As part of our ongoing 1,000 Stories research project, we asked women business owners to tell us about their top personal challenge in starting up. We’ve invited this select group of small-business experts to share their best tips for how to “get over it.” Read their advice in these columns:
Get Over It: Fear of Failure
Get Over It: That Terrible Inability to Focus
Get Over It: Being an Introvert
Get Over It: That Fear of Making the Ask
Get Over It: Your Lonely Business Slump
Get Over It: Your Lack of Patience
Get Over It: That Negative Voice Inside Your Head
[box_light]
Jen Groover is a serial entrepreneur, author and speaker who has been called a “one-woman brand” and a “creativity and innovation guru.” After founding The Butler Bag, she developed the lifestyle lines Leader Girlz and Empowered by Jen Groover. She currently serves as a spokeswoman for numerous brands.
Follow @jengroover
[/box_light]
[box_light]
Felena Hanson is the founder of Hera Hub, a flexible co-working space where entrepreneurial women can create and collaborate in a professional, spa-like environment. After building three locations in San Diego County, Hanson’s next mission is to support over 20,000 women via 200 Hera Hub locations over the next 5 years. See our profile of Hanson. Follow @felenahanson
[/box_light]
[box_light]
Claudia Chan is a women’s leadership and lifestyle expert dedicated to celebrating today’s female role models through her interview series on ClaudiaChan.com. She convenes female thought leaders at the annual S.H.E. Summit and provides leadership and lifestyle programming via S.H.E. University.
Follow @claudiachan
[/box_light]
[box_light]
Ann Mehl is an executive coach who helps entrepreneurs work on things that are holding them back from being the best leaders they can be. Prior to becoming an executive coach in 2005, she spent years in executive search, building management teams for venture-funded companies.
Follow @annmehl
[/box_light]
[box_light]
Jennifer Walsh founded her first company, The Beauty Bar, in 1998, developing it into the first omni-channel beauty brand in the country. She most recently launched a new startup, Pride & Glory, a line of collegiate beauty products that donates a portion of proceeds to charity.
Follow @behindthebrand
[/box_light]
[box_light]
Adriana Gardella writes about women and entrepreneurship for The New York Times’ “You’re the Boss” blog and contributes to the paper’s business section. A former criminal prosecutor, she has also written for publications including CNN Money and Newsweek.
Follow at @adrianagardella
[/box_light]
[box_light]
James Waldinger is the CEO of Artivest, a new investing platform that brings curated investing to a worldwide audience. He has worked with a variety of Internet startups, both in investment and operational roles, including as Peter Thiel’s analyst on his initial 2004 investment in Facebook.
Follow at @artivest
[/box_light]
[box_light]
Angela Jia Kim is a former award-winning concert pianist who now serves as CEO and founder of Om Aroma & Co., an eco-chic skincare brand, and Savor Spa, a lifestyle spa in New York . She created Savor the Success, a premium network for women entrepreneurs, to teach others how to grow businesses from scratch to seven figures. Follow at @savorthesuccess
[/box_light]
[box_light]
Judi Henderson-Townsend stumbled upon her entrepreneurial career in 2000 while searching for a used mannequin for a garden sculpture. She sells, rents, recycles, repairs and blogs about mannequins through her company, Mannequin Madness. See our profile of Henderson-Townsend here.
Follow at @mannequinmadnes
[/box_light]
[box_light]
Joanna Lord is an expert in all things marketing, currently serving as vice president of consumer marketing at Porch, a home improvement network. Prior to that she held marketing roles at BigDoor and Moz. She is a mentor to a variety of tech incubators and teaches marketing at the University of Washington.
Follow at @joannalord
[/box_light]
[box_light]
Ali Brown provides business and success advice to over 250,000 followers via AliBrown.com, her social media channels, and her Glambition Radio show. Ali has been named one of Forbes’ Women to Watch, one of EY’s Winning Women Entrepreneurs, and a spokesperson for Chase’s Mission Main Street Grants program. Follow at @alibrown
[/box_light]
[box_light]
Rod Kurtz served for more than a decade as a journalist and advocate on behalf of entrepreneurs — until finally becoming one himself. He works as a media strategist for brands, organizations and startups, and serves as editor-at-large at OPEN Forum. He guest lectures on entrepreneurship at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Follow at @rodkurtz
[/box_light]