She Did It Her Way

When was the last time you were moved by a magazine? The images bringing a smile to your face. The content inspiring yo to keep going. The pages themselves creating an experience.

Brooke Saxon-Spencer, founder of Belong Magazine, hopes that she can be the answer to that question. Belong Magazine is a digital and print publication that is geared towards female entrepreneurs, primarily in the arts, blogging and social media fields. However, it speaks to female entrepreneurs at all levels of growth; whether you're established or still in the idea phase.

It tis meant to provide tools, resources, and a community for women business owners alike to connect and support each other.

When was the last time you were moved by a magazine? The images bringing a smile to your face. The content inspiring yo to keep going. The pages themselves creating an experience.

Brooke Saxon-Spencer, founder of Belong Magazine, hopes that she can be the answer to that question. Belong Magazine is a digital and print publication that is geared towards female entrepreneurs, primarily in the arts, blogging and social media fields. However, it speaks to female entrepreneurs at all levels of growth; whether you're established or still in the idea phase.

It tis meant to provide tools, resources, and a community for women business owners alike to connect and support each other.

The concept for the Belong was hatched from previous blogging attempts by Brooke.

As she was figuring out the best plan of action for her blogs, and in need of support when they failed, she wished there was an easy to find, and established community of women like her to talk with.

And so, she decided to be the one to make one. She launched Belong in September of 2015, and by it's third issue, it was already picked up by Barnes & Noble.

Even though the publication has a digital medium, she prides herself on the print form of the magazine, with vivid images, unique finishes, page weight, and as she put it, life-giving content.

Her magazines are so visually stimulating, that they have even been the subject of Instagram hashtags, Pinterest tags, and used as decorative home pieces.

Learn more about how Brooke doesn't balance her life, tends to her family, and invigorates her readers by encouraging them to power through the turbulent road of entrepreneurship!

In this episode you will...

See the growth and accomplishments in the slow rise of your business

Know how to create a business out of the curation of a broader field

Understand how to effectively and strategically defy modern advancements with your product or business

Figure out how to create a supportive and nourishing community with you business or brand

Know your limits as an entrepreneur financially, mentally, and personally

Find out ways to turn your idea into a tangible product or business

INSIGHTS

"You have to put yourself out there. Just by existing you're not going to just grow relationships. You actually have to do the work." -Brooke Saxon-Spencer

"As a business owner...there's always something about getting your finished product...and being like 'oh my gosh I did that'." -Brooke Saxon-Spencer

"Not only did I do it...something that was this loose concept and idea, but I had no background and knowledge on how to accomplish this, but I did it on my own. That'd really rewarding on it's own" -Brooke Saxon-Spencer

"My life is more than just about the magazine...yes there is work to be done, but am I making a good choice right now?" -Brooke Saxon-Spencer

"I don't balance it all there's no possible way...when you do choose one thing over another, that other thing is getting let go and sometimes that's okay." -Brooke Saxon-Spencer

"Knowing that [the magazine] is going to be in the hands of other women and encourage them is so live giving, and rewarding, and just keeps me going." -Brooke Saxon-Spencer

Are you in an industry where you see areas for improvement? Do you think you can be the one to reinvent the wheel, and branch out on your own?

Without a doubt, Victoria Reitano, founder of CreatiVix Media, knew she could. After being recruited for an agency and working with them for 9 months, she saw how their service could grow and expand. She took on her first freelance project while working for them. Within five weeks she got all the accounts she needed to break off on he own, and CreatiVix Media was up and running. Not only that, she matched her six figure salary in that time as well!

CreatiVix is a digital agency that manages the digital content of brands, entrepreneurs and influencers. Depending on who you are, the services vary. For brands, Victoria provides full management, which can consist of writing posts, creating social media strategies,  determining and creating image aspects, as well as creating a video strategy. When dealing with entrepreneurs, she can provide the same services, but she also offers training sessions to help them understand how to take the reins themselves. For influencers, Victoria mostly trains them so they can make smart business decisions and understand the true value of their worth and influence.

