It's Not Just About The Money

“Being wealthy isn’t just about money,” says Elizabeth Potts Weinstein (pictured), founder of The Wealth Spa (holistic wealth for women entrepreneurs). She adds, “We hear many stories about wealthy people who are miserable.

What I like to teach people is to learn how to make money in such a way that they maintain balance in their lives. It’s about health; it’s about mindset; it’s about spirituality and fulfillment.”

An attorney and licensed financial planner, Weinstein left a “Big Law” law firm to start her own business in 2003. She began her home-based venture as a personal financial and estate planner but found clients were asking her questions pertaining to their small businesses. “At first I would help them out pro bono but then I realized that this kind of advising and coaching could turn into a business,” she says. Soon she began focusing her work on the micro small business owners (defined as businesses with 1 to 9 employees) and mompreneurs. “I teach people how to turn their fun hobby into a real business that makes money,” she states.

Read more about Weinstein and her company here.

May I give you a HINT?

Good pitch by a PR representative:

In a time when it seems like all we hear about are small businesses failing, there are a few out there that seem to find the right combination of business smarts and determination to create a successful business.

I would like to offer you founder of HINT Essence Water (www.drinkhint.com), Kara Goldin, a mompreneur (of four!) who found success in an industry she did not have experience in.

As a former AOL exec, Kara has an extraordinary track record of business success, transforming concepts into reality. As VP of Shopping and E-commerce, Kara grew AOL’s shopping business from startup to more than $1 billion in revenue in less than seven years.

While drinking a glass of water with a slice of lime, Kara was surprised to see that instead of a bottle of juice, her daughter wanted to drink what Kara had in her hand -- simple, no calories and no junk -- just ice cold refreshing water with a HINT of lime flavor. Thus, the concept for HINT was born.

Now HINT, which started as a small start up is a multi-million dollar international success with distribution in Whole Foods, Stop & Shop and www.drinkhint.com.

What a story and right in line with this blog about how women escape successfully from Corporate America into entrepreneurship. Kara made the leap just fine. Congratulations!

The Do-It-All-Yourself Trap

"Yes, I can do that. Tomorrow you say? No problem. I just have to drop my son off at daycare, take my mom to her doctor appointment, pickup a couple of groceries on the way home and finish the client project I've been working on for two weeks by the close of business today."

Sound familiar? Despite we do it all by juggling a million things at once, there's still a dream we are living when we take on running our own business.

Here's a great little article that reminds us why we do what we do and how we might do it even better by following the advice of these women entrepreneurs. For example, find out how to get out of the do-it-all-yourself trap and make sleep a priority.

Read the entire article here: "In Quest For Family Time, Women Start Businesses."

I Enjoy Working For Me!

You may enjoy being a girl but running your own show is probably even more fun! Take Ms. Gill's story, for example:

Her own franchise Maxine Gill, 46, of Laurel, Md., took her career in a new direction after she was laid off last year from her job as sales and marketing director for Comcast.

“I enjoyed what I did, but I knew I was not going to retire from that job,” she said. It was the second time she had been laid off.

“Marketing always seems to be first to go,” she said.

Earlier this year, she struck out on her own, investing $50,000 to $60,000 in a franchise, College Nannies & Tutors. Her company hires people (taking care of the tax and paperwork headaches) and places them with families for temporary or long-term duty.

“Everything is on my shoulders, but I enjoy working for me,” Gill said.

Read more here.

Pictured: Nancy Kwan, star in Flower Drum Song

Are You Thinking Big Enough?

During these tough economic times, are you thinking BIG enough to keep your your business thriving?

Running out of ideas? Well pay a visit here to get your BIG thought juices flowing!

Note: Above poster can be found here.

Get Off Your Butt and Start a Business

It's a beautiful day in Chicago. Perfect for soccer, biking (which I did), running (which I did) and hanging out along the lakefront (which I did). But the one thing I am wondering right now is, how many of you got off your butt today and instead of playing, started a business?

Did you? If so, let us know. We'll celebrate. Tell us how you came up with the idea, what you did to make it easy to get started and where we should go to find you.

Toot your accomplishment horn loud and clear. We're all ears.

Peace of Mind: Business Ownership

Five (5) reasons to start a business in a recession. Ooops, make that six (6) because peace of mind (good night's rest) is one!

