Aviatras of the Week: Molly Edmondson and JoAnne Kennard
What exactly is your business?
MoJo Advantage is a coaching & consulting business that specializes in helping people in transition figure out their “what’s next”. We offer individual coaching in order to help people gain the self-awareness and confidence to find opportunities that they are excited about and in which they will thrive. We specialize in working with women who have been stay-at-home moms who want to return to work or find the right volunteer opportunity but don’t know what that looks like, as well as students and recent college graduates who are trying to figure out their strengths and interests in order to find the right career path for themselves. Using some of the same methodologies that we use in our one-on-one coaching, we have created training modules to help small businesses improve talent development and team dynamics in order to create a more collaborative and effective workforce.
How did you come up with your business idea?
We were both at a phase in our lives where we were trying to decide what we wanted to do next as our children were heading to college and “empty-nesterhood” was looming. We had left successful careers at different points in time to stay home with our kids but knew we wanted to go back to work doing something meaningful outside of the home but had no idea what that looked like. Neither of us could find the right resources to help us figure out what it was that we wanted to do in this next phase of life, and after a few discussions over some cocktails, the idea for MoJo Advantage was born! It has continued to evolve, and we are excited to see where our business takes us!
How did you find out about Aviatra?
We knew of Aviatra when it was Bad Girl Ventures and had been following Aviatra on social media for a fair amount of time before we applied for the Launch program.
What is your inspiration?
Helping people! Our goal is to help people understand their strengths and what they want to focus on so they look at their futures with optimism and confidence, rather than fear and uncertainty. We get so much satisfaction watching our clients develop the clarity and motivation to develop a strategy to achieve their goals. It is really a great feeling to see the impact that going through the MoJo process has on our client’s lives.
What has been your biggest accomplishment with your business so far?
The growth from year to year of how many people we have been able to impact! We are most excited about the fact that our client base has expanded to such a wide demographic of people. When we started MoJo Advantage, we thought that our target market would only be stay-at-home moms looking for their what’s next. However, through referrals from happy clients, we have expanded to working with students, recent college graduates, and even professionals who are unhappy in their current careers and don’t know what they want to pivot to.
What was the most valuable thing you gained from your experience with Aviatra?
The support and connections that come with working with Aviatra have already proven to be so helpful! The expertise that the presenters and mentors have is invaluable, and their willingness to share their knowledge and time is really very generous.
What was the biggest challenge you faced when starting your business?
Getting the word out about we do! We are a unique coaching business in that we are not general life coaches and we are not a job placement firm. Explaining our offerings in a way that is easily understandable in a succinct description often proves to be a challenge.
Where do you hope to be in 5 years?
We would love to be able to expand our reach and offerings in order to help more people figure out their “what’s next”. That might be in the form of group coaching (in person or online) or digital courses. We would like to add to our coaching staff to have the capability to work with more clients one-on-one. We would also like to have a team of dedicated trainers and coaches that use our proven methodology to help small-medium sized businesses create more engaged and collaborative employees by focusing on personal development in order to improve their workplace culture and effectiveness as an organization.
Any advice for future Aviatras?
There is so much valuable information given in each class and it can be overwhelming at times; but you need to sort through the information presented and take from it what resonates with your business and will help your business move forward. It is a supportive environment so don’t be afraid to speak up, ask questions and use the resources that are provided for you!
Where can we keep up with you?
Website: www.mojoadvantage.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/mojoadvantage/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mojoadvantage/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MojoAdvantage
