CT Entrepreneur Provides Career and Life Coaching for Students

September 24 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Women In Business 0 comments Tags: business owner, Connecticut, CT, entrepreneur, startup, startup founder, women entrepreneur, women-owned businesses

Connecticut entrepreneur Lori Theriault is CEO & Founder of WORK IT!

WORK IT! CEO & Founder Lori Theriault told Innovation Destination Hartford Website Curator Nan Price about the challenge of developing a startup that’s the first of its kind and how she’s overcome that hurdle to build a successful business.

NAN PRICE: Give us a little background. When and why did you start WORK IT!?

LORI THERIAULT: I started the business in January 2015. I had spent 30 years in manufacturing management with a focus on operations and human resources. I had always worked directly for the business owners themselves, and I know working with visionaries has helped support my natural visionary strengths. I developed management and leadership skills over the years and had enough technical knowledge to communicate well with many personalities.

And then, in January 2015, I asked myself: What do I want to be doing for the rest of my life? Obviously, I knew I wanted to run my own show, but it needed to be using my social/emotional strengths versus the technical side.

Around that time, I had a dream that I needed to help people build resumes that were as equally filled with passion as with skill. I was tired of meeting people whose resumes listed plenty of skills and education. They would land the job, but they wouldn’t love it. After a while, the company is left with an employee who’s very qualified—but very unhappy and that will cause issues within any organization.

I thought there’s got to be a better way. And I thought career planning had to start earlier with high school-age students.

NAN: As you were developing the business concept, at what point did you realize you had a marketable service to offer?

LORI: As I was developing the business concept in 2015, I soon realized the personalized program I was building to help students align their strengths to their life purpose really didn’t exist to the magnitude that my program would take them—and there was definitely a need.

Brother and sister experience WORK IT! at age 11. Future business leader and interior designer.

My end goal was to be able to help people in high school and college start building resumes with passion. By May of 2015 I had developed a program and started with a pilot class at New Britain High School. I worked with a freshman class of 17 students—all of whom were struggling getting to sophomore year.

NAN: How did you become involved with the school? Did you just approach them ask to run the program?

LORI: Good question. In the last 12 years of my career, I had recruited 16- and 17-year-olds from New Britain High School to help with administrative tasks. Over the years, we would bring seven or eight students into the workplace to help with different projects, which helped them identify their career paths. The company provided tuition reimbursement for college. Some students went into engineering, some went into administration, and one became a certified public accountant.

There were a lot of success stories from those New Britain High School students and there was a lot of relationship building going on between the school and me, personally. When I decided to start my own business, the personal relationship was already there. I believe New Britain is a city that is more visionary than many of the smaller towns in Connecticut and I’m grateful for working with the students and New Britain High School’s, Sondra Sanford, a true advocate for student to career over the years.

NAN: What types of startup challenges did you encounter as you were starting out?

LORI: Because what I was introducing was an entirely new concept, I knew marketing would be more challenging. I did dabble with different consulting firms, but I was offering a product that was completely new to the world. There’s no competition for what I do as far as career coaching for kids. Of course, there’s career coaching for adults, but there’s really no career coaching for children as young as 10 years old.

A lot of consultants compare what you offer to your competition but, with what I was creating, there’s really no competition. It became a marketing burden more on me than them. That’s where a lot of money was wasted, because it was a concept that many marketing experts didn’t fully grasp yet. Being the visionary, you are a few years ahead of people and that adds some stress and a test of your patience.

NAN: How are you marketing?

LORI: Marketing is a huge business expense for startups. And so is branding. As I said, I’ve spent money where I shouldn’t have over the years and I continue learning from those experiences.

Word-of-mouth and social media are what’s got me to where I am today, three years later. Being able to pilot in a larger school gives me more reference and credibility, especially in the early stages of building the dream.

So, I would say my survival is really due to parents spreading the word all over the state. I’ve built up the experience over the last three years. Finally, I can say this year, year number three, people are starting to grasp the concept.

NAN: Getting back to working with students, in what ways do you encourage entrepreneurship?

LORI: I’m fostering entrepreneurship by identifying students ages 10 and older who have been born with entrepreneurial strengths and providing the leadership development and coaching to help them reach their business ownership goal one day. Fueling the passion while they are young is important for this program.

I also support entrepreneurs running family businesses and small businesses, that’s another of my specialties, because working with your family can be challenging. I’m able to help those businesses keep their personality dynamics in check.

NAN: Have you worked with any students who have ended up launching their own companies?

