Here\u2019s an idea for women who bump up against the glass ceiling at work: Create your own business where you own the ceiling. And the good news about that DIY approach to business is that it\u2019s easier than ever before.
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\nChristy Wright is an entrepreneur and business coach whose mission is to help create a \u201cmovement of women making money doing what they love.\u201d It\u2019s a needed message.<\/p>\n
I have five adult daughters and have watched them as they struggle to make their way in the marketplace<\/a> over the years while also making room for family life. At times, business can seem stacked against women. Wright was six months old when her newly single mother started a cake shop that eventually employed fifteen people. Passion and Proficiency<\/a> are very important to business success. Wright emphasizes the passion side of the equation because of her perspective on how women are motivated to succeed. Wright points out that because of the internet and social media, we have ready access to much larger markets than before. Marketing our goods and services is easier and cheaper. We can raise capital through several websites and other sites serve as incubators and resellers.
\nWhat Wright has to say gets them excited.
\nA couple of my daughters were in an audience when Wright gave a presentation. Suddenly I started getting a flurry of texts saying, \u201cDad, you\u2019ve got to connect with Christy. She\u2019s amazing!\u201d
\nSo I spoke with her<\/a> recently about her story and the lessons of her new book Business Boutique<\/a><\/em>.
\n<\/p>\nWright's Story<\/h3>\n
\nShe saw certain key traits while growing up in that business. Wright recalls \u201csleeping on flour sacks and sugar bags\u201d before she went to school because her mother would have to be there very early in the morning to get those cakes baking.
\n\u201cI started my first little side business myself when I was twenty-three to help pay the bills,\u201d Wright said. It wasn't because her mother advised her to\u2014it was because her mom had modeled business bootstrapping.
\nWright had always wanted to try country life. She visited a forty-acre farm with an eleven-stall barn and decided to rent it out. That could have been a problem since the rent was three times as much as she had been paying. But her entrepreneurial upbringing gave her a leg up.
\nShe reasoned, \u201cThere's no way I can afford it, but I'll just start a little business boarding horses and that will help me pay my rent. So that's what I did.\u201d
\nWright had zero experience on a farm, but she made life there work because she followed her mother\u2019s example. Many women don\u2019t have that example, so Wright has written a book to help make more of their dreams come true by becoming entrepreneurs.
\nFrom our conversation, I took four lessons that can help women in the marketplace today. And I\u2019ll let the guys in on a secret: Men can benefit from these lessons too.<\/p>\n1. Find Something You\u2019re Passionate About<\/h3>\n
\n\u201cWhy you do it<\/a> will always affect how you do it,\u201d she explained. If you love what you\u2019re doing, \u201cYou put a different level of passion into every detail of your work,\u201d making success all the more likely.<\/p>\n2. Take Some Risks and Learn from Them<\/h3>\n
\n\u201cThe barrier to entry into the marketplace is lower than ever before. You can dip your toe in the water with very low risk and very low cost. And so it's a great time to try some things out,\u201d she said.
\nIt may not always work, or work as well as we\u2019d want. But lessons are much less expensive to learn these days. And with the right attitude, those lessons can help us to adjust and grow our businesses for future success.
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