advice

25 Founders on How to Scale Your Business to 6 Figures—and Beyond

Growing your company’s revenue to six figures, and beyond, is an exciting milestone to celebrate. Beyond the financial stability that scaling provides, it’s also a sign that you may have product-market fit—you’re putting something in the world that truly impacts others and the hard-earned lessons gained along the way can be of service to others. 

So, how do you get to this point? Thankfully, learning from the founders who have paved the way already, can accelerate your journey, or even help you avoid pitfalls. From nailing down your messaging to building a strong community and honing in on your personal development, these entrepreneurs share advice that proves that hitting, and exceeding, your financial targets is absolutely within your reach.

If scaling your business to six figures and beyond is on your vision board for this year, or if you’ve done so already, but are committed to never stopping to learn, or grow—we challenge you to let a few of these tried and tested strategies work their magic for you. 

1. Christina Langdon—Founder of Christina Langdon High Performance Coaching & Consulting, helping CEOs, Founders, and high-achievers scale their business by scaling their minds.

My experience: The power of your mind is at the foundation for scaling any business. Scaling my business started with scaling my mindset and belief in myself as CEO. I built my CEO self-concept by deciding ahead of time who I wanted to become. When I launched my business, I wrote a job description for the CEO role for my six-figure business. I answered questions inside of the job description: what will I be thinking, how will my clients refer to me, how will I be spending my time, and who I will become as a six-figure CEO. When we get into comparison and despair and feel less confident, as every business owner on their way to six figures feels at some point, it’s most important to recognize that you are the biggest influencer in your life. When you recognize your influence over you, it's a game changer.

2. Lucy Bedewi—Founder of My Write Hand Woman, empowering women-owned ventures as they scale with strategic messaging and bold copy.

My experience: I scaled my business by transitioning from traditional project-based packages to a VIP Day model. I was able to free up hours of time, and pour those hours into content creation, networking, and client acquisition. If you're having a hard time getting to the six-figure mark, my advice would be to make sure your business model can support hitting that revenue mark without you having to work more than 20 hours a week. Those extra 10 to 20 hours can be used to make sure you have precious CEO time to scale into your sustainable business model.

3. Jessica Alderson—Co-Founder and CEO of So Syncd, a dating app that matches compatible personality types.

My experience: At So Syncd, we maintain a rigorous focus on our core metrics. Tracking key performance indicators on a daily basis enables us to understand the return on investment within each area of the business. With this knowledge, we can make informed decisions about how to allocate capital and resources to optimize the business for growth. Data-driven decision-making has been fundamental for us in scaling our business.

4. Melissa Lohrer—Founder of Waverly Ave Consulting, an independent, female-founded fractional business development partner and coach for agencies on the rise.

My experience: I built a six-figure business in the first six months of launching my business. When I launched, I had an ambitious revenue goal and a flexible schedule that would give me the opportunity to live the life I wanted. Then I determined how many clients I needed per month, quarter, and year. The hardest thing for founders is saying no to the wrong clients; the clients who don't want to pay you what you're worth or find value in your offer. Those clients take up your time and hold you back from reaching your goals.

5. Alice Kim—Founder and CEO of PerfectDD, a mission-driven sustainable clothing brand designed to fit and flatter DD+ cups, sizes 0-16.

My experience: Keep reiterating your message. Since you live and breathe your business, you may think your audience has heard your message before, but it’s always good to remind them. With so many distractions in our lives, statistics show that less than 10 percent of your followers on Instagram see your post/story on any given day. If you send emails, check your open and click rates. If people didn’t open your email, try changing the subject line and resend. They signed up for a reason; now it’s your job to engage and show them value. If they opened your email but didn’t click, try changing the image or phrase your message in a different way. It’s important to check metrics for every output produced. Reiterate what worked and ditch what didn’t.

6. Meredith Fennessy—Founder of Le Chéile, where boutique creative studio and agency founders regain creative freedom and grow profitable businesses.

My experience: Network, network, network. Continue to grow your community and make meaningful connections for others. Direct referrals are your best friend.

7. Sara Miller—Founder of Student Organ Donation Advocates (SODA), supporting passionate student organ donation advocates who share the life-saving power of organ donation.

My experience: From the very beginning of scaling SODA, we prioritized finding aligned partners—other organizations who shared the same goals as us but had different strengths. By valuing and collaborating with these partners, we were able to form meaningful and lasting relationships that have resulted in revenue, generated leads, and created visibility. My advice for others is to ask yourself who is doing complementary work and to reach out to learn more about what they're doing and to ask to collaborate!

8. Selena Soo—Founder of Selena Soo, a publicity and marketing expert helping coaches, consultants, and creatives reach millions with their message.

My experience: If you want to scale your business, scale your visibility. In other words, instead of connecting with one person at a time, share your message with many people at once. You can do this through podcast interviews, writing articles for online publications, or speaking on stages. There are an infinite number of ways to scale your reach. The most important thing is to just get started!

9. Claudia Richman—Co-Founder of Starling Training, offering cohort-based, virtual, synchronous training designed to sharpen the skills that build productive, supportive relationships.

My experience: Focusing on emotional intelligence has been the key to breaking the six-figure barrier for Starling Training. By keeping the people part of business front and center, we’ve built connections with like-minded leaders who understand that growing their people will ultimately grow their bottom line. Our training introduces concepts that often aren’t taught or measured and give people a safe space to experiment and learn, which ultimately results in deeper business relationships with high return on investment.

