On November 12, The Center for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship at the Walter F. and Virginia Johnson School of Business hosted the Women\u2019s Entrepreneurship Celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The panel presentation featured four entrepreneurs: Casye Fowler of Mooyah Burgers, Fries and Shakes; Addie Helms a professor and owner of Addie\u2019s Boutique; Anahi Martinez of Jumps & Tents for Events; and Aspin Santos of Curbside Cuts and Dad\u2019s Ice Cream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These four women discussed their experiences running their businesses, the challenges they\u2019ve faced when attaining their goals, and advice they would offer aspiring entrepreneurs. They discussed the factors that contribute to a business\u2019 success including hiring good employees, community involvement, effective marketing, and hard work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Casye Fowler, owner of Mooyah, stated that before COVID, she had a quick interview process. Now she takes more time to interview potential employees in depth to see if they are the right fit for her business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Addie Helms, owner of Addie\u2019s boutique, discussed the importance of advertising and promoting her business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe public needs to hear your brand at least seven times,\u201d Helms said. \u201cIt takes five years to become a part of the community. You never stop running.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other panelists expressed the same sentiment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Helms said that although it can be discouraging to find customers that have not heard of your brand despite your best efforts, you can still take those instances and find opportunities to meet your potential customers where they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy am I not meeting you<\/em> out in the world? I\u2019ll make sure to come to you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anahi Martinez, owner of Jumps & Tents for Events, stated that when running a business, online resources are a great tool to learn from other entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s a broad network of people online who will show you what to do,\u201d Martinez said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When asked how they defined success, the entrepreneurs were all in agreement\u2014it\u2019s not the money. It\u2019s about finding something you’re passionate about and eventually seeing the business run itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou have to dream big, but hustle harder,\u201d Martinez said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When asked how aspiring entrepreneurs can work towards their goals, they summed up the following steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Number one: Research. Find who is going to use you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Cayse Fowler said in an interview before the panel, \u201cYou have to do your research and can’t just get into something thinking, \u2018Oh, it’s just going to fall into my lap, it’s going to be easy.\u2019 No, it’s a lot of a lot of work. It’s just it’s not handed to you. So, if you’re willing to put in the work and the long hours, your rewards will be greater in the end, but you have to put in the work. Research and then have a support team. If it wasn’t for my business partner and then my family, it would definitely be a lot harder.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Number two: Learn from others. There is nothing wrong with working under someone that inspires you. Ask professors about internship opportunities to gain experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Number three: Be willing to do the work. Go to networking events and make connections; don\u2019t be afraid to be exposed and stand out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Number four: Seek learning opportunities and know the basics. Seek out small business development centers. Know your forms and I.R.S. terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All in all, when starting out, listen more than you speak. Listen to what mentors have to say about the industry you work in. Don\u2019t assume you have all the answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This panel taught me that to run a successful business, or find success in your field, you need to put yourself out there, have a strategy, and work hard. Trust that the hard work you are putting in will pay off and that you have the capability of being successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In an interview before the panel, Aspin Santos, owner of Curbside Cuts and Dad\u2019s Ice Cream, offered this advice, \u201cYou definitely have to trust yourself. I listen to a lot of outside influences on things, and I had a ton of people say \u2018That\u2019s not going to work. It\u2019s not going to be successful.\u2019 But I\u2019ve continuously grown. So, it is believing in yourself, not believing what other people say. There\u2019s going to be a lot of outside influences that are going to say \u2018Don\u2019t do that. It\u2019s going to fail.\u2019 You have to definitely believe in yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On November 12, The Center for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship at the Walter F. and Virginia Johnson School of Business hosted the Women\u2019s Entrepreneurship Celebration. The panel presentation featured four […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-issue-10","clearfix"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mcm.edu\/herald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mcm.edu\/herald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mcm.edu\/herald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mcm.edu\/herald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mcm.edu\/herald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=896"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mcm.edu\/herald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":897,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mcm.edu\/herald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896\/revisions\/897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mcm.edu\/herald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mcm.edu\/herald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mcm.edu\/herald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}