Female Founders: Whitney Alexandra On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview with Doug Noll

You won’t get it right the first time. Keep going. The most successful founders I work with have a beginner’s mindset. It’s rare for you to get it all right the first time. The strongest businesses and leaders I work with are consistently iterating, updating, creating and refining their services and their messages. We evolve as founders and our businesses also evolve in the very best of ways.

As a part of our series about Women Founders, we had the pleasure of interviewing Whitney Alexandra.

Whitney Alexandra is a Performance Coach for top women entrepreneurs who want to create limitless wealth and a fabulous life beyond their wildest desires. She has spent the past 20+ years helping powerful business owners unlock their peak potential.

Through her signature approach rooted in evidence-based performance coaching strategies, Whitney’s clients experience transformational shifts in a fraction of the time — often up-leveling every area of their lives and businesses in a matter of mere months.

Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I’ve always had a love of personal development. My career started early in the talent industry and enjoyed all aspects of performance in front of the camera. I also credit this experience as being the start of my entrepreneurial journey as I learned about building brands and personal transformation. When I started my corporate career, I worked closely with executives on building their personal brands, strategy and business development. Those opportunities grew quickly to working on a global level with multi-million and billion dollar companies and their CEOs. When one dream job ended, I took the leap and started my business focused on helping entrepreneurs reach their next level of success. After working with hundreds of high performing entrepreneurs and executives for the last 20 years, I’ve seen the incredible impact that mindset has on business and their results.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

In my first year of business, the leader of one of the large organizations I was consulting for called me and left a message to phone him immediately. I had been working with a number of CEOs and entrepreneurs across Canada and was certain he was called because something had gone wrong. In fact, it was the complete opposite. They had run the numbers and shared with me that I had sold more contracts and worked with more entrepreneurs than any other consultant across Canada, by more than double! There are two fantastic lessons I learned from that experience. The first, always have a goal and an idea of what success looks like for you. I didn’t know what success looked like at the time, I just kept moving forward. The second, we’re hardwired to assume it’s always bad news. Shift your mindset to embrace a belief that its good news when you hear from someone.

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?

Looking back, the funniest mistake I made was overdelivering and not charging enough for my time and expertise. I had an offer for $97/month where I offered unlimited coaching and a weekly group call. Can you imagine!?! While the group strategy was solid, I wasn’t charging enough money to align with my ideal clients and the immense value and experience that I had. What I learned from this experience was the power of buyer perception. The offer felt “too good to be true” for the price point so many great potential clients did not buy. You will have much more success when the value exchange is more balanced.

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?

There are so many wonderful leaders and executives I had the pleasure of learning from and have acted as great mentors through all stages of my career and business. One mentor taught an entrepreneurship class that I attended when I was considering starting my business. I remember her highlighting the difference between most women and male founders. She shared that most women feel they are ready to launch their business after higher education, becoming certified in their field, delivering free sessions and only then start charging a very small amount for their work. In contrast, men get a hammer and a truck and they are in business. That example has always stuck with me. I always think of the “hammer and truck strategy” as the way to get in motion today and just start.

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?

Entrepreneurs have a longstanding and bad reputation for working 24/7, not having revenue consistency, and embracing the hustle and burnout. At first glance it doesn’t appear to be a great match for women founders who are looking for more family time, balance, and financial stability. However, dig deeper and I believe the number one thing that holds most brilliant women back from founding companies is their mindset — specifically, feeling confident about their expertise and ability to make money. It’s common for the inner critic to make you doubt your ability. Its job is to keep you safe and comfortable. Two things that are at odds with the entrepreneurial journey. A strong mindset is foundational as you navigate your business, so it is important to turn your inner critic into an inner champion.

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?

As individuals, a commitment to personal growth and maintaining a positive mindset are critical to your success. You need to believe in yourself, your dreams and be willing to bet on yourself. Together we can also inspire and empower other women to become founders by sharing our stories and supporting other women owned businesses. You will be the reason that someone believes success is also possible for them.

As a society, we need to share more examples of women founders who are living their best life, building a business they love and breaking out of the status quo. As an example, I have many clients that are successfully working 20 hour weeks doing work they love, have plenty of time with their family and make an incredible income each month.

Whether through the government or access to private funding, more entrepreneurial training and mentorship access needs to be available to all future founders and current founders so they know the business basics and can feel confident they have every tool they need to succeed.

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?

There are so many fabulous reasons more women need to be founders! Women founders are creating their own powerful communities and economies globally. Beyond the incredible connections and impact you’re able to make, the income and opportunities are truly limitless. I love that women can generate as much wealth as they desire while doing what they love. When women have more wealth, they give more to their communities, they are generous with their time, they invest in their teams and technology. As much as I love talking about wealth, the biggest reason of all is FREEDOM. Every woman should be the hero of their own story. That includes controlling your own destiny, how you spend each day and designing a life you truly love.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?