Are you in an industry where you see areas for improvement? Do you think you can be the one to reinvent the wheel, and branch out on your own? Without a doubt, Victoria Reitano, founder of CreatiVix Media, knew she could. After being recruited for an agency and working with them for 9 months, she saw how their service could grow and expand. She took on her first freelance project while working for them. Within five weeks she got all the accounts she needed to break off on he own, and CreatiVix Media was up and running. Not only that, she matched her six figure salary in that time as well! CreatiVix is a digital agency that manages the digital content of brands, entrepreneurs and influencers. Depending on who you are, the services vary. For brands, Victoria provides full management, which can consist of writing posts, creating social media strategies,  determining and creating image aspects, as well as creating a video strategy. When dealing with entrepreneurs, she can provide the same services, but she also offers training sessions to help them understand how to take the reins themselves. For influencers, Victoria mostly trains them so they can make smart business decisions and understand the true value of their worth and influence. Now let us dabble a little into the awesome career that she had before she started CreatiVix. Gaining a degree in journalism, she started out as a local reporter for a trade publication and other odds and ends writing jobs. By studying journalism, she learned how to effectively communicate with audiences based off of their psychographics and sharpen her interviewing skills. From there she became the Managing Editor for a blog in 2011, and started a Twitter Chat so successful that a producer at the Today Show got a hold of her, and she appeared on the show. With her love for TV ignited, she was hired to be the Digital Producer of LIVE with Kelly & Michael at the age of 24. She managed their Facebook and Google + accounts, and brought them from 200 to 600,000 in nine months! (Needless to say, the girl was good.) From there, she went to Telepictures and worked on the web content for the Bethenny Frankel show and developed a digital brand for the Meredith Vieira show for NBC. Listen in as you get to learn more about Victoria and her Sparta self! In this episode you will... Learn how to start a business out of another industry by seeing how you could optimize certain aspects of it Building strong enough relationships with clients so that they will follow you How to balance your life and responsibilities when you're building your business How to be the positive influences to others that you have experienced How to have your own back but ask for help when you need it How to negotiate a salary or a deal Learning to actually do things your way INSIGHTS "Content always has to come first before you create a community...it's about what you're going to give your community, not necessarily what they're going to give you." - Victoria Reitano "I'm creative with a business mind...how are you going to make money from your craft."- Victoria Reitano "Success is getting to do what you want with the people...or pet...you want to be with" - Victoria Reitano "I love this company and this work that I do more than anything...I'm here to go big...I'm not going anywhere else." - Victoria Reitano "They used to call me the Olivia Pope of social media...there is nothing that I can't handle." - Victoria Reitano "Who has your back except you...I think it makes you stronger...and having that fierce fire in you is something you need to really succeed." - Victoria Reitano "Get on the white horse and save yourself, because it's always much better when you do!" ­- Victoria Reitano "I think there's a lot of talk about you need someone to tell you what to do, as opposed to you need someone to work through this with you." - Victoria Reitano "Your best is what you say, not what anyone else says." - Victoria Reitano

Does entrepreneurship run in your family? Has your entrepreneurial journey been more challenging than you anticipated? 

For Becky Galvez, CEO of Shop4Ties, her gift for gab, and love for connecting and helping others was in her DNA. Becky inherited Shop4Ties from her father, and what they both loved about their business was getting to know their customers to the point that they became family.

