247: Entreprenista Co-Founder Stephanie Cartin: Communities for Business Growth This Fall! (Hot Off the Press News! Join Melissa on Sept 23rd for a FREE LIVE Masterclass: Master Networking for Business Growth without Burnout!)

Mom Founder Imagination Hub

Do you ever find yourself spinning a million plates while trying to rock both motherhood and business? 🎡 You’re not alone, mama!

This week, I'm diving into a super insightful chat with Stephanie Cartin, co-founder of Socialfly and Entreprenista. We’re talking all about the magic mix of motherhood and entrepreneurship. Stephanie’s got some killer tips on how to stay laser-focused, juggle all the pieces (without turning into confetti), and still have time to chase your little ones around the house.

Plus, she’s sharing how her daughter, Molly, sparks her creativity in ways that only a mom could understand. If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing all the things and need a little extra oomph to keep going, this episode is for you!

In this episode, you will hear:

• Prioritizing tasks that align with business goals to avoid distractions and stay focused.

• How maintaining focus on core business activities is essential for growth and success.

• Community and networking’s role in business success, especially for women entrepreneurs.

• Asking for support and leveraging community resources to grow your business.

• Strategies for creating a productive work environment at home.

• Finding the right mentor who aligns with your goals and trusting your instincts

This episode is brought to you by my Free LIVE Masterclass on 9/23, 9/24 for business owners who are moms. The title is: Master Your Year-End Networking: Build Profitable Relationships For Business Growth in 30 Days Without Burnout

A LIVE one-hour masterclass for visionary mom business owners: Close the year strong with the proven "Imagination to Impact to Income Method™" to manage time, energy, and stay focused through gatekeeper-free networking.

👉The key to rapid business growth spurts for mom business founders is a clear focus on building business networking relationships that pack a punch, allowing you to achieve maximum results in your limited time. Join me to craft your own focused year-end networking strategy that you'll actually execute. We'll unleash creative thinking for both your strategic approach and ways to keep your energy high, not drained!

A message from our sponsor….

Drowning in unfinished projects and distractions? Let’s simplify your focus and show you a better way to achieve your business goals!

But first, let’s talk about computer tabs. How many do you have open? I have 20—some for my three sons and a ChatGPT tab I keep open. Then there are the open loops and micro-decisions popping up as a mom and business owner. Some projects are 10% done, others 90%. It’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture, especially since the moment of bravery when you first started your business might feel distant.

That’s why it’s crucial to focus on one profitable networking goal based on your mom season. If you want a Big Mac-sized impact quickly, this is the best value meal for moms.

I’m hosting a LIVE 60-minute masterclass: Master Your Year-End Networking Strategy to Build Profitable Relationships in 30 Days Without Burnout. Sign-up today: https://www.melissallarena.com/masterclass/

I’m dedicating my energy and resources to this masterclass in my mom-to-tweens life.

This strategy works every time and is central to my Imagination to Impact to Income Method™. By focusing on one networking goal, you cut the fat from your daily activities and clear your mental cache. This helps you be fully present for both your kids and your business.

Want to know where to focus on building profitable relationships during your mom season? I’ll show you how to identify the most critical relationships for a 30-day sprint and achieve your year-end goals. Learn how my method differs from old-fashioned networking and hear the tangible results my clients have achieved.

In this masterclass, I’ll guide you through:

· Reimagining your company vision to reignite your passion, helping you surpass your 2024 goals and savor the holidays with the energy you deserve.

· Discovering a clear focus for relationship-building in your business, so you can channel your energy into strategies with lasting impact, beyond fleeting social media posts.

· Proactively addressing impostor syndrome, empowering you to overcome self-doubt and conserve your energy for what truly matters.

Click here to grab your spot.

Let’s get you focused,

Melissa

P.S. Show up LIVE to my free class and you will get a BONUS 30-Day Profitable Networking Action Plan and Tracker that connects your vision to daily actions! It’s a smart, actionable, and mom-friendly planner to map out your 30-day networking activities to keep you focused on the right things. It also sees to it that you replenish your energy to prevent burnout.