10. Hannah Nieves—Founder and CEO of HN Haus, a community and social club for women in business, helping six- and seven-figure founders magnify their influence and amplify their reach.

My experience: The first step is self-trust. You have to believe you can achieve six figures before any strategy and action is taken. To get to six figures you need a strong offer and clear positioning and messaging that directly speaks to your target audience. Once you can provide a transformation it's all about the client experience to help with retention, referrals, and repeat business.

11. Katie Ward—Owner of Katie Ward Photography, a full service photo studio that specializes in editorial, brand/advertising, and portrait photography.

My experience: As a solopreneur, the most important step to reaching a sustainable six-figure business was to have profitable pricing. Without sitting, doing the accounting, and understanding, annually, how much it costs to run my business, how often I want to be working, and how much I want to make, I would have burned out and closed my business years ago. By being profitable, I can fully show up for myself and for my clients who are trusting me to produce the highest quality of work.

12. Vivian Chen—Founder and CEO of Rise, a leading diversity recruiting platform for ambitious professionals. 

My experience: My business had almost no revenue coming out of Covid-19. I had a make-or-break moment where I gave myself one more quarter to give it a shot. During those months, I remember telling myself, "A business is an exchange of value for a product or service. So go prove that your business has value." And I became laser-focused on revenue. I firmly believed that if I didn't invest in myself and the tools I needed, why would others? So, I made a conscious decision to invest in software that truly leveled up my operations. It was a game-changer. For a solid three months, I ignored all emails except for those that were revenue-related. My efforts paid off and we broke even. Then, within a mere two quarters, we were profitable. My advice to fellow founders who are aspiring to achieve similar growth is to prioritize revenue-generating activities and have the courage to invest in themselves to support their goals.

13. Kimone Napier—Founder of Hire Breakthrough, dedicated to helping founders overcome hiring challenges and achieve breakthroughs.

My experience: To scale my business to six figures, I implemented a targeted marketing and lead generation strategy. By focusing on attracting and converting qualified leads, I was able to achieve consistent growth. My advice for other founders is to prioritize building strong client relationships, providing exceptional customer service, and staying adaptable to industry trends. Delegating tasks outside of your core strengths can also help free up time for high-impact activities that drive business growth.

14. Joanna Sapir—Founder of Joanna Sapir Presents, LLC, providing health and wellness practitioners with education and resources to build more resilient and sustainable businesses.

My experience: Don't be afraid to invest money in support for you and your business. This can look like coaching, consulting, or hiring help. It's so worth it to spend money on learning skills or receiving services that will directly help you make more money. The key is to make sure that investment provides you a great return.

15. Nirali Guzman—Founder and CEO of Casa Amarosa, a thoughtfully curated collection of home and lifestyle goods, with an unwavering commitment to sustainability and culturally progressive design.

My experience: To scale Casa Amarosa to six figures and beyond, we optimized our supply chain, building strong relationships with artisan communities for a steady supply of unique products. My advice to founders is to deeply understand your market and align your business model accordingly. Build a committed team and never compromise on product quality. Remember: scaling isn’t just about growth in size, but also in value delivered to your customers.

16. Sarah Lambert—Founder of The Rosewood Agency, a course creation agency for service providers who want to create passive income so they can have a greater impact and get their time back.

My experience: My own personal development has been absolutely crucial in building a multiple six-figure online business. I went all in on my business after having my first baby in 2019, and I had no idea how much it was going to force me to grow personally. It doesn't matter how great your strategy is, your business can only grow as quickly as you are. In order to create a six-figure business, focus more on who you're being, your emotional intelligence, and leadership, and less on hacking the social algorithms. You'll be blown away by what you're capable of creating.

17. Marnie Rabinovitch Consky—Founder and CEO of Thigh Society, a brand of size-inclusive, anti-chafing slip-short underwear designed to help women move through the world with comfort and confidence.

My experience: Hire out for key leadership positions earlier than it may feel like you need them. No founder can possibly do all things well at once, and no brand can scale without bringing on a strong leadership team of experts who bring high-level knowledge in their specific areas of expertise and experience. When I decided to go all-in on Thigh Society, I brought on a Chief Marketing Officer, a joint Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Our CFO/COO brought in an ability to nurture supplier relationships, forecast inventory, manage cash flow, and carve a path to maintaining profitability as we grow. Our CMO brought in a small but mighty team to ensure that, as a direct-to-consumer brand, we were investing in, experimenting with, and iterating on marketing strategies that drive growth. Spend the money. These people are worth the investment, and your future growth will thank you for it.

18. Fiona Nguyen—Founder of Balannx, a virtual CPA firm that provides CFO, tax, and accounting advisory for female founders.

My experience: Building a strong community is the key to success, contrary to the belief that the business is transactional. Once you build a strong community that roots for each other, you cultivate a stronger root for your business and it sustains your growth for a long time. Through working on nurturing relationships, I have been able to build a sustainable business. We could never grow our business without them. My advice for other entrepreneurs is to pay attention to that one client you have in front of you and do everything you can to help them. That is the root of your community.

19. Sally Joy Wolf—Founder and CEO of LightWorks, empowering executives and their teams to flourish through well-being advisory, keynotes, workshops, and coaching.

My experience: Even when I'm focused on growing, I'm still willing to say "no" when amazing opportunities don't feel quite right. My first six-figure client cold called me after seeing me in the guest slot on a popular LinkedIn Live. As excited as I was when invited, I declined the first two dates they offered me, both the week of July 4th, given it's such a big holiday week. When no other dates were available, I chose to wait until something better opened. Despite being a new entrepreneur, I believed I was worthy of a better date, and having the confidence to wait paid off.

