Latest / The Realtor Who Wines / The Power of Growing of Community of Businesswomen who Connect, Collaborate, and Build Each Other's Success

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The Power of Growing of Community of Businesswomen who Connect, Collaborate, and Build Each Other's Success · The Realtor Who Wines

• 0:00
  Welcome to the Realtor Who Wines podcast.
• 0:02
  I'm Rashelle Newmyer, your hostess with the mostest a student of life, a connector, a passionate wine enthusiast, and your local favorite guide.
• 0:10
  Join me as we explore the vibrant Pacific Northwest.
• 0:14
  Savor the finest wines and champion the spirit of entrepreneurship.
• 0:18
  Each episode, I'll sit down with inspiring guests, supporting business ownership and uncovering the stories that make this community unique.
• 0:25
  So grab a glass of wine, settle in, and let's embark on a journey of discovery and connection together. Cheers.
• 0:32
  Welcome to episode four of the Realtor Who Wins podcast.
• 0:35
  I cannot wait to have a great conversation today with my guest, Liz Hatcher.
• 0:40
  With the Woman to Women Network.
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  But first, I'd like to say cheers and welcome to the show.
• 0:45
  So happy to see you.
• 0:47
  I have Rosie on the show today because Liz loves a little better.
• 0:52
  Rosie.
• 0:53
  I do, and as from Abby from road, which is in Yamhill, Carlton, Oregon, and I.
• 0:58
  Have you been there?
• 0:59
  No, I have not been to that one.
• 1:01
  It's super, super cute.
• 1:01
  I love this winery.
• 1:04
  They actually have.
• 1:05
  It used to be a horse farm, I believe, before they turned it into a winery.
• 1:09
  But like the old silos, they turned into Airbnbs.
• 1:12
  So, like, you can stay there.
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  They have the farmhouse in the silos, and that's, like, really cool.
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  So if you're in the Yamhill Carlton area, definitely go check out Abbey Farm Road.
• 1:20
  But I want to talk about Liz.
• 1:22
  Liz is the CEO and founder of the Women to Women Network, currently in Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
• 1:28
  And growing and growing.
• 1:30
  Yeah, that's so Liz, for those people that don't know you, I know what women to women Network is.
• 1:35
  Can you give us a brief introduction?
• 1:37
  Oh so women to women. Goodness.
• 1:39
  It started by accident.
• 1:40
  I tell people I'm an accidental leader, but it began out of a desire to find genuine connection with other women who were business owners.
• 1:51
  So we could talk about our experiences, learn from each other.
• 1:55
  I was new to business ownership myself, and while I was very good at what I did, I was not so good at running a company, didn't know how to do all the things.
• 2:06
  And balance life and, you know, yeah, everything that goes with it, all of it.
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  And I wasn't finding, what I was looking for.
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  Turns out I wasn't alone.
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  There were other women seeking the same thing.
• 2:16
  And urged me to start doing something.
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  So we began meeting for coffee and conversation, by the fireplace at our local community center.
• 2:26
  And over time, that grew, gained traction and became apparent that, wow, this is something and we need to make it official.
• 2:34
  So Women to Women launched in 2019 and, again, only with just this little idea of what it could be.
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  And I'm telling you, you open the door and start saying yes and things happen.
• 2:48
  Yeah. Women to women.
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  You've been a part of it for a number of years now, and you've seen some of that, growth.
• 2:55
  But our programs, our purpose, our focus, our mission has expanded and evolved with our members from day one.
• 3:04
  It's always been, what do our members want?
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  How can we serve them?
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  It was never about what I mean.
• 3:09
  It started with what I was looking for.
• 3:11
  But once we launched, it wasn't about me.
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  It's always about the members.
• 3:15
  And it comes down to genuine connections, opportunities to collaborate and opportunities to grow together.
• 3:23
  How can we share our expertise, elevate each other, learn from each other, and discover new opportunities and new possibilities?
• 3:32
  Absolutely. Yeah.
• 3:33
  That is one thing that instantly spoke to me about Women to Women Network, that it was very genuine and about relationships and connections.
• 3:41
  It wasn't just, here's my business card, here's my business card.
• 3:43
  Right. I hope you refer to me.
• 3:45
  I really hope you're refer to me and you're like, hi, my name is Rachelle.
• 3:50
  Like, what's your name?
• 3:51
  I don't even know how to refer to you.
• 3:51
  Yeah.
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  What do you do? Like what do you specialize in?
• 3:55
  And that is one thing I really enjoyed about the Women to Women network is how we connect and collaborate.
• 4:02
  And we help each other grow.
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  But also, when you refer, you truly know who you're referring to and you're picking the right referral partner for that particular individual to right reason.
• 4:13
  And. Well, and I've seen the the transformation of women who maybe they were brand new to business or brand new to networking.
• 4:22
  Sure.
• 4:23
  Or just had never experienced the kind of networking that we do.
• 4:28
  I've seen the transformation over the years.
• 4:30
  We have members that have been with us from day one who are hardly ever seen anymore, and they're like, oh no, no, I'm just too busy.
• 4:36
  You know, where I am sticking with this group because this is where I started.
• 4:41
  And, seeing the the transformation, watching somebody really start to open up to what they're capable of.
• 4:49
  What, bigger ideas, bigger dreams and and.
• 4:53
  Yeah, there's always a little bit of fear.
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  I still have it. I'm still like, am I doing.
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  Oh, my God, I know how to do this.
