HER MILLION DOLLAR MY$TERY: EPISODE 020 – Kimberly Spencer, Crown Yourself

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How does one find herself in Australia on a three-week vacation that turns into a permanent move thanks to a global pandemic? And, then, thriving in that new environment? After talking with Kimberly Spencer, founder of Crown Yourself, it is easy to believe that she would thrive in the chaos and share her amazing gifts with entrepreneurs all over the world from her beach-front home in Australia.

Talking with Kimberly was a breath of energetic fresh air! She shared that in coaching her clients, budding and growing entrepreneurs, male and female, all over the world, she finds so many of them being “selfish.” Meaning, they have amazing gifts and solutions to problems to share, but they are selfish in their small thinking. Her perspective is to share and share big. Go big or go home, because the world (or your target market) deserves to have what you are offering. In Kimberly’s world, she seems blame as an insidious game that gets in the way of success and is in itself, selfish! I was energized by Kimberly’s “get over yourself, get out of your own way, and share your gifts with the world” mentality. And, oh, by the way, while you are doing that, make a bunch of money!

Jump on this week’s #HerMillionDollarMy$tery with Kimberly and I and be inspired to reach new and greater heights!

Listen to the podcast here.

HER MILLION DOLLAR MY$TERY: EPISODE 019 – Sherry Sims, Black Career Women’s Network

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Sherry Sims and I go way back! We became fast friends when I joined then BGV, Inc., which became Aviatra Accelerators. She was a high-energy female founder just starting out on her journey to scale BCWN to support women across the country and across the pond. Since then, I have watched as she truly created her own category of virtual networking and coaching, specifically for the African American woman who can’t find mentors like herself in today’s corporate world.

In our podcast visit, Sherry walks us through the kinds of advice she gives the over 20,000 women in her network. Common themes are relationships, communication and executive presence. How can we command respect in the room? We can all use this kind of advice.

Funding continues to be the rub for minority women, and women in general! Part of the issue is lack of access from not being in the right circles. And, before we even get to the asking for capital, we have to be confident, knowledgeable and just plain SHOW UP right! Sherry is a master as these skills and even better at teaching them to all women.

Sherry and I continue to learn from each other on a regular basis and I know you will enjoy hearing more of her inspiring story!  Join us HERE to listen in to two girlfriends having a chat about empowering other women.

HER MILLION DOLLAR MY$TERY: EPISODE 018 – MOLLY BERRENS, SPOTTED YETI

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You have to love hearing the story that belongs to a woman who would choose Eleanor Roosevelt as her famous woman to meet for dinner! Molly Berrens uses her “smart video” business to “show the world that you exist.” I think Eleanor would have loved this concept.

Having worked directly with Molly Berrens and Spotted Yeti on a video production project unique to Aviatra, I know firsthand her passion for telling stories in video with the end-user in mind. Thinking backward from results to tactics has put Spotted Yeti front and center in the video storytelling industry in the Cincinnati/Northern KY region.

Join us on the podcast where we learn where the creative name originated, her ingredients for success, and how she overcame the inevitable obstacles small business owners encounter. She shares how relationship building has driven her success, as well as her commitment to investing in others.

In the meantime, check out Spottedyeti.com and view some of her artistically created storytelling videos that “show the world that you exist” in living color! You will love the easy way Molly has about her – you can see how her clients are put at ease while they share their stories to be told in video form. Be inspired by Molly Berrens and Spotted Yeti’s journey.

Listen to the podcast here!

HER MILLION DOLLAR MY$TERY: EPISODE 017 – Barbara (Stanny) Huson (PART II), The Leading Authority on Women, Wealth & Power

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In the blog post for part one of Barbara’s podcast, I promised that in part two, we would take a very deep dive into her book, Rewire For Wealth, which is coming out in January 2021.