20. Tsvetta Kaleynska—CEO of Rila Global Consulting, a boutique social listening agency located in New York City, studying consumers, brands, markets, and trends.

My experience: To scale my business to seven figures, I leveraged free online resources. First I started with free email-finding services to create a targeted client list by gathering their email addresses. This allowed me to focus on reaching out to the right people. For streamlined outreach, I relied on no-cost email sequencing email add-ons. These tools automated follow-ups and lead qualification, freeing up my time for other tasks. Consistently using these completely free resources, I generated leads, nurtured relationships, and closed huge deals. It was cost efficient and helped me own everything in-house, which resulted in remarkable results. My advice to other founders: explore free online resources. Utilize tools that identify potential clients, automate outreach, and manage leads effectively. Leverage these resources to save time and money while achieving significant growth. Stay focused and consistent, and adapt strategies based on results.

21. Ashley Rector—Founder of Quimby Digital, providing organic and paid social media services to revolutionary brands looking to stand out online.

My experience: If you want to scale, you need to learn how to delegate. The biggest mistake is thinking you’re an expert at everything and can do it all yourself. You will propel your growth three times by figuring out what you do poorly and hiring someone smarter than you to do it!

22. Sarah Loughry—Founder and CEO of Em Dash Blogging, an end-to-end solution for content.

My experience: Hire and outsource. I chose to hire my first employee months before paying myself. Obviously, I would have preferred to start seeing a personal income, but hiring help allowed me to focus on business development. This turned out to be pivotal in our growth. Not only was I able to scale more quickly but I also built a nest egg.

23. Lis Best—Founder and CEO of Girls Club Collective, an intentionally intimate personal and professional development community for change agents.

My experience: The No. 1 thing I did to scale my business to six figures was get crystal clear on who my dream clients are, what their challenges are, and what they want. I conduct what I call dream client interviews at least once a year to find out what people are craving, where they're going for connection, and what's feeling most sticky in their lives and careers. There is no substitute for getting on the phone with real, actual people. Making time to listen and craft my programs and offers around what real people are actually looking for right now is the biggest thing that helped me scale my business to and past the six-figure mark.

24. Amanda Aldinger—CEO of Antonym, a white glove copywriting and voice strategy studio that conspires with industry-defining beauty, food, and lifestyle brands.

My experience: Early on—when Antonym was a nameless vision—I invested in an expert brand-building process, yielding a clear strategy, name, visual identity, website, and the assets a luxury creative studio required to show up with professional panache. Most importantly, I refused to rush it, which has become a devoted practice for all Antonym's internal transformations. It's a more significant investment and more time upfront, but each project—from our original branding to a brand refresh four years later and the current overhaul of our entire ops system and process—has led to ascendant interior growth, a transformation of our services and client experience, and in turn, a steady, organic increase in revenue. Time-starved desperation rarely yields impactful results, and a rush toward growth you can't support is neither sustainable nor net profitable.

25. Natasha Miller—Founder and CEO of Entire Productions, creating bold experiences for corporate entities that drive guest engagement and brand evangelism.

My experience: Our system and processes enabled us to produce 777 events in one year with only two people in operations. We couldn't have done it if we didn't have the framework and foundation in place. I ran my business with a do-it-yourself mindset for years. It wasn't until I started seriously educating myself in solid business practices and learning from mentors and advisors that I skyrocketed our growth!

—Written by Gesche Haas

About the author: Gesche Haas is the Founder and CEO of Dreamers & Doers, an award-winning community that amplifies extraordinary women entrepreneurs and leaders through PR, authentic connections, and high-impact resources. Prior to founding Dreamers & Doers, Gesche held senior positions at venture-backed companies covering growth, strategy, finance, operations and business development. She also spent five years as an investor at a healthcare-focused hedge fund. Gesche is half German, half Chinese-Malaysian, and was born in Swaziland, Africa. She lives with her two kids, husband, dog and chickens, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Diem Co-Founder Emma Bates on Human-Centered Technology and The Power of Female Communication

ABOUT THE EPISODE

In today's episode of WorkParty, Jaclyn is joined by Emma Bates, founder & CEO of Diem. If you attended Create & Cultivate's Austin Pop-Up event earlier this year, you might've already heard from Emma on one of our panels where she spoke about women paving the way with blockchain technology.

If you're not familiar with Diem, it's a community-powered search engine designed for women. Diem is a Techstars NYC portfolio brand backed by leading investors like Flybridge, Acrew, & Sellation. By trade, Emma is a marketer and a community builder. Her entry into marketing was somewhat untraditional–in that she started out by growing her personal blog to 100K+ readers at age 19, and later transitioned into corporate marketing roles at some of the fastest-growing consumer brands in NYC and the UK. Prior to founding Diem, she worked as the Head of Global Marketing at the direct-to-consumer luggage brand, Away, where she found her passion for connecting with consumers through brand partnerships.

When she's not sidestepping her way into another entrepreneurial endeavor, she works to create social change as a lifelong advocate for gender equality. Emma has also been featured in Forbes, HuffPost, Entrepreneur, and The Cut for her unique approach to marketing, community building, and partnerships.

In this episode, she shares the importance of adding a human element to technology and product design, the power of female communication, and how she's working to bring inclusive, reliable information to people all over the world.