EXTRA bonus for showing up LIVE is that you will be entered into a drawing to be a podcast guest on the Mom Founder Imagination Hub.

About Stephanie Cartin Stephanie Cartin is a serial entrepreneur, investor, podcast host, community builder, and a champion for women founders. She created The Entreprenista League, a community for women founders, to provide resources and support necessary at all business stages. She’s also the Co-founder of Socialfly, one of the first social media marketing agencies, as well as Entreprenista Media and Pearl Influential Capital which was recently acquired by Cherub. Stephanie has shared her journey managing her health challenges with Multiple Sclerosis, Infertility, and a complicated pregnancy and is an advocate for women going through similar challenges. Her story and businesses have been featured on the Today Show, Bloomberg and Forbes. Consider Stephanie your biggest business cheerleader.

Quotes, that can change your perspective:

“Entrepreneurs still really came to be because so many women started reaching out to us with needing help, you know, growing their business and wanting to hear how we were able to grow Socialfly.” - Stephanie Cartin

"If you don't ask, you don't get." - Stephanie Cartin

"When you try to do every single thing at once, doesn't always work out.” - Stephanie Cartin

"You need your tribe. You need that community in business to really be able to move forward." - Stephanie Cartin

“And things that don't align with those specific goals are probably the things not to focus on until you get your business into a place that can actually run and make money. So for us, it was very important that we focused on revenue generating activities that were going to be able to drive actual business results.” - Stephanie Cartin

SHARE this episode with the mompreneurs in your life who are juggling motherhood and business and discover how to focus your energy, build profitable relationships, and find support within a thriving community!

Supporting Resources:

Website: https://entreprenista.com

Instagram: @stephjillcartin @entreprenistas

Twitter: @stephjillcartin @2entreprenistas

Facebook: Facebook.com/entreprenistas

Subscribe and Review

Have you subscribed to my podcast for new moms who are entrepreneurs, founders, and creators? I’d love for you to subscribe if you haven’t yet.

I’d love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a second and it helps spread the word about the podcast for writer moms.

TRANSCRIPT

00:00:00 Stephanie: Entreprenista really came to be because so many women started reaching out to us with needing help, you know, growing their business and wanting to hear how we were able to grow Socialfly. And we realized it just became impossible to go out to coffee all day with everyone and run a business. So we started thinking, you know, how can we help as many women founders as possible, but actually do it at scale?

00:00:22 Melissa: Welcome to the Mom Founder Imagination Hub, your weekly podcast to inspire you to dream bigger. Plan out how you're going to get to that next level in business. Find the energy to keep going and make sure your creative juices are flowing so that this way you get what you really want rather than having to settle. Get ready to discover how Mom Founders have reimagined entrepreneurship and motherhood. Ever wonder how they do it? Tune in to find out. And stretch yourself by also learning from diverse entrepreneurs who might not be moms but who have lessons you can tailor about how you can disrupt industries and step way outside of your comfort zone. I believe every mom's superpower is her imagination. In this podcast, I'm going to give you the mindset, methods, and tools to unleash yours. Sounds good? Then keep listening.

00:01:15 Melissa: How do you know what to focus on? How do you know that what you're doing are the right things in terms of revenue generating activities for your business? So in today's conversation with Stephanie Cartin of the Entreprenista League, I wanted to share with you some of the insights that Stephanie has garnered over the last 13 years or so, just the same amount of time I've been in business as far as really understanding what to focus on, when to focus on it, and how to even come up with your own focus plan. And I think this is so, so important, especially if you're a mom in business and you have several things that you have to focus on because you're a mom and you care so much about your kids and you care so much about your business. So enjoy the conversation and definitely let me know what you think and let me know what you think about Stephanie's focus plan very specifically once she became a mom.

