Mother’s Day is a day to celebrate the extraordinary impact women have had on our world. A day to celebrate the sacrifices they’ve made in hopes of achieving the ultimate work-life balance, and the stress of taking care of the family while balancing a career (and trying to squeeze in a little personal time). I decided to write a tribute blog on powerful women entrepreneurs who have excelled at running their own business. I interviewed four very successful women to share a few inspirational words of wisdom including their experiences, setbacks and challenges of being a business owner.
Tara Hunt, the author of The Whuffie Factor, speaker, blogger and CEO of Buyosphere.
Liz Strauss, is the founder of SOBCon, a social web strategist, and one of the most thoughtful, prolific bloggers on the planet.
Janine Allis, The founder and CEO of Boost Juice
Charlene Li, the co-author of the bestseller “Groundswell”, author of the New York Times bestseller “Open Leadership”, and Founder of Altimeter Group
I asked a series of questions that all start-ups, aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners will find very useful.
1. What inspired to start your own business?
“I’ve always been inspired by the same thing: asking “How can I do this better?” (View full interview with Tara Hunt)
“When I had my third child…I was on maternity leave from my job at United International Pictures, I decided I wanted everything.” (View full interview with Janine Allis)
2. What was one of the biggest set backs you had to overcome? And what did you learn from it?
“By far was bringing on the wrong people too quickly. I’ve learned that you pay a steep and painful price when you compromise on compatibility. ” (View full interview with Charlene Li)
“With every heartbreak, you learn something new: you have to re-evaluate your assumptions, you have to look at your execution, you need to re-assess your direction. There is never one lesson and it’s not always super clear. “-Tara Hunt
3. How did you grow your company? In other words, what major factors led to your company’s growth?
4. How do you balance work with your personal life?
“In the early years, poorly. Basically I worked 7 days a week 12-16 hour days, and then when I would eventually collapse through stress and exhaustion I went to a health retreat for 5 days then started it all over again.” -Janine Allis
“I don’t believe there is such a thing as balance. Rather, it’s a series of less than optimal compromises that I make between work, family, and personal passions” -Charlene Li
5. What are three pieces of advice you would provide to start-ups/small business that are trying to grow their businesses?
“Tell everybody what you’re doing because people want to and will help you.” -Liz Strauss
“Don’t think about growing your business – think about solving a problem or creating something that people love. The growth is a by-product.” -Tara Hunt
“Develop and live your values. You may not think you have time to do this, but it’s essential.” -Charlene Li
Are you a female entrepreneur? Tell us what you think the most important piece of advice would be for a start-up or small business owner and you could win one of 5 licenses to Daylite: An award winning productivity manager that helps small businesses grow.