5 Reasons to Start a Business in a Recession

Women Entrepreneurs Already Take Calculated Business Risks

The best of all worlds is a combination of men and women in business who understand the importance of compromise and push on to innovate better!

But let's set the record straight first before you jump to the article. Women entrepreneurs already do this:

The authors actively advise women to try and take proper credit for their actions, for example by properly communicating what they have achieved and even allying themselves with known risk-takers within an organization.

Read article here.

I had no idea that the London School of Business has a Center for Women in Business! Did you?

Pictured: Amelia Earhart, aviation pioneer and author.

Truths for Winning at Business

If there is one business book you must read before you die, make it this one: "Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business Without Losing Your Self" by Alan M. Webber.

Watch for our interview with Alan (one of the sharpest minds on our planet) coming soon at OPEN Forum by American Express OPEN.

In the interim, learn more about "Rules of Thumb" here.

We Can Get By With a Little Help From Our Friends

Greg Holden (a fellow Chicagoan I might add) reports:

A bill that just passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is being introduced in the Senate is intended to help entrepreneurs who are most in need. Women, veterans, and Native Americans would get education, training and financial support to help them start their own businesses.

See, we can get by with a little help from our friends (take a break; Beatles clip here).

More information on how this new legislation will benefit women entrepreneurs can be found here.

Women Move Women

Nearly 100 women spanning across the United States have given at least $1 million to raise a total of $174 million.

But why?

Part of this movement is caused by Women Moving Millions.

Discover more here.

Hat tip to The Black Gospel Blog (www.theblackgospelblog.com/) for the link.

Trust Me

I am sure you have heard those two powerful words before. But in this case, I authored, "How to Build Trust" for the OPEN Forum by American Express OPEN. It offers lots of good advice (trust me!) from my trusted colleagues. One of my favorite quotes:

Trust is not a one night stand. ~ Paul Dillon

See what you think and weigh in with your own comments on how to build trust.

Shut Out of Corporate America? Entrepreneurship Is the Answer

If you are struggling to land a job in Corporate America, starting your own business might be less risky than you think.

Read what others are doing to shake things up and make things happen, here.

Despite Tough Economy, Women Business Enterprises Continue To Reinvent

"Women's business enterprises continue to reinvent themselves and weather economic storms," says Sonya Dukes, SVP and director of corporate supplier diversity at Wells Fargo who will offer specific tips for success at the Women's Business Enterprise National Council's Women in Business 2009: The Bridge to Quality Conference and Business Fair, in San Francisco, June 9-11.

Wells Fargo's commitment to creating sustainability and development in diverse businesses includes providing capacity building and entrepreneurial training for Women and Minority Business Enterprises. The program provides key resources, tools and techniques to develop operational excellence and stage suppliers for growth.

"We saw a lot of potential suppliers – successful companies – were struggling to adjust to our culture. We started this mentoring program to support them through the on-boarding process of understanding how we do business," Dukes says.

Frankly My Dear ...

See you if you give a darn at "Female Villains Go Corporate."

Pictured: Soap star Susan Lucci

Girl Power: Rachel Alexandra Wins the Preakness

Go baby, go and she did! Rachel Alexandra wins the Preakness 2009! It is the first time a female horse has become champion in 85 years!

Read about the picks here but you'll have to wait for more news! Congratulations to all who put their trust, support and love behind her!

Just added: 5/17/09 ... Filly Rachel Alexandra Wins Preakness, First Female Champion in 85 Years.

Photo top -- Jockey Calvin Borel, right, gestures after riding Rachel Alexandra to victory in the 134th running of the Preakness Stakes (credit AP).

Photo bottom -- Rachel doing what she likes to do best, run.

Read the article I wrote six years ago entitled, "8 Lessons for Businesswomen Racing to Build a New World," which covers how real business learning can come from horses.

Designing Young Women Are Big Shots These Days

Find out how animal spirits (instincts) can turn into a viable business by capturing Kay S. Hymowitz's elaborately written article, "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Businesswoman," for the City Journal, April 2009.

