Are sustainability and corporate responsibility only concerns for big companies?  Heather Burns, Founder of ESG Consulting Biz, is joining us to share why and how environmental sustainability is equally important for all businesses. Heather began her journey in the world of sustainability after becoming a master diver, seeing the effect of climate change up close. Since then she’s been pushing forward to help businesses of all sizes make a better impact ever since.  “You really cannot have a healthy economy without a healthy environment.” -Heather Burns  Key Takeaways in this Discussion:  Sustainable business is good business for the economy and the environment  Investors coined ESG (Environmental Social Governance) as a way to measure a business’ social responsibility factor There are easy ways even the smallest entrepreneur can grow a sustainable business  “Business is changing because the planet is changing. And as people who are operating businesses or even helping businesses, [...] we have a responsibility to help our customers adapt to the changes that are happening.” -Heather Burns  Heather recently began the “Women in Sustainability” roundtable conversations at HAYVN. She’s been able to raise awareness, leverage the professional generosity and create meaningful relationships she found in the co-working community.   Connect with Heather Burns:  Linkedin  Connect with Nancy:  NancySheed.com  

The challenge with marketing for most business owners is that we often clump everything into one big ball and barely know where to start a marketing plan or how to execute it.  Marie Patel is quite literally the Girl On The Ball with marketing solutions and comes with a tactical strategy and plan that allows you to implement a solid marketing plan that achieves your goal. Marie is a strategy and marketing expert for small businesses and professionals. Her experience began with IBM and has continued into many industries.  “As much as marketing has changed these days, due to the digital factor, the basics of marketing still exist. It's age-old wisdom.” -Marie Patel  Marie has acquired many skills in her well-seasoned marketing career and is able to leverage her curiosity and her desire to problem solve and be very nurturing to help people figure out how to market their business.  Key Points Marie Shares in this Discussion:  What she’s learned in launching her own business  Addressing your marketing goal is one of the biggest challenges for small businesses  People often don’t know how to pull marketing strategies and plans together effectively  “You can't approach marketing so globally. To be effective, you really have to pinpoint things.” -Marie Patel  Marie breaks down the 3 phase process she’s developed to help businesses get clarity around their marketing needs and get to the other side of being able to execute step by step.   She also coordinates and co-hosts the Marketing Hot Seat at HAYVN. She shares why she joined HAYVN and how the Marketing Hot Seat is such a value add for the people participating.  Connect with Marie Patel:  Website  LinkedIn  Instagram  Connect with Nancy:  NancySheed.com  

When you have passion projects, hobbies, or interests that you follow outside of your day job, how do you bring them into alignment with your full life?   Our guest, Katy Kinsella, has successfully found a way to align her side hustle with her full-time career in a way that allows her to live an open and joy-filled life. Katy is the Business Development Director of Kerry, a company with taste and nutrition solutions for the food and beverage industry. She is also the co-founder of GOpure, the small portable water purifying solution.  Joining your two worlds together in a way that aligns, feels cohesive, and energizing, creates better productivity, focus, and drive for your day job AND your side hustle.  “It's not a secret, it’s just another passion that I have, that actually really aligns” -Katy Kinsella  Key Points Katy Shares in this Discussion:  How remote working has changed the work dynamic since Covid Multiple interests and passions give you more depth and fulfillment Having dual roles that align doesn’t mean you’re a “cheater”  “Hopefully, everyone's up to something else cause that just makes you more fulfilled if you have various hobbies or interests.” -Katy Kinsella  Both of Katy’s roles align in the sense that the company she works for full time is dedicated to delivering better taste, health and well-being, while her side hustle with GOpure is also about better health and taste. Having ways that your two roles connect and align to make you a whole person is very achievable and realistic.   Connect with Katy Kinsella:  Website  Instagram  Connect with Nancy:  NancySheed.com  

