purchases. Schools and non-profits increase these partnerships over the holidays.
Give your followers notice. Don’t spring sales on them entirely by surprise. Announce that a sale/promotion is coming a week or two ahead of time and ask them to save the date and add it to their calendars. You can even consider doing a Black Friday “Preview” sale for a limited time and then bring it back by popular demand on Black Friday.
Use the holiday sale opportunities to build your list. Encourage your followers to opt-in to your list so they can be kept informed of upcoming promotions for the holidays and beyond!
N: Tell us about how the idea for eWomenNetwork came to be.
S: I moved from Dayton Ohio which I thought was “the Big D”. I just had no perspective. I mean honestly, I just could not believe the size of this city. I would go to networking events that were primarily men, and everyone was very kind to me, I had no issues with that. But I just didn’t feel like anybody was including me or inviting me to really play, I felt relegated. And so, then I started going to women’s organizations, this was 1999, and I just felt like, you know I had little kids too- I’m open to talking about kids and the ridiculous price of parking and the traffic or whatever, but I was like “when are we going to start talking about business?” and I can still remember being downtown and being at a table and trying to direct the conversation off of the small talk and into business and I really felt this energy of being put off like “who are you?”. I remember coming home and talking to Kym about it and he’s really the one who said “well, you should start your own”, you know just get real intentional about what you want, but it was really Kym’s idea, right there he saw it, I didn’t, I was too close to it.
And then I just started being the Managing Director, going out and doing meetings anywhere I could, I had a girlfriend who did my hair, Susie and asked her if I could use her hair studio in off hours. I called people, I went to Sam’s Club and bought little pieces of cheese and those God-awful toothpicks with cellophane at the end. And you know, Nicole, I saved and washed those toothpicks. I rolled in a little cooler of water bottles and schlepped a portable flip chart. We literally sat in those chairs that back into the bowls where they wash your hair.
In many ways it was way harder than I could have ever imagined and I’m glad I didn’t know. I think there’s something to be said for the bliss of ignorance. Because I do think, in total transparency, if I would’ve known everything that I was going to go through in those first four or five years, I think I would’ve chosen a different path.
N: When did you start to think bigger and act bigger as far as having eWomenNetwork be much bigger than Dallas, was this always the master plan?
S: I think we thought that it would have multiple chapters, I can’t say that I imagined it being the way it turned out, I mean multiple chapters could be in Dallas, that kind of thing. I didn’t have the ability to dream that big, you know, I wasn’t being coached in the very beginning. And I certainly didn’t have a pedigree to come from people who achieved great things. I mean, Kym saw it, from the perspective that he was a musician and had the experience of Capitol Records and that kind of thing, but even then, we both knew that that required infrastructure.
Productivity: The effectiveness of productive effort, especially in industry as measured in terms of the rate of output per unit of input.
You’re busy. You work hard. But are you productive? No, they’re not the same thing, and even if you are rocking your productivity game, there’s always room to improve! Let’s find out how:
Stop glamorizing multitasking. You may feel more productive when you’re juggling lots of tasks, but don’t let your brain fool you, it’s taking longer to get things done and studies have shown that focusing on more than one task at a time results in lower quality work. One thing at a time is the way to go if you’re looking to maximize your productivity.
Respect deadlines (even the ones you set for yourself). While it’s good to give yourself extensions when needed, if you do it too often it’s easy for deadlines to become arbitrary. And when deadlines become arbitrary, it’s time to admit it: you’ve become a certified procrastinator. Procrastination dressed up as multitasking is still procrastination, folks. RESPECT DEADLINES.
Set SMART goals. What are SMART goals you ask? Specific. Measurable. Attainable. Relevant. Time-based. Specific: You must have clarity! Measurable: Your goal needs to be trackable so you can see your progress! Attainable: Don’t set impossible goals! Relevant: Does your goal align with your short- and long-term objectives? Time-based: Set a realistic, ambitious end date! Shooting for the stars is admirable, but when it comes to your productivity, think through each letter.
The biggest tasks come FIRST. It may seem more attainable to knock out the little things first, but is it more productive or are you just making excuses for procrastination? Tackle those big things when your brain hasn’t been overworked from a million little things yet!
Self-publishing a book has become an increasingly popular business strategy for entrepreneurs. It makes sense, you get a lot out of it. Enhancing brand awareness, establishing yourself as an expert in your field, and generating warm leads are all appealing outcomes, for sure.
And with the ease of self-publishing in the e-book format, it’s a no brainer. The trouble often comes when you want to see your book in a bookstore. If you’re sitting there wondering: “Who cares? Doesn’t everyone buy their books online anyway nowadays?”, hear me out.
