Happy American Business Women’s Day! The holiday is actually news to me. Which is crazy considering that President Reagan started it in 1983 by Congressional resolution. Today, it commemorates the important contributions and amazing legacy of more than 68 million working women and 7.7 million female business owners in the United States. Truly impressive and something we all need to celebrate. Whether you work for a company, created your own company, or you’re an entrepreneur. We’re all American businesswomen and, personally, I’m super proud to be one.
Today I partnered with JAFRA on this blog post because, for me, JAFRA represents the epitome of the American businesswoman. The company’s co-founder, Jan Day, was told as a young woman that she wasn’t “glamorous enough” to sell makeup and, instead of giving up, she instead envisioned a new kind of beauty company. She and her husband Frank founded JAFRA with a mission to create exceptional products and an inclusive, empowering community open to all. Since 1956, JAFRA has inspired generations of beauty consultants to reach for their dreams, and their beauty products have empowered millions to look and feel their best, at all ages.
4 Businesswomen on Their Secrets to Success
I decided to ask four of my favorite female businesswomen (no affiliation with JAFRA) two questions that I constantly get asked myself and, to no surprise, I got some AMAZING tips and advice.
Enjoy it. Share it. Take it all in. And remember to celebrate yourself today because we all deserve it. <3
Lara Eurdolian
Founder of Pretty Connected Shop
What is one thing you learned about your business that you wish you knew from day one?
Supply chain management. Making sure your products, packaging and supply chain are on point to keep everything in stock and properly forecasted. And also, to give yourself flexibility to try out and extensively test your product and packaging before committing to a large quantity order.
What’s your best advice for aspiring female entrepreneurs and businesswomen just starting out?
“The goal is to make money while you sleep” – that’s the advice Ashli Stockton, Founder of Sunday Forever gave to me, which helped me focus on the big picture. The advice I find myself giving a lot is “no one will ever work as hard on your brand as you will. And to divide your needs by ‘need to have’ and ‘nice to have.’ Conquer the first list so you can launch. And the bigger ideas as you have more bandwidth you don’t get too overwhelmed.” All of these statements remind me of the importance of working hard to grow. But also not to lose sight of the goal of growing and scaling your business for success (and quality of life).
Joslyn Davis
Co-founder of Shared Media
What is one thing you learned about your business that you wish you knew from day one?
Because digital media is still relatively new, and I started my career in digital video when it was in its early stages, there’s so much that no one knew on day one – we were quite literally living in a new media wild west. In hindsight, my advice to myself would’ve been to say no more often. And I wish I had learned the art of working “smarter” and not “harder” much earlier. (I’m still working on this one.)
What’s your best advice for aspiring female entrepreneurs and businesswomen just starting out?
My top piece of advice is this: stop talking about the ideas you have, the things you want to do, and just start doing them. Stop talking, take a calculated risk and just start doing. Because here’s the thing, regardless of when you start…you absolutely will experience some level of failure regardless of when you start.
Jaclyn London
Author of Dressing on the Side and Head of Nutrition and Wellness at WW
What is one thing you learned about your field of business that you wish you knew from day one?
That you have to both show and tell people who you are many times to make headway with just about anything! I continue to learn this one every day. But in the field of nutrition/dietetics, specifically: Yes, people need to know who you are on paper (your resume— what you’ve done, how much experience you have, where you’ve studied, etc.). But you always have to listen, first, to provide helpful, science-based yet hyper-individualized guidance! I think that applies to any area of business and no matter what you’re doing: Listening and asking questions to help clarify your understanding (so that you can ultimately be more effective in whatever you do or whatever service you provide) is critical, because everyone really just wants to feel seen and understood —personally and professionally!
What’s your best advice for aspiring female entrepreneurs and businesswomen just starting out?
I made the mistake of listening to the trope/old advice, “say yes to everything”. And I am still trying to unlearn what’s now become a bad habit! The earlier you can discern what you like to do from what you really love to do, the simpler it is to set boundaries that uphold your own professional priorities. It’s easy for all of us to get caught up in things that seem important, only to realize at the end of a big project, a day, or a week that we’re totally depleted and don’t have time left to do the thing we really wanted to spend time doing, right?!
We all only get 24-hours in the day. And when you love doing something, it affects how you show up and the quality and uniqueness of the work you produce. So, I’d encourage anyone/everyone just starting out to understand when/where/how to politely turn down “opportunities” that are really just boundary-bullies in disguise!
Alexis Gordon Kelly
Founder of Eklexic jewelry
What is one thing you learned about your business that you wish you knew from day one?
Stay scrappy, outsource every aspect of the business you possibly can without sacrificing quality. And spend the most budget on sales generating expenditures. Take constructive criticism, listen to the market, your buyers and customers.
What’s your best advice for aspiring female entrepreneurs and businesswomen just starting out?
Stay focused on your dream. There will be haters, there will be doubters, people that tell you that you can’t do it. Don’t listen to them. Remain positive even with the small failures that come along the way, because there will be failures; they are necessary to learn and grow. Success takes time and effort, so put everything you have into it and you will succeed.
Thank you to JAFRA for sponsoring this post!