The fundamental pillars of well being and mental and emotional health can be easily ignored when you’re building your business. Sacrificing hours of sleep and self care in the name of hustle culture can often lead to less productivity and is rarely the best path to peak performance.  This episode’s guest, Dr. Leonaura Rhodes, is a physician that found greater alignment with wellness and coaching than treating patients. Her career journey has been circuitous by way of being an official coach for Tony Robbins for a period of time before starting her own business leading as an Executive Coach and Corporate Wellness Trainer.  “Stress management, wellness, energy, all of those things come up in almost every session, it’s really the core of everything.” -Dr. Leonaura Rhodes  Leonaura shares a few of the wellness components she coaches on that lead to better outcomes for employees and entrepreneurs that want peak performance.  Key discussion points about well-being in the workplace:  Lack of resiliency skills lead to falling apart when it’s hard  Stress management is a problem that can no longer be ignored  Engagement is one of the seven pillars of wellness  “Health and career are not in silo, they’re all intertwined, you can’t ignore the health and wellness aspect.” -Dr. Leonaura Rhodes  Engagement isn’t one of those things you typically consider being part of peak performance, but Leonaura explains why it’s crucial. Like many other entrepreneurs, the pain points that she is coaching people through are pain points she too suffered in her journey. As a trained physician, Leonaura  connects the health and wellness aspect to the hard skills we often lean on and admire to thrive and succeed.   Connect with Dr. Leonaura Rhodes:  Website  Instagram  Connect with Nancy:  NancySheed.com  

We’re never short on ideas when it comes to daily inconveniences or solving marketplace problems, but how many potential business solutions do we actually follow through to pursue?   Curt Battles, the CEO of Craft Beer Insights, is a business strategist and tech guru in the craft beer space who advises entrepreneurs and business owners how to launch, grow and increase profitability. His own challenges in finding where to get a decent craft beer led to a new project and mobile app that’s been 4 years in the making.  “This work is much better, more diverse, even more unique and dynamic than when I originally thought about it.” -Curtis Battles  Curt shares the breadth of experience he’s enjoyed across multiple industries ranging from food and beverage to finance and business strategies. He’s able to pull on all of these experiences to help others chart their path forward.  Key Discussion Points with Curt:  Learn how to leverage the skills you have across industries  How to go from idea to beta launch  People and patience are key in launching his new projects  “You always need good quality advisors outside, or as I call it, the adults in the room.” -Curtis Battles  What Curt demonstrates is that even with the level of experience he has, you will always do better building a team of experienced people around you to help execute an idea. Boredom kills most entrepreneurial dreams, and Curt’s ability to stick with the development of his app 4 years later is testament to pushing through challenges and obstacles that arose along the way.  Connect with Curtis Battles:  Website  Connect with Nancy:  NancySheed.com  

If branding, marketing, website building, design, and copywriting are not your thing, you’re likely muddling your way along by handling your own digital marketing. With millions of businesses online, digital marketing is a highly valued service for a good reason. Our guest in this episode is Debra Lutsky is the Founder and Creative Director of her own marketing agency, Digital Retail Partners. She is very clear about who her business helps and what she helps them to do. She focuses on the intersection of design and technology for online brands disrupting traditional retail and e-commerce based businesses. “It’s one thing to build a website, but you have to get people there.” -Debra Lutsky Debra graciously shares her journey from being the girl in love with fashion and art, to the Shopify certified business owner who now advocates as a partner of both HAYVN and the Women’s Business Development Council. Key Marketing Points for Every Business Owner: Key elements for impactful marketing communications How design and development show up in your business Debra’s 3 Cs for a future proof marketing strategy “Most online businesses need to focus on an omnichannel approach, [...] You need to be in all the places that your customers are in.” -Debra Lutsky Debra’s HAYVN journey started from the very beginning helping the founder Felicia with everything from website designs to email marketing to graphics and animation. Her journey is everything that HAYVN stands for in encouraging women owned businesses to keep supporting and advocating for all women who want a business or career AND to be a mother. “I could do both, I could be a mother and I could be a business owner and I wasn’t sacrificing one or the other.” -Debra Lutsky Connect with Debra Lutsky: Website Connect with Nancy: NancySheed.com

Whether you’re a freelancer, remote worker or a small business owner, coworking spaces can improve your productivity, focus and creativity. Women-centric coworking spaces however add a different vibe to the environment offering programs and collaborations that better support women in their professional journey.  Today’s episode is extra special as we are joined by Lynne Pagano, the Co-Founder and Community Manager from The Co-Co based in New Jersey, and Felicia Rubinstein, Founder of HAYVN located in Connecticut. Both of their communities focus on helping women, in particular, thrive and feel supported in a workspace nurtured for growth and success. They are also part of the “Sister Spaces” a collaborative relationship between six other women-centric co-working communities.   Both Felicia and Lynne share their unique experiences creating strong communities through Covid, the Great Resignation, and a recession, among many other challenges, and how they were so successful.  “We are really working hard at helping female founders." -Felicia Rubinstein  Key Takeaways from Lynne & Felicia:  Women-centric coworking spaces can still be inclusive to men  Female founders can feel supported with programs and offerings that help grow their businesses and have a fulfilling healthy life  Sister spaces don’t have to compete with each other to thrive. They can have reciprocal relationships that benefit everyone  Get comfortable with change and know that pivoting your business and focus is the way you survive uncertainty  “You have to pivot. If you want your business to keep going forward, you have to change.” Lynne Pagano  These founders share the wisdom of their journeys in opening brand new coworking spaces at a time everything literally shut down. Their advice to not take yourself too seriously is critical, but difficult to apply when you’ve put so much energy into creating a business and community. Their loving reminder to their younger selves founding these incredible coworking spaces was to enjoy the journey while you’re on it.  Check out HAYVN’s coworking partners, a.k.a. Sister Spaces here to connect across 6 different states and 11 locations.  Connect with Lynne Pagano at The CoCo:  Website  Connect with Felicia Rubinstein at HAYVN:  Website  Connect with Nancy:  NancySheed.com  

