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Name: Kim Anthony
Business: Fitness Galore, an online blog for fitness and nutrition
Industry: Health & Beauty
Location: Austin, Texas, U.S.
Reason for starting: My businesses culminated from several things; my entrepreneurial spirit, love for writing, passion for helping others and my desire to be my own boss. I love every aspect of running my own business including the ups and downs, challenges, demanding schedule, daily expectations and everything in between.
Related: Take our start up quiz and find out if you would make a good entrepreneur.
How do you define success? I would define success as the inward and outward manifestation of triumph and accomplishment. It is often the result and reflection of hard work, determination and perserverance. It is the happy place where dreams meet reality.
Biggest Success: Starting fitnessgalore.net was by far one of my biggest successes. The writing aspect of the site came quite naturally, the technical tasks such as web design, marketing,and html coding-were a whole different story. I’d never designed a website and didn’t know the first thing about developing one. All I knew is that I needed it done and hiring a web designer was not in my budget at that time. So, I proceeded to roll up my sleeves and began researching and learning the intricate concepts of web development. Before I knew it I’d developed full on site with all the bells and whistles. I can clearly recall the first time I received a comment from a reader complementing me on the look and design of my site. That was a proud moment. I watched with elation as my unique monthly visitor numbers soared from 1 to 1000 per day. I still can’t believe I did it. I’m so glad I didn’t give up.
What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it? It’s truly a juggling act balancing home and managing a business. Sometimes I feel like I either need a few more hours in the day or a clone of myself to meet all of the demands and rigors of my schedule. I went through a divorce while embarking on my business endeavors. I thought this would immobolize me or deter me, instead enduring that experience made me wiser and stronger. It gave me a greater sense of purpose. With the primary responsibility of the home now resting on my shoulders, it gave me a greater sense of purpose and motivation. My children rely on me to be healthy, happy and successful so failure is not an option.
I’ve also grown to appreciate the value and usefulness of effective time management and organizational skills. Exercising these skills definitely helps me to feel productive at the end of the day. I thrive off following my daily to-do-list, but also try to prepare for the unexpected like a call from my children’s school nurse or unwelcomed car trouble. I try to avoid multi-tasking. I’m not an advocate of doing too many things at one time. I’ve personally found that something suffers when I spread myself to thin. I’m much more effective when I finish one task at a time.
Related: Read about another Health & Beauty entrepreneur here.
Who is your most important role model? Oprah Winfrey. She is truly an inspiration. I love how she’s successfully managed to tap into multiple genres- television, print, online, community involvement/development and more. She’s amazing. It has to be a wonderful feeling doing what you love and impacting so many people’s lives in the process.
[box_light]Website www.fitnessgalore.net
Twitter @fitnessgalore
Facebook www.facebook.com/Fitness-Galore
Instagram fitnessgalore
Pinterest www.pinterest.com/fitnessgalore[/box_light]
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Edited by The Story Exchange