LORI: Yes. And I continue to provide coaching, accountability, and monitoring.

About 30% of my 1,000 students are either solopreneurial or entrepreneurial minded. I’m able to potentially keep them as clients on a routine basis as they embark on their journeys. Again, some of the students I work with are young. They’re not ready to launch a business yet, but they could be soon.

NAN: How has WORK IT! evolved since 2015. Has it grown to other schools?

LORI: New Britain High School is a main hub for me. I do a lot of testing with my program there. Recently, I evolved into working with a teen parents program as well as a United Way Summer Program.

With my manufacturing background, New Britain High School has asked me to participate in rolling out the Academy of Manufacturing, Engineering and Technology (NAF Academy). That connection, which started about a year ago, enables me to build business partnerships so they can repeat what I’ve done over the years, bring students in, and let them help businesses grow.

The other thing that’s evolved with my business is the opportunity to offer the program to parents. Having an office here in Farmington enables me to provide private classes and help students identify their strengths and create a plan for themselves.

In the three years since I’ve launched, I’ve worked with 1,000 students in 46 different towns and cities around Connecticut, five countries, and four states. I’ve used Skype to get the same results. So, there are no boundaries to this program, which is amazing.

With 1,000 students behind, you can’t just forget about them—they are all ages. So, I’m in the process of going back in, capturing where they are in their journey, and offering any support they might need. What I’m finding so far is they’ve carried the torch and they’re still strong.

NAN: That ties into more of the career coaching you provide.

LORI: Right. When students leave high school, they no longer have support through the school, so I’ve become a “career coach for life.” After working with high school and college-age students, I realized I needed to go to a lower age group, middle school, because kids can experience a “dark period” in middle school, which was triggering more work I then needed to do once they reached high school.

I was able to pilot the WORK IT! program with different families more on a private level, which helped spread the word. And then parents were bringing their children to me for other concerns: bullying, not paying attention in school because they’re not liking the classes, communication issues at home. So, this program not only identifies the student’s career path, but it helps parents understand the way their child communicates and what can be changed from a parenting standpoint to be better understood.

NAN: You’re also working with employers. Is that more with internship placements and engaging students in job shadowing?

LORI: I do work with employers for business consulting, student placement, as well as sponsorship. Some employers sponsor classes, particularly from the technical high school. They’ll sponsor 12 students with the hopes of the students being able to identify or confirm that they want to be a specific trade, such as an electrician or a plumber. These specialty-skilled trades have a resource through WORK IT! to get their new recruits because there’s such a shortage of skilled trades students.

NAN: And how are you collaborating with those businesses?

LORI: I reach out and I do a lot of networking. And when I network with other business owners, many times they’ll say it’s so hard to find good help. Then that’s my introduction to being able to help them. I also work with area technical colleges bringing an awareness of my business offerings leading students to hands-on continuing education. I have referred many students to area colleges that I believe align with their learning styles and career passions.

NAN: What does the future look like for WORK IT!? Any specific goals?

LORI: My goal is to have 500 employees in the next two years all over the country. I’d like to to recruit students ages 16 to 21 and give them some life skills and work skills, so they can be better groomed for other work places. Franchising would also be something I would consider.

NAN: Earlier you mentioned your “natural visionary strengths.” What does being a visionary—or an entrepreneur—mean to you?

LORI: Many people confuse the solopreneur with the entrepreneur. An entrepreneur enjoys the team effect and a solopreneur likes to control most aspects of their business with little or no employees. To me, being an entrepreneur means you were born to run businesses with your passion for business and people—any business!

Learn more about WORK IT!

VISIT: workit.careers
FOLLOW: Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | YouTube

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CT Entrepreneur Founds College Planning Startup

January 04 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Women In Business 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, CT entrepreneurship, Greater Hartford, how to start a small business, small business owner, startup, startups, women business owner, women entrepreneur

Lisa Goldstein founded Your College Process, a college planning startup serving students throughout Connecticut.

Networking with a local startup that supports women returning to the workforce encouraged Lisa Goldstein to launch her startup Your College Process. Lisa chatted with Innovation Destination Hartford Website Curator Nan Price about her experience becoming a women-owned business in Greater Hartford.

NAN PRICE: Tell us about your entrepreneurial journey.

LISA GOLDSTEIN: I didn’t always have an entrepreneurial streak. I started off in the public relations industry in New York after college and after a few years, decided I would rather be in a helping field. I decided to go into education and got a Master’s degree to become a school guidance counselor. I did that for about 10 years in New York and Connecticut. I truly enjoyed the connections I had with my students and their families, and knowing that I was helping them was very satisfying.