One of the biggest joys and motivating factors for founders coming into any industry is solving a problem for a group of people. Once you find a solution or at least imagine the solution, you have to learn and take the steps needed to execute from there.  In this episode, Shelise Joseph and Kadene Brown Lafontant join us to discuss how they founded BE.U.TYMRK.D, an online marketplace of beauty and wellness products curated for Black women. They joined forces to bring a solution and representation to an underserved community with a huge potential.  “There are beauty brands that are amazing, but they can’t survive because they don’t have access to market the way others do.”   Nothing worth pursuing is going to be simple, and Shelise and Kadene are stepping up to be seen and heard for beauty and wellness brands that aren’t easily stocked into big retail stores. Doing research to determine the opportunities and best route available to bring all the needs of the core segment of Black women into one space shows how this brand is off to a great start.  Key Takeaways from the BE.U.TYMRK.D founders:  Solve a real problem  Notice where there are gaps in the industry  You can transfer best practices from one industry to another  Brand education and advocacy are part of the story, launch and success  Part of their founders’ journey including pitching at a HAYVN Hatch, where they were the winners. They shared that the pitching experience helped them with exposure, business planning and preparing them for fundraising and ultimately their official launch.   Connect with Shelise Josephs & Kadene Lafontant:  Website  Instagram  Connect with Nancy:  NancySheed.com  

Realizing that for many women entrepreneurs their businesses were their babies, Holly Hurd wanted to learn how they managed. So she began profiling women owned businesses for her book, Venture Mom: From Idea to Income in Just 12 Weeks. After years meeting and interviewing hundreds of female owned businesses, she ultimately founded community and marketplace for women owned businesses calling it Venture Mom.   Holly loves supporting moms and women with their entrepreneurship journeys and making their dreams into reality.   “My whole mission is to inspire every woman out there to start her own business.” - Holly Hurd  Key Points to Remember:  Community is crucial in building a successful business  Many moms are starting businesses organically  There is always more to learn in your product or service progression  Holly explains how much HAYVN and Venture Moms align in the pursuit of helping female owned businesses. Admittedly, the life of an entrepreneur can be extremely isolating, but communities like HAYVN and Venture Mom work hard to keep women connected to the resources and support they need.  “You win just by being a part of it, because you're getting your story out there.” - Holly Hurd  Connect with Holly Hurd:  Website  Instagram  Connect with Nancy:  NancySheed.com  

What if the thing you enjoy more than anything in the world is also something people need more of in this world? Artist Mark Andreas started developing his passion to work creatively with wood before the age of 14. For Mark, nurturing his passion and doing what he loved mostly meant more time in nature, more peace, and more creativity. He’s allowed his creativity to flow through many adjacent experiences and careers from being a boat builder, to metal fabricator, to art educator, art director and more.  The thing for most people is finding a way to monetize and build a successful business model around their passion. As you listen to this episode, you will hear how Mark who is not only passionate about his wood working, found a way to connect what he loves most to how it benefits everyone else around as well.  Key Artistic Approaches to Work and Life:  You may have many roles, but you get to define how you see yourself.  Sharing your passion with others can be unconventional in delivery. Value the skills and experience you create for others, and charge accordingly.  “A lot of the art making process is to be able to express that excitement and exploration and discoveries that you make through the artistic process with people around.” -Mark Andreas  Mark Andreas came to HAYVN wanting to learn what it would take to build a better business model. What we love about Mark is that he not only sees what he stands to gain being part of HAYVN, but how he can also be of value to the HAYVN community.  Connect with Mark Andreas:  Art Website  Studio  Connect with Nancy:  NancySheed.com