Entrepreneurial "AHA" moments from Female Founders
1. Entrepreneurial "AHA" moments from Female Founders
EnrichHER Asks:
What is your most recent AHA
moment about entrepreneurship?
2. We asked female founders to share
their most recent AHA moment
with other aspiring female founders.
Entrepreneurial "AHA" moments from Female Founders
3. "Without a consistent schedule you will not have success. Deviate only when God tells you to
move and MOVE without hesitation. Abraham is the father of many nations, yet Terah, his father
was supposed to inherit the blessing, yet he stayed in Haran. Don’t lose your blessing staying
stuck in fear!"
Alanna Loren Cooke
Founder of Loren Investments
www.loreninvestments.com
"Social media likes, retweets, and views don't always equate to profit.
Focus on building an effective product or service."
Cierra FLY Bobo
Founder of FLY Life Inc.
www.theflylife.org
"I can really do this and build it very big!"
Barbara Jones
Founder of Freeing Returns
www.freeingreturns.com
4. "Your customers and users are your real critics. Sometimes they will tell you a unique aspect
about your product that you never thought existed. SeatCheck was always meant to eliminate
wait time at the restaurant but our users emphasized on the social aspect where you can
actually meet someone, so that was a moment which changed a lot of things for us."
Shahzeen Rehman
Founder of SeatCheck App
www.seatcheckapp.com
"Strike while the iron is hot! Rule Above All ®"
Robbie Walker, Ph.Dc
Founder of Reklaw Clothing
www.reklawclothing.com
"Starting a business on a small budget can cause you to pursue opportunities to gain money quickly as a
means to grow your business. The truth is people are more valuable than money. You can have no money, but
a lot of supporters, and money will come to you. Therefore you have to gain people not money to be
successful. Money is the byproduct of gaining people, and people are attracted to those they can trust. You
cannot be trusted if you are always after money. In spite of the amount of money you have starting out, your
focus has to be on winning the trust of people. To do this you must find ways to provide value without
making people feel obligated to pay you. They want to feel like they are investing in themselves by investing
in you. Just be honest, transparent, and willing to truly invest in people. Work hard to provide great value.
When you become trustworthy the money will come. "
Kiara Thomas
Founder of Konnectic Energy
www.instagram.com/konnecticenergy
5. "If everyone saw "it", there would be no opportunity.
Take NO as the door opening to your Next Opportunity."
Ashlee Ammons
Founder of Mixtroz
www.mixtroz.com
"Pivot to pursue your purpose. I was so afraid to pivot into a new business because I had
become comfortable and complacent in the industry that I had become an expert in simply
because it provided me with enough money to be just over broke. Pivoting can be scary, but
it provides valuable returns."
Shawntel Asemota White
Founder of Dose of Om
www.doseofom.com
"This sounds simple, but my AHA moment was when I started creating work that
was not assigned to me. Personal projects have been the most valuable work
that attracts companies to my photography. They have a sense of what I'm
interested in and my personality. Doing work that you're not being paid to do
can be the most enriching thing you can do for yourself."
Lynsey Weatherspoon
Founder of Lynsey Weatherspoon Photography
www.lynseyweatherspoon.com
6. "My business does not have to fit in with the patriarchal framework of meritocracy
and there are ways to stay in line with my values while owning a business."
Casey Stewart Upton
Founder of The Emotional Labor Union
www.theelu.com
"My sales coach recently told me: "It takes a long time to build a
business, and quitting won't help you grow at all."
Maggie Germano
Founder of Maggie Germano
www.maggiegermano.com
"The ups and downs of starting, growing and running a business are inevitable. It is not the
'safe' path and never will be, but for the right person the benefits are more than worth it.
Your emotional response to change and volatility impacts the business whether or not you
are conscious of it; taking good care of yourself and learning to trust in your own skills,
tenacity, and ability to creatively solve problems is essential in this lifestyle."
Julie Yoder
Founder of The English Teacher Collective
www.englishteachercollective.com
7. "You will never stop learning. You will always encounter new experiences."
Veronica Berry
Founder of Tru Diary
www.trudiary.com
"It definiitely takes a village. I never fully understood why investors and put so much emphasis on "the
team"; but three weeks ago at an Extreme Build-a-Business Weekend (DC Ebay Startup Cup), I was able to
participate in a unique pitch challenge. While responding to questions from judges and mentors, I realized
that when discussing my friends and peers that were helping me, I never categorized the actual skill sets
they were providing. I then realized to scale my businesses, I needed to really consider and create what
actual positions or contractors I needed to include on my team and how that may change throughout the
process."
Shanelle Roberson
Founder of FreeTruth Financial Solutions
www.freetruthmvmt.com
"No one can define my worth unless I allow them to do so."