• 4:59
  Will anyone listen to this podcast?
• 5:01
  Right. Exactly. Yeah. I'll go there.
• 5:03
  Yeah.
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  You try something new or you, you dream a little bit bigger and you start taking those steps.
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  And of course, it's going to be a little scary.
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  But if it's not a little bit scary, if you're not challenging yourself, you're not growing and you're missing so much opportunity, so much potential for all the things you could be, and that now there's a balancing act.
• 5:24
  Totally. Because you can do too much.
• 5:26
  Yeah, that.
• 5:27
  What you just said also reminds me of what's unique about women to women is that you can come in the messy moments and and celebrate the moments, and you don't always get that in certain networking groups.
• 5:40
  It's almost like sometimes when you feel like you have to work out before you go to the gym, you know, like, oh, I can't go to Jamiat because I had to lose 10 pounds before I can be seen. Okay.
• 5:47
  Yeah, yeah, that's sometimes not working.
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  Groups feel that way. Like, oh, I can't go. Yeah.
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  Until I'm at this caliber of my business or until I have this many customers, or till I'm a brick and mortar and what's so unique about us is we are a part of every step.
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  And then even if you're not an entrepreneur and you're like, in a business role in the city, you still have steps in, like what you're doing and growing within your company.
• 6:10
  So there was like, no, like wrong spot to be this whole it's all about supporting each other where you're at and where you want to go.
• 6:19
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. So like I love that.
• 6:20
  I love that I can come sometimes and be like this week.
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  I wasn't sure if I should still be in real estate.
• 6:26
  It was a tough week.
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  And then there's other breaks.
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  I'm like, I'm killing it real estate.
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  I'm making so many people, homeowners like so, and it's just nice to have both those moments.
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  Lots of women that we have.
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  Yeah, you can come wherever you're at, emotionally or professionally, business, whatever stage you're at and whether you work for yourself or work for someone else, you're welcome.
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  At Women to Women.
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  And we want to hear the real story.
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  Yes. What's really going on? Yeah.
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  Because I may be struggling.
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  You may be struggling, but someone else has been there or is going through it.
• 7:06
  Yeah. And we can work through it together.
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  And when we're open about it, somebody else might say, oh, I can do that too.
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  She, she's worked through that.
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  We don't know who we're going to inspire.
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  When we become more open and genuine in our conversations.
• 7:22
  We have no idea what doors are going to open because we've peeled back the curtain.
• 7:27
  I get called out on that a lot because I'm I'm, you know, I always want to show up.
• 7:33
  Yeah.
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  And I show up.
• 7:35
  She does.
• 7:36
  Yeah, I can verify.
• 7:37
  Yeah, and I do.
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  It makes me feel good to show up. Yeah.
• 7:40
  Even when I don't feel good, I show up saying, yeah, but, and I think that I'm being genuine and real because I am being true to myself and so like, but in my always showing up, I haven't been as vulnerable.
• 7:57
  I haven't been as authentic with our members, with our teams that so it's it's been a learning process for me as well.
• 8:05
  The journey.
• 8:06
  My journey right mirrors the evolution of women to women.
• 8:10
  Yeah.
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  I have grown so much through the experience.
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  Which is another reason why I just really push, push people to step into leadership.
• 8:18
  It changes you.
• 8:20
  It absolutely changes you. Well.
• 8:21
  And what you just said to I think a lot of leaders fear.
• 8:25
  So I commend you for just pointing this out is we do think I'm in charge.
• 8:30
  I have to be presenting a certain way.
• 8:32
  I'm in this leadership role.
• 8:34
  I need to show up a certain way and sometimes I think it's just as important to say, you know, I don't know.
• 8:41
  Let's figure that out, right?
• 8:42
  If someone comes to you and like, hey leader, we need to x, y, z, what do we do?
• 8:48
  And you don't know, I think a good leader would say, you know, I don't know.
• 8:52
  That's a new one, right?
• 8:52
  Let's figure it out. We'd love.
• 8:54
  You're not out together, right?
• 8:56
  Or let me use my resources or whatever.
• 8:59
  But I do think a lot of times instead of just saying, I don't know or let's figure it out, leaders will say, I'll get back to you on that because they don't want you to know.
• 9:08
  Right? I don't know, right?
• 9:09
  Sometimes the learning opportunity together also elevates you as a leader, but then you're now bringing up people with you as you're elevating well.
• 9:17
  And that's something I've had to learn as well.
• 9:19
  You know, when I started out and women, women were small, I could do most of it on my own.
• 9:24
  We had a small group of us in the very beginning that came together with the idea, and we we drafted the mission and, and got the website done, and we worked together as a team.
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  And then it changed and it really was me running everything with still input from the members.
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  But I'm doing it all by and large.
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  And as we've grown, it's it's impossible to do it all.
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  But my hang up was I don't want to burden others.
• 9:54
  It's is yeah. It's my mess.
• 9:56
  I can fix this. Yeah.
• 9:58
  This is my problem too.
• 10:00
  Yeah, this is my problem.
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  I'm going to do this.
• 10:01
  This is my company. I'm.
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  I shouldn't ask anybody to step in and help because I should be able to do this, which is.
• 10:09
  That's exactly why we created women to women.
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  Because. Right.
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  I didn't know how to do those things.
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  You know, as I say, I am my worst enemy.
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  So part of stepping in the leadership is realizing that others want to help, letting them help, empowering them to help is lifting them up.
