Female Entrepreneurs You Should Know About..

I'm not sure if I mentioned this on here already, but I have an app idea that I really want to launch when I get more familiar with coding. I am not naive enough to think that I can do the business entirely on my own, but most of the app I want to code myself. I cannot say what it is, but I think with the right marketing, it could do really well and be a useful service to many women. So far, I haven't found an app like it that exists. I plan to be the first! So with that said, it's always wise to get some inspiration from those who came before you. This post is going to showcase some of my favorite apps/companies and the awesome females who lead them!

Liketoknow.it - This is one of my favorite apps everrrr! Founded by Amber Venz Box in 2014. Her service allows users to buy merchandise from their favorite Instagram figures. When someone posts a photo of their outfit, it directs the user to where they can buy those same pieces. This is ideal for that outfit you saw that you cannot get out of your head or for the girl who struggles with putting together a stylish ensemble. I am on this app constantly looking for style inspo!

Girls Who Code - I couldn't NOT put this on the list. Founded by Reshma Saujani in 2012. Reshma's main goal is to close the gender gap in technology. What started off with 20 girls in a New York City classroom, has now reached 40,000 girls nationwide at the end of 2017. It has reached homeless shelters, rural areas, and prestigious private schools. It has been pivotal in introducing young girls to technology!

23andMe - Founded by Linda Avey & Anne Wojcicki in 2006. This company is great! I am actually planning on ordering a DNA kit from them soon. This company uses small spit samples to create over 70 reports about health, bodily traits, and ancestry. It's a great way to learn about your family history and any potential health problems that you may not be aware of. I personally would like to find out more about where my ancestors came from and one day visit those places!

Rent the Runway - Founded by Jennifer Hyman & Jennifer Fleiss in 2009. This company allows women to rent designer and luxury goods for a fraction of the cost. Many women do not want to spend massive amounts of money on something they will only wear once or get tired of eventually. This provides a better alternative. It now has 6 million members, 900 employees, and 5 brick and mortar locations in 5 major cities!

Lola - Founded by Jordan Kier & Alexandra Friedman in 2015. This company provides feminine care products. The promise was to replace chemical-filled tampons with an all-organic tampon that would be delivered directly to the consumer. Most women aren't aware of this, but tampons are not made of cotton, but a variety of materials. This company takes the mystery and danger out of a much used product. I haven't tried these yet, but it is on my list! 

Scentbird - Founded by Mariya Nurislamova in 2013. This company provides you with a new perfume each month for $14.95. I was subscribed to this service for about a year and loved it! It allows you to choose from thousands of designer fragrances. They are not full sized bottles, but it gives you the opportunity to get a new fragrance each month and decide what you would like to invest your money in. I still have many of my bottles left. They are currently racking in $2 million in monthly revenue. 

Ipsy - Founded by Michelle Phan in 2011. This is a subscription type service that sends beauty and makeup products to your door, once a month, for $10. I was also subscribed to this for over a year and god, do I have the make up to show for it. Each month you get 4-5 travel (sometimes regular!) sized products inside of a make up bag. Yeah, I also have about 20 make up bags as well.. Overall, I loved the service. This company has now hit over $150 million in revenue. 

StitchFix - This company was founded in 2010 by Katrina Lake. They will send you five items each month that reflect your personal sense of style. I personally have not done a subscription through this company, but I have heard good things about it. The only reason I have not tried it is because after taking the style assessment, I quickly realized that none of the options were my style lol I wish they had more options. However, this is a perfect fit for someone who hates going shopping or doesn't really know what to buy. This company recently went public and expects to gross over $1 billion in sales for 2018!

theSkimm - A media company founded in 2012 by Carly Zakin & Danielle Weisberg. They each quit their jobs at NBC and started their own company, a daily newsletter that is sent out every morning of the day's top stories. They currently have over 4 million subscribers and over 13 thousand skim'bassadors --> these people spread the word about theSkimm and earn swag and also first dibs on skimm headquarter internships and job opportunities. The news is short, simple, and to the point. 

uBeam - Founded in 2012 by Meredith Perry, this company uses ultrasound waves to wirelessly charge devices. After she got stuck in lecture with no way to charge her laptop, she knew she had to do something. How it works: "Its ultrasonic technology comprises a transmitter, which emits high frequency sound that is inaudible to users and their pets; and transmits power directly to receivers requesting power, which convert power to usable electrical energy using energy-harvesting technology." Sounds bizarre, but hey, that's technology. This company is still in the early stages. I'm curious to see where it will go!

Traveling Spoon - Founded in 2011 by Aashi Vel & Steph Lawrence. This company is designed to help you experience authentic, local cuisine while you are traveling the world. The website connects travelers with hosts in more than 38 cities in various countries. I have not tried this, but I WILL. Sounds like an amazing way to sample native cuisine and meet some awesome locals!

I don't know about you, but I feel inspired. If you have an idea that you think would be useful to others.. GO FOR IT! We need more women taking the Entrepreneurial road!

Until next time :-)  

Free Courses From Top Universities!

I think education is extremely important. Even if you have already graduated college, it's still wise to continue building upon your knowledge. This may be for an advancement at work that you want, a change in career, knowledge to build your own business, or just for personal bragging rights.  

If you've been keeping up with this blog, you know that I am getting into the Tech Industry. I will be taking an actual iOS development course starting in January, but I thought it would be helpful to add anything I could to that, i.e. computer science, Intro to VR and AR, UX Design, UI Design, etc. Granted, I won't become an expert by taking intro courses, but it will give me a general idea of how it all works. 

Luckily, these resources are free and can be added to my resume and LinkedIn page!