Here's an excerpt:

It’s no coincidence that these designers are all female. The design economy has been a boon for women. In the 1960s, says Eric Baker, graphic design was a closed fraternity; there were few women in art departments or design studios, just as there were few in law offices or on factory floors. Today, by contrast, women constitute 60 percent of design-school students, and design studios are full of them. (The technology-based areas of Big Design are still largely male, however.) It may be that the design sector suits women particularly well. As the management maven Tom Peters notes, “Women buy most stuff, hence women should design most stuff.” Plus, as Daniel Pink points out in A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the World, some recent neuroscience suggests that women may be stronger on a range of right-brain talents—empathy, emotion, and sensitivity to beauty—that serve them well in the design economy.

Because designers tend to be independent-minded, they gravitate toward entrepreneurship, as do women these days. According to the Labor Department Occupational Outlook Handbook for this year, 25 percent of graphic designers are self-employed, as are 30 percent of industrial or commercial designers. There’s no way to know what proportion are women, but it’s a good guess that it’s high. The Center for Women’s Business Research finds that nearly half of all U.S. businesses are female-owned; women start ventures at twice the rate of men. On the website Etsy, a kind of eBay for indie craftspeople to hawk their wares, 95 percent of the 185,000 artists are women, with an average age of 33. True, they’re primarily stay-at-home moms and college students looking to supplement their income rather than make a full-time living, but some of those 185,000 will become the next Sarah Cihats and Jill Maleks.

What are Big Design’s future prospects? ...

Note: Design pictured above is that of Sarah Cihat.

Give Her Reins To Portfolio and You Both End Up Wealthier; We Suspect Suze Orman Would Agree

I applaud Jason Zweig on writing "For Mother's Day, Give Her Reins to the Portfolio" for The Wall Street Journal. Here's his strong lead and he doesn't let up throughout the commentary:

Fess up, fellows: The masters of the universe have turned out to be masters of disaster. No matter which aspect of the financial crisis you consider, there is a man behind it.

So, it is worth pointing out, this Mother's Day weekend, how different things might be if the financial world were female.

Read the entire spread here. And many thanks to Jason for having the courage to tell it like it is!

Pictured: Suze Orman who always encourages women to take control of their finances :-)!

Accidental Feminist

Megan Basham, author of both "Beside Every Successful Man: Getting the Life You Want by Helping Your Husband Get Ahead," and "Beside Every Successful Man: A Woman's Guide to Having It All," writes a very intriguing opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal (5/8/09) entitled, "What a Mom Wants."

When I caught this part ...

Ms. Hemmert admits that she sees her own parental job as something separate and different from her husband's, and she not only resents him for usurping her role but has lost some respect for him. "I'm a woman, and I want to be a mother first," she states simply.

... I could not help but think to myself, "I'm a woman, and I want to be my own person first."

Let us know what you think of the commentary. Here is a listing of some of the resources mentioned in the article but not specifically identified that supports Ms. Basham's thinking:

• New York Times contributor Lisa Belkin, "Obama's Council on Women and Girls."
• Elisabeth Eaves, Forbes, "Life With Father."
• Center for American Progress, A Woman's Nation
• Study referenced in commentary is, "What's Love Got To Do With It?" (download the 26-page PDF file here immediately: "What's Love Got To Do With It? ... ") by W. Bradford Wilcox (more here on Wilcox -- and a must-read here) and Steven L. Nock (found out he passed away on January 20, 2008). I believe Ms. Basham quoted her original information from this though, "The Happiest Wives."
  

Happy Mother's Day to Moms worldwide!

U.S. $8 Billion and Growing: Wal-Mart's Spend Push For Women-Owned Businesses

Listen up all you women entrepreneurs and business owners! Did you know that Wal-Mart has increased its focus on making sure the company is working with diverse suppliers -- like you?

Through their work over the last year, they’ve seen a 25 percent increase in spending totals with minority and women-owned businesses!

See for yourself:

2008 Totals

• 2008 Direct Spend: more than $6 billion
• 2008 2nd Tier Spend: more than $2.1 billion
• 2008 Total: more than $8.1 billion

2007 Totals

• 2007 Direct Spend: $4.8 billion
• 2007 2nd Tier Spend: more than $1.4 billion
• 2007 Total: more than $6.2 billion

Impressed? You should be. Find out how you can be a part of this BIG spend, here.