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  It's not burdening.
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  And the more I have let go, which I'm still learning, we're always still learning.
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  It's it's been easier to think of some bigger picture.
• 10:45
  Even bigger.
• 10:46
  I'm always thinking bigger. Yeah.
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  And I see different possibilities.
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  And it is it is so rewarding to see how others are taking what I started and are running with it.
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  And it's not mine anymore. It's ours.
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  And and there's something really special in that.
• 11:07
  Yeah.
• 11:08
  You know, the captain of the ship that you have all your shipmates, right?
• 11:11
  Exactly.
• 11:12
  Yeah. Well, and then there days, I'm like, who's steering?
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  It's not me.
• 11:16
  Anchor, please. Yeah.
• 11:18
  I think we have to stop for a minute.
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  And these waves are rough.
• 11:22
  Yeah.
• 11:22
  Can we enter a dead calm for a while?
• 11:24
  Yeah. For sure.
• 11:26
  So as you've grown, how have you put people in positions to help what the organization are to help with you or, like, how did you make those decisions?
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  Like, okay, now I need chapter directors or now I need, board of directors or, executive team.
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  Like, how did you make those decisions or what prompted you to do that?
• 11:46
  I it's funny, it was because other women stepped up.
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  Our first, chapter was, Forest Grove, the Hillsboro Forest Grove, and it was, member Willow.
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  Okay.
• 12:00
  She reached out to me and asked, you know, could we start something out here?
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  There's nothing out here.
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  And I knew when we started Women to Women, I'm like, okay, we're going to reach a point where the the events are getting too big.
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  Yeah.
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  And we let's pay attention to where members are coming from, and we'll, we'll then start holding events and we'll have to look at a chapter chapter model.
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  So Willow raised her hand at just the right time, and stepped up.
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  And so we started exploring the chapter model.
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  The next step was, what does it look like if we go into another state?
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  And I'd already been thinking about Idaho, and I was thinking about Boise because I knew the market I was comfortable.
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  I'm like, that's an easy, you know, flight over.
• 12:40
  I could I could go there.
• 12:42
  So you had professional connections there, though.
• 12:44
  Were all right.
• 12:44
  Understood.
• 12:45
  Right. And again, somebody raised her hand.
• 12:48
  Christy Wilson reached out to me out of the blue. Hey.
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  Been watching your group.
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  What would it take to bring it here?
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  So all along the way, it's been women who have engaged with women to women or have been watching from the sidelines and then wanting to get involved and wanting to help.
• 13:05
  So there was that piece of it.
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  Then there was the piece of, there's more than I can handle.
• 13:11
  I have to hire, I need an admin, I need technology there.
• 13:15
  There are things I don't know how to do that I'm not ever going to ask a volunteer to do this has to we've got to hire this.
• 13:22
  And so it's gone from there.
• 13:24
  Well, and also, do you get to a point to where you're like, Idaho, like a day off that can I sleep a little bit?
• 13:30
  Yeah.
• 13:30
  Like at some point you have to delegates even have to a little peace of mind.
• 13:34
  Yeah. And a little downtime. Yeah.
• 13:36
  So as you mentioned, it started with just, like, coffee is and getting together masterminds that we have a full calendar now of events as each region.
• 13:47
  And so do you want to talk about what, like a connect after hours is, has as a coffee and connect and some of the programing we have.
• 13:54
  Yeah I will say, you know right off if you have not been to a women to women event, we, we do networking different.
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  We it's, it's a different standard.
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  And it really is the relationship first.
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  And I know a lot of organizations will will say that.
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  And yes, business follows relationships and you should be building relationships.
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  But it really isn't about leads and referrals.
• 14:14
  It's how can we elevate each other?
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  How can we work through the problem.
• 14:18
  So a coffee and connect is, a roundtable discussion where we're getting real and raw about our businesses, and it's okay to be vulnerable and it's okay to ask for help.
• 14:28
  There are a lot of resources in the room.
• 14:31
  And even if the answer isn't in the room, somebody in the room probably knows who you should talk to. Yeah.
• 14:36
  So that's the nature of those events.
• 14:38
  Connect after hours.
• 14:39
  A little bit looser.
• 14:42
  We, we they're hosted by a woman owned business, usually a member.
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  She, gets to share some of her expertise.
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  Not so much a commercial about her business, but really sharing a little bit of of what she does, with a key takeaway.
• 15:01
  So attendees are actually learning something.
• 15:04
  While they're there.
• 15:05
  And then, of course, just intentional networking, really making sure that there's time to engage in conversation and get to know each other.
• 15:15
  We do, some of our, our regions have done, monthly luncheons.
• 15:21
  Sometimes there's been a speaker, sometimes there's just been open conversation.
• 15:24
  We now, are starting an emerging leader program here in the Portland area, for businesses, business owners, who they're scaling, entering that next phase of business, they're no longer a startup or women who are in in other companies in middle management or aspiring leaders rising, you know, emerging leaders.
• 15:47
  So we're, we have a monthly, leadership forum for them.
• 15:52
  And we'll be building out that program over time.
• 15:55
  We do a quarterly her story Breakfast, where we feature, female founder, and her her journey, her her story.
• 16:05
  Very inspiring.
• 16:07
  There's some of my favorite events. Yeah.
• 16:08
  Annual conference.
• 16:10
  We have, virtual programing.
• 16:12
  So there's, there's a lot of educational opportunities through the virtual programing.
• 16:17
  Yeah.