Does entrepreneurship run in your family? Has your entrepreneurial journey been more challenging than you anticipated?  For Becky Galvez, CEO of Shop4Ties, her gift for gab, and love for connecting and helping others was in her DNA. Becky inherited Shop4Ties from her father, and what they both loved about their business was getting to know their customers to the point that they became family. Shop4Ties is a custom neckwear company that specializes in ties, bowties, scarves, and as of a few years ago, Hawaiian shirts. The company was founded by Becky's father, Arnie Kapp, in their family's basement in 1982. Becky's earliest memory of the family business was the sounds of her dad plugging away on the phone and their fax machine going off. Working with the entrepreneurial landscape of the early 1980's, he advertised everywhere he could to get the name out there. He also negotiated manufacturing deals with factories in Korea, which was not the easiest task, due to the use and price of calling cards and level of communication needed for smooth operation. With the invention of Internet, Shop4Ties became more accessible anywhere. Becky didn't join the company until January of 2011, when she returned to America after working as a Spanish teacher in Chile for seven years at an international school. Before joining the company, she dabbled in the tie industry with her e-commerce site Silk Sensation, which sold fashionable silk ties. However, she based it out of South America, and didn't analyze the market. She assumed that since her dad's business flourished, so would hers. Unfortunately, that was not the case and she was left with 10,000 silk ties in her apartment. She decided to learn from the best, and worked at her dad's company stuffing envelopes at a desk and watching him perform the day-to-day tasks of running an established business. When he was diagnosed with cancer she had to take more of the reins. Since then, she continues to successfully grow the business and uphold her father's rapport with his loyal customer base and partners. Get comfy and listen to the endearing story of how Shop4Ties came to be and learn more about Becky's genuine love for people and connecting. In this episode you will... Learn to be OK with not knowing everything Know how to grow your business in innovative ways Discover how to turn your customers and business partners into family and friends Understand the basics of international manufacturing Know how to be transparent with your business Find what aspect of your business you're best at INSIGHTS "We don't meet most of our clients; we talk on the phone with them. And we can talk with someone for 10 years and know their whole life story but have never met them." -Becky Galvez "I'm not just going to be your Al Bundy of the tie world. I want to know about you and I want to help you with things. It's about these deep rooted relationships." -Becky Galvez "One of the biggest things companies need to invest in is showing appreciation for your staff. People just want to be appreciated for what they do." -Becky Galvez "Anyway I can connect with someone and find a way to help them, that's really what drives me." -Becky Galvez RESOURCES Shop4Ties Website Shop4Ties Facebook Shop4Ties Instagram Shop4Ties Twitter Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss InstaCart Amazon Fresh Peak by Chip Conley Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh

Have you been back and forth with dieting your whole life? Has body confidence been an issue that you've dealt with, but never felt comfortable discussing? What factors led you to feel as though you needed to change your image to be happy? Well Sarah Anne Stewart, a Holistic Health coach, wants to get to the bottom of it. But she doesn't want to just tell you to eat your greens and exercise. She wants to get to the source. Sarah became a model at the young age of 14, and was so for about 10 years. While a model, she developed an eating disorder that nearly killed her and left her hospitalized for some time. All she could think about was how this could happen to her and where did it stem from. Growing up her father was heavily into meditation, holistic health, reprogramming subconscious beliefs, and even cured himself of terminal cancer through proper nutrition.  First she realized that she needed to truly change her diet and stick with it. While her health improved, her anxiety and depression remained. She soon figured out that she needed to change her thought process as well, and improve her mental health. She discovered that a lot of her confidence and body issues stemmed from her modeling career, and how from the get-go something didn't feel right. The constant bombardment of body image awareness and pressure to be "perfect" according to societal standards had left her drained mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. But, by finding the root of her problems, she was able to work through them and forgive them. This enabled her to shed some heavy internal baggage, and genuinely begin to change her thought process, which allowed her to reach her highest being. She wanted to help other women on their journey, and find their story as well, so they can obtain overall health and mental clarity, too. Relax and enjoy as we hear more about Sarah's touching and inspiring story to finding who she is and loving her soul. In this episode you will... Understand how to become physically and mentally healthy Discover the story behind your body issues and/or weight gain Know how to find happiness in the body that you have Feel comfortable having an open discussion about your insecurities Figure out how to achieve alignment mentally, emotionally, and spiritually Learn to have patience when building your business INSIGHTS "I need to talk about it. It needs to be an open discussion...30 million people in this country do have eating disorders and every 62 minutes someone dies from one." - Sarah Anne Stewart "We really need to look within and take that responsibility. And when that piece is taken, I see change literally over night it's incredible." - Sarah Anne Stewart "We can go from diet to diet... or we can intuitively look within and say what is going on with me. What is the place in my childhood that I need to forgive?" - Sarah Anne Stewart "Your weight is speaking to you and you're holding onto it for a reason, and we have to feel grateful for that reason. It's telling me something....what is the story of your weight." - Sarah Anne Stewart "When you want to be fully alive and you want to be completely content and happy with where you are in your life, you're going to do everything you can to be healthy. If you're not there's a reason...and we accept the reason and we move through it, work on it, we forgive it." - Sarah Anne Stewart "I need my own help. I need to get my own coaches. I need to figure this out and I'm gonna do everything I can to really heal this disconnect in my mind." ­- Sarah Anne Stewart "My truth, my highest being, my source, my power, who I am as a human and a soul isn't connected to this physical body. I had to learn that to really create myself." - Sarah Anne Stewart "Now I'm so in alignment with my truth and what I want to teach and my story and I have the confidence to speak about it. I feel so proud and honored to have these conversations now." - Sarah Anne Stewart "That's what the world really ne