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Outdoor Voices & Try Your Best Founder Ty Haney Shares How to Leverage Web3 to Build Powerful Communities

ABOUT THE EPISODE

Live from our 2022 Small Business Summit event, Ty Haney joins Jaclyn Johnson for a keynote conversation about building community in Web3. If you're listening to this episode it's because you believe in doing things. Big things. And Ty Haney is on the same page. Haney founded Outdoor Voices–a vibrant, fun-first athleticwear brand back in 2014.

During Haney's time with Outdoor Voices, the brand became synonymous with IRL events that brought shoppers together to celebrate movement. And today, she's here to talk about how to bring that same IRL magic online with the next wave of community-driven technology.

Haney's new brand TYB, which stands for Try Your Best, makes Web3 community-powered growth tools that allow brands and fans to directly link, come together, build, and win together. And if you don't know what that means, it's okay! By the end of this episode, you'll be a pro.

LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE

RESOURCES

SHOW OUR SPONSORS SOME LOVE

Printfresh | Head to printfresh.com/WORKPARTY or use code PARTY at checkout for 15% off your first order.

OTHER EPISODES YOU MIGHT LIKE . . .

How One Woman Used TikTok To Land a Job Promotion 

This Black-Owned Company’s CEO Is Disrupting The Beauty Industry

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Using Technology to Drive Social Impact with AllVoices Founder, Claire Schmidt 

Live from Austin Pop-Up: How to Define Goals and Rise to Your Potential with Payal Kadakia, Founder of ClassPass and Author of LifePass

Doing Too Much Led To Work Exhaustion- Here's How I Bounced Back

As an entrepreneur, it’s easy to feel like you need to be doing it all, and all the time. However, this mindset has the potential to put you on the fast track to work exhaustion- aka burnout!

If you’re currently in the midst of burnout or feel like you’re on your way there yourself, know that there's hope for recovery and avoidance altogether. We spoke with 15, high-achieving women who’ve experienced burnout as a result of doing too much all at once. Luckily for them (and for you), they’ve since bounced back by implementing more sustainable strategies to ensure they are thriving both personally and professionally.

You are capable of doing a lot, but you don’t always have to be doing everything. Take the advice from these successful entrepreneurs.

Katie Ward

Owner of Katie Ward Photography, a brand, editorial, and portrait photographer based in NYC and the Hamptons. 

My experience: I experienced severe burnout at the end of 2021. I am the primary parent and primary earner in my household and I had been exclusively pumping for a baby, spending three hours a day driving my older child to and from school, as well as working more than full-time. I ended up having to dip into savings to take two months off to get back to baseline, sleep, and figure out my priorities. The biggest strategy I employed was to significantly raise the prices of my offerings. Doing so enabled me to work 25 to 50 percent less, while still being able to support my family both financially and emotionally.

My advice: Sometimes there is no avoiding burnout, especially with the unrealistic expectations that society has placed on everyone, but more specifically on working moms. But there are tools we can use to get through it. Focusing on getting enough sleep, eating regularly, and finally getting a therapist who I felt comfortable opening up to helped me a lot.

Ashita Shah

CEO of Arunashi, a combined 11th-generation fine jewelry atelier that specializes in rare and one-a-kind gemstones.

My experience: Burnout is real. With kids and an active social life with work dinners and friends, it was like the hamster wheel with no end in sight. Outsourcing and hiring a good reliable team for me was worth the weight in gold, from managing life at work to managing the home and the kids. Time management and planning have also been extremely helpful. With a monthly brain dump and a short daily list of goals, it allows me to get to the finish line in smaller chunks versus being overwhelmed by it all. 

My advice: Hire. I can't tell you how much sanity and peace of mind this will bring to you. Hire to manage all the things you can't do—from filing papers, to creating and managing schedules for home and personal life, to answering general emails—so you can focus truly on what you can do. Hiring a few great individuals is all it takes to stay ahead of the curve and not feel like you are gasping for air. 

Dorothy Kolb

Founder and CEO of dk east associates, providing clients with customized business strategies, financial confidence, and a curated network of professionals, experts, and allies.

My experience: Because I'm in the service space as a fractional CFO, I'm always working for others. I pride myself on my bespoke offerings but it has also, on occasion, left me feeling unsupported, tapped out, and burnt. As a single mom of four, I also need to be fully myself for my sons. Burnout has manifested itself in me feeling empty, crushed, and useless. I have built up a network of colleagues, experts, and allies who I can rely on not only for referrals but for help. Referring along parts of work not only allows me to source the best for my clients but allows me to take a break knowing my clients are in amazing hands.

My advice: It's so important to have a bunch of resources. Now and then you just need to refer out some work to someone you fully trust so that you can regroup. Trust me, it pays itself back in multiples. 

Rossalvi Marte

Founder and CEO of Marte & Co., a consulting agency specializing in business marketing and branding for personal and lifestyle brands. 

My experience: ​​The first time I experienced burnout was in my corporate career. This was a mental burnout since I’m a mom of two toddlers and I did not have time for anything after work. I would bathe and feed my kids quickly so that they could be in bed as soon as possible. After starting my business, I experienced burnout again because I said yes too many times when I should have said no. What helped me the most was working with a naturopathic doctor and life coach at the same time. Making time for self-care is also now a non-negotiable for me.

My advice: Spend time thinking about what drains your energy and what boundaries you need to start implementing in your life today. Block time on the calendar for true self-care and commit to it. 

Mellinda Abbott

CPA at Abbott and Company LLC, a boutique accounting firm working alongside successful entrepreneurs to ensure their growth and success.

My experience: I would say I was a member of the “I can do it all” club until my late 40s when divorce and a health scare forced me to stop and evaluate. I learned to be sure that each day I focus on the things that are meaningful to me—the ones that put a smile on my face and feel good. 