While it’s true that brick and mortar retail has struggled, sales across physical bookstores in the U.S. were still measured by the billions (that’s billions with a B) in 2020. And more important for the purpose of the entrepreneur, Amazon doesn’t host events in your community or provide book sales for speaking engagements. Having a bookstore on your side as you put yourself front and center in your field, is an asset you need to consider when you decide to self-publish. Sure, you could buy the books yourself and get a card-swiper for your phone, but you’re a CEO! You need to show up as a CEO and not present yourself and your business as a small-time side hustle!
So, when it comes to self-publishing your book, what’s the secret sauce to getting bookstores to carry you?
First: accept the things you cannot control. Bookstores are often understaffed and not all of them specialize in author events. Some bookstores may not want to give up shelf space to a lesser-known author when the bread and butter of their sales comes from big publishers.
Let it go. You can’t control these factors and if certain Booksellers don’t have the capacity to engage in what you have to offer, then best to move on.
With the rise of self-publishing, some bookstores get upwards of twenty requests from self-published authors a week and being kind and patient to the booksellers you speak to goes a long way. But no matter your manners and consideration when dealing with professional bookworms, you ultimately must have four things to be considered.
As an entrepreneur, you have a lot on your plate. While marketing may not be your industry, you probably already know that marketing is essential to how the world perceives you and your brand. Logo, tagline, brand guide, website, social media, and beyond-there’s a lot to be done.
If you’ve been with eWN for a while, you’ve likely heard about Celebrity Science. If you haven’t, Celebrity Science is a division of eWomenNetwork and is our in-house branding and marketing agency. In a post-Mad Men world and with the gig economy on the rise, entrepreneurs have endless options when it comes to hiring marketing firms and contractors to fill in those key pieces of the puzzle. So, what makes Celebrity Science different?
This isn’t just about selecting a color pallet and new fonts, this is about taking the science behind what makes a celebrity and focusing that lens on you and your business to create an impactful brand that attracts your ideal customer.
The Deep Dive.The Celebrity Science journey begins with a full day strategy session with you and your new team. We look at your competitors, what’s working for you and what’s not, areas of opportunity, pain points, and blind spots. This isn’t just about the look and feel of your brand (though, of course, that's covered too), it's also about strategy. Your team includes branding experts, but also business strategists. This isn’t about designing an ad and sending you on your way, it's about what’s best for your brand and business. We look at how you are spending your time, how you want to be spending your time, what you can do to get you there, and how your branding can drive that goal.
Customization. This process isn't like the late 90s where you’re put through the record-studio machine and come off a conveyer belt as a cookie-cutter pop star, this is personal. This is about you, your business, and the big picture. Every step of the process is customized to your needs and schedule with strategic consideration for your short-term and long-term goals. We don’t hone in on what makes you like everyone else in your industry, we hone in on what makes you different and polish how you present that differentiation to the world.
As entrepreneurs, you work hard to build a solid client base. But what happens when it’s time to break-up with a client? There are lots of reasons, sometimes it’s just not a match, sometimes there are shifts in priorities and time, other times people are just plain difficult. No matter the reason, breaking up with a client requires a certain amount of finesse and respect. Let’s take a look at the best way to handle a client break-up.
Be honest. Whatever the reason. For one thing, getting caught in a lie makes you and your business look very bad. Two, however uncomfortable the reasoning, it may be helpful for the client to know when working with your replacement.
Acknowledge the work you’ve done together. Don’t waste time playing the blame game. Acknowledge the work you’ve done together and openly appreciate the opportunities the client has given you. There are tons of entrepreneurs out there who want more clients, so never take yours for granted, even when a separation becomes necessary.
Give notice. Don’t leave them hanging! It’s unprofessional and all around an uncool move. Put yourself in the client’s shoes and think about how much time you would want to find your replacement, then give them at least that much time. Remember, word of mouth is still incredibly powerful, and they are going to talk about you after your work with them is complete.
The world has changed a lot since COVID-19, the business world especially. Two big changes have been the rise of remote work and the rise of freelancers vs. full-time employees. For entrepreneurs especially, these changes have a lot of benefits. Eliminating/reducing overhead by working from home versus renting an office space is a huge help to the bottom line, as is utilizing contract workers who tend to cost less than full-time employees in salary, benefits, and more.
Despite these big wins for entrepreneurs, remote and contract work can make building a company culture challenging. So, how can you take advantage of the new normal while still building a quality, inclusive company culture?
Master the onboarding process. Your process for onboarding contractors should be just as thorough (if not more thorough) than your onboarding process for regular employees. Contractors don’t have the daily benefit of being ingratiated in the company culture so clarity, structure, and continuity are a must!