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  Like you said, our calendar is super full.
• 16:20
  They have lots of in-person opportunities.
• 16:22
  But the also unique thing about us, we we have virtual opportunities.
• 16:25
  Yeah. Okay.
• 16:25
  Do you want to talk about those a little bit.
• 16:27
  Yeah.
• 16:28
  The virtual program, started during Covid when we had to pivot, dirty word.
• 16:35
  Yeah, with the rest of the world.
• 16:36
  But it allowed us time to grow slowly and really opened the doors to a more national audience.
• 16:44
  We had a lot of women joined virtually during that time.
• 16:47
  Some are still members.
• 16:49
  Some obviously have have gone back to in-person networking wherever they are.
• 16:53
  But the virtual program is education.
• 16:57
  We have invited experts who lead a discussion around the specific topic.
• 17:02
  We do a couple of those a month.
• 17:06
  We have, professional roundtable with one of our program directors, Davina, where she's actually in Idaho.
• 17:13
  That's a member only, and it's an open discussion led by, Davina, who is an amazing trainer herself all around personal professional development.
• 17:23
  And then we also do a monthly roundtable, which is a business discussion.
• 17:27
  The I host those, and it's very similar to the coffee and connect conversations that we're having where it's an open discussion around our businesses.
• 17:37
  Yeah.
• 17:37
  And what we need specific challenges.
• 17:40
  But we'll find those to be very intimate.
• 17:43
  There's smaller groups, and members from anywhere.
• 17:47
  So those two are members only.
• 17:49
  Everything else is open to guests.
• 17:51
  Guests are welcome to come as often as they want to.
• 17:56
  All of our events, with the exception of the two rituals, they just pay a guest fee, right? So.
• 18:01
  Yeah. Yeah.
• 18:02
  Well, and that's, the other thing we talked about earlier, too, is that, like, you can come wherever you are at in your business and sometimes that also means, like today I'm coming in a jeans and a t shirt.
• 18:12
  My hair is in a ponytail because I'm in the thick of it.
• 18:15
  And that's what's kind of nice about some of our virtual programing, is when you hop on to do like a business roundtable or like, hey, I need some marketing ideas or what do you girls think about this?
• 18:24
  No one's going to be like, why is she in a hoodie today like she does or doesn't know?
• 18:29
  Because like, everyone knows, like we're in the thick of it doing stuff, and you don't always show up every day, like doing makeup and, like, right.
• 18:36
  Totally polished. Right?
• 18:38
  Because sometimes business building is dirty work and you get at a few things.
• 18:42
  Yeah. Oh, absolutely.
• 18:43
  Absolutely.
• 18:44
  That's one thing I've always really, light.
• 18:47
  And it just makes our group feel so much more welcoming.
• 18:51
  For those that don't know, we're over 300 members now.
• 18:54
  So and growing to greatness, I give you some perspective why we have so many events on our calendar.
• 19:00
  We also offer the virtual.
• 19:02
  It's also nice for us to be able to network with each other across state lines and things like that because, you know, it's just a whole nother group of people to like, bounce ideas and, yes, troubles and wins off of one thing that's very unique to us.
• 19:18
  I also appreciate is that we do not, limit industry.
• 19:23
  No, no, there's there's no category exclusions.
• 19:27
  There are no limits.
• 19:29
  There are no requirements, right.
• 19:32
  It's it's get what you need out of the organization.
• 19:37
  If you have more than one business, by all means talk about them all under your one membership.
• 19:42
  You don't need a second membership because you have two businesses.
• 19:45
  I know that's not uncommon across organizations.
• 19:48
  I say the important the reason I really appreciate it.
• 19:52
  Like as a realtor, for example, right.
• 19:54
  I appreciate that we don't limit it to like, oh, this is the realtor love the group because there's there's power and networking outside of your industry.
• 20:04
  And it yes.
• 20:05
  And we have seen so much collaboration.
• 20:07
  I personally I've done a ton of collaborating with other agents and our group, but then lenders and other industry professionals that relate to me.
• 20:15
  But to see even a realtor, a realtor that we're at different offices, we're at different brokerages, we're covering different areas, but we're still collaborating on workshops and trainings or even going on listing appointments together.
• 20:28
  There's an agent and I that are co listed, on property in Portland for another member in our group right now just to show like the collaboration.
• 20:36
  Right. And work with all of us.
• 20:37
  There's like no need to be like, oh, I work with lists and that's it.
• 20:42
  Yeah.
• 20:42
  There's there's more business to go around.
• 20:45
  Yeah, than you could possibly handle.
• 20:47
  And more opportunities follow when you do collaborate.
• 20:52
  You know.
• 20:54
  Yeah. I may not be your ideal customer.
• 20:56
  Or, but you may know who who is, right.
• 21:01
  Your customers may be my customers.
• 21:05
  And let's work together.
• 21:07
  Whether we're in the same industry or not, in the same industry, let's let's collaborate.
• 21:10
  We can we can both help each other grow that.
• 21:12
  That's a big piece of it.
• 21:14
  And I wasn't that was something I wasn't finding.
• 21:16
  Was that willingness to not be competitive right, with each other?
• 21:22
  Yeah. Yeah.
• 21:24
  Variation of our competition. Absolutely.
• 21:25
  It's it's peer to peer. Yes.