My advice: Pause, sit with yourself, and identify what is important to you. If you are not healthy and happy, no one else in your life will be either.

Shay Paresh

Founder and CEO of SHAYDE BEAUTY, a skincare line made with melanin in mind.

My experience: I’ve had several burnout moments throughout my career because I overextended myself. It’s important to re-evaluate your priorities and learn to set boundaries. Learn to say “no” more often. Saying no allows you to say “yes” to the commitments you want to make!

My advice: Set aside time to disconnect and participate in an activity you truly enjoy, such as attending your favorite workout class or connecting with a community that is personally meaningful to you. It’s vital to surround yourself with the right people, personally and professionally. 

Ashley Rector

Founder of Laura Alexandria Marketing, a female-powered social media micro-agency working with venture-backed businesses to expand their reach on social media.

My experience: Burnout is very real and very scary. I was a practicing attorney for several years while simultaneously running a side hustle focused on building authentic communities. I thought I could do it all and that I had no boundaries. I hit a breaking point where I mentally collapsed and couldn't handle it anymore. I had to take a step back, identify the things that brought me joy, and evaluate how I was spending my time on a day-to-day basis.

My advice: We are a sum of all of our small actions. When you start to skip things that fill up your bucket here and there, you don't realize that those actions of putting yourself last add up tremendously. So don't skip the morning indulgent coffee, the 10 minutes in the park with sunshine on your face, or the manicure.

Carlye Morgan

Founder and CEO of Chalonne, creating luxury Apple Watch bands for women, hand-crafted in France with the finest leathers, gemstones, and solid gold.

My experience: Growing up, I was told that women could have it all—they could have a career and a family and life could be wonderful. But in reality, I found that balancing a career and a family was incredibly challenging. Around the time my daughter was four years old, the long hours, stress, and politics at my corporate job began to take a toll on me emotionally and physically. Since many factors in my work environment were completely out of my control, I decided to take control of my own destiny and walk away, which was one of the hardest decisions of my life. But once the weight of my stressful job was lifted, I was able to get back to myself and reinvent my career on my own terms as an entrepreneur. Granted, it was a very risky thing to do. But sometimes, you have to take a great risk to get a great reward. I have not regretted it for a moment and in hindsight, I just wish I had done it sooner!

My advice: It’s incredibly hard to do the same thing for many years, feeling like a hamster on a wheel. I would recommend attempting to make a lateral move to a different position within your company. I did that successfully for years and it helped keep things fresh and interesting. 

Belma McCaffrey

CEO of Work Bigger, a career coaching platform for high achievers who want to find their purpose. 

My experience: One of my most significant burnout experiences happened when I was working full-time at the largest news organization in the world. At the same time, I had my first son and was working to launch my first coaching business. I was trying to "have it all"—the success, the family, and the business. I didn't know it at the time, but my self-worth was based on my level of success and achievement. It was this harmful belief that led to my burnout. My No. 1 strategy was to take a pause and rest, and work on my self-worth and my confidence. 

My advice: Understand where your burnout is coming from. One place to start is by identifying your emotional triggers. Emotional triggers are events or experiences that trigger a negative emotional response. These can show you what you need to heal so that you can learn to work from a healthier place. You can learn to set boundaries and say no, which is critical for getting your power back.

Jenna Sereni

CEO and Founder of HandsDown, the shopping platform built for communities and friends.

My experience: Burnout is so very real, and especially as a parent and a founder, there is so much to juggle in the pressure cooker that is this career. That said, after 15 years I think I’ve finally unlocked my escape when it comes to burnout. If you’re going to be taking on a big job, an exceptional challenge at work, or a new project, first check in with yourself and think about the balance you’ve been able to create as it relates to your personal self-care. What brings you peace? What makes you feel at ease? For me, it’s a 30-minute daily morning workout, short meditation, and monthly mani-pedi. My No. 1 priority when setting up my day, my travel schedule, and my personal vacation schedule? It all revolves around my self-care needs. Because ultimately, if I don’t take care of myself, we’re at risk of it all unraveling.

My advice: Find what brings you peace and makes you feel at ease, and make that a priority. I promise, carving out that small amount of time will be worth the effort in setting up the habit. Two helpful resources are Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty and Atomic Habits by James Clear. Read these two books and you’ll be on your way to a lifestyle that prioritizes your personal health, setting you up to crush it in your professional one.

Michelle Glauser

Founder and CEO of Techtonica, a nonprofit that helps women and non-binary adults with low incomes overcome barriers to entering tech careers.

My experience: As someone who founded an intensive tech education nonprofit and managed it while working another full-time job, I have both personally been affected by burnout and advised many people dealing with it. Even during the toughest times, I make sure to get enough sleep and regular exercise, because no combination of other things can make up for the foundation sleep and exercise provide. I also found that identifying the feelings I have and sharing them—whether with a friend or in my journal—helps me process and move on. When you care so much about the work you do, you have to remember that your value isn’t defined by your level of productivity. Be intentional, consistent, and unapologetic about taking time to recharge.

My advice: When you feel the most overwhelmed and in danger of complete burnout, it usually feels like the worst time to take a break, but it’s the most essential time to take a break. I recommend everyone use a trauma-informed tool we recently implemented at Techtonica called a WRAP, or Wellness Recovery Action Plan—create, share, and stick to a personal doc that lists what you will do regularly to maintain wellness, what triggers a stress response for you, signs that you are overwhelmed, and what you will do to recover. 