Include them in the same meetings and conversations as full-time employees whenever possible. Not only will this add to inclusiveness, but this will also show them that you view their loyalty and buy-in to the company’s success as equal to those who work full-time.
Be clear on who your freelancers report to. With so many balls in the air, it can be easy for contractors to report to one person, while taking daily direction from another. This can easily muddy the water, so get crystal clear on the chain of command. You want higher ups to make it easier for freelancers to do their job, not harder.
Invite freelancers to company celebrations! The last couple years have been particularly isolating, especially for freelancers. If you’re celebrating a success, holiday, or just enjoying a work get together, invite your freelancers! Not only are they valuable contributors nut feeling included in company celebrations will enhance loyalty.
The holidays are a perfect time to take a beat, be thankful, and embrace tradition and cheer as we march on toward 2022. The reality is, of course, that the holidays are stressful. Navigating travel, family plans, work commitments, holiday events; and the only way to get through it is to plan ahead. Especially when you're an entrepreneur.
Send Holiday Cards. Family expects them, but clients often do not. Isn’t it lovely to get mail that isn’t a bill? For some the idea of whipping out the old rolodex and handwriting cards is a delightful blast from the past, a soothing task that brings repetition and order to a chaotic time of year. If you don’t fall into this category however, no worries, there are plenty of services that do it all for you. If you fancy physical cards, take a look at postable.com, simply select your design, hand over the names and addresses, and you’re good to go!
Plan time off. For the workaholic, this one can be hard. But remember, with so many people celebrating the holidays, many of your clients will be MIA, so it’s okay to take a breather. Consider when you anticipate clients will go into holiday mode and follow suit. And when scheduling days off for your employees or contractors, remember that not everyone celebrates the same holidays or even celebrates at all. While some may prefer Christmas Eve as a day off, others may favor the last night of Hanukkah. Provide them with options when you're able.
Overcommunicate with your customers. This is a biggie. Entrepreneurs are some of the most plugged in, on-call people in existence, and when that changes it can be confusing for clients. It’s nothing overcommunication can’t fix. Plan those out of office messages, send out mass email communication, and update your social media. Even before the holidays are in full swing, it’s a good idea to double-confirm every call and meeting. The holidays are hectic for everyone, so it’s possible your clients may have some things fall through the cracks as well.
Think ahead when it comes to decorating. When to decorate is a hotly contested issue of the last several years. Many brick and mortar retail stores begin the day after Halloween, prompting some to shout “too soon!”, but it’s not consumerism that drives this timeline, it’s managing the workload early on so employee hours during the holiday season are focused on customer service. So when you’re looking at when to decorate, whether it be your home or your business, think about what makes sense for your schedule. If December is a busy month, get everything out of the way in November so you can drive your year-end goal 100% without distraction. And remember, if you prefer to hire someone or (gasp) not decorate at all, THAT’S OKAY. A mini pre-lit tree from Target is totally acceptable when you’re focused on building an empire!.
Being efficient in business allows you to achieve goals and move the needle forward. Entrepreneurs can do so by hiring the right team, outsourcing certain tasks, and creating internal systems. One thing that relates to all of these processes, and others entrepreneurs will create, is technology. It is what will be used to complete tasks, communicate, create, and so much more. But the question of ‘how often do I need to update my tech?’ comes up. And the answer is, whenever you see your productivity decreasing.
The better answer is, you don’t always have to purchase the latest and greatest desktop or software program. You can actually work with what you have in your business right now. Here is how entrepreneurs can effectively use existing tech to achieve success.
Online Payment
In a world where convenience is demanded, online payments are the best way to avoid spending more time and money on manual transactions. Most entrepreneurs would recognize that we are moving towards being a cashless society, with things like Apple Pay and Square popping up more frequently.
This does not call for adding a new payment software. Chances are the platform you run your website through already offers an online payment widget or tool. It is as simple as bolting your existing resources into your business model. Plus you can avoid losing checks or forms with payment information on it when transitioning to the digital space, ultimately becoming more efficient.
Pro Tip: When you take advantage of all the tools your packages and subscriptions offer, you get more value from existing tech.
As an entrepreneur, you have many things to consider- chief among them cash flow. Obviously, you must ensure your profit margins are in place, you have enough to cover the cost of doing business, and bring in enough to assure growth and pay yourself the salary you desire, but what happens when times are lean? How do you supplement that income and add additional revenue streams? We have some ideas…
Speaking
If you’re an entrepreneur, you clearly have a zone of genius. Speaking to that zone of genius onstage is a fantastic way to supplement income with paid speaking gigs and draw attention to your business in front of your potential customer base. For more information on speaking opportunities, click here.