00:02:11 Melissa: I also wanted to just share this. So this episode is brought to you by a master class that I am doing on September 23rd. You can absolutely sign up. The link is in the show notes. The link is in the description. Go to melissallarena.com/masterclass. During that class, what we're gonna go through are three things. Your company vision. What if it could energize you so that this way you could effectively achieve your year-end goals. The second point is going to be focus which is the topic that we talked about today with Stephanie and the third idea is imposter syndrome. Oftentimes when we become moms we might feel a little bit extra insecure, unsure of ourselves and it's something that I don't want to stop you as you pursue your business growth goals.

00:02:59 Melissa: And here's the big picker what we're going to be contextualizing the conversation around is building profitable relationships. So building relationships with people who can help you go further, faster, and with fewer mistakes. So go ahead to https://www.melissallarena.com/masterclass. I am excited to bring this conversation over to you. Just to make sure you have the official name, it's how to craft a focused year end networking strategy to build profitable relationships in 30 days. And here is the kicker, without draining your mom energy. And that is the biggest reason to attend because we can drag ourselves to the end of anywhere.

00:03:45 Melissa: But what if you could feel energized, you could feel on purpose, intentional, and like you are streamlined towards your efforts of business success? That is what we're going to talk about during this free masterclass. Just go to the link, sign up. The moment you sign up, you're going to get something because the gifts will keep on giving at this point. You're going to get a workbook that you can use during the live session. The live session, there will be benefits for attending live. The first benefit is that you're also going to get a 30 day action plan and tracker that is built with your energy in mind so that what we discussed live during the masterclass, you can implement and activate in 30 days and you can begin to build profitable relationships immediately. Here's the thing, sometimes we attend these masterclasses and we're like, okay, so how am I going to implement this?

00:04:43 Melissa: Well, if you attend live this masterclass on September 23rd, the link will be below https://www.melissallarena.com/masterclass Attending live, you will get the fundamentals, you will get the foundation of how to build profitable relationships in a way that is energizing so that you can achieve your year-end goals. And then for showing up live, you're going to get an actual planner. And this planner is going to be with you, a mom in mind. And it's going to help you build out the profitable relationships you need to grow your business this year so that this way you have achieved your goal.

00:05:16 Melissa: I am so excited. On top of that for showing live, here's what I want to do just for attendees. I will enter you into a drawing. And in this drawing, I will pick one winner and that winner will be featured on this very podcast, the Mom Founder Imagination Hub. Imagine that being featured alongside someone like today's guest, Stephanie, someone like Liz Tennedy of Motherly, someone like Zibi Owens of the Zibi Media. I mean, it is sensational the amount of visibility that you can have for attending live and winning that drawing. So one, podcast guest spot, two, someone that attends live on September 23rd. You will also notice I am also doing it on September 24th.

00:06:06 Melissa: So you get to pick the dropdown on the website and select the best time for you and you will want to show up live. So showing up live brings its benefits. Number one, the 30-day planner, so that you can really, down to the tactic and daily amount of effort, figure out what needs to happen to build profitable relationships, and also do it in a way that is not draining to prevent burnout. And again, for attending live, this masterclass on September 23rd, you will also be entered into a drawing to be a podcast guest.

00:06:37 Melissa: So the name of the masterclass, just so that you have it, how to craft a focused year-end networking strategy to build profitable relationships in 30 days without draining your mom energy. We need energy, we need enthusiasm in order to accomplish what we want. That is what makes it worthwhile. That is why when our kids see us, we want them to see us high on life and excited about what we are pursuing because that is a model to them. They, we will want to see them high on life and excited about what they are pursuing. So join me on September 23rd.

00:07:11 Melissa: You pick the time and go ahead and get ready to understand everything it takes in order to build profitable relationships in 30 days without draining your mom energy during this free live master class. I am so excited about it. I wanna tell everyone and scream it from the mountain tops, which is why I wanted to share that with you before we get into the conversation with Stephanie.