Felicia Kashevaroff

CEO of Tend Task, a newly imagined tool for household organization.

My experience: My experience with burnout came during my years as a stay-at-home mom. Since I wasn't "working," I felt compelled to prove my worth by joining every committee and acting as room mom for all three of my children's classrooms. I planned fundraisers and sat on nonprofit boards—important work, but did I need to do it all? My partner couldn't understand that these responsibilities, combined with the mental load I was carrying at home, were simply too much. Ultimately, his refusal to value my time and contributions forced me to do it myself. I learned to say no more often and started exploring the meaning of equitable partnership.

My advice: My most meaningful advice is to value your time. It's your most precious resource. Say no without guilt and call on your friends, family, and your partner if you have one to support you when you feel burned out, or feel burnout approaching.

Emily McDonald

Co-Founder of My Founder Circle, a community for early-stage female founders to help them launch and scale their companies.

My experience: I faced major burnout with my first start-up, The Stylist LA. I was working more than 80 hours per week, raising investment, and ran a large team. I always put myself last. These factors resulted in massive burnout. I realized I needed to put my needs first. I needed to prioritize sleep, exercise, and healthy eating, which in turn made my work even better. Working 80-hour weeks wasn't helpful in the long run, even though it felt like it at the time. Putting myself and my mental health first is ultimately so much more productive for my business.

My advice: Remember to give yourself grace. Find a confidante, a therapist, or a business coach who you can be 100 percent honest with. Open up to them about how you are feeling and have them assist with strategies to get through it. Take a step back and give yourself space from the office, from your work, or whatever you may need. Try and move your body, get some sleep, and put your phone down. All of these things help when going through burnout––but they also help in avoiding burnout. Remember: there is so much more to life than work, even though it's hard to see when you are in it.

Marika Adamopoulos

Founder of Marika Creative, an agency specializing in stunning visual experiences, boldly and strategically supporting global businesses to increase their revenue.

My experience: As both a creative and an entrepreneur, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that burnout is a familiar place for me. Especially when I was first getting my business off the ground, I was working eight days a week, 57 hours a day. I didn’t take a true vacation for three years, and, at one point, I was taking on up to 20 photo projects a month. This pattern and the stress it induced led to some pretty significant health challenges, bringing me to a place where I was forced to make some changes. 

My advice: Schedule your rest time and plan all your work-related tasks around your non-negotiable “you time.” Burnout is fairly easy to avoid if you set up a structure in your days, weeks, months, and years where you create the time you need to work through internal battles, lay on the couch and do nothing, lift at the gym, or whatever you need. As someone who’s experienced burnout many times, a big piece of overcoming it is realizing that it is okay to step away from your work, and to realize that you’ll be more successful and productive if you do step away for a time. Talking this through with a coach, therapist, or strong friend to help you get to that understanding internally can be really useful, and can then get you to the place you need to develop the rituals that will work best for you. 

Katherine Sprung

Founder of Sprung On Food, a series highlighting food and beverage companies and featuring food conversations with musicians and public figures.

My experience: I've owned and operated Squish Marshmallows, a small-batch artisanal marshmallow and confections company, for eight years. When you're a sole owner of a bootstrapped business, you wear an incredible amount of hats, and you're working non-stop. After seven years of running the business, five of which I ran a brick-and-mortar retail shop with pop-ups and satellite locations, I was burning out quickly, especially going through the height of the pandemic. For me, the best way to give myself the freedom I needed and not completely run myself down, was to not renew my lease and close my brick and mortar, basically changing the model of my business.

My advice: Evaluate what you're doing, and where you're putting your time. For so long we've been told to "hustle," "no days off," and "sleep when you're dead." Those are all the things that are burning us out. My favorite mantra has always been to be the tortoise, not the hare. If you're driving yourself full force, not stopping, you're not only going to crash and burn, you're going to miss out on life. We often think that the business that we're in, or building, is the only thing that's happening and unless we're only sleeping three hours a night and working around the clock, nothing will get done. Sure, we could all use more hours in a day, but what we need to do is shift our mindset and give ourselves more grace. Slow down, work hard, but allow yourself room to breathe and live outside of your work. 

About the author: Gesche Haas is the Founder/CEO of Dreamers & Doers, a private collective that amplifies the entrepreneurial pursuits of extraordinary women through thought leadership opportunities, authentic connection, and access. Gesche's been featured on Bloomberg TV, CNNMoney, The New York Times, Huffington Post, Business Insider, Forbes, Fortune Magazine, Refinery29, Broadly/Vice, and other major media outlets, as well as at the United Nations, where she spoke during the sixtieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

5 Ways To Perfect Your Worry-Free Weekly “Reset” Routine

With Monday right around the corner, Sundays can make you feel like a mess. The pressures of
the coming week and the stress of the past are a perfect recipe for anxiety, dread, and overwhelm. Not to mention, the grief! I love weekends so I’m always a little sad come Sunday night. So when I find myself in this headspace, I seek refuge in my “reset routine.”

Setting time aside to replenish my energy and practice self-care helps me transition back into the week with ease. Protecting my energy is something I’ve struggled with in the past, and if that sounds like you here's what I did to achieve a worry-free weekly "reset" routine. The practices I share have helped me prioritize my well-being and joy, and are designed to help you pause and prepare. If that hasn’t been your experience with routines, don't worry. Here are 5 ways to create a realistic and resourcing “reset” routine to start the week right.