In this episode of Her Million Dollar My$tery, Barbara opens the cover of the book and lets us in on the rich content we will find when we read the book. She is super passionate about this topic and knows from experience how well it works. She describes the three main phases of rewiring your own brain to break bad money and success habits. Recognize, Reframe, Respond Differently – it sounds so simple, but when we all have years, maybe decades, of bad habits formed probably in our childhood, there is nothing simple about it. Barbara proves, though, that with focus on this three step process we CAN actually rewire our own brains. I call it “getting out of your own way,” Barbara calls it rewiring, which means changing for good the perceptions, habits, and thoughts that hold women back surrounding money and success.

Listen in with me as Barbara generously shares her approach in Rewire For Wealth, then pre-order her book on Amazon. It will be a great winter read!

Then, go Rewire (your brain) For Wealth!

Listen to the podcast here!

HER MILLION DOLLAR MY$TERY: EPISODE 016 – Barbara (Stanny) Huson, The Leading Authority on Women, Wealth & Power

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I could write this blog post all day and still not totally unpack all the rich content Barbara and I discuss on this two-part episode of Her Million Dollar My$tery!

Barbara walks us through her multi-step processes of truly understanding the barriers women face when it comes to money. As the author of several books – Prince Charming Isn’t Coming, Secrets of Six-Figure Women, Overcoming Underearning, Finding A Financial Advisor You Can Trust, Breaking Through, Sacred Success, and her soon to be released 7th book, Rewire For Wealth, Barbara digs deep into the issues that women have around money, wealth and power.

In part one of my chat with Barbara, we talk about money issues equaling power issues. We tend to have a silent critic that says “Powerful women are burned at the stake,” so why wouldn’t we shy away from money when it equals power?

Barbara takes us through the four phases of digging deep into our money issues: Outer Work, Inner Work, Higher Work, Deeper Work. All fascinating and will strike a nerve at some point in all of us. When I asked her about the traits of women who have broken the barriers, she notes that they all have confidence but they also all have FEAR! Wow – we thought fear was bad and you have to be fearless! Barbara blows this myth out of the water and talks about walking right into your fear. Self doubt never stops the successful woman.

In part two, Barbara gives us a deep dive into her new book and talks extensively about reprogramming our brains for financial success.

You won’t want to miss these two episodes, and if you are like me, you will listen over and over again and take notes on this one – and then go grab her books. She is a delight to talk to and listen to, so I know you will enjoy joining us (here).

Then, go Rewire (your brain) For Wealth!

Listen to the podcast here!

HER MILLION DOLLAR MY$TERY: EPISODE 015 – NANCY AICHHOLZ, AVIATRA ACCELERATORS

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After a number of weeks of talking to women with a variety of different entrepreneurial experiences, and with women who want to fund other women’s ventures, we are beginning to see some clues to solving this mystery. Why in the world do women own 49% of the businesses in the United States, but we represent 10% or less of the annual earned revenue? Crazy, right? It can’t be in 2020 that this is accurate. But it is!

There are certainly systemic issues. There are issues that arise from just the types of businesses that women “usually” start (more consumer focused, smaller, consulting businesses, etc). And, there are some attitudes we could work on changing in ourselves.

Spending time on these past episodes, it is clear that women who do knock it out of the park and blow through that million dollar “barrier” don’t see it as a barrier. They see it, at worst, as a hurdle, but more likely a goal to be achieved and surpassed.

Common denominators among these Million Dollar Women are: Know your personal “why”; Focus, Focus Focus; Know that you don’t know it all – surround yourself with people smarter than you; Positivity; Use trusted mentors; Grit, determination, smarts, fearlessness, shoot for the stars, give back; And my personal favorite – root for other women.

All these traits and attitudes show up in spades among these successful women. We can all learn from them.

Keep listening to upcoming episodes when we will talk to a national author and expert on women and money, and the attitudes around it. We will start to dig a little deeper into these traits that we know we all need to embody to be our most successful selves.

Listen here for more detail on all of these success attributes!

HER MILLION DOLLAR MY$TERY: EPISODE 014 – ELIZABETH EDWARDS, H VENTURES

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Our impressive guest on this week’s episode, Elizabeth Edwards of H Ventures, saw a “Cultural Moment” and decided to define that moment on her own terms! Drawing on prior professional experiences, Edwards notice not only a lack of Venture Capital invested in women founded businesses, but also a lack of VC funds going towards consumer brands. And who is making 85% of the nation’s consumer decisions? WOMEN!