• 21:27
  Some really cool collaborations that we've seen come out of the group with, like, the women like when doing these masterminds or connect after hours at a coffee is is business a business like, hey, let's work together to gain a new client or to offer a new value so that like one that's coming top to mind for me is we have a jeweler that does fine jewelry, and then we have a travel agent, and now they're doing like an engagement package, like you're getting your engagement ring from our jeweler, and then the travel agent is helping you plan the trip that you're going to propose on and, like, how to capture all of that.
• 22:02
  And that's just really amazing.
• 22:04
  Like, if these girls were a part of women to women, and we're meeting each other in this way, or with that kind of encouragement of collaboration, that idea would not happen. Right? Right.
• 22:13
  And that's I just think is amazing.
• 22:15
  Did you envision that or is that just kind of organic?
• 22:18
  That's just organic. Yeah, yeah.
• 22:20
  Like I said, when I started this, I really didn't know what I was doing.
• 22:24
  I didn't know what I was creating.
• 22:26
  It was very self-serving in the beginning of I want this, I need women to talk to.
• 22:31
  And then others saying, hey, just do something.
• 22:33
  We'll show up. Yeah.
• 22:33
  And that's how it started.
• 22:36
  And anything that we've ever done with women to women, it's been because somebody has asked for it.
• 22:42
  Somebody has said, hey, what if we did this?
• 22:45
  It's no longer the hey, Liz, thank goodness, because that's where it started. Hey, Liz, can we have this? Hey, Liz.
• 22:51
  Can we now if.
• 22:52
  Hey. What if.
• 22:53
  Well, here's an idea like this. Isn't here right now.
• 22:56
  This has left the building.
• 22:58
  Yeah, but that's part of the evolution.
• 23:01
  My evolution and the evolution of the group is there are now women in leadership roles, which was, as we got into it, became clear that that is one of the missions of, of the organization is to create leadership opportunities so that women can become better leaders.
• 23:19
  We could offer all kinds of leadership training and certification and courses, and there's a bazillion out there that are really good.
• 23:27
  Yeah, but there's nothing like actually stepping into leadership and doing it.
• 23:32
  I don't think I could have gone and gotten my, my master's degree or a PhD or taken any courses that would have taught me what I have learned by doing this.
• 23:44
  Yeah, there's there's no there's no comparison.
• 23:47
  Yeah. Absolutely.
• 23:49
  I love the authentic relationships you that have been built out of it because everyone is helping.
• 23:56
  So it turns also, it's like from from business to personal and I have experience.
• 24:02
  I, for example, when I was being sworn in as the Women's Council president of Realtors in 2024, there was two tables full of women to and network gals.
• 24:12
  There that just genuinely support and love me and love seeing that I was having, that moment and that success.
• 24:19
  And they were just so supportive and amazing.
• 24:21
  And I love that.
• 24:23
  I just said love 82 times.
• 24:23
  So you're welcome.
• 24:25
  There's a lot of laughs.
• 24:26
  Yeah I love you all around here you guys.
• 24:28
  That's the rosé.
• 24:29
  But it means the world to you too because then you're like, not only were you there for me to give me a business idea, but like, you're there for me and my ups and my downs, and you celebrate with me.
• 24:41
  And yes, you don't get that all the time.
• 24:43
  No, we want to celebrate.
• 24:44
  We want to cheer each other on because we need it ourselves.
• 24:48
  And our members are very protective of that environment.
• 24:52
  Yeah.
• 24:52
  Then as we continue to grow and go into more states, that is one thing that we're trying to convey.
• 24:58
  Because obviously, if we have a group in Nebraska that wants to start, right?
• 25:02
  And like where like first, how did you hear about us?
• 25:05
  Nebraska. Awesome.
• 25:06
  But two, because they can't come to our events and see that kind of atmosphere in a relationship, like learning how to convey that and like, hey, we would love for you to have this opportunity in Nebraska.
• 25:16
  But this is the not the guidelines, but this is the feel and the expectation, right?
• 25:22
  Like what we want the group to be.
• 25:23
  Well, and that's the next phase, with women to women is we, you know, how do we empower women far away.
• 25:32
  It was it was easier to, you know, established leaders locally.
• 25:37
  Sure. I'm here example. Right. Exactly.
• 25:41
  But when they're far away how do we instill that.
• 25:44
  And so we have to be very intentional with, our communication and how we uphold the culture and the brand and how we represent it.
• 25:54
  And then all of the materials that we provide our leaders, the infrastructure that we're building out, our operations, our technology, our automations, all of that to make it as seamless as possible so that culture is the only thing they've got to worry about.
• 26:10
  And that piece of it, that's what draws them in in the first place.
• 26:15
  Yeah. Talk about that.
• 26:17
  You just mentioned, like all the systems and like, even like websites like right to register of her event, you've had a lot of growth in that where like one website worked until it didn't.
• 26:27
  And then that one said that I was I worked until it didn't because we kept growing.
• 26:31
  What have you learned in that journey, or any advice you would give somebody that's like needing a system where, like, someone might be like registering for events or like even checking out products or something like that.
• 26:42
  Yeah. A future thinking.
• 26:45
  Try and think as far into the future as you can, what you will need as you grow.
• 26:52
  Which I didn't do in the beginning because I didn't know what I was building.
• 26:56
  Right.
• 26:56
  The website that that we had, well, shoot, I was running all the memberships and a spreadsheet.
• 27:01
  I was easy and done on. There's 20 people.
• 27:04
  That is you there, right? It was.
• 27:04
  It was very easy.
• 27:06
  Yeah.