There are so many founder “myths” that are simply not true. Business doesn’t need to be hard. You don’t need to struggle. You don’t need to take what’s given to you. You shouldn’t do the work for any price just to get started. Most founders believe these to be facts and they are simply not. You get to decide what your experience will be like. You get to decide what you’re available for and what you will accept. The sooner you know your worth and ask for what you desire, the faster success will find you. As you go through your journey, you can simply ask yourself if it is true or a proven fact. Even if it is true or a proven fact (which is rarely is) you can simply remind yourself that it may be true for some, but it’s not true for you. The faster you use this method, the faster you will see your business build.

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?

I believe anyone can be a successful founder but not all will desire to be a founder. The most successful founders I’ve met are driven, self-motivated, have a vision and feel the calling to create. If you have these qualities, I have no doubt you could be successful as a founder. Employees are also someone to be celebrated, they help take someone’s vision and use their expertise to implement. As an incredible employee, you’re likely consistent, reliable and love to work behind the scenes to make important things happen.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. You won’t get it right the first time. Keep going. The most successful founders I work with have a beginner’s mindset. It’s rare for you to get it all right the first time. The strongest businesses and leaders I work with are consistently iterating, updating, creating and refining their services and their messages. We evolve as founders and our businesses also evolve in the very best of ways.

2. Fast, not perfect. My biggest job as a Performance Coach is getting people into motion quickly. Perfection is always something that can hold you back from making bold moves. We adopt this mindset of “fast, not perfect” to blow past the desire to be perfect, giving you more time and energy back to use where it truly matters.

3. Make sure you’re compensated for the value you bring. Early in my entrepreneurial career, I was doing business development for a consulting firm. My target was to bring in $1M of additional revenue for the year. I hit it out of the park in the first six months and achieved their goal early. My reward: services no longer required. Instead of being compensated for the value I had brought in, I was released because they didn’t have more people to deliver on the work I had sold. It was a hard but important lesson to learn. Ensure you’re compensated for the value you bring and play out a few scenarios as you set up any financial arrangements.

4. Raise your price to attract dream clients. Chances are high that you are uncharging and overdelivering right now. It’s a common money block that often flies under the radar for most founders. Take a look at the true value that your product or service delivers to your clients and evaluate the right price required to attract your ideal clients. If it’s an uncomfortable amount to move to, try making one or two price increases. My best suggestion is to make a swift move to give notice (if required) and then do one price increase to your ideal price. By this point you’ll have done the

5. Create WILD goals. SMART goals are out! There’s nothing worse in my mind than setting an “achievable” goal. Most founders underestimate what is possible for them and the time required to achieve it. I love to 10x their goal and speed up the time to achieve it so we need to find a faster and easier way to create what they desire. Even if you don’t quite make it, I promise you the results will be significantly better than any SMART goal you plan. Your goal should feel exciting, creatively challenging and most importantly it will require you to embody your next level self in order to achieve it.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

I believe the world is made a better place one happy person at a time. I measure my success based on the happiness of my clients, their families, and the impact they are making using their gifts.

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.

The movement I started a few years ago is called Fabulous Fridays. It’s a day where I encourage everyone to live as their future self. It’s easy for most founders to get stuck living the life they have created and they don’t spend enough time on self-care or working on their big goals. Every Fabulous Friday is a strategic CEO day to work on a project that will elevate your business, do something to recharge yourself or an opportunity to embody your next level. I find when you embody your future self and live like she would, you attract new opportunities and income faster.

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.

There are so many incredible leaders and founders doing inspiring things. I am in LOVE with Codie Sanchez! Her practical, no BS, contrarian approach to business is brilliant. I love the strategies she shares and how simple her advice is. While much of her advice goes against the traditional path most founders want to take, she has a proven formula for success that gets results quickly. More people need to know about her and follow her advice on simplifying life their life and business.

Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you only continued success!

About the Interviewer: Douglas E. Noll, JD, MA was born nearly blind, crippled with club feet, partially deaf, and left-handed. He overcame all of these obstacles to become a successful civil trial lawyer. In 2000, he abandoned his law practice to become a peacemaker. His calling is to serve humanity, and he executes his calling at many levels. He is an award-winning author, teacher, and trainer. He is a highly experienced mediator. Doug’s work carries him from international work to helping people resolve deep interpersonal and ideological conflicts. Doug teaches his innovative de-escalation skill that calms any angry person in 90 seconds or less. With Laurel Kaufer, Doug founded Prison of Peace in 2009. The Prison of Peace project trains life and long terms incarcerated people to be powerful peacemakers and mediators. He has been deeply moved by inmates who have learned and applied deep, empathic listening skills, leadership skills, and problem-solving skills to reduce violence in their prison communities. Their dedication to learning, improving, and serving their communities motivates him to expand the principles of Prison of Peace so that every human wanting to learn the skills of peace may do so. Doug’s awards include California Lawyer Magazine Lawyer of the Year, Best Lawyers in America Lawyer of the Year, Purpose Prize Fellow, International Academy of Mediators Syd Leezak Award of Excellence, National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals Neutral of the Year. His four books have won a number of awards and commendations. Doug’s podcast, Listen With Leaders, is now accepting guests. Click on this link to learn more and apply.