Your Name: Paige Arnof-Fenn
Business Name: Mavens & Moguls, a network of marketing professionals
Type of Business: Marketing & PR
Business Location: Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Website www.MavensAndMoguls.com
Reason for starting
I joke that I am the Accidental Entrepreneur who started my firm right after 9/11 when marketing was cut from everyone’s budget. Because I had been the CMO of 3 successful startups before and all had good exits, I knew a lot of investors and business owners on both coasts who still had marketing problems but just did not the right resources in place to help and did not want to use their cash post 9/11 to build it so they asked me to help on either a project or retainer basis. I am happy to report that 12 years later we are still going strong!
How do you define success?
Success for me is about doing work I enjoy for clients I respect and want to help with people I can learn from and have fun working with. It is important to me to be able to travel, read, spend time with family and friends, exercise, volunteer, write, laugh, etc. along side doing work I find fulfilling and interesting. All work and no play just does not do it for me so it is about making room in my life for everyone and everything I care about. My definition of success has changed a lot over the years but over all I would like to leave the world better than I found it with a mark that is uniquely mine and live a life with no regrets.
Biggest Success
My biggest success so far has been building a well-respected business where I can get paid to do work I really enjoy with and for people I respect while making time for my family and friends. I have been happily married for 20 years and I have a very close group of family and long time friends I adore. Success for me is about the journey it is not a one time event or milestone. Every small success contributes to my overall happiness and hopefully send positive ripples out into the world.
What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it?
I see and always want to believe the best in everyone and sometimes I have gotten burned by people whose motives were not pure but I prefer to not get jaded and stay optimistic. I truly believe that karma will take care of the few rotten apples out there and refuse to let them bring me down. In my experience good always beats out evil if you are patient.
Who is your most important role model?
I have several role models in my family, former bosses and mentors. I feel very fortunate to have learned from some of the very best out there who have been incredibly generous with their time, advice and life experience.