Pop Quiz, Monday Interview with Liz London
The Pop Quiz, Monday, is a fun little exam that we love to give to savvy business owners. The examination is not a surprise, after all, since the interviewee already knew about the questions in advance. However, we can always pretend and have fun with the scenario of a young entrepreneur sitting in class nervously biting on their pencil. They are ready to take a pop quiz on a chapter that they were supposed to read the night before. Instead, they played Metroid all night on their SNES (Oops, this was me in high school). The real purpose of the pop quiz is that this is a fun way to introduce business tips from real-world experiences that you can not learn in a classroom. We want to thank our entrepreneur for being a good sport and volunteering their time to answer a few questions to help our community grow from their knowledge.
I want to introduce you to our guest today, who will be taking our Pop Quiz Monday.
1. Can you please tell everyone your name?
Liz London
2. Tell us about your business and what you do?
The Ladyboss Nation is a hub of affordable tools, resources, and business coaching for unconventional entrepreneurs — women in funky, creative, and quirky industries. We work hard, we play hard, and we don’t mind the occasional curse word.
3. Why did you want to become an entrepreneur?
I didn’t wake up one day and think, “I’d like to be an entrepreneur.” My hobby in college turned into a business. I was teaching dance and fitness classes and wanted to treat it like a real business, so I started learning the ins and outs of small business ownership. That turned into several future opportunities, and because of the way I was raised, I never thought twice about being able to figure it out.
My parents were business owners, as were their parents before them. The culture of our family was such that if you see a problem, come up with solutions and try to fix it. We weren’t much for sitting around and complaining about a problem. What’s more, there was never any fear or overwhelmed with the idea of starting a business around a solution. So, I didn’t have that thought of, “Gosh, that’s just too big of an idea. I’m not ____ enough to start a business!” I was very lucky in that regard.
4. What are the challenging aspects of running a business?
When you are more right-brained than business-trained, it can be frustrating when you come to a situation in which you don’t know the next step. Not only do you often not know the answer but sometimes you don’t even know how to find the answer. And quite often, business classes and experts don’t speak to your specific industry. They’re not usually made for truly small businesses. I’m talking about the one-woman-show businesses who are trying to balance a lot of things outside of work with trying to grow a business simultaneously. It’s easy to feel condescended to and overwhelmed.
5. What do you love most about your job?
Learning about a wide range of businesses! There are some really creative and clever folks out there who are ready to take their work to the next level for the world to see. Designers are inventing new ways of incorporating ecologically sustainable craft into wearable art. Ghostwriters who never get any credit for their amazing thoughts or volume of work. Performers who choreograph dozens of people with intricate movement and musical cues. Occupational therapists who have found ways of bringing affordable intervention to busy families around the world through digital formats. I would never have known about some of these creative, brilliant entrepreneurs had I not shifted my course from staying in my own lane to opening up my work to a wider community.
6. How do you have fun at work (team building, pranks, etc..)?
Music and positive reinforcement. Anyone in The Ladyboss Nation can tell you that I’m not above lip-synching live in our Facebook group to a song that reminds me of a struggle one of our members is having — or sending someone a pizza for hitting a tough goal that week. I like to keep my personality in everything I do.
7. What would one piece of advice that you give to a new business owner?
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. I used to think I needed to feel like the biggest person in the room. But surrounding yourself with people who are smarter than you won’t make you feel inferior, I promise. Studies have demonstrated that a huge factor differentiating successful businesses long-term, and those that fail are seeking advisors and experts. We can’t do everything ourselves. Find great people to help, and let them show you THEIR zone of genius.
Thank you for taking our pop quiz today. You get an A+ for effort. You can learn more about our interviewee and their business by visiting them on the web: www.TheLadybossNation.com
Originally published at https://www.inboxdude.com on December 17, 2019.