After having my daughter, I didn’t go back to my former job in the school system, but I found myself helping friends and family with the college application process—that was a large part of what I did as a school counselor. I had also done some freelance work for other private college counselors. It started with people approaching me and asking for help.

I knew I had a knack for it and I used to love doing it when I worked in the schools. I enjoyed working with the students and helping them through the process. And it was a good way to make a little money on the side while I was home with my daughter.

Last year I decided to go out on my own and make it an official business. I started networking and building a clientele. So that’s how I became an entrepreneur.

NAN: How was the process of developing a business plan? Did you engage with any local organizations?

LISA: Yes. I worked with someone through Untapped Potential. It’s a local startup that caters to women returning to the workforce. I worked with professional coach Kelley Biskupiak, who gave me a lot of assistance, motivation, and encouragement.

I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I knew I didn’t want to go back to the schools, but I have this counseling background and knowledge base, and I’d been helping students with the college application process—I just hadn’t been doing it officially as my own business. Kelly encouraged me to just do it. She helped me figure out how to market and network. That’s how my business started.

NAN: What makes your startup innovative?

LISA: A lot of private college counselors cater to people who want to go to Ivy League schools. There’s a lot of pressure on the students. My main focus is to minimize the stress level as students and parents navigate the college application process. That’s my big thing and I think that’s what makes me different.

I do not add more pressure, I try to minimize it. Having a counseling background, it is very important to me that people feel comfortable, so establishing a rapport with my students is vital to the process.

The process of applying to college is stressful on the kids and the parents. It’s overwhelming and it can be daunting. I try to make the entire process less overwhelming and more doable for everyone involved.

When I work with students I approach the process in a relaxed manner. Most kids are already overwhelmed and overscheduled, applying to colleges is one more thing on their already full plate. I break down the process into smaller, manageable steps.

Another focus for me is to help families realize that there is not just one perfect school for a student. Rather, there are many schools where students can flourish and succeed.

My services include:

Transcript analysis and course selection advising
Providing a college application timeline
Researching and selecting appropriate schools
Coordinating and preparing for college visits
Assisting with planning of extracurricular activities
Helping students build an activity resume
Brainstorming and editing college application essays
Reviewing and editing applications
Preparing for interviews and standardized tests
Developing a test taking timeline
Helping students to create relationships with college admissions staff
Discussing ways students can stand out from their peers

Often, families just need help staying organized throughout the process and it helps them to know they have someone in their corner walking them through this from start to finish.

NAN: How are you marketing and finding clientele?

LISA: That’s been a learning process for me. Although I used to work in public relations, I never marketed myself before. I’ve gone to networking events, such as Untapped Potential, and I met a lot of great contacts there.

I’ve reached out to local tutors because they are already working with high school students, so it was a natural fit. I’ve also gotten referrals from them. I’ve also reached out to local guidance counselors, speech therapists, and general therapists—people who work with adolescents and know people who could use help with the collage application process.

I’ve been looking to do some more marketing, especially on social media.

NAN: Is most of your clientele in Greater Hartford?

LISA: Yes. I’m noticing there is a definite need for my services in the Hartford area. Many school guidance counselors are inundated with caseloads and have many more responsibilities than just college counseling, so there are certainly students who need more help than they can get at school. So far, I’m working with students in West Hartford, Avon, Canton, and Simsbury. I also work remotely with students long distance, but I prefer working with students in person. I find this really helps me connect with them and establishes rapport more quickly.

NAN: As far as being a startup, what types of challenges have you encountered?

LISA: Being a startup, having a budget is an obvious challenge. I’ve been trying to figure out how much I should budget for marketing and whether I should do it myself or hire somebody to help me.

Also, mastering how to budget my time is a learning process. I’m trying to figure out the balance splitting the time working with clients, getting the work done for them, and then doing marketing on the side.

NAN: Balance is always a challenge. As an entrepreneur, is there anything you’re experiencing that you hadn’t really expected?

LISA: Going into an office or a school to work every day, you are social, you’re with other colleagues, you’re around people all day. Being an entrepreneur, I have to be more structured. I have to be more disciplined because I don’t have to be at work at a certain time, but I certainly have a lot to get done and I have to build that into my day. Also, finding the time to balance work and family life is always a challenge.

I’ve definitely felt the highs and lows most entrepreneurs experience. Some days I meet with a student, it’s exciting, and I can tell I’m helping them and that’s a very rewarding feeling. And then the next day I have to go back to figuring how to market myself more—which is just me sitting with my laptop for three hours, and that is less fun.

I like interacting with people. I find a lot of the legwork, having to do things on my own is not as much fun as the actual in-person interactions.

NAN: What’s your biggest accomplishment since you launched the startup?

LISA: I’m proud of realizing that I could launch a startup on my own, that I have the knowledge base and the skillset to have my own business. I don’t think I realized that before.

I always pictured myself working in the schools or for someone else. So, I’m proud that I took the initiative to start on my own, I have clients, and I can see that I’m helping them. That makes me proud. That’s what I always missed when I left the workforce—working with students, connecting with people, and helping them. I can see that it’s happening, that makes me feel very proud. And obviously making money along with that is a big accomplishment, too!

NAN: You were talking about marketing and thinking about hiring somebody from outside. Do you plan to expand in the future?

LISA: I could see expanding in the future if the business really picks up. I have to figure out how that would work, and I if my personality would let that happen or if I’m too much of a control freak!

When you’re working with students, you know your personality, you know how you counsel, how you edit, you know how to help them. It’s hard to know how someone else would do that. I would really have to find the right fit. I’m definitely open to it in the future, but right now it’s just me.

NAN: Any other future goals?

LISA: I’m thinking of doing more speaking engagements and workshops. Right now, I work with students one-on-one and sometimes in small groups. But I think hosting a bigger workshop outlining the overall college process could be helpful. I’ve been looking into those opportunities.

NAN: Any advice for other women business owners?

LISA: Don’t doubt yourself. Even if you’ve been out of the workforce or you’re not sure if you can do it, just try. If you fail, it’s okay. You won’t know if you don’t try.

It sounds silly. We learn that as kids. And it’s harder as an adult to take that leap. I’m still going into this with that mindset: Let’s see how it goes. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, I’ll tweak things to make it work. It’s a learning process.

But have faith in yourself. Look at your accomplishments. List all the things you used to do and align yourself with that. Those skills haven’t gone away. You might have to dust them off, but you still have the skills. Realize what those skills are and what you want to do and just go for it.

NAN: You mentioned tweaking things if they’re not working. Have you had to make any major adjustments?

LISA: I know how to work with the students. The tweaking for me has been finding who to network with and how to get the word out there. I’m not a big social media person; I never have been. But I know that’s how the world works and how people communicate, so that’s something I’ve had to get on board with.

You have to put yourself out there and be willing to network and meet people. Even if you don’t think you’re meeting someone related to your business, you never know who or what they know. I’m finding connections in interesting places and meeting fascinating people.

When you’re home with a child and you’re not in the workforce it can be a little isolating. You’re with kids and other moms and even though that can be great, you kind of forget who you were. Getting out there and talking to people, hearing what they’re doing, and sharing what I’m doing has breathed new life into me. I feel like a grown-up again. I’ve really embraced my entrepreneurial persona.

Find out more about Your College Process

VISIT: www.yourcollegeprocess.com

Interested in learning more about Untapped Potential? Read our interview with Founder Candace Freedenberg:
Startup Provides Mentoring, Contributes to Job Placement in Connecticut

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Woman Entrepreneur, Innovator, Event Strategist

December 18 2017 Innovation Destination: Hartford Women In Business 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, CT entrepreneurship, Hartford, how to start a business, how to start a small business, intrapreneur, minority business owner, small business success, startup, women business owner, women entrepreneur

“Getting clear about my goals and defining every necessary step to achieve them was key to helping me get to where I am,” says entrepreneur and event strategist Carmen Veal.

Entrepreneur and “goal digger” Carmen Veal followed her dream and launched her handmade clothing startup in 2008. Since then, she has launched an event planning company and essentially created a brand for herself. Carmen spoke to Innovation Destination Hartford Website Curator Nan Price about her entrepreneurial evolution and how she sets and achieves her goals.

NAN PRICE: Have you always had an entrepreneurial drive?

CARMEN VEAL: I’ve always had the entrepreneurial streak, yes. I never really sought out to be an entrepreneur, no.

NP: When and how did you launch your first business?

CV: In late 2008, early 2009 I realized that the job I wanted—which was to create a clothing line for women—didn’t exist in Connecticut. If I really wanted to do that job, I had two options: I could either move away to work in the fashion industry or I could try and create something here in Connecticut. And that’s what I did. I officially became an LLC in 2009.

NP: How did you prepare to launch the business?

CV: I’ve always loved sewing and fashion. My aunt taught me to sew when I was 13. When I was starting the business, I went to an instructor to help me perfect the craft. I also read books about some of the industry terms. But the most important thing I did was volunteering.

NP: How did you make inroads?

CV: Mostly through social media. I did some research and sought out local organizations and individuals that were already established and I volunteered my time to help them with production and fashion and trunk shows. I feel like experience is one of the best teachers, and hands-on experience is even better. I gave my time in exchange for the education and the connections I was making. That really helped me pull it all together before I hit the ground running on my own.

NP: You were basically building your own internship and creating your own portfolio experience.

CV: Correct. It was a great learning experience and I was able to put it on my resume too. Based on my experience, when I needed interns in the future, I knew what approach and structure to help them have the best experience.

NP: It’s been eight years since you launched your first startup. A lot has happened since then.

CV: My journey has evolved. I no longer make clothing at all. I did for three or four years. In 2014 I spent pretty much the year phasing the company out. It took a little time, because I had clients and I had some annual and quarterly events, so I still had to execute. I wanted to leave that role as clean as I could without just walking away from it.

NP: What caused you to realize it was time to pivot?

CV: It was too much for a one-woman show—handling all the logistics of running a business, producing events, and creating clothing. I had all this experience making clothing, I didn’t have any experience running a business. And, as I’m sure you’ve heard from other entrepreneurs, it is a challenge to balance the business side of business, the personal side of business, and then whatever it is that you offer.

After a few years, I recognized my strengths and weaknesses. I knew that if I was going to keep up with this business, I needed to bring in people to help me with the parts I wasn’t great at and allow me to focus on the parts where I shined—making clothing and producing events.

NP: You ended up transitioning into event planning. How did that happen?

CV: I began to see that I really loved the production side of the events more than making clothing. Even before I started my company, when I volunteered I really loved event production. I didn’t realize I enjoyed it more than making clothing, because in my mind, the clothing company was always my dream.

The transition happened when I accepted the fact that running the clothing company was too much. It was a lot of work to sell the clothing and keep people coming back. I needed to go back to the drawing board and find a way to make it sustainable. Because, at the time, it wasn’t sustainable.

I brainstormed by writing down pros and cons. On the pro side, so much had to do with the event production part. I was good at the experiential marketing piece, so I thought I would just do more of that. I started phasing the company out—putting on events to sell everything I had made. It wasn’t about making new product or continuing my role in the fashion Industry, it was about merging out of the fashion industry.

And then, in 2014, I got approached by the City of Hartford. Members of the Economic Development Division asked for my assistance with the iConnect program, which was a government-funded grant to help local artists and entrepreneurs. They asked if I would help them put on an event to close out the two-year iConnect program

NP: How did they find you?

CV: I asked them the same question in our meeting! Basically, they had heard of me because I had managed to do such a good job marketing my fashion company and events. They told me they thought I did a great job at marketing and bringing people together and thought I was the best person to help execute what they wanted to do.

It was a great opportunity! I successfully pulled off the event. After that I thought: Now I know I can really do event planning! The money was awesome, but it was the event production and having people see the value I offered that made me realize I could actually do this as my next thing.

NP: I’m sure the iConnect project helped you connect with a lot of local people. How did you build your clientele?

CV: It was networking. I was always networking since day one. I went out shaking hands and introducing myself to people. I had also made a lot of connections when I worked in the fashion industry, so, it was easy for me to gain clients and gain those experiences.

NP: You had the event planning company going. And then you started a blog.

CV: I had cut off all my chemically relaxed hair. My hair was growing back, and it was a texture I’d never experienced. I was learning what products and techniques worked and didn’t work. I need to archive it, so I started a blog to document what I was learning. It was basically a virtual diary. I started getting likes, comments, shares, and re-posts. I thought: What is happening?

NP: You had tapped into a niche and you hadn’t even realized it.

CV: Exactly. Granted, my blog is called Brown Skin Women. It’s for women of color. And specifically, it has to do with ethnic hair. So, I tapped into this world of women who were also embracing, or wanted to embrace, their natural hair, but they didn’t know where to start or what to do. They were actually learning from my blog.

“Organization is absolutely key,” says Carmen Veal. “I’ve seen people fail with businesses. It starts with the entrepreneur. It’s really up to us to determine how far we go or how much we are set back.”

Fast-forward about a year, out of curiosity I posted a blog saying: The energy online is so amazing I would love to feel this in person. Would you all come to an event in Hartford? I planned the event thinking maybe five or so people would show up. And that would’ve been fine. More than 30 women showed up! I was completely blown away.

At the event, asked one question: What do you want to see moving forward? The response was more events. These types of events weren’t happening in Connecticut. They were popular in New York, Boston, and L.A., but not here.

NP: A huge a-ha moment for you.

CV: Correct. I thought: I’m an event planner I have this blog and I could plan events for the blog. I’m going to try. The next event I planned was an afternoon brunch. Essence magazine reached out to me and asked if they could feature the event. I’ve been featured in Essence magazine three times about these events over the years.

I’ve been able to use Brown Skin Women to source my target audience. I pull together consumers—every day women like myself—and then also amazing brands. At the events, I have vendors paying me because they want to sell their products and services to my audience. And then the consumers want to access the information, they want the products, and they want to utilize the services. I’m right in the middle taking money from both sides. That is an amazing stream of revenue.

NP: Are all the events held in Connecticut?

CV: Yes, across Connecticut. My focus areas are Hartford, New Haven, and Stamford counties. I have small events, which are a great way to continue meeting women and introducing them to the network. And then I have an annual expo that caters to hundreds of women and vendors with speakers coming in from all over the world.

I also do event planning for a corporate client that has events in 86 cities across the country. I handle the operations and strategizing. I have staff in all those cities, so I manage that staff. It’s huge. I have other smaller clients, but they don’t have events as often.

NP: Let’s talk about your other venture. You created what you call “an academy for intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs.”

CV: I had people following my blog and social media, not because they cared about the events or the content I was sharing on my blog. They were following me because they wanted to know how I did it. How did I get from point A to point Z? What steps did I take?

I wanted to be able to answer those questions. And women were asking if I could be their mentor. To be completely honest, I don’t have the time.

I thought: There must be a way I can somehow compact this information and share it with them. I knew I needed to create like a strategy, take everything I’ve learned from my experiences, get it out of my head, and package it. So, I created Goal Digging Women.

The goal is to help intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs align themselves and their brand goals. It’s based on what I coined as CLIMB: customer experience, leadership, investments, marketing, and branding.

I love that it starts with customer experience, because it’s always how you want your customer to feel. You shape all of what you do based on that and you create strategies based on the customers’ feelings paired with the product or service you offer.

And then leadership focuses on what it means to be actual leader—knowing your strengths, weaknesses, and leadership type. How do you deal with your team? How will you establish the company culture?

Investments involves investing in yourself as a person—self-care being really important—and then investing in the business, because you can’t have a business that grows and sustains if you’re not putting money into it. That’s what it boils down to. Money and educational resources, taking classes as often as you can to polish your skills.

Marketing obviously is huge, because if you don’t market your product you’re not going to sell it.

And then the branding part. How do you effectively brand so your marketing works and it is impactful for the investments, the leadership, and ultimately the customer?

I break all that down with Goal Digging Women and provide courses to help women define their mission, their values, and their vision for their business. I explain how to break it down so much that you develop your brand identity, which allows you to put marketing campaigns together. But without taking all those steps, you will not be able to go from point A to point Z successfully.

NP: How are Brown Skin Women and Goal Digging Women connected?

CV: They are connected by the source. With Brown Skin Women, it’s basic. I blog about my experience with natural living. That’s for fun. I’m generating revenue because people are reading it and they’re interested about what I’m writing. And then there are people who own a business, or they want to own a business, and they want to know how I did it.

That’s where Goal Digging Women comes in. And that’s another source of revenue. It’s passive income where I don’t need to do any work. I did all the work to get it up and running and I did all the recordings. It’s automated. Once someone becomes a member, they can immediately access the content. I don’t need to do anything with that. The only thing I need to do is update the blog content, which I share as often as I’d like. I blog on a whim, but I focus primarily on the event planning.

So those are my three focuses. Event planning, the Brown Skin Women blog, and Goal Digging Women. And I have the tiers in which they fall in level of significance and importance.

NP: There is so much on your plate. How do you stay focused?

CV: Organization is absolutely key. I’ve seen people fail with businesses. It starts with the entrepreneur. It’s really up to us to determine how far we go or how much we are set back.

There have been times where I’ve been set back, and I’ve wanted to give up. I feel like every time that happened it was because I was all over the place. I was doing too much. I wasn’t focused. Granted I have three pretty significant things going on, and I spent a significant amount of time creating a structure in each area, so I have time dedicated to them.

Getting clear about my goals and defining every necessary step to achieve them was key to helping me get to where I am.

Find out more about Carmen Veal at carmenveal.com and follow on Facebook, Instagram @carmenveal, and Twitter @CarmenVeal.

For more information about the Brown Skin Women blog visit brownskinwomen.com and follow on Facebook, Instagram @brownskinwomen, LinkedIn, and Twitter @BrownSkinWomen.

Learn more about Goal Digging Women at www.goaldiggingwomen.com and follow on Facebook and Instagram @goaldiggingwomen.

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Entrepreneurial Center Cultivates Startup Interior Design Company

December 07 2017 Innovation Destination: Hartford Women In Business 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, Design Your Monday!, Entrepreneurial Center, entrepreneurship, Greater Hartford, how to start a small business, minority business owner, small business success, startup, University of Hartford Entrepreneurial Center, women business owner, women entrepreneur

Jennifer Gaggion is Owner of Design Your Monday!, a women-owned startup involved in the Women’s Business Roundtable at the University of Hartford Entrepreneurial Center. (Photo courtesy Heather Conley Photography)

Design Your Monday! LLC Owner Jennifer Gaggion enjoys participating in the Women’s Business Roundtable at the University of Hartford Entrepreneurial Center. Jennifer discussed her startup experience and shared some of the life lessons she’s experienced on her entrepreneurial journey.

INNOVATION DESTINATION HARTFORD: How has your background shaped you as an entrepreneur?

JENNIFER GAGGION: I have 20 years of human resources and business experience, which allowed me to not only see through employees’ eyes but also see organizations in their entirety.

I have a natural curiosity to ask questions and so, with time, I learned about each of the different functions required to make an organization successful.

My management experience taught me how to prioritize items with the most impact. Being self-motivated throughout my career, I was comfortable with working independently and able to hold myself accountable to set and accomplish goals and objectives.

IDH: When and why did you start your company?

JG: I began Design Your Monday! in 2014 because, after returning to design school, I wanted to use my professional experiences in a new capacity. I chose commercial design because it allowed me to integrate my interior design skills and my knowledge of change management in corporate settings to help create productive work environments.

IDH: Why does someone want/need to use your services?

JG: Forward-thinking companies are recognizing their return on investment for meaningful design. Increased workflow efficiencies and improved functionality are some reasons, but companies are also using their workspaces to improve recruitment and retention.

Employees live especially busy lives, so making the workplace more efficient and enjoyable is a winning proposition for employers and employees.

IDH: What makes your services unique?

The multi-functional lunch room at i-Health, a division of DSM, Cromwell CT. “The space allows for casual meetings to take place outside of lunch hours to maximize the real estate investment of the space,” says Design Your Monday! Owner Jennifer Gaggion. (Photo courtesy Heather Conley Photography)

JG: With my human resources background, I offer my clients a unique proposition to rethink the way they look at their organizations and integrate that thought process into their design solutions. I understand employee recruitment and retention, so I capitalize on the individual qualities of each company’s culture to improve their habitable experiences.

IDH: What’s the biggest challenge your company has faced as a startup?

JG: The biggest challenge for me has been to increase brand awareness. Well-known companies have years of exposure under their reputation. In the absence of a store front, I invest a lot of my own time attending networking events and building relationships, taking advantage of every marketing opportunity.

I learned a potential client must see or hear about your business 13 times before they will hire you. That’s a lot of marketing! In my role as principal and commercial designer, I am always working to develop a positive brand reputation.

IDH: If you change one thing about your start up journey, what would it be?

JG: Well, to borrow from Nike: Just do it!

Because my clients base a project’s success on the final aesthetics, it is a constant struggle for me to go out with anything (website, invoices, marketing pieces) that I feel may be less than perfect. In some cases, I’ve learned you should just move forward and tweak later. I am constantly working to improve upon that!

IDH: How has Connecticut’s business resources helped to shape your company?

JG: The University of Hartford’s Entrepreneurial Center has given me exposure and access to many professional services that have helped provide what I consider an “operational foundation” to manage my business from support developing legal agreements to launching my website.

I meet regularly with a business coach who challenges my priorities and helps pinpoint my focus. She keeps me on track.

I also participate in the monthly Women’s Business Roundtable through the Entrepreneurial Center, which has been an invaluable resource. When I attend these sessions and hear solutions other entrepreneurs have implemented, my mind just reels with ideas for my own business. It is an ongoing source of inspiration and personal accountability since we all share our achievements and opportunities.

IDH: What is the best thing about working in the Greater Hartford region?

JG: Hartford is a wonderful city for a boutique firm like mine. I am not lost in the colossal design shuffle of a city like Boston or New York, yet I have access to all the same trade lines and local reliable furniture distributors. I can be the go-to designer for corporate interiors.

IDH: Any advice to other women business owners?

JG: I thoroughly enjoy working with fellow women business owners. We often share similar personal challenges along this entrepreneurial journey. I believe it’s imperative to solicit supportive resources sooner versus later and not get tied down in minutia.

Spend your energy where it will deliver the most return for your business. My business coach once told me to just toss any items on my to-do list that didn’t support my bottom line. That was the day my freedom began!

Learn more about Design Your Monday! at www.designyourmonday.com or follow on Facebook or Instagram @designyourmonday.

Find out more about entrepreneurial women participating in the Women’s Business Roundtable through the University of Hartford Entrepreneurial Center:

Heather Conley Photography provided images for this story. Learn more about Heather in our interview: CT Architectural Photographer Embraces Entrepreneurship

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Women’s Business Center Selects CT InnovateHER Challenge Winner

July 26 2017 Innovation Destination: Hartford Initiatives 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, Entrepreneurial Center, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, InnovateHER, University of Hartford Entrepreneurial Center, women entrepreneur, women-owned businesses, Women’s Business Center

The InnovateHER Challenge is a prize competition meant to shine a spotlight on creative women entrepreneurs who are developing products to empower women and families. It involves three basic entry criteria:

The product or service must have a measurable impact on the lives of women and families
The product or service must have the potential for commercialization.
The product or service must fill a need in the marketplace.

Stacey Lokey (left) and Carolyn Caplik (right), co-owners of MOM-EEZ, won the CT InnovateHER Challenge for their product Garbage-eez.

The University of Hartford’s Women’s Business Center hosted a Connecticut InnovateHER Challenge earlier this summer. They received more than 20 business ideas and 19 individuals, businesses, and/or teams submitted official entries.

The Women’s Business Center selected Stacey Lokey and Carolyn Caplik of Newtown, co-owners of MOM-EEZ, as the winner for their product Garbage-eez®.

Garbage-eez stores and dispenses kitchen garbage bags from the bottom of a garbage pail. It reduces space and saves time, making the process of removal quick, easy, and sanitary. The product has been developed, patented, and trademarked, and manufacturing and distributor relationships are set.

As winners of the state competition, Lokey and Caplik will now become semi-finalists in the next phase of the national competition. The Small Business Administration (SBA) will select 10 finalists to attend the national pitch competition in September, with a prize of up to $70,000 provided by the Sarah Blakely Foundation.

“We were excited to host the third local InnovateHER challenge,” said Milena Erwin, Program Manager at the Women’s Business Center.

“We received great interest and many exciting submissions for products and services with great potential to improve the lives of women and families,” she added. “Our winner, MOM-EEZ, LLC, has a great existing product and a solid plan for growth. We wish Stacey and Carolyn luck and congratulate all our participants.”

Additional finalists in the Connecticut InnovateHER Challenge include:

Marien Zanyk, W2 Designs – Producers of Freestyle Fitness Equipment for healthy urban living.
Sondra Dellaripa, Harvest Development Group – Affordable online leadership skills incubator for women currently working in or interested in working in the nonprofit sector.
Diane Hayden, Natural Nutmeg Magazine – Magazine that offers information on natural health, wellness, green living, fitness, and organic products. Looking to license the publication.
Rosemarie Day, Datatalk – Environmental analyzer for migraines.
Dametrice Brown, Pearl Development Group – Agricultural STEM company that plans to provide four-season greenhouses and use sustainable farming methods to provide continuous produce supply.

For more information about the InnovateHER Challenge, visit www.hartford.edu/innovateher-ct.

About The Women’s Business Center
The Women’s Business Center is an initiative of the University of Hartford’s Entrepreneurial Center, which provides hands-on coaching and business training for new and expanding small businesses, as well as aspiring entrepreneurs, throughout Connecticut. Part of the nationally renowned Barney School of Business, the Entrepreneurial Center helps small business owners and employees to gain the business skills needed to succeed in the marketplace through business advising, technical assistance, educational programs, and networking events. The Women’s Business Center specializes in serving women in business. Learn more at www.hartford.edu/wbc.

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