• 27:06
  And, you know, I can't remember how I ended up with my merchant services.
• 27:12
  I found stripe, and and stripe has been phenomenal.
• 27:16
  So at least that piece, I, I immediately did that so I could take payments.
• 27:19
  The website had a registration of sorts.
• 27:26
  It was built more for e-commerce than events.
• 27:28
  And it worked for a while until we had enough members saying, hey, would be really nice if if I'd get a reminder, if this could go on my calendar and what we had wouldn't do that, right.
• 27:39
  And so it was in trial and error on what's going to work.
• 27:44
  And, get setting up, a CRM that could automate some of that.
• 27:50
  And so then it's, oh, I've got to learn this other piece of technology.
• 27:53
  So that's when I hired someone who she, she knew the ins and outs of the CRM that I had purchased, which everything's a subscription now.
• 28:02
  So software as a service. And she knew how to build out the automations, so I had her get it going.
• 28:10
  But as we've grown, those needs have changed, and we've we've basically outgrown what that system is capable of doing.
• 28:17
  And it's a pretty sophisticated system.
• 28:17
  Yeah.
• 28:20
  So it's kind of like, oh that what smart.
• 28:22
  Well, and as you're thinking like, oh, I'm going to be a business owner, that's the last thing you're thinking about.
• 28:26
  But it's the most, one of the most important things is your systems and processes, have clearly defined processes.
• 28:33
  They can change but document them.
• 28:36
  Everything was in my head. Yeah.
• 28:38
  And as I was bringing on people and trying to delegate and let go of things, it's in my head. Yeah.
• 28:44
  And this is so much easier and easier to do it.
• 28:46
  We can't read your mind.
• 28:47
  No, no. Damn it.
• 28:48
  If I can figure that these out, we're out.
• 28:51
  Yeah. It is, Or shiok when you need it.
• 28:53
  I was to do a little Vulcan mind meld. Yeah.
• 28:55
  All right, so that's, that's where having a team really comes into play.
• 29:00
  And you, you reach a point where you simply cannot go it alone.
• 29:03
  Right?
• 29:04
  But even if you are going to go it alone, if your business is small enough or simple enough that you can, you still need systems and processes because things will fall through the cracks.
• 29:13
  You won't be consistent in how you handle things.
• 29:16
  Yeah.
• 29:16
  And that just sets you up for potential mistakes and potential liability.
• 29:22
  Well, and the reason you're so passionate about it, too, is because of the experience on the other side, the again, trying to build consistency for the members that are coming to events, for the members that are hosting events are being featured for guests that are coming and to give them reasons to return.
• 29:37
  You want to be like, oh, that was clunky and really hard to register for.
• 29:39
  Some, I don't want to come and they're missing out on all this value, right?
• 29:43
  Right.
• 29:43
  So it is like such a huge piece, which obviously when you're thinking, I need women to connect with you or like and I'll need a system lesson.
• 29:51
  Oh, I was not thinking that did not come true.
• 29:54
  Yeah.
• 29:55
  What is another piece of advice you would give anybody, especially a female, that is trying to step into her own and like, really pursue an idea that's just been nagging at her, but she's talked herself out of it multiple times.
• 30:07
  Yeah. Get help.
• 30:09
  Let's talk about it.
• 30:12
  Share your idea.
• 30:13
  Don't hold back and, try and hold an abundant mindset, not a scarcity mindset.
• 30:23
  You're going to have to spend money.
• 30:25
  You're gonna have to invest time.
• 30:27
  It's gonna pull you in a lot of directions.
• 30:30
  You have to be willing to step into it.
• 30:33
  Because if you hold back, then the business is not going to thrive.
• 30:37
  You have to throw yourself into it, but be mindful of your boundaries.
• 30:41
  That's something I have not been good at.
• 30:43
  I've thrown myself and 100% into the business.
• 30:48
  I've invested every dollar back into the business, which you can do that, but it's not the best strategy.
• 30:56
  You need to pull some back for yourself.
• 30:59
  Time and money.
• 31:01
  So from the beginning, if you don't know how to do your budgeting, come up with a financial strategy for running and growing your business.
• 31:09
  Get help.
• 31:10
  Talk to legal advisors about things that you're doing.
• 31:13
  Get the liability insurance.
• 31:15
  There are so many experts out there that will give you free information that are really good.
• 31:23
  And they say, you know, you get what you pay for.
• 31:25
  There are free resources.
• 31:26
  Tap into the score and the SBA tap into your bank.
• 31:32
  A lot of banks offer free education and business planning.
• 31:36
  Yeah. So tap into tap into the network.
• 31:39
  Well and just do some time equity so that you're not spending all this money too chasing things. Yes.
• 31:45
  Because if you do tap into all those resources that you just mentioned or partner like to come to something like Women to Women network and meet other professionals, that can also help guide you, then that way you're not spinning all this other money that you didn't need to spend it.
• 32:00
  Actually, when you're starting out, most business owners, when they're starting out, don't have a lot of excess cash to just be throwing around to get their business going.
• 32:08
  So every dollar accounts, really utilize those dollars wisely by making sure you're educated and making the best decision, right that you can upfront.
• 32:16
  And then if and the amount that you know, which will happen.
• 32:19
  Right.
• 32:19
  Because that's all a learning curve.
• 32:21
  Give yourself a little grace and go ask for help.
• 32:24
  Give yourself grace. Yeah.
• 32:25
  Oh my gosh, I made a mistake.