Have you been back and forth with dieting your whole life? Has body confidence been an issue that you've dealt with, but never felt comfortable discussing? What factors led you to feel as though you needed to change your image to be happy?

Well Sarah Anne Stewart, a Holistic Health coach, wants to get to the bottom of it. But she doesn't want to just tell you to eat your greens and exercise. She wants to get to the source.

Sarah became a model at the young age of 14, and was so for about 10 years. While a model, she developed an eating disorder that nearly killed her and left her hospitalized for some time. All she could think about was how this could happen to her and where did it stem from.

Growing up her father was heavily into meditation, holistic health, reprogramming subconscious beliefs, and even cured himself of terminal cancer through proper nutrition. 

First she realized that she needed to truly change her diet and stick with it. While her health improved, her anxiety and depression remained. She soon figured out that she needed to change her thought process as well, and improve her mental health.

Have you noticed a need for the product in your daily life for decades? Are you tired of waiting for someone else to create it? Do you want to be that person?

The Co-founders of Birdies, Marisa Sharkey and Bianca Gates, took action against this constant void that they faced. For them it was a fashionable pair of slippers that they could wear around the house, entertain in, or wear in other people's houses. They were tired of having to go barefoot, having to wear their socks, or slippers more designed for their pj's. They wanted something that wouldn't compromise their stylish outfits, but also compliment their lives as working mothers on the go.

Have you noticed a need for the product in your daily life for decades? Are you tired of waiting for someone else to create it? Do you want to be that person? The Co-founders of Birdies, Marisa Sharkey and Bianca Gates, took action against this constant void that they faced. For them it was a fashionable pair of slippers that they could wear around the house, entertain in, or wear in other people's houses. They were tired of having to go barefoot, having to wear their socks, or slippers more designed for their pj's. They wanted something that wouldn't compromise their stylish outfits, but also compliment their lives as working mothers on the go. Upon finding that other women felt the same, and seeing that no one had really addressed this problem,  they gave their idea a go. The two began to think about what they wanted in a slipper, and wanted more than just a cute slipper. They wanted to create a slipper with arch support to create a smooth transition from heel or hard flat to home, and slippers that conformed to their body temperatures. To adhere to the latter, most of their styles come with the option of being quilted or faux shearling lined. Neither Marisa or Bianca came from a entrepreneurial or manufacturing background. But by working their networks, and watching YouTube videos on how to make shoes, they were able to make their dream shoe into a reality. Almost every woman introduced to the shoe love it, and through word of mouth, their business sky rocketed and they realized they had a sustainable and successful business on their hands. Sit and relax as you hear more about their Bianca and Marisa's story! In this episode you will... Know how to explicitly tailor your product to match what you want and what your customers need Learn how to grow your business organically Understand when to jump on business opportunities Figure out how to ask for help when you really need it Know how to be specific with your 'asks' Find out how to evolve your revenue model with your growing business INSIGHTS "The idea was never to make this into the company that it is today at the trajectory that we see this on. It was mainly, 'Can we solve the problem that we have experienced'...and what would that look like." - Bianca Gates "We are the target customer; so why don't we develop this for ourselves " -Bianca Gates "We've recognized pretty quickly that there is a huge void in the market place....Now that there is a solution, women realize...that there is a problem...and thank you for solving this." - Bianca Gates "It was real authentic people liking the brand... [and] product, and feeling like it helped them in their day-to-day moments at home...it's the story that people are really putting out there... [and] it's a story that we love." -Marisa Sharkey "When you get specific with your 'asks', people really do want to help; but you have to help them help you." -Marisa Sharkey RESOURCES Birdies Slippers Website Birdies Slippers Facebook Birdies Slippers Instagram Birdies Slippers Twitter Birdies Slippers Pinterest