Be Interesting But Not Complicated

"My father was not a complicated man.” ~ Diane Disney Miller (daughter of Walt Disney)

Innovation is such a personal, creative endeavor, but the influence of others plays a big role in helping us succeed. 

Here I share insights from some of those who’ve inspired me when it comes to developing innovative practices in my business. Perhaps they will have the same effect on you.  At the end of each passage, there’s a lesson learned along with a big question to get a conversation going. 

If nothing else, this article will encourage you to take time out to reflect and work a little magic on the innovation front.

The Power of Networking to Build Confidence, Create Connections and Accelerate Opportunities

To understand what helps female entrepreneurs thrive at a higher level, Forbes contributor Kathy Caprino interviews Pat Hedley, investor, advisor and author of Meet 100 People: A How-To Guide to the Career and Life Edge Everyone’s Missing. After a nearly 30-year career with global growth investor General Atlantic, Hedley is now a private investor and advisor to growth companies and a passionate advocate for intentional and generous relationship building. 

Here's what she had to say, oh, and one quick snippet from when Pat was asked why networking is so important for entrepreneurs generally, but especially for female entrepreneurs.

Networking is essential for entrepreneurs because founders are highly reliant on accessing resources and information they don’t already have to start and build a business. Even if one has a great idea, executing on that idea requires an extensive network of individuals including employees, customers/clients, investors, advisors and influencers.

Read on for the full interview.

This Is the Moment: Female Founders, Quotes, Community, Stories, Funding, Side Hustles and More

If you were thinking about setting out and doing something in 2022, this is the moment.  Explore it all here.

Women Entrepreneurs Tackle BIG Ideas

Female entrepreneurs are still receiving little capital.  Wired reports:

“Startups with a woman founder raised $25 billion in the first half of 2021—more than the total amount raised by women any full year prior.”

While the incremental changes are noticeable, we aren’t close to where we need to be.

After years of witnessing these founders' struggles and limited access to capital, Dr. Silvia Mah, partner at Ad Astra Ventures, who helps women founders grow innovative startups tackling big ideas, is determined that there are certain things the VC industry can do to level the playing field.

Here are three. 

Helping Black Women Entrepreneurs Start and Expand a Business

A growing number of firms have opened their treasure chests to Black woman entrepreneurs. They, in turn, are often using the financing to help other Black women start or expand a business.

The median seed funding raised by a Black woman founder is $125,000, nowhere near the national median of $2.5 million in 2020, according to ProjectDiane. In the first half of 2021, Crunchbase data revealed that only 0.34% of capital went to businesses run by Black women.

The article for Black Enterprise Magazine goes on to say that more efforts are surfacing to provide funding to Black women, or people of color in general, such as the Goldman Sachs’ One Million Black Women initiative, Fortune reported. One firm that is seeing the capital flowing steadily is the Fearless Fund, which works to increase Black representation in venture capital and support women of color.

Learn to Love Uncertainty

What’s keeping you up at night?  That's a key question to ask a business owner or top level executive if you want to find out what's really going on with them.

Being a small business owner myself and a formally trained facilitator, I decided to take a different approach and asked 20 presidents of small businesses in marketing, interior design, insurance and a variety of other industries what’s allowing them to get a good night’s rest.

Here are the highlights of what they shared, one being "Learn to not just live with but love uncertainty."

How a Business Owner Can Sleep Like a Baby During Tough Times, by Laurel J. Delaney for American Express.

Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) Provide Affordable Financing to Women

Congress created Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) in 1994 to provide affordable financing to women, minority, and other underestimated entrepreneurs.

CDFIs hope, through financing, is to help women entrepreneurs rebound faster and grow stronger, healthier businesses despite the pandemic.

CDFIs are mission, not profit-driven. They have lower requirements regarding years in business, credit score (or no credit score), and collateral. Entrepreneurs still have to prove that they're creditworthy, but CDFIs work with entrepreneurs whom banks typically turn away. CDFIs have proven that financing women- and minority-business owners are NOT risky.

Think of them as first responders for women entrepreneurs.  How will you use a CDFI loan to become a healthier, stronger business in 2022?

Source:  Our esteemed colleague and friend, Geri Stengel, who contributes to Forbes on a regular basis.  She is a big supporter of women business owners.

Begin Again

©2022 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again." – Buddha

Season's Greetings Escape From Corporate America Friends!

"I love the excitement, the childlike spirit of innocence, and just about everything that goes along with Christmas." – Hillary Scott

Empower Microentrepreneurs This Holiday Season

Companies are donating a portion of their sales in select Whole Foods Market stores from December 1-31 to Whole Planet Foundation. 

These funds will be given to entrepreneurs in the form of microcredit loans in communities where Whole Foods Market sources products. 

Learn more about each brand and why they choose to support the mission to alleviate poverty.