• 32:27
  None.
• 32:28
  None of us are going to need a little.
• 32:29
  Yeah, none of us know it. All right?
• 32:32
  No matter where we are on on the ladder of success.
• 32:36
  None of us know it all. Yeah.
• 32:37
  Every phase is a new learning.
• 32:41
  It does every step of the way.
• 32:43
  Even if you have been, in business for decades, every new phase is new.
• 32:51
  Yeah, there are new challenges.
• 32:53
  There are new experiences.
• 32:54
  There's a new learning curve.
• 32:56
  Nobody ever knows it.
• 32:57
  All right, so my grandmother had a, saying that comes to mind quite often is the more the day you stopped learning is the day you start dying.
• 33:06
  I am not ready to start dying.
• 33:08
  So I'm going to keep learning, right?
• 33:08
  Absolutely.
• 33:11
  You'll be like in the grave at the back, like I'm solar installer.
• 33:14
  I'm not coming. Yeah, I'm not done yet.
• 33:17
  That should be on my headstone.
• 33:18
  She's not done yet.
• 33:20
  I always say I want my headstone.
• 33:22
  I like to sit crisscross applesauce a lot.
• 33:24
  So I would say mine has done.
• 33:25
  Can I say here sits Rochelle crisscross applesauce the connector.
• 33:29
  Because I love being the connector y'all.
• 33:31
  But yeah, yeah she's like no.
• 33:33
  Yeah yeah. So I just I was, I so funny.
• 33:35
  We've talked a lot about the entrepreneur and the business starter.
• 33:39
  What about the women in our, network that are like in corporate America and other, like, kind of roles talk a little bit about what we have to offer them and what they learn from women to women.
• 33:51
  Network.
• 33:52
  Yeah. A community for one.
• 33:55
  It is a safe place to come and talk about what it's like to be a woman.
• 34:02
  In business, you know, whether you're working for yourself or you're working for somebody else. Yeah.
• 34:07
  The issues in the challenges might be a little bit different, but it can still be very isolating.
• 34:12
  And, we're paying more attention to that as we've had a lot of women in corporate settings reach out to us and say, I love your programing.
• 34:19
  It's so entrepreneurial.
• 34:19
  What what is there for us?
• 34:22
  Well, the peer to peer communication and or community.
• 34:25
  Absolutely.
• 34:26
  And being able to talk to entrepreneurs and realize, oh, there is a lot of commonality, but then also talking to other, women in management roles or in executive roles, the higher up you go, the more isolating it becomes.
• 34:42
  I was in a conversation with a group yesterday, and we we were talking about it.
• 34:47
  Well, you're you're in the glass tower and you're in the suite at the very, very top as the CEO, or in the executive, space.
• 34:56
  And it's dark and I'm like, yeah.
• 34:58
  And you see all these blinking lights out there and you're like, what are those drones?
• 35:01
  Mayday, mayday. Right.
• 35:03
  Because you you're isolated and you have all your teams and they're doing all their things.
• 35:08
  But the higher up you go, the more isolating it becomes.
• 35:11
  And there's so much, there's so much opportunity for women to come together and really support each other.
• 35:23
  Yeah.
• 35:23
  It's it hasn't always been that way, as we know.
• 35:27
  Absolutely.
• 35:28
  And being a former corporate America kid, I can say, now that I've been in an entrepreneurial role and then a corporate role, the difference, too is when you're in a corporate role, sometimes you are blinded by red tape and you're not the visionary.
• 35:44
  And then sometimes when you're an entrepreneur, you see no red tape.
• 35:47
  So you have no systems, right?
• 35:49
  Yes, they can definitely like, help each other.
• 35:52
  The conversations like, real and and a little bit you should have for your systems or on the other side is like, well, think outside the box a little bit like, you know, what, have you did this or this?
• 36:03
  Because sometimes there's really great imaginative ideas that don't need to be in the red tape.
• 36:09
  They actually are okay, but we just don't think about them because we're so worried about the rules.
• 36:14
  But then entrepreneurs a lot of times have like no systems or aren't thinking, logistically a lot of times, right.
• 36:21
  The dreamers sometimes too.
• 36:23
  So I think that's where it's really impactful for both sides to get to network and have those conversations and like, learn from me. Yes, absolutely.
• 36:31
  And when we get out of the sales mindset, I'm networking for leads, on networking, for referrals, on networking to sell and to grow my book of business.
• 36:39
  Right when we get out of that mindset and it's I'm here to make connections and find women who can help me grow or who I might be able to mentor.
• 36:48
  That's a very different community that you're building and very powerful, very rewarding becomes your support structure.
• 36:58
  And I love the blending of the entrepreneur and the corporate because there's so much to learn and so much to, to help each other from both sides.
• 37:09
  Yeah, cross industry, cross, levels, whatever you want to.
• 37:15
  Yeah. That's right. Yeah.
• 37:16
  We're women first.
• 37:18
  We are women in business.
• 37:20
  Some of us are doing our own thing, some are working for somebody else.
• 37:24
  But we're all professionals, and we can all learn from each other.
• 37:27
  Absolutely.
• 37:29
  So one way people can check out Women to Women Network is our annual conference.
• 37:34
  Do you want to talk about that?
• 37:36
  And like when it's coming up and where it's coming this year and like what people can expect from that? Yeah.
• 37:41
  So inspire. That is the annual conference.
• 37:44
  And I'm going to go back in time for just a moment, because it was this idea I had in my head.