H Ventures brings resources to the table for female founders AND female investors. Getting the right people on the team and the right people in the room together has been a winning combo. Elizabeth’s background in Strategy with Deloitte, and brand management at Johnson & Johnson, set her up to be the perfect person to focus on a sector of the VC world that has been largely overlooked.

Her words of wisdom to female founders include knowing what you want, showing up, and being the expert in your domain and a specialist in the stage of your consumer facing brand. H Ventures puts their potential investees through a highly rigorous process – only 15 or 30,000 or more are selected for investment.

Listen in and hear what makes a female founded, consumer facing brand likely to be one of the select 15! Another clue to solving “Her Million Dollar My$tery!”

Listen to the podcast here!

HER MILLION DOLLAR MY$TERY: EPISODE 013 – Robin Gentry McGee, Functional Formularies

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“Women will save the world!” is Robin Gentry McGee’s motto–and she is doing her part in spades. Between founding and skyrocketing a business that literally saves lives around the world, giving back to support the launch and growth of Aviatra Accelerators-Dayton, and pouring time & talent into helping other women start businesses that will also change the world, Robin is living her motto!

Robin admits she started her Functional Formularies business, a whole foods solution to the unhealthy feeding tube options available at the time her father was is need of nutrients after a catastrophic brain injury, without so much as a business plan!  By turning to Aviatra Accelerators (then BGV, Inc.) she married her passion and outstanding product with real business acumen that set her on an amazing course.

Another of Robin’s mantras is “Problems can’t be solved by the same minds that caused the problems.” Instead of trying to fix a product that wasn’t working for her Dad, she went straight to her “happy place,” the kitchen, where she already had a passion for food as medicine. And in less than 5 years in the commercial space, Robin exited her business at a substantial return, and now pours her knowledge into helping other women.

Join us to hear how tenacity and problem solving changed the lives of countless people through Functional Formularies.

Listen to the podcast here.

HER MILLION DOLLAR MY$TERY: EPISODE 012 – STACEY BROWNING, CINCYTECH USA

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Traveling, creating experiences, and being a life-long learner are the things that make Stacey Browning tick. Another passion of Stacey’s is a career long commitment to “root for other women.” A refreshing perspective in today’s sometimes overly-competitive world.

“Women need encouragement as fuel,” Browning says. So true!! It’s those negative inner voices that suck our energy and confidence, so fueling ourselves with encouragement and fueling others with the same keeps the fire in our bellies we need to succeed.

She also encourages women to focus on what is true. What is true about your abilities, experience, dreams, goals…. “Many women have a zero sum mindset,” she says. That is for sure not the truth we should be telling ourselves.

She also gives some practical advice for women with tech/digital solutions to problems–“Put your ideas on paper.” She encourages us to get it all out of our heads before we try to communicate it to others.

Get inspired to create solutions to problems and blast your business way past the $1M mark with this inspirational podcast.

Listen to the podcast here.

HER MILLION DOLLAR MY$TERY: EPISODE 011 – CASEY & MEG HILMER, POWER RYDE CYCLE STUDIO

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What fun to interview a mother/daughter duo! Balancing skill sets with starting and growing a business into a full-blown community has worked well for Casey & Meg Hilmer.

Seven years ago, they opened their first Power Ryde Studio space in Loveland, OH. Since then, they have built a solid community of cycle enthusiasts on their state-of-the-art RealRyder bikes. And, they have contributed $85,000 back to local charitable causes by offering sponsored “rides” that support a particular community concern.

Casey, who has overcome some significant hurdles in life, believes in the theory of businesses that Sleep (at the beginning), Creep (as they begin to grow) and the LEAP as they really take off. Power Ryde’s “leap” came fairly quickly, in large part to Casey’s youthful fearlessness and her refusal to see the barriers. She had to overcome what a lot of women trip over, that unwillingness to promote herself.

Join us for this fun and energetic episode that will leave you deciding if you want to go do a power ride or start a business of your own, or both!

Listen to the podcast here.