Female Founders: Royce King On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
If I haven’t, it’s all for naught. Leaving a legacy is more important than having a full bank account. Yes, I have made the world better. I invest time in the lives of women entrepreneurs and our youth who aspire to own a business. Giving back is important to making me a better person too.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Royce King.
Royce Gomez is recognized as one who gets results for her clients. For more than 20 years Royce has consulted startups and small businesses and has written over 100,000 pieces of content. Today her business spans internationally.
She has been published in several online platforms and written several books, including one endorsed by Kevin Harrington of Shark Tank and an international best seller.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
Sure. I believe I was born to be an entrepreneur and began a side hustle while still in high school. After graduating college, I had a job for a bit, and have had jobs for short stints. However, at heart I was always an entrepreneur and was building businesses while working for someone else. To date, I’ve launched 12 businesses and started from zero twice.
I found my passion in 2012 when I began developing marketing strategies and writing content for friends as a hobby. By 2014, I made it my full-time business, and by 2016 it went global. While it’s taken some iterations and evolved as I’ve defined more about what I enjoy doing and who I enjoy serving, the foundation has been the same.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
Oh my! There are so many pivotal moments that have been instrumental. In 2015 I was in Nashville hanging out for 6 weeks, and going to networking events. I found myself at one for social enterprises, which I’ve done quite a bit of consulting for, and was invited to cover a story in Costa Rica. So I went!
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Who doesn’t make mistakes when they start out?! I still make mistakes. I had a luxury realtor hire me for a huge assignment — my biggest ever. Because I was so excited and didn’t want to lose it, I underpriced it. I did get the assignment and he became a returning client; but, I left a lot of money on the table.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
You’re right; we don’t succeed alone. I’ve had several friends believe in me before I believed in myself. They have referred me to clients and shouted my praises. Susan, Sandi, Scott, Michael are just a few. I’ve had mentors who were generous with their time and advice to help me along the way. And, I’m thankful that my son has been one of my biggest cheerleaders. Every entrepreneur has days they want to quit and go get a job. It’s on those days that resilience and his encouragement keep me in the game.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?
I heard from an HR consultant once that women feel they need to meet more than 85% of a job description while men around 60%. Although this has nothing to do with entrepreneurship, I believe it shows that we have a lack of confidence in our abilities. There is also a disparity in pay. And, women historically have tended to take time off to raise families, etc which can detour your focus. When you’re starting a company, you need focus!
Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?
I believe we have the collective resources: WOB designations, VCs interested in women founders, angel groups that only fund women, and more. Individually we need to own that we can achieve just as much as men. As a matter of fact, VC statistics show that women-owned businesses are often more profitable. I can’t cite the exact statistic; but, I’ve seen it many times.
This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?
Of course these are only my opinions, not supported by data. First, women tend to be more astute with money; therefore, they do their due diligence before making financial decisions. That’s important when you are building a company. Second, they have a level of relational intelligence that men often don’t. This can assist them in building JV partners and other stakeholders that can help them grow. Finally, the reason I became a founder was to raise a family. Although I stated earlier that women take pauses in their career to raise a family, I designed my business around the lifestyle I wanted as my kids were growing up. Choosing my lifestyle is still more important that any other perk for me.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
The biggest myth I often hear is a lack of funding. I believe, as with opportunity, funding is always there. We can look at a glass half full or half empty, our choice.
Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?
Not everyone is cut out to be a founder, no. Owning a business is more about your mentality or mindset than skill set. People that need security (false security, in my opinion) and consistency in their day probably should stick to working for someone else. As a founder, I may work 7 days a week 12 hours a day or be done by 9:00 am and play the rest of the day. But, during the time that my business demands that I put in the hours and burn the midnight oil, I do. If it’s 7:47 am and your phone rings, and your response is “It’s not 9:00 yet. Why are they calling?” keep your day job.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder?” (Please share a story or example for each.)
- Belief in yourself. You must know that you are as good and as worthy as anyone else.
- Resilience. Man, there are some tough days when it would be easier to give up. But, you have to face rejection, being exhausted, and having no one in your corner one more time.
- Willingness to seek help. Success never comes alone. Ever. You must seek industry mentors and others to guide you. I’ve had industry mentors, hired coaches, friends I could cry on that would listen then lift me up, and financial guidance.
- Financial acumen. I’ve made many mistakes with money. Hopefully I’m done making those mistakes, who knows? But, there’s always someone who knows more than me. I try to seek out their advice before making major moves.
- Don’t DIY it. Because women can be great multi-taskers, they may try to do it all themselves. I know I was guilty of that. Stay in your lane and hire out the rest.
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
If I haven’t, it’s all for naught. Leaving a legacy is more important than having a full bank account. Yes, I have made the world better. I invest time in the lives of women entrepreneurs and our youth who aspire to own a business. Giving back is important to making me a better person too.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Wow, this is a question that deserves a longer conversation. I’d like to teach our next generation (high schoolers and college kids) two things: a great work ethic and financial literacy. If they have those two things, I believe the sky is the limit.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
That would be awesome! Sara Blakely, Reba McIntire, or Gary Keller. Sara has an inspiring story for women founders, and having worked in luxury retail, she’d be fascinating to meet. Reba because she’s built an empire, she’s not just a musician. Gary has built a large real estate company, and being a real estate investor, I could learn a lot!
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