• 37:49
  I don't know why, but I'm like, wait, I have to put on this event.
• 37:53
  And I had this vision for this event.
• 37:54
  I need to inspire it.
• 37:56
  Well, but the word wasn't even coming to mind.
• 37:58
  Lots of words were coming to mind, but not that word.
• 38:01
  And I knew I wanted to bring in speakers, powerful speakers that could inspire, motivate, charge, whatever.
• 38:12
  Our women are members to start thinking bigger, to start taking bolder steps.
• 38:17
  That that was the vision behind it.
• 38:19
  And to bring everybody together in a more celebratory, event.
• 38:24
  Yeah.
• 38:24
  And so the very first, first one, which I did it in, 2021, in spite of Covid, we weren't officially open yet.
• 38:33
  The world wasn't officially open.
• 38:35
  And, which was great because it was able to keep it small and learned a few things, but it was working with one of our members.
• 38:43
  She's a graphic designer, and we we hopped on zoom.
• 38:46
  I'm like, Jane, I don't know what to call this thing.
• 38:48
  What blitz.
• 38:49
  And we we were just throwing ideas.
• 38:52
  All I had in my head was gold.
• 38:54
  There's got to be gold.
• 38:55
  I don't know why gold had to be.
• 38:57
  So we were like, shimmer and shine and and.
• 39:00
  Yeah, there was, there were others.
• 39:03
  I'm like, oh no, that event already exists.
• 39:04
  So that already and I don't know how we came up with inspire, but when we maybe we said it at the same time was like, oh, that's it.
• 39:11
  So I love that event.
• 39:13
  Doc Yarrow said, yes, and I know it sounds cheesy and cliche and you won't believe us until you actually attend the event, but you will leave inspired.
• 39:21
  Whether it's inspired to take the next steps in your business, inspired to work on something personally, inspired to, change roles like maybe it is.
• 39:31
  I don't want to be an entrepreneur and I want to go to work for this person, or I want to do those kind of role.
• 39:36
  You leave with just a cup full of things that you want to work on, or that are new to you, and a ton of new connections.
• 39:44
  Oh my gosh, as we build in that time, in the event to get real with each other, get vulnerable, make those connections, have real conversations.
• 39:51
  It's very thought provoking.
• 39:53
  So now, this will be so 21, 22, 23, 24 oh, this is our yeah, this will be our fifth one this year, and it will be in Boise, in October.
• 40:03
  And then, next September, a year from now, in September 26th, it'll be back in Portland.
• 40:09
  Yeah. But it's a full day conference.
• 40:12
  National keynote speakers, phenomenal experience.
• 40:17
  Yeah, it's, very diverse.
• 40:20
  They feel like, the speakers we've had in the past, like some, speak about, like I said, professional development.
• 40:28
  But a lot of that's also personal, like getting out of your own way.
• 40:31
  How do you combat imposter syndrome?
• 40:34
  How do you set up systems or there's something there for everybody, even if you are.
• 40:40
  We've had people attend that was like, I don't know if I should come.
• 40:43
  I work at a candle shop and are like, what do you mean?
• 40:46
  You're a woman and you work in a business?
• 40:48
  Come. Yeah.
• 40:48
  You have to learn stuff.
• 40:48
  And they always leave.
• 40:51
  Inspired no one and and then.
• 40:53
  But they do leave inspired.
• 40:54
  And with a cup full of possibilities and opportunities that they didn't realize were out there.
• 41:00
  Well, we really try to bring in the four key pillars.
• 41:03
  So there's there's health and wellness, which is your mental health, your physical health, your financial health.
• 41:08
  Yeah. That's your your health.
• 41:10
  There's the the business development piece.
• 41:12
  So marketing, sales, scaling, branding, that's your business are systems and operations.
• 41:18
  There's the, personal and professional development piece, how we show up, how we communicate our mindset.
• 41:26
  And then there's the leadership development piece, which not everybody wants to go that that direction.
• 41:31
  And that's okay.
• 41:32
  So we, we try to focus on all of those, and at inspire really speak to the entrepreneur, speak to the the seasoned business owners, speak to the women in corporate.
• 41:47
  So there's really something for everybody.
• 41:47
  Yeah.
• 41:49
  Yeah definitely.
• 41:51
  And so you can go to our website to see about inspire.
• 41:55
  Don't think tickets are available. Yeah.
• 41:57
  Not yet soon. Yeah. Soon.
• 41:59
  Definitely soon.
• 42:00
  So if you're going to be in the Boise area or you want to take a short flight to Boise, that's a really great conference and you don't want to miss it.
• 42:06
  I appreciate you so much being like, sure.
• 42:09
  Oh my gosh, Rachelle, I love it.
• 42:11
  And Maya Liz, she already knows I fangirl over her all the time.
• 42:15
  She's a wonderful mentor and an amazing leader, and I truly love women to women that work.
• 42:20
  That's why I've been a member for so long.
• 42:21
  But I wanted to have you on for multiple reasons.
• 42:24
  You're just a wealth of knowledge and she's humble and she doesn't melt.
• 42:28
  Also, when you're like, hey, I need help on this too.
• 42:30
  Oh yeah, I'm actually so relatable.
• 42:31
  There are messy days. Yeah.
• 42:33
  So I'd love to race in class here and say, toast to those rich years. Yes.
• 42:38
  Yeah. Thank you. Thanks for listening.
• 42:38
  And see you next time.