Knowing what you want to do with your life from a young age is a rare gift, but when it happens, you’re absolutely unstoppable. Elizabeth Ward Creel, the owner of high-end fashion boutique Elizabeth W, joins me to talk about following your passion, excelling in your career, and opening your own store.

150: Starting a Business in a Perfect Storm | Finding the "More" Through the Power of Entrepreneurship with Elizabeth Ward Creel

Dr. Cortney Baker is an award-winning CEO and author of Unlimited: Conquering the Myth of the Glass Ceiling, a book dedicated to educate, inspire, and empower female entrepreneurs. Now she's bringing the same information to her podcast... Women in Business: Inspirational Stories of Women Entrepreneurs. By highlighting female entrepreneurs who have built successful companies on their own terms, the show empowers the next generation, Millennial women, to close the gender gap in leadership through entrepreneurship. Focusing on current issues and topics, Dr. Cortney and her guests provide real-life, practical advice and strategies for successfully balancing a business and life as busy female entrepreneurs. 
 
Women in Business: Inspirational Stories of Women Entrepreneurs is an entertaining, informative show that inspires women at all levels to lead with integrity and confidence.

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Today’s guest, Keisha Greaves, knows a thing or several about overcoming obstacles. Keisha is a motivational speaker, the founder of Girls Chronically Rock, and the Massachusetts State Ambassador for the MDA. Keisha started GCR to provide inspired fashion celebrating MD and other chronic illnesses. Keisha has been featured on GMA, The Today Show, ABC News, and several other notable news outlets.  When she was in graduate school, Keshia started noticing symptoms that something was wrong. She would randomly fall on the floor, unable to get up. After many tests, she was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy and it changed her life forever. It took a while to come to terms with her diagnosis, but when she did, she started her blog Living With Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy to share her story and found a lot of support from people who read it.  She was always a lover of fashion and decided to incorporate her knowledge and expertise with her condition in 2017 to create her business Girls Chronically Rock. With her business, she sells inspirational t-shirts, home decor, masks, and more that inspire and motivate people with chronic diseases like herself. Her goal is to create an adaptive clothing collection to make her clothes more accessible to people with disabilities and make it widely available.  Here’s where you can find more from Keisha:  Website: Girlschronicallyrock.com Facebook:  @GirlsChronicallyRock Instagram: @GirlsChronically_Rock Podcast: Girls Chronically Rock Podcast If you need business guidance: Contact Dr. Cortney here Find Dr. Cortney Baker Online Follow Dr. Cortney Baker on LinkedIn Join From Side Hustle to CEO on Facebook Subscribe to Women in Business on  Apple Podcasts    

191: How A Chronic Disability Led To Starting A Business | Girls Chronically Rock Founder Keisha Greaves

Today we are joined by Lisa Pongrass, the Founder and CEO of Canvas & Hyde, a luxury handbag company based in Brooklyn, NY.  She shares the tactical steps she took to learn how to grow her business, build a brand from scratch, and established herself as a luxury designer all while being a newly single mom.  Raised by her dad, Lisa faced some hardships growing up. As an adult, she moved to France with a fashion photographer and fell in love with the elegance of France. She did a lot of work in the fashion industry before she got married, started a family, and then moved to the United States.  Her company Canvas & Hyde was born out of the necessity to start her own business. Her husband wanted to move home to Australia and she wanted to stay in the US. Because she was on a spousal visa, she knew she  couldn’t stay here without her husband or a business. She wrote a 56 page business plan and started Canvas & Hyde. The name of her business came from the blank canvas of her new life and the jackal and hyde duality of human nature.   Lisa is an acclaimed interior designer and fashion stylist in her Australian homeland, Lisa has over 20 years of experience that has propelled her to the forefront of the international stage of fashion and beauty. Lisa currently lives in Brooklyn, just miles away from her showroom. Through Canvas & Hyde, she’s successfully brought American-made quality craftsmanship to life.  Here’s where you can find more from Lisa:  Website: canvasandhyde.com Facebook: @canvasandhyde Instagram: @canvasandhyde If you need business guidance: Contact Dr. Cortney here Find Dr. Cortney Baker Online Follow Dr. Cortney Baker on LinkedIn Join From Side Hustle to CEO on Facebook Subscribe to Women in Business on  Apple Podcasts      

190: Crafting A Business On A Blank Canvas | Lisa Pongrass, Founder of Canvas & Hyde