3 Chicago Women Entrepreneurs: The Kombucha Brewer, Pie Baker and Toffee Maven

NBC 5’s Food Guy Steve Dolinsky shares stories about three Chicago-area female entrepreneurs who focus on homemade sweets and sophisticated sips this holiday season.

The kombucha brewer, pie baker and toffee maven are also fighting for the same things: market share, new business and most importantly: respect in their industries.

Bring on good cheer and support as many women business owners as we can this holiday season!  

These Are a Few of My (Oprah's) Favorite Things 2021

The list is here!  Discover all of Oprah's favorite things for 2021 – from sweaters, to jewelry, to kitchen items and beauty gifts.

Check it out. 

Women Entrepreneurs Are Changing the Travel Space

Entrepreneurship is a challenging road, but the number of small businesses with women leaders is growing. 

There's data to suggest that female-founded companies outperform their male counterparts, made even more impressive by the fact that women only secure 2.3% of venture capital funding. 

The travel sector is also growing with female entrepreneurs, and here are eight that are changing the industry with their businesses.

Let Pamela Slim Help You Find New Customers

Pamela Slim has a new book out that you don't want to miss: "The Widest Net – Unlock Untapped Markets and Discover New Customers Right in Front of You."  

The Widest Net is a step by step method for building a thriving business. You can pre-order now and get these bonuses:

• The Widest Net Workbook
• The Widest Net Method Ecosystem Mind Map
• An invitation to The Widest Net SUPERclass, a virtual workshop to create your 12-month marketing plan using the Widest Net Method. 

Go after those customers now!

Screenshot source:  https://pamelaslim.com/the-widest-net/

Tip of the Week: Create a Signature for PDF Documents On An iPhone

Hello on-the-go women business owners!  As more official papers are being turned into PDF documents, you may be asked to sign one electronically while you’re away from your computer.

If you’re using an iPhone, it’s actually not all that difficult; you can create a signature and reuse it by using the iPhone’s built-in Markup tool.

Ready.  Set.  Learn how to do it.

Be Anyone You Want to Be

©2021 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved

This Halloween, you might take a step outside the box and dress up as a powerful figure to make a statement. Whether that statement is about gender inequality, race relations, Covid or climate change, there’s a woman out there breaking barriers. Why not pretend to be them for a day? 

Halloween is the one day you can be anyone you want to be.  Here are five unconventional, last-minute costume ideas that you can easily D-I-Y with clothes in your closet. Word of caution: these looks are reserved for trailblazing women. 

The sky is the limit.  Enjoy and Happy Halloween!

Black Women Entrepreneur Excellence

The Women's Entrepreneur Leadership Lab (WELL) is a network of Black women business owners that facilitates peer-supported growth by fostering relationships that build community, collaboration, confidence, and capital.  It set out to address the lack of support Black women founders receive as entrepreneurs by banding together and creating a community to support each other.

Data illustrates how far funding needs to progress to support Black women, who accounted for 42% of net new women-owned businesses, while only being 14% of the female population from 2018-19, according to the 2019 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, which analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data, and extrapolated forward based on Gross Domestic Product data.

Learn more to participate and recommend to others.

The Female Consumer Is Under-Represented in the Brand and Marketing Landscape of Spirits

In Christopher Marquis's research for his recent article on Karen Hoskins for Forbes and her work at Montanya Distillers to make the alcohol industry less of a “boy’s club," he was told that women in leadership positions frequently have their expertise questioned and people mistake them for someone other than a leadership figure.

According to Mr. Marquis's article:

The alcohol industry is known for being dominated by men. For instance, in 2018, only “4% of C-suite positions in wine and spirits were held by women” and women in the industry continue to face sexual harassment and abuse.

At Escape From Corporate America, we hope Mr. Marquis has an opportunity to interview Dr. Sonat Birnecker Hart, President and co-founder of KOVAL Distillery to learn even more how women who are smart, confident and experienced in the spirits industry can and do succeed.

Read the full article:  Women Entrepreneurs Are Transforming the Spirits Industry.

Forget the Seat At the Table and Just Do the Work That Needs To Be Done

Women often say, “I want a seat at the table.” For many business women, especially business women of color, a seat at the table is a hard-earned symbol of success in a company. 

So, what if instead of longing for a seat at the table, we flip it?  Reflect on what a seat at the table means to you and how you can flip the table to be more inclusive, open, and exactly what you envision it to be.

If you can't do that, I invite you to forget the seat at the table and just do the work that needs to be done.  Go after your own true vision of growth, success, and progress and that might just be starting your own business.  Go for it!

Stop Waiting For Perfection

Is this you?  

Because I was waiting. I was waiting to have more money in my pocket. I was waiting to be in a relationship, so we could go together. I was waiting until I was thinner. 

After years of putting off her dream, entrepreneur Kristy Carruthers took action and made it a reality, traveling the world and building a successful career in the process.

Stop waiting for perfection and get on with your life.  Take action.  Make it happen.