Entrepreneur and author Danielle Tate advises would-be female founders how to get up and off the “sticky floor.” Founder and CEO of MissNowMrs and author of Elegant Entrepreneur, Danielle talks inspiration, moving past fear and knowing where you are going.
Melinda Wittstock: Welcome to WINGS Danielle.
Danielle Tate: Thank you so much for having me Melinda, I’m excited.
Melinda Wittstock: Well I am too because I know you have some great advice for all our Shero listeners. I want to start first thought with what it is inspiring you right now?
[tweet_box design=”default” float=”none”]If you don’t have a cofounder then you need to have a partner or very good friends within the entrepreneurial community that can give you advice, a shoulder to lean on, and can give you a shove when you need it. #WingsPodcast #WomeninBusiness @Elegant_Entre[/tweet_box]
Danielle Tate: I am so inspired by all of the women, all of the girls, all of these amazing people around the world that are seeing problems and instead of just complaining about them they’re solving the problem for themselves and building companies to solve the problems for others. It’s amazing.
Melinda Wittstock: It’s so interesting you say that because increasingly entrepreneurship really is emerging as the way forward to solve a lot of the world’s most intractable problems and so many women are taking on, or beginning to take on those kinds of moonshots, which is awesome. But there’s also a lot of frustration in the air too. What are some of the things that frustrate you as a serial entrepreneur?
Danielle Tate: Fear frustrates me: my own fear and the fear of especially first time founders. Women can think of every single reason why they shouldn’t start a company, why somebody is more qualified. I call it the sticky floor of entrepreneurship instead of the glass ceiling. That fear of failure is so frustrating to me, and something I feel like we all really need to help each other through.
Melinda Wittstock: I love that, the sticky floor instead of the glass ceiling. So how do we just put our wings on and take off. That’s a good segue into our advice section. What are your top three tips for women in business and entrepreneurs?
Danielle Tate: My first tip would be: embrace your idea. When you have that idea hold it, own it, hug it, do your market research and get it out the door. Don’t get hung up on perfection, get something viable out and then iterate, it doesn’t have to be perfect. I can’t say that enough times.
My second piece of advice is: build a team, a support team. If you don’t have a cofounder then you need to have a partner or very good friends within the entrepreneurial community that can give you advice, a shoulder to lean on, and can give you a shove when you need it. If you’re looking for a cofounder find somebody who compliments your weaknesses. Don’t find another copy of you that’s super fun to hang out with, find somebody that does the things that you’re bad at because that’s how you’re going to get your idea from dream to reality.
Finally I think my most important tip is: begin with the end in mind. Know what your definition of success is. Do you want to build that billionaire dollar unicorn? Do you want to build a lifestyle company that supports you and your family and gives you a very flexible life, or are you building a company that you hope to have acquired in 3, to 5, to 10 years? Knowing what you want and what the goal is is going to help guide your decisions from the beginning, through the middle, to the very end and ensure that you end up achieving that goal.
[tweet_box design=”default” float=”none”]Knowing what you want and what the goal is is going to help guide your decisions from the beginning, through the middle, to the very end and ensure that you end up achieving that goal. #WingsPodcast #WomeninBusiness @Elegant_Entre[/tweet_box]
Melinda Wittstock: That is such excellent advice. So Danielle where can people find you and how can they work with you?
Danielle Tate: You can find me on social media as Elegant Entrepreneur. My website’s elegantentrepenur.co and of course you can go to amazon.com and find my book “Elegant Entrepreneur” to learn a few more tips that I put into my book to get more smart women with business ideas to start and scale their companies.
Melinda Wittstock: Wonderful. Thanks so much for putting your wings on with us today.
Danielle Tate: Absolutely. Thank you.