00:07:37 Melissa: Again, all of this is in the show notes. Just go to the link, https://www.melissallarena.com/masterclass above and beyond that. The conversation with Stephanie is really exciting if you have a business right now and you feel unsupported. So I really encourage you to take Stephanie's guidance and wisdom to heart and apply it in your mom in business life. Enjoy the conversation, all of her bio, her official bio will be in the show notes. Check it out again.

00:08:05 Melissa: She is the co-founder of several organizations, Socialfly, she's also the co-founder of the Entreprenista League. And I want to leave you right there with Stephanie. Enjoy the conversation.

00:08:20 Melissa: Stephanie Cartin, I am so excited to have you on the podcast. How are you doing? How's Florida feeling? Tell me everything.

00:08:29 Stephanie: Oh my goodness, well, I love living in Florida. There is palm trees, sunshine, no state income tax. What else can you ask for?

00:08:37 Melissa: Yeah, I think, you know, the ocean, right? So I'm in Texas and I think we have palm trees, no income tax and sunshine, but we don't have an ocean.

00:08:47 Stephanie: Yes.

00:08:48 Melissa: I'm an ocean baby. Oh my goodness.

00:08:50 Stephanie: Well, come on, move on down. I'm an unofficial state recruiter for Florida, I feel like.

00:08:57 Melissa: I love it, I love it. Yeah, easy to recruit, let me tell you that. But Stephanie, I'm so excited to have you here because I feel like the last time that I bumped into you was Podcast Movement or PodFest.

00:09:09 Stephanie: PodFest in Orlando, yeah.

00:09:11 Melissa: In Orlando and you were up on a stage on a panel sharing your wisdom around, you know, growing a business. And you know, I think you also got a chance to share a bit about being a mom and Molly and all that. But in this conversation, we're going to get so mom, it's gonna be unbelievably mommy. But also mommy and money, right? So there's two sides of that. So here's where I want to kind of gauge your perspective though. How have you changed as a business leader now that you are a mom? Because that can be very personal.

00:09:49 Stephanie: Yes, well, I would say I'm just even more efficient and cognizant with how I spend my time because every single second counts. And for me, the way I'm able to, you know, optimize and execute everything that I'm able to do is by really relying on that Google calendar that I have. So I calendar every single thing that I have to do, whether it's a meeting, a podcast recording, driving my daughter or picking her up from school or camp or activities, every single thing has to go on the calendar and that's how I'm able to optimize and stay organized and get everything done.

00:10:29 Melissa: Yeah, yeah, I get it, I get it. And so I'm so curious. So, okay, so here you have you know, multiple businesses, right? You're like a serial entrepreneur, angel investor. I believe you've also been, or experienced an acquisition as well. So many roles, so many hats. I'm wondering which, like how do you, not just make it work as a mom and a business owner, but do you just make sense of all these pieces? Because there's so many pieces. And what I have found is once you move forward in any direction, then more pieces come up and they're like, oh, another this. So how do you… how do you in your mind, like, not, I don't know, blow up like confetti or something?

00:11:16 Stephanie: Some days I feel like that. Absolutely. So really it's not doing every single thing at once. So I'll share a little backstory of how Courtney and I actually started our first business and how we went on to start other businesses. So we started Socialfly, which is a full service social media marketing and influencer agency initially back in 2011 on the side of our full-time jobs. So we were both working in the corporate world in New York City. We partnered together and started taking clients on the side, really working nights and weekends for about 10 months before we said to each other, all right, this is gonna be an actual business, we have to go all in and do it, or we just can't keep doing this. It just became too much to be working full time and trying to start this business.

00:11:59 Stephanie: You know, we had no time. We weren't parents at the time. I mean, I wasn't a parent at the time, but we just had no time to like eat or breathe because we were trying to do two things full time. So we decided to take that leap. It was May 4th, 2012 and we quit our corporate jobs and never looked back and were able to actually focus on building and growing Socialfly. And I share that word focus because it's something that has been really challenging for us over the years, but also very important because I know a lot of entrepreneurs can relate to this.

00:12:36 Stephanie: It's like when you have entrepreneurship like in your DNA, you're always thinking of new ideas, how to make things better, how to build things. So like if you're focusing on building something and you have this other idea, it's like, oh, I wanna try that, I wanna start that. But when you get distracted from the core thing that you're initially building, it can become a distraction. So trying to figure out when does it make sense to like go after this next thing and when does it make sense to stay focused? So this is something that I battled this, I battled this a bit more than Courtney because I was like always like, thinking of these things that I wanted to start. And I'd be like, Courtney, let's do this. She's like, Stephanie, stay focused. So also great to have a business partner.

00:13:17 Stephanie: I'll go back, we start growing and scaling Socialfly. And, you know, Entreprenista still really came to be because so many women started reaching out to us with needing help, you know, growing their business and wanting to hear how we were able to grow Socialfly. And we realized it just became impossible to go out to coffee all day with everyone and run a business. So we started thinking, you know, how can we help as many women founders as possible, but actually do it at scale? So that was our initial idea to start our podcast, Entreprenista, to share all of these incredible stories of women like yourself that are building businesses and have so much insight and advice to share.

00:13:55 Stephanie: So, Entreprenista started as our podcast, really on the side of running our agency business. And from there, it wasn't until 2020 when everything happened with the pandemic. And so many of our listeners and followers were reaching out to us needing more help and feedback and advice and support because of the pandemic that we realized at that time, we really needed to build Entreprenista into what we've now done over the past four years, which was built into our media company and a membership community for women founders and leaders.

00:14:24 Stephanie: But, Courtney and I were years in business at that point where we had already built out our management team at Socialfly. We had the support, we had the resources. So I was essentially able to step away from running the day-to-day operations of Socialfly with Courtney. She was able to continue running that business and I was able to then focus on Entreprenista.

00:14:44 Stephanie: So with all of the other ventures and businesses and projects that we've started, we've always tried to do things at a time when it just made sense based on where the core business was at that time and based on specific priorities. But when you try to do every single thing at once, doesn't always work out.

00:15:05 Melissa: Oh yeah, I think I've been there a thousand times actually. This is so interesting. So the word 'focus', the word 'distraction', I almost feel like those two things are like kryptonite for a mom with a business. And also the word 'core'. Because here is the reality at least from me, and probably you might think this way too. It's kind of like, “What's my core?” Like for real, for real. And for me, core is being a mom to my three little boys. And I choose to really be super present when I'm with them. But at the same time, there's a lot of lack of focus, a lot of distraction, when it comes to working on my business, if I'm with my kids. I'm just wondering, have you had to reimagine that word 'focus' for yourself now that you're a mom with a business?

00:15:57 Stephanie: Absolutely. And being able to prioritize the times that I'm focused and present and there with Molly and then the times that I'm focused and present on my work. Everything I feel was very blurred during the pandemic, of course, because at that time, my daughter was nine months old at the time when the pandemic first started. And now I had been going into my office for a few months in New York City at that time. As I mentioned, I'm down in Florida now, so things look a lot different.

00:16:26 Stephanie: But I was going into my office and my husband was staying home with my daughter at the time. So I was able to go in and focus on work during the day and then come home and be present with Molly. But then when the pandemic happened, now here I am working from home at the time in New York City in a small apartment with a little baby. And it's like, it's very hard to figure out how do I focus on my work where there's this little baby that's right here that needs me too even though my husband was staying home with her. It was very hard. It was very challenging and really just trying to figure out how do I make a plan and figure out how to make this work and somehow I did.

00:17:04 Melissa: Yeah. And I'm so curious just because I feel like I'm cheating off a test but what did your plan look like? How did you start thinking about that? Because I think listeners would love a perspective of how to get started in their focus attack plan.

00:17:19 Stephanie: Yeah, so I'm going to fast forward a bit. We left New York City. We ended up actually going down to Tennessee to stay with family for a bit before we moved down to Florida. And once we were down here in Florida, we were living in a house. So I had space here. So I was able to actually have a room for an office and have separate space from Molly. So during the day, I was actually able to come into a physical office. And even though I was working from home, be focused working in my office, the door was closed and my husband would be there with Molly during the day. And I would have, especially when she was younger, and I nursed for many, many years, so I would take times to go out and nurse her or Greg would bring her into my office. But that's what really worked for me. It was being able to have that separate space in our house that made it a lot easier.

00:18:10 Melissa: Yeah, I think that's something that, it just depends, right? If you're in an urban environment, maybe you don't have that available. But if you're in like a little bit more of a space situation, then it's possible. So okay, you had a plan. And I think that is something that a lot of moms, it's almost like we're flying by the seat of our pants as moms and in business, right? And so I'm just kind of wondering like for you, as far as building out your practice, focusing on the right things at the right time, how do you even decide what to focus on? What comes first and what comes never or what comes next?

00:18:44 Stephanie: Well, in business, when you're running a business, your goal is to build a profitable, scalable business. So being able to focus on the things that you need to do in business to achieve that is absolute priority. And things that don't align with those specific goals are probably the things not to focus on until you get your business into a place that can actually run and make money. So for us, it was very important that we focused on revenue generating activities that were going to be able to drive actual business results. And then, a lot of the other things that we wanted to do that were nice to have that weren't going to essentially move the needle to build the business, we couldn't focus or prioritize those things.

00:19:30 Stephanie: So again, you really have to be sure that when you're building a business, you are making a plan, have a business plan, have a strategic plan and focus and execute that plan and make sure that you surround yourself with a community and people around you who are gonna help you, who can advise you, who can lift you up, who can provide you with guidance, which is one of the reasons why we created our Entreprenista League community to make it a lot easier, to make it more accessible, and for people to have the support they need when growing and scaling a business.

00:20:00 Stephanie: Courtney and I, as we were growing our first business, Socialfly, we joined groups, networking groups, organizations, leadership groups, groups where we had coaches. We were always seeking out people who could help us and could teach us and who could help us move our business forward and where we could learn as much as possible. So when we set out to create the Entreprenista League, in the middle of the pandemic, we knew we had to bring together everything we wish we had when we were first starting out under one roof, because so many times I even see now founders reaching out, they're just like, who are not yet part of our community trying to figure everything out. “How do I do this?” “How do I find this person?”

00:20:37 Stephanie: And it's like, you got to get in a group. You got to get in a community to support you because it's hard to do everything by yourself. But when you have people around you to support you, just like in motherhood, right? You need your tribe. You need that community in business to really be able to move forward.

00:20:53 Melissa: Yeah, and you know what I've noticed is I've been part of different groups myself is that there is that support, but maybe we don't ask for the support or we don't ask for what we really, really need. We don't look for it. We don't actually make it happen within those communities. And so I'm just wondering, what have you noticed in terms of the people that have been able to create their own opportunities within Entreprenista or people that maybe haven't as much like any tips there?

00:21:20 Stephanie: Yeah, if you don't ask, you don't get. And you should be asking for absolutely everything. The power of growing your business is asking questions, building relationships, connecting with the right people, learn from people who are a little bit ahead of you, who can teach you the things you might not have even thought about. Like they might, they do know things that you don't even know what questions to ask because you're not there yet. Ask them what questions do you wish you asked when you were at my stage in business that I might not even know to ask at? That's the power of a community, right? You have that access.

00:21:59 Stephanie: And again, if you don't ask those questions or you don't ask what you should be asking, you're not gonna find out the answers. And I can tell you, like in our Entreprenista League community, everyone is there to help support each other, to give feedback, to build relationships. It truly is this community where there is only collaboration over competition. No one is trying to take business from each other. Everyone's like, how can we help support each other? And how can we help make the best connections to really support everyone? Because that's what it's all about.

00:22:30 Melissa: Yeah, I would agree. And I think, to kind of go back to the whole focus thing versus distraction and being a mom with a business. Here's something that is a real struggle that I have found because I tend to ask a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot. So sometimes different people give you different answers and they take you off focus or they might send you down a distraction path. Any sort of wisdom around how to discern what information or who to listen to when you're on your path.

00:23:03 Stephanie: You know, you wanna be sure you're listening to people who do have the expertise, who have either done what you're trying to do, or they... You can definitely validate that they have the expertise to be giving you that guidance. Ultimately, you need to trust your gut. You know, if someone gives you advice and you're like, that just does not feel right. That does not sit right with me. That goes against everything I would typically do. Don't do it.

00:23:31 Stephanie: Listen to that voice inside you, to that feeling inside of you. That's something I've always done. Like I've always really tried to sit with things. If something doesn't feel right, or if someone doesn't feel right to build a relationship with and something feels off, there's a reason we all, especially as moms, have this extra sense and just know things, listen to that voice, go with that feeling.

00:23:58 Melissa: Yeah, that's totally true. And it's something that translates, whether it's in your mom life or it's in business life because it's kind of almost how we could perceive our kids' friends. Like, "Oh is that the right influence?" "Isn't that the right influence?" We kind of have a sense. So along the same lines because you have such experiences with the co-founder, right? Using the same level of discernment and 'spidey sense', how can one who wants to build her business alongside someone else find the right co-founder, a co-founder in terms of you work well, you trust each other, complimentary skills, et cetera.

00:24:27 Stephanie: Yeah, so having complimentary skill sets is definitely something that has been very powerful for myself and Courtney. We really do have completely opposite skill sets, but what we have is value alignment and vision alignment and complete trust in each other. So those are the three things you want to be sure that you have, your values are aligned, and you really are aligned on your mission and where you wanna build and grow the business and that you absolutely trust each other.

00:25:07 Stephanie: I know that no matter what, Courtney and I would never do anything to hurt the business, hurt each other. We are so committed. And look, we've been in a business relationship. It's like a marriage, right? For... Since 2011, essentially. It's been many, many years. And any relationship is going to grow and evolve over time. We essentially grew up together in business. Our lives have evolved and changed so much over the years. We've both been through so much professionally and personally together. But we have that trust in each other. And we have this vision of what we want to do and what we want to build. And we know we're always gonna be there for each other.

00:25:51 Stephanie: So if you're thinking about going into business with a partner, you have to have these conversations when you're just getting started. And I remember in one of the coaching groups that we were in, we talked about having these fierce conversations and these uncomfortable conversations. If you're afraid to have those conversations in the beginning, you're definitely gonna be afraid to have them when something actually happens and you really need to be able to talk to each other and feel comfortable.

00:26:19 Stephanie: So have those uncomfortable conversations upfront. Talk about if certain things happen in the business, if certain things happen in your lives and things change, like “What are you gonna do?” And something that we always recommend that you should have with a business partner is you need an operating agreement. And we recommend, of course, you speak with a business attorney about having an operating agreement when you get set up. And it can be uncomfortable to have those conversations about the what ifs.

00:26:48 Stephanie: Look, I was, you know, basically could only work part time for six months when I was on bed rest during my pregnancy. And there was so much that was riding on Courtney. And we had to have a lot of these really hard conversations to figure things out. So you need to be able to have trust and open communication with your business partner and please have these conversations upfront before you go into business.

00:27:11 Melissa: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the same can be said just as you mentioned, you know, like a…relationship, a romantic relationship, right? If you're not going to be able to have those conversations up front, it's like, hello, please have them before you sign any contracts. So Stephanie, this has been amazing. I think anyone that's listening can have, you know, some clarity around what they might want to do this very week in terms of their business building efforts. But let me ask you this from your perspective as a mom, because a lot of what I do is help people really get their creative juices going. And I believe that as parents, especially if we have little ones, like we can learn from our little ones because their imaginations are like fully turned on. So here's my question to you. How has your daughter inspired you in terms of getting your creative juices going?

00:28:01 Stephanie: Oh my goodness. My little one, Molly, inspires me every single day. And there is nothing more magical than watching these little kids and their imagination and the things that they think of. We have started doing a lot of different classes. I say we, I take her and get to watch her and it gets my imagination going just watching her. But actually yesterday it was wonderful because we started, she started piano lessons. I say we, because I'm literally sitting there with her, but she started piano lessons and really just seeing her learn and grow and just watching her experience life now, like through the eyes of this like innocent, magical little human, there's just nothing better. So I absolutely feel so lucky to be her mom and she was our little miracle baby and there's nothing better.

00:28:55 Melissa: Thank you for that. I think you know, a lot of us, you know, especially we are navigating just motherhood and entrepreneurship, we kind of feel like, wow, if I only had more time, if I only had more resources, support, et cetera, but at the same time, it's like, we actually have some really dope competitive advantages. Like we have little people around us that we could hug if we feel stressed or like we could feel inspired by if they're doing something pretty cool. And so I wanted to just bring that point to the conversation, cause I think it's important. And I think that we need to really understand that there's so much value that we have right under our noses that we can just unpack and leverage, right? Thank you so much, Stephanie. So in terms of Entrepreneurista and everything else that you've got going on, where can people follow you and continue to learn more about you?

00:29:43 Stephanie: Of course, yeah, feel free to reach out to me. I'm on LinkedIn and Instagram personally at Steph Jill Cartin. And you can follow Entrepreneurista at entrepreneuristas with S at the end on Instagram. And to join the Entrepreneurista League, which is our community of founders where we have lots of mama [unclear] in our community, you can head to entrepreneurista.com/join.

00:30:05 Melissa: Thank you so much, Stephanie.

00:30:07 Melissa: Here are three things that really captivated my attention with regards to my conversation with Stephanie. Point number one, focus. I think the fact that Stephanie had a focus plan is what stood out for me. What is your focus plan? Do you have a plan? Again, you are totally invited to come on September 23rd to my master class and we will work through what you need to have on that plan that is actually going to help you build profitable relationships.

00:30:35 Melissa: The second point is with regards to finding the right mentor. It has to be a gut check. Not everyone is your person. And I think in terms of finding someone who's ahead of you, in terms of, for example, someone that knows a lot about SEO or someone that knows a lot about relationship building, you have to just gauge for yourself. Is this person someone that I can rely on in terms of having information I could use and it's timely, right? So again, follow your gut instinct with regards to the people that you follow and the advice that you actually [inaudible].

00:31:10 Melissa: Point number three is this notion of feeling supportive. I think it's really important as a mom, we think about our villages for our children and raising our families. However, what about for building our businesses? So at this point, I would definitely want to encourage you to attend the live master class on September 23rd because you're gonna realize that there's so many other mom founders who want the same thing. You want to have the energy to hang out and be really cool with your kids. You wanna have the energy and give the best you can to your business and you don't want there to be a conflict.

00:31:45 Melissa: And so many of us feel the same way. And for that reason alone, attend the Masterclass on September 23rd. The link is in the show notes, melissallarena.com/masterclass. The name of the Masterclass and it's totally free and it will be live, it is how to craft a focused year-end networking strategy to build profitable relationships in 30 days without draining your mom's energy. And that is so important. I don't want to drag you to a finish line. I want you to sprint there and feel excited and enthusiastic. And then I want your kids to see you excited and enthusiastic. And I think that's the point of differentiation, but I don't want to get lost.

00:32:23 Melissa: I want to see you on September 23rd. I want to see you there. And I want to see the whole you. The whole me is going to be there, both mom Melissa me and business leader Melissa me and I think when you realize that there are valuable lessons learned from either role that is when you can actually produce outstanding results and I want us to be part of your success story. So join me during the master class melissallarena.com/masterclass all of this is in the show notes. Thank you so much and until next Tuesday, you are beautiful. You're amazing. You're capable and I love you and thank you so much for listening. This means the world to me. Thank you again.