Sharnikya Howard
Founder of Life Abundantly Coaching
www.lifeabundantlycoaching.com
8. "Ask for help"
Jessica Tunon
Founder of Netwalk Global
www.netwalkglobal.com
"My AHA moment has been that sometime things are just as simply as they appear. I us to over think and over
plan every aspect of business. I feared starting or launching anything without planning it from begin to end. I
have learned that planning is important but sometimes you have to move first and learn as you go. I have
learned that most things are not as difficult as I make them in my mind. That taking a L is not losing but
learning and will be beneficial bricks to the foundation of your empire.
An example for me was entering the EnrichHer pitch contest. I didn't make the finalize but during the voting
process I Learned how many people supported me, believed in me and prayed for me. This pushed me to do
more but also opened doors for me to gain printing contract with companies that learned about my business
from the social media shares and support. It also helped me understand my impact on those around me and
empowered me to take a large leap of faith and take on opportunities to speak my truth to empower other
women." CherDon Reynolds
Founder of She Prints It
www.sheprintsit.com
"You'll burn out when you're burning your rocket boosters at full throttle. It will happen. It's natural. Maybe
in Year 1 or Year 4, but it will happen. Embroider threads for inspiration and rejuvenation into your life now,
when you don't have the time or desire to do anything but THE VENTURE. Keep a hobby or a sport or an
instrument in your life as an outlet. Keep a group of friends, like the EnrichHer community, as a once a
month or once a quarter group to ping for a call to trade war stories. Take that happy hour break, or put
yourself in the tub. Men give themselves outlets for stress--not all of them healthy--but women think we
have to grind ourselves down without a break or a moment of pleasure. If you're going to run as fast as the
men, you've got to do what they do, and take strategic breaks. Reboot. Then return to the work with
renewed juice."
Juliana Neelbauer
Senior Associate at Drew, Eckl, Farnham Law Firm
www.deflaw.com
9. "My most recent AHA moment about entrepreneurship is that it's a roller-coaster. There
will be highs and lows! The lows are meant to be experienced with the thrills of the highs.
Realize Every Aspiration Can Happen...REACH for the Stars!"
Kelli Mumphrey
Founder of MilkSpace
www.milkspaceusa.com
" My most recent AHA moment about entrepreneurship is that every solution you come up with
is a beginning rather than an ending. When you develop a solution for a client, what you end up
providing may take you in an entirely different direction than where you thought you were
headed. The training you customized for one client may become a new product offering to
grow and scale. The system you developed to keep track of your work could become a new line
of business. The key is being flexible enough to take these new directions but rigorous enough
to maintain your vision."
Liz Whitehead
Founder of 12PointFive
www.12pointfive.com
"When it comes to fundraising, introductions to investors
from fellow founders is invaluable."
Miracle Olatunji
Founder of OPPORTUNIME
www.opportunime.co
10. "Say your goals out loud to yourself. For a long time, I wrote down my goals on a sheet of paper. I would review
them and write down the date that the goal was accomplished until one day I decided to start speaking them
out loud. Every morning after my prayer, I declare a goal for that day. I would say, "Thank you for the new client
today." I noticed as days went by, my goals were now my reality.
The goals were being met the same day I spoke them. I realized that my voice was my power.
I was speaking my goals into existence."
TaRhonda Harvey
Founder of TaRhonda Harvey
www.tarhondaharvey.com
"Its a marathon and not a sprint. It takes 10 years to be successful"
Sanna Gaspard
Founder of Rubitection
www.rubitection.com
"That I can't do this whole thing alone. I don't mean that in a way that I need a
buddy with everything, but in a sense that there is something undervalued
about collaboration and delegation. Buy your time back with tasks that either
aren't your specialty or are mindless tasks that an assistant or intern can do.
Focus on the bread and butter of your business."
Stephanie Smith
Founder of Digital Insomnia
www.digitalinsomnia.com
11. "That you need to be prepared, not perfect. I think many entrepreneurs, but particularly
women want everything perfect before they show the world. You can launch and learn, most
people will understand that you are in "beta" or early launch phase. I was waiting too long
and finally someone said, hey, look at Craigslist--that website hasn't changed in 20 years, and
it's a multi-billion dollar company! That was an AHA moment for me."
Kathryn Rose
Founder of WiseHER
www.wiseher.com
"Add value. Before asking for the sale, always add value by offering
content or information that’s helpful to your prospects,
customers and community."
Jean Ginzburg
Founder of Jean Ginzburg
www.jeanginzburg.com
12. EnrichHER unites Founders and Funders who
share a vision for sustainable women-led
ventures. To learn more about the EnrichHER
platform, visit our website at
www.iEnrichHER.com