Podcasts
Comparable to speaking, podcasts give you a great platform to show your zone of genius and engage with your audience. Not only does it show you as an expert in your field, you’re given the opportunity to connect with peers through interviews and eventually monetize through sponsorships, ads, paid membership tiers, and more.
With so many balls in the air, it can be easy to drop them all when the unexpected nudges it’s way into your line of vision. It’s in the entrepreneur’s nature to multitask and wear several different hats at once. But when does too much multitasking hurt the quality of your work and your productivity? What happens when an email totally derails your day? How can you manage to stay on task?
DND is your friend. I know we all think that it’s laughable to turn off our phones, but we lived without them for thousands of years before the 90s made them ubiquitous and the noughties made them essential. But Do Not Disturb isn’t permanent. It’s okay to unplug long enough to get things done. And remember, you can still allow emergency contacts to reach you on this setting, so if you need your family to have access, no worries!
Turn off notifications! Yes, social media is a necessity for business owners, there’s no denying that. But when push comes to shove, and you need to keep your eye on the prize. Turn off those notifications. On your phone, on your desktop, your tablet- turn them all OFF. Take advantage of those automatic responses and trust that any comments or messages will be there when you return. As long as you respond within 24 hours, you’re all good!
Don’t be a slave to email. Set designated times to check your email and stick to them. That doesn’t mean that you can’t utilize email between those times, it just means that you’re not responding to incoming emails outside of designated times. It’s so easy to say, “this will only take a minute”, but when you have an entrepreneurial level of emails in your inbox “this will only take a minute” can easily turn into hundreds of minutes.
Recently featured as a top creator in Forbes, Dani Austin created Divi, a serum that stimulates hair growth after experiencing hair loss in her own life. With 1.3 million followers, Dani has been an influencer to watch for a long time and her content is full of juicy business content and fun family moments. Dani shows that transparency and authenticity is the best way to grow and maintain a loyal following.
Originally from Saudi Arabia, Co-Founder of Kin Euphorics, a delicious non-alcoholic alternative to spirits, Jen Batchelor is changing the way we see socializing with her brand. As Jen says, "All bliss, no booze." Her accounts are full of aspirational content and gorgeous pics that will make you not only want to take a sip of this new elixir, but find out exactly how Jen gets it done!
You may know her from Frozen, Veronica Mars, and The Good Place, but the starlet is actually a successful entrepreneur as well as mom of two. She co-founded Hello Bello, a line of all-natural baby products and Happy Dance, a CBD Skin-Care brand. Her accounts are a fun mix ofbusiness, entertainment, and personal content.
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N: Tell us about how the idea for eWomenNetwork came to be.
S: I moved from Dayton Ohio which I thought was “the Big D”. I just had no perspective. I mean honestly, I just could not believe the size of this city. I would go to networking events that were primarily men, and everyone was very kind to me, I had no issues with that. But I just didn’t feel like anybody was including me or inviting me to really play, I felt relegated. And so, then I started going to women’s organizations, this was 1999, and I just felt like, you know I had little kids too- I’m open to talking about kids and the ridiculous price of parking and the traffic or whatever, but I was like “when are we going to start talking about business?” and I can still remember being downtown and being at a table and trying to direct the conversation off of the small talk and into business and I really felt this energy of being put off like “who are you?”. I remember coming home and talking to Kym about it and he’s really the one who said “well, you should start your own”, you know just get real intentional about what you want, but it was really Kym’s idea, right there he saw it, I didn’t, I was too close to it.
And then I just started being the Managing Director, going out and doing meetings anywhere I could, I had a girlfriend who did my hair, Susie and asked her if I could use her hair studio in off hours. I called people, I went to Sam’s Club and bought little pieces of cheese and those God-awful toothpicks with cellophane at the end. And you know, Nicole, I saved and washed those toothpicks. I rolled in a little cooler of water bottles and schlepped a portable flip chart. We literally sat in those chairs that back into the bowls where they wash your hair.
In many ways it was way harder than I could have ever imagined and I’m glad I didn’t know. I think there’s something to be said for the bliss of ignorance. Because I do think, in total transparency, if I would’ve known everything that I was going to go through in those first four or five years, I think I would’ve chosen a different path.
N: When did you start to think bigger and act bigger as far as having eWomenNetwork be much bigger than Dallas, was this always the master plan?
S: I think we thought that it would have multiple chapters, I can’t say that I imagined it being the way it turned out, I mean multiple chapters could be in Dallas, that kind of thing. I didn’t have the ability to dream that big, you know, I wasn’t being coached in the very beginning. And I certainly didn’t have a pedigree to come from people who achieved great things. I mean, Kym saw it, from the perspective that he was a musician and had the experience of Capitol Records and that kind of thing, but even then, we both knew that that required infrastructure.