1. Cleanse your body

When we move from the brain we tend to forget the body. Physically cleansing is a way to reset the body and refresh your energy for the start of the week. Think of how you can bring extra intention to your cleansing routine. I like to take this time to style my hair the way I like or add a face massage to my skincare regimen.

Another way to “cleanse” your body is through hydration. I track my water intake with my gallon water bottle and complement that with some teas that bring me joy. Hot or cold teas are known to boost your immune system and fight off inflammation, so lately I’ve been enjoying a cup of warm tea with a squeeze of lemon, a spoonful of honey, ginger, and some goji berries.

2. Reset the mind

Between running a YouTube channel, podcast, and an online stationery shop, I'm no stranger to stress and overwhelm. When I struggle with insomnia or lack of motivation, I know it’s my body’s signal to take a step back and slow down. I’ve tried many mindfulness practices, but what works best for me is meditation. Anxiety starts in the mind, so learning to listen and observe my thoughts, as opposed to letting them take over control, has brought me a lot of relief. Meditation helps clear your mind, reset your mental slate and focus on your intentions. Try it for 15 minutes a week and see if it helps you too.

While meditation brings a gentle awareness to racing thoughts, affirmations introduce calming and empowering thoughts to the brain. Repeating statements like “I love myself. I trust myself. I am safe” bring me calm and support. Try a guided meditations when you are ready.

3. Plan the week ahead

Narrowing your focus is key to combating overwhelm and getting more done. Take a look at your upcoming week and take note of the events planned. Start by setting goals for the week and don’t forget to set some self-care ones as well. I like to make a list of three things for each category. This method keeps things achievable and helps me practice prioritizing. The Weekly Reset Planner uses the “list of three” template, which makes planning my week that much easier.


Next, I find reflecting on the past week helps me feel better prepared for the week to come. I take this time to practice gratitude and celebrate growth more regularly. No matter how small the achievement, it deserves to be celebrated. Reminding your nervous system of what you have survived helps relieve anxiety about the future. With time, this kind of practice can rewire your brain towards confidence and positivity instead of fear and self-criticism.

4. Clean your space

Tidying up is not everyone’s cup of tea and I get that. For some, it can feel like an impossible task. If this is the case for you, I have a 10-minute hack. Set a 10-minute timer and do some chores like folding laundry, doing the dishes, or sweeping. You can stop once your timer is up but you might find that once you get started you want to continue cleaning for longer.

This trick helps me combat procrastination and feel a sense of accomplishment. Your brain actually releases dopamine when you achieve goals, no matter how small they are! Also, a clean space promotes a clear mind. Not to mention that a small weekly dose of cleaning will give you less work later, and help you practice a healthy habit that will get easier over time.

5. Relax your body

In a culture that rewards “doing,” slowing down to honor “being” is a challenging task. Being with yourself, feeling into your body, and listening to your senses is vital to your wellbeing. Movement and breathing exercises are a great way to tend to your body and release trapped emotions. Tune inward and ask yourself “what areas hold the most tension in my body?” Stretching, breathing, and tapping are some of my go-to methods to release tension.

Other movement exercises to try are Belly Button Healing, which is a practice that stimulates digestive organs, promotes blood flow, and releases trapped emotions, and yoga is also a great way to slow down and heal your body’s aches and pains. I try to practice movement as much as possible to stay connected and fluid with my body. Above all, remember that the intention is decompression. Listen to the wisdom of your body and let yourself look silly.

About the author: Aileen Xu is a content creator and entrepreneur at Lavendaire, inspiring people around the world to embrace their true potential and create their dream life. Her YouTube channel Lavendaire has over 1.6 million subscribers. Her podcast, The Lavendaire Lifestyle, has over 7 million downloads. Aileen is the creator of the top-selling Artist of Life Workbook, a guided journal to creating your most successful year, which has sold over 25,000 physical copies. Her brand offers an array of stationery products and an online course at The Lavendaire Shop.

How to Raise Money for a Startup

Asking for money is rarely fun. But it’s especially tough—and often futile—for women. Why? We’re less likely to get a raise at work, even though we ask at the same rate as men. And we’re especially unlikely to get money for our startups since only 2.2% of all venture capital goes to female founders. (The percentages are even worse for women of color.)

Even for those women who successfully ask this question, it’s as I write in my book Startup Money Made Easy: The Inc. Guide to Every Financial Question About Starting, Running, and Growing Your Business, “seeking outside money is a daunting, grinding, tedious process.” It can go horribly wrong. But raising money can also go tremendously well if you do your homework, network like crazy, and get lucky.

Over the course of nearly five years of reporting and editing money coverage at Inc., I’ve interviewed many successful women founders. Some of them avoided raising outside money entirely; others have raised tens of millions of dollars. So if you’re ready to take the VC plunge—or to start off by asking friends and family to back your business.

Here are five things to know about raising money for your startup.

You don’t necessarily need to do it.

VC-backed startups like Uber, WeWork, and Airbnb get a lot of the headlines, but most startups never ask outside investors for money and many thrive regardless. Take S’well: Founder and CEO Sarah Kauss turned her high-design water bottles into a $100 million business without ever taking outside investment.

There’s an increasing number of women funding women.

While traditional VC has a long way to go to close the gender gap, there is a growing number of investment firms focused on women-led startups. Some examples are Arlan Hamilton’s Backstage Capital, Susan Lyne’s BBG Ventures, and Anu Duggal’s Female Founders Fund. Women founders, meanwhile, told Inc. that female investors often better understand their target markets.

Still, it’s often a slog.

