Tania Richardson noticed an audience gap in lifestyle brands: women in their forties. Her mission with her recently launched company Hey Lady 💋™ is to create a lifestyle brand curated for all women over forty who have a, “passion for fashion, a love of travel, and are interested in owning or growing their business.” Today the Los Angeles, California-based entrepreneur is working to encourage and empower women over forty to do what makes them happy and live their own authentic lives.
Richardson’s story, as told to The Story Exchange 1,000+ Stories Project:
I started Hey Lady💋™ after I found that advertisers cater less to women in the 40–55 year age range. My goal is to fill the void and feature women from all walks of life who are living and thriving. I wanted to start a movement for the woman who has a passion for fashion, a love of travel, and an interest in owning or growing a business–to motivate, empower and encourage them to live their best lives. My thought was when women see other women living their best life, Hey Lady💋™ will hopefully reignite what’s missing in their lives. It is important to see positive images of women being more than moms.
My definition of success is when your money works for you…not when you work for your money! I know this is a cliche but I believe that long gone are the days when you go to work for someone else and receive a paycheck for the hours worked; only to find out that your boss is never going to pay you enough to live next door to her. When you can follow your passion and do what you love, your money then begins to work for you! But success isn’t only about how much money you make or where you live. Ultimately, it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives, and waking up with a smile on your face because you enjoy what you do.
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Besides being a mother of an amazing seventeen-year-old son, my biggest accomplishment to date was taking on a new business venture by launching Hey Lady💋™. I stepped out on faith and believed it would happen. And although I’m no stranger to business—representing a fortune 500 company and securing over four thousand clients consistently for eight years—building a lifestyle platform for women, that is organically turning into a movement was a completely new entrepreneurial move for me. While 2020 was about launching the business, 2021 will be about continuing the movement.
This year has not been without challenges. Between product development and production, my workload has been overwhelming. However, my top challenge is brand awareness and brand recognition. Of course, my audience must identify my brand based on visual indicators as my logo and colors, but l wanted to elicit feelings and emotions in my target audience, and this is not my lane. I addressed this challenge by hiring seasoned professionals that have produced and are implementing a strategic communications plan (public relations, social media, and content marketing). My company is now gradually gaining national publicity and social media followers, and I’m reading feedback about how much our supporters are inspired by and believe in our message.
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Tanya Tymus- Bellamy, the owner of McKenna Jordan Salon in Maryland is my role model. She is the reason I became an entrepreneur. She is the master of reinventing herself. Whenever, I needed help she was always there to answer any questions. She was always patient and thorough which I appreciated.
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