If you have ever felt like you are spending way too much time doing things in your business that aren’t in your wheelhouse, it might be time for you to hire out. In this episode, we sat down with Erin Longmoon, the owner of Zephyr Recruiting. Her mission is to eradicate toxic workplace, believing that everyone deserves to love their job while contributing to a greater purpose. She accomplishes this mission by matching great small businesses with the RIGHT FIT employees. Erin has more than two decades helping small businesses, she has owned five businesses herself! The passion to eradicate the toxic workplace comes from a place we can all resonate with.  Growing up, Erin was always very creative. She grew up in a rural area near San Diego and she was used to figuring things out as she went. At the age of 16, her family relocated to New York, where she learned to see new starts as adventures. Her creative and adventurous spirit led her to her passion helping small businesses find the perfect fit for their team. Erin talks with us about how to know if it is the right time to start hiring or outsourcing the things that you don’t enjoy or the non-revenue generating tasks in your business and how to find the right future employee. She explains that to do this, you need a good understanding of who you are as a company because you can’t build a house without a foundation. You want to build a team that not only gets along, but who compliment each other and fulfill the needs of your business in all aspects.  For our listeners, Erin is offering an interactive workbook to help you hone in on who that RIGHT FIT employee is for you. You can get it by going to zephyrrecruiting.com/cultureworkbook. Here’s where you can find more from Erin: Website: Zephyrrecruiting.com Linkedin: Erin Longmoon   Facebook: @zephyrrecruiting If you need business guidance: Contact Dr. Cortney here Find Dr. Cortney Baker Online Follow Dr. Cortney Baker on LinkedIn Join From Side Hustle to CEO on Facebook Subscribe to Women in Business on  Apple Podcasts    

189: Intentionally Building the Right Fit In Company Culture | Growing A Team With Erin Longmoon

Today we are joined by Deborrah Ashley. Deborrah is a marketing strategist, consultant, and LinkedIn trainer who works with clients to develop B2B and B2C LinkedIn strategies to grow and develop not only their businesses, but their personal brands too. Deborrah has a background including two decades in brand management, marketing communications and business development where she used her unique style and launch strategies to generate over 300 million for companies and startups. She has been featured in a variety of media including Oprah Magazine, Black Entertainment Magazine, and the New York Times for her innovative strategies.  Deborrah was born in England and grew up in New York. She graduated early at the young age of 16 and studied public relations at Mansfield University and received her MBA from Temple University. On a trip to London with her family, she loved the hosiery there but found that it wasn’t available in New York. This led her to start her own successful hosiery business, Luxe Legwear. She later started a social media management business on Instagram and then shifted to LinkedIn marketing. Today, she shares with us how she now helps businesses work marketing into their LinkedIn strategies using content, engagement, and visibility strategy to win more business and speaking opportunities. If you are just getting started on LinkedIn or if you haven’t been on LinkedIn in a while, Deborrah has a quiz that you can take to find out if your profile is attracting or deterring clients. By taking her quiz, you’ll be entered her giveaway.  Take the quiz here. Deborrah has a new book titled “InSIDER-How To Leverage LinkedIn To Stand Out As The Industry Leader” that you can find by going to bit.ly/INSIDERTHEBOOK Here’s where you can find more from Deborah:  Website: thrivoo.com Hosiery Business: Luxe Legwear Facebook: Deborrah Ashley LinkedIn Account:  AskDeborrah Instagram:  @Thelinkedinblackbelt If you need business guidance: Contact Dr. Cortney here Find Dr. Cortney Baker Online Follow Dr. Cortney Baker on LinkedIn Join From Side Hustle to CEO on Facebook Subscribe to Women in Business on  Apple Podcasts       

188: The LinkedIn Blackbelt | Growing A Business On Social Media With Deborrah Ashley

Today we are joined by Aubree Nichols. A Texas native, her intention is to illuminate the darkness so that others may live in the light. Writing for The Week,  Elite Daily and Observer helped her to become a resonant voice in the self-love movement, which she believes is the ultimate love story. Her proprietary workshop, Stoked! helps teams get unstuck and ignites breakthrough thinking. As a brand strategist, her approach is founded in the belief that creativity and effectiveness can co-exist. She earned an Effie for her work on the SAAB “Born From Jets” campaign that increased sales 37% within 1 year. As a researcher, she uncovers insights by asking good questions, listening for the unspoken and talking to respondents as dear friends. After spending 10 years in NYC ad agencies, she knew it wasn’t the right path for her. She got her Masters Degree in Organizational Change and started her own business to help do a lot of internal work within organizations. In this episode, Aubree shares her journey of how she came to really love herself, be authentic, take up space, and speak her truth. She is working on a book titled Enough, about how she stopped searching, starving, and striving and became the woman of her dreams. Aubree truly believes that self love heals all and that is the message she feels she is here to spread.  Here’s where you can find more from Aubree:  Website: aubreenichols.com Instagram: @aubree.nichols If you need business guidance: Contact Dr. Cortney here Find Dr. Cortney Baker Online Follow Dr. Cortney Baker on LinkedIn Join From Side Hustle to CEO on Facebook Subscribe to Women in Business on  Apple Podcasts  

150: Starting a Business in a Perfect Storm | Finding the "More" Through the Power of Entrepreneurship with Elizabeth Ward Creel

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