When you see company after company raising money, you get the outside-in perception: ‘It's not that difficult if they can do it.‘ But this is not the case,” Policygenius co-founder and CEO Jennifer Fitzgerald told me about her initial fundraising expectations. “It was a very fruitless and frustrating few months,” she adds. Fitzgerald and her co-founder eventually raised their seed round through small checks from about 50 friends and family members, “which is a painful way to do it, but we had to get it done,” she recalled.

It can also be exhilarating.

“Raising money was a year and a half of my life, and I loved every minute of it. Boy, was it grinding and difficult,” Christina Tosi, the pastry chef who’s now the founder and CEO of Milk Bar, told me last year. “You're going to war … and not necessarily in a negative way. It doesn't have to be argumentative.”

It matters who your partners are.

Don’t accept just any investment. As your business grows, you’ll want to make sure you and your investors can agree on what’s best for the business (unless you want to try to buy them out). As Tosi put it, “You can't do a good deal with bad people, and you can't do a bad deal with good people.”

About the author: Maria Aspan is an award-winning business journalist and an editor-at-large at Inc. Magazine, where she oversees money coverage and writes about startups, technology, finance, and gender. She has also covered business and finance for The New York Times, Thomson Reuters, and American Banker. At the latter, she served as national editor and covered the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath.

This post was originally published on March 11, 2019, and has since been updated.

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4 Steps To Define Your Brand Voice

Do you have a certain name for your followers, such as “posse,” “magic makers,” or “Insiders?” Do you love shortening the word “business” to the ever-so punchier “biz?” How about insisting your checkout page says “add to bag” over “add to cart?” If you’ve answered yes to any of these, you already have the makings of a verbal identity—aka brand voice. But if that's not you and you're looking to define your brand voice, don't fret!

So what is a brand voice and why does it matter?

A brand voice is how your personality is shown through language. It encompasses everything from your words to your tone, to even your grammar. Everyone has a personality online, and most entrepreneurs have a sound that’s based on their voice. But whether that’s a clear, conscious personality is a different story. 

Developing brand recognition requires consistency and repetition to establish trust. So if your personality or messaging changes often, it’ll be difficult for your audience to know what you stand for. 

At the end of the day, your customers want to connect with you on an emotional level—85 percent of people buy from companies they have a strong emotional connection with—so having a strong sense of self in your brand helps attract the right people to you, and plays an important role in cutting through all the noise out there. Whether you’re looking to create a memorable brand from scratch or gearing up to finally scale your content, here are four simple steps to flesh out a brand voice your audience will love, and one that feels authentic to you.

1. Use the W.I.L.D framework

This is the exact framework I use when documenting a client’s brand voice for them. Use it as a lens through which you’ll review your writing.

W - Words: The lingo, vocabulary, and terminology for everything, from your regional slang to how to call out your most coveted product.

I - -isms: Your quirks, traits, and all the little things that make you, such as your fav emoji, your favorite phrase, how much you mention your dog, and more.

L - Length: The rhythm of the sentences, such as a long, languid flow or choppy and to-the-point writing (or something in-between).

D - Delivery: The tone of your writing, as in excitable and filled with exclamation points, curious and always asking questions, or even rebellious and breaking all the grammar rules for emphasis.

2. Survey your audience

When you’re a one-person show, it can be tough to take a good, hard look at your style. In that case, turn to your audience. Simply send them a survey or post on your Stories to ask the following:

  • In one word, how would you describe our brand?

  • If our company were a person, who would it be?

In addition to or in place of their direct input, try auditing your high-performing content. Whether it’s an email to your list or even a podcast episode, your popular and successful pieces can provide insights into the messages and voice your audience likes best.

3. Look at competitors

If you’re brand new with no data to help you, or you’re feeling stuck and dont know where to start, ask yourself: “What don’t we want our brand voice to be?” Looking at others in your field, was there something that sparked you to start your own business? Is everyone saying the same things, and you know you were born to stand out? Use that fuel to determine how you will write your messages.

4. Document it all

Now that you’ve got the research and brainstorming section done, it’s time to distill that information into your brand voice DNA.

Besides price, voice is typically the number-one reason entrepreneurs don’t, or feel like they can't, hire a copywriter to handle their writing. So have an in-depth, well-defined brand voice and style guide to ensure whoever you hire gets your voice just right. That'll give you time to focus on what you do best. Here's some of the details you should include:

A personality type

This can provide an overarching sense of how you show up online. Are you the momma bear who’s fiercely protective of her tribe? Or are you the Monica Gellar of your industry striving for perfection? Have fun with it!

3–5 voice pillars

According to the adjectives your audience used to describe you, as well as the insights you’ve conducted, simply look for the common threads. Are you bold, savvy, witty, sophisticated, elegant, authentic, flirty, etc? Choose three to five that best describe you.

Changes per channel

As for tone, think: Does your authoritative self come out on Linkedin? Does your brand discuss sensitive or politically-charged topics that you’d want to be more sensitive about on social—but bolder on your email list? List out the channels where you are present, and how the tone may change.

Grammar

If you cringe at a missing serial comma or you’re a mega fan of the interrobang (‽), get it all down on paper. This not only makes your writing consistent and full of personality, but ensures you can cut down on editing time next time you want to hire a writer. 

About the author: Kaleena Stroud is a conversion copywriter and brand voice strategist from California. She creates personality packed verbal identities for DTC brands that want to stand out and personal brands that need help defining their brand voice magic. Check out her website for more voice and writing tips or contact her to find out which of the nine voice archetypes YOU are.

This story has been updated.