Here are some of my favorites: 

1. HarvardX - This is Harvard's free online course program. The lectures are recorded from actual classes at Harvard and posted online. I am currently taking an Intro to Computer Science course. I'm highly impressed so far! I'm about halfway finished.
Link--> https://www.edx.org/school/harvardx

2. Yale - Yale has a free online platform as well. The website is linked to their YouTube channel which has several lectures on different topics. I watched a few lectures from their 'Intro to Psych' course and it was very good. Even though I have already taken several Psych classes in college way beyond an intro class, I still couldn't resist. It's a weakness :-) I also got sucked into watching several lectures on 'Game Theory'. It honestly blew my mind, because I had no idea that was even a thing. After watching a few lectures I realized that it could apply to my future career as well. 

Link--> https://ctl.yale.edu/using-technology/online-learning

3. Stanford - This Uni also has a YouTube channel. I found this one by accident. As I searched through their channel, I noticed that they had many courses to choose from as well. 

Link--> https://www.class-central.com/university/stanford

4. GA Tech - All of us from GA know that this school is top of the line. Luckily, they offer free courses as well. I have already taken and completed an Intro to UX Design course from them. The lectures were great and the assignments/projects were great as well. 

Link--> https://www.edx.org/school/gtx

I have not done any classes from these Uni's yet, but they also provide free courses:

1. UCLA - https://www.youtube.com/user/UCLACourses/videos

2. MIT - https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/find-by-topic/

3. DUKE - https://www.coursera.org/duke

4. UC Berkeley - https://www.edx.org/school/uc-berkeleyx

5. Columbia - https://www.edx.org/school/columbiax

5 Ways To Crush Your Goals!

The focal point in my life lately has been establishing and completing goals. Nothing is more important to me right now. I know that in order for me to have the life that I dream of, certain things have to happen. I know that a lot of other people want more out of life. Hopefully this will help :-)

1. Define what it is that you want. If you don't know what you're looking for, then how are you ever going to find it? Be very specific about what you want. Do not hold back. For example, my dream life is to work remotely (my own business) and travel the world with my husband and kids. The quicker that I establish that dream, the sooner I can take steps to eventually have that life. 

2. Define your action steps. What is it that you have to do to get to your dream life? Don't look at it as one big, overwhelming step. Look at it in baby steps. Sit down and make a list of each tiny goal that you have to accomplish to reach that one big dream. For me that would be buying a Macbook, taking a course in iOS development, passing the course, landing a job in tech, relocating, gaining experience, working on my app idea, etc.. Your dreams unfortunately are not going to happen overnight. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. 

3. Define your reason why. This is very important. WHY are you trying to accomplish this dream? What fuels you to have this particular life? If you are a single mom, busting your butt, working two jobs and going to school.. my guess is that you want a better life for your children. This is your 'why'. For me, I believe that life wasn't meant to just pay bills and die. We are all programmed to live how we are living because that's what society has created for us. I believe life should be lived more freely. When I am forced to go to a job I hate, work 40 hours for shit money, do the same thing day in and day out.. that is my fuel for change. So my 'why' is freedom. Your 'why' should always be emotionally based. When you find yourself ready to give up, remember your 'why'.

4. Surround yourself with positive people. Nothing will stump your progress like negative people. It would help if you had a mentor or someone that you can call when you are in a slump. Someone that you know only wants the best for you and doesn't project their own insecurities in to the conversation. Someone who will provide constructive advice/criticism to help you get closer to your goal. For example, when I tell someone my dream, I usually get something along the lines of "You're living in a dream world. That's not how life is. You have to work a 40 hr job and pay bills. That's just the way it is." Anyone that has any exposure at all knows that isn't a true statement. It's only true if I allow it to be. Talk to the thousands of people who work remotely and travel most of the year. People who have no awareness of their own dreams will always make yours seem impossible and futile. You will find that most of these people are often miserable with their own lives. Learn to ignore these people and if possible, avoid them. 

5. Stay positive! The situation that seems to happen the most is we establish our goals and start working towards them and then we get discouraged and quit. You have to keep going. No one has gotten to where they want to be without some set backs. 

J.K. Rowling - Divorced, single mother living on welfare.. Rejected by the top 12 media publishing companies. 

Oprah- Fired from her first job as an anchor for being "too emotionally invested" in her stories. 

Stephen Spielberg - Rejected by a film school TWICE. 

Thomas Edison - Told by teachers that he was too stupid to learn anything. 

Walt Disney - Was told that he lacked imagination. 

Albert Einstein - Did not speak until he was 4 years old. 

Stephen King - His first book 'Carrie' was rejected 30 times. 

Michael Jordan - Cut from his high school basketball team.

Sir James Dyson - The creator of the Dyson bag-less vacuum, created 5,126 prototypes before he created a working product.  

Vera Wang - Failed to make the 1968 US Olympic Figure Skating team and was also passed up for a position at Vogue.

Vincent Van Gogh - Only sold one painting while alive. 

Harrison Ford - Was told by an executive that he would never make it in the movie business. 

Steve Jobs - Was fired from his own company in 1985. 

Bill Gates - His first company prior to Microsoft failed miserably.

These people are worth millions, if not billions of dollars. The one thing that they have that others lack is persistence. If you are going to make it, you cannot be mentally weak. You have to decide that no matter what happens or what anyone says to you, you will find a way to make it happen. When you find yourself thinking something negative, consciously shift your thinking to something positive. This will take time. You have to rewire your brain after years of negative thinking.  

I know that my road ahead is going to be very challenging. I am going to be challenged intellectually, financially, and emotionally. I never in a million years thought that I would attempt to be an iOS engineer. To Brandy 1 year ago, that would have been a far fetched idea. Luckily, things have happened along the way that have changed my thinking. I can finally take my interests and turn them into dreams accomplished. 

I hope that you all will do the same :-) 

"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals."