26 minute read
Founder’s Corner
How to THRIVE in today’s new reality
As I sit here in my home writing this message, I cannot help think about those who are alone out there in their homes— those without the people they see every day at work. What more can we do to stay connected with those who need connection? We have to accept that we are in a new reality—one that no one saw coming or has ever experienced before. So how do we continue to Connect, Influence, and Lead. in our everyday lives? Believe it or not, we can still show up and be seen, thanks to the lens of technology.
For example, try Zoom for face-to-face meetings. Instead of picking up the phone, use Zoom to conduct everyday business transactions, hold large meetings and build relationships. You can use Zoom to hold fun happy hours with your friends, play games together or simply connect with close family members. More than ever, now is the time to see others and stay connected.
Social media is another direct way to connect with a lot of people instantly. You can reach those who otherwise would not have connected with you that day. Send videos on your Instagram and Facebook feeds, post photos of your daily activities (even if it is your office set-up at home), record your new reality and spread messages of positivity, hope and love.
Over the next several months, as businesses get back to work, travelers are back on the road and children return to school, I would like to challenge each of you to “Stay Connected.” Remember these “slow times”—the time when the world practically came to a halt and afforded you time to spend your days at home. Remember the minutes and hours spent journaling, meditating, working home, playing games with your family and enjoying the extra time with your children. These are the times and the priorities in life that matter.
Find the beauty in your new reality. Do not rush back to work and get so busy again that you forget what is most important to you. Seek the silver lining in this pandemic. Create a reality that is filled with making memories with those who matter the most. I challenge each of you to remember that life is happening for us, even this pandemic, as scary as it is, happened for us and for this earth.
Remain passionate and focused on what we can do to Connect, Influence, and Lead every woman. We have worked diligently to create a virtual organization for women looking to lead without permission, be the badass leader that you know you are, and gain the courage and confidence through the strong support of our group of women so you can live your best life.
We are here to show you how to tap into your greatest power, You. Remember, you are the only you who has ever been and the only you who will ever be. Be you and be strong, because you are brilliant and the world needs you. All of the members of Lead Up for Women are here to offer you support and sisterhood to leading your best life and the journey starts today. Find the beauty in your new reality. Create a reality that is filled with making memories with those who matter the most.
What are you waiting for? Join us.
With Gratitude,
Your Guide to Successful Franchise Matching Find Your Perfect Franchise
Careyann Golliver is known as America’s Franchise Matchmaker™. Her greatest passion is people to take the leap into franchising. Her passion began from helping grow her local family handyman business to the top-rated national franchise in the industry. The franchise family business became so successful that in 2019 it was acquired by the largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the world-Ace Hardware Corporation.
Careyann and Franchise Logic has mastered a process that not only helps people find their perfect franchise match but allows for an abundance of possibilities.
We’re here to support your journey as you begin to explore opportunites in discovering the perfect franchise.
Ashleigh Warren Founder So Social
Achieving top tier success matters Meet Ashleigh Warren, a digital marketer who specializes in scaling brand performance.
Give us a snapshot of your brand? What makes it unique? I am a digital marketer that runs ad campaigns for elite creators and brands that want to scale. I actively advise them on how to create ad campaigns, creative assets and products that produce top-tier multi-platform success. For many of my clients, I have produced more than a five times return. I have worked with the likes of David Dobrik, Dan Bilzerian, Jake Paul, Becca Griffin and Mike Tyson.
I launched the marketing collective, So Social, a space for brands to easily connect with top-tier agency marketers without the high sliding-scale agency fees. We specialize in scale and creative delivery, and have produced over $100 million in revenue for creators and brands. We like to think of ourselves as the “anti-agency agency.” As people who have worked at top-tier agencies and built their teams, we understand everything that is wrong with the agency model. We left to create a company that scales our clients’ returns and does not take advantage of them in the process. Not only do we believe in flat rates and month-to-month contracts, we live by our 7-days-a-week work ethic and accessibility.
What type of consumer/client are you targeting? I am always looking to work with people who have a mission and live by it. I enjoy working with creative brands and influencers that are ready to increase their return on ad spend.
Why do you do what you do? I enjoy building things, the process— the effort all of it really captivates me. I love to help people develop brands they are proud of.
What hurdles have you overcome being a woman in business? People tend to underestimate you as a woman, so I always place focus on what matters: I am a human being, and I am damn great at my job. Here are my results that prove such. I have run into a few potential client interactions where they could not help, but look shocked to see I was a black woman when they met me. Some have even said, “Oh wow!” upon physically meeting me. I normally call them out with a response like, “I know, I unintentionally break stereotypes for a living, now that we’ve addressed that, let’s get to it.”
What do you do to give back? I often provide consulting services to upcoming entrepreneurs to help grow their brands. These people are not necessarily ready to invest in a marketing agency. I have always loved what I do, but one day on a plane ride home, a thought came to my mind, “But what are you doing for the world? What are you building that really matters?” I could not answer myself and decided to build a brand that speaks a single truth: It All Matters. Thus, Cause Bracelet was born.
We donate $5 from every bracelet to its nonprofit cause and provide people with a positive conservation piece to help spark change. My personal life inspires a few of our bracelets. Growing up as a bisexual pastor kid inspired me to create our F H8 Bracelet. A college experience inspired our My Choice Bracelet, which is all about women’s reproductive rights. As an 18 year old college student away from home for the first time, I was sexually assaulted one night coming home from dinner. I sometimes think what would have happened if he had finished what he came to do and I got me pregnant. What if I was forced into a decision because of the state I lived in? I wanted to create a wearable daily reminder that we do not all have to agree about everything, but we can create a space where all people feel heard and supported.
What do you see as some of your biggest opportunities moving ahead? I see myself continuing to work with more top tier brands and influencers, but also consulting small business owners on how to properly take advantage of all that social media has to offer. I do not want my life to just be about helping the best of the best. I want my services to be accessible to all people dedicated to growing their business, which is why I am launching Social Ad Experts, in the next few months.
Social Ad Experts will give small business owners the ability to work with top agency account managers at a fraction of the cost. Each business owner
will receive a dedicated consultant who will review their social media ad accounts and provide weekly campaign docs that will include a high converting ad copy deck specific to your product or service, fine-tuned targeting segments to complement that copy and captivating creative assets opportunities for you to test.
We will provide weekly one-on-one video consulting to go over the data, the week’s goals, and discuss optimization opportunities based upon your results and the results we see every day on large accounts. Basically, we do all the heavy lifting for you and help you implement strategies multimillion-dollar accounts use to scale every day. What is your method to stay connected with other women in business? Social media. I am always looking for female community groups on Instagram and Facebook. I try to attend women-led leadership and marketing events when I can as well. I have a solid group of female friends who kick ass in their fields who I always stay in touch with. What mentors have played an important role in your success? My pastor and friend, TJ Anglin, was one of the first people who really believed I could achieve great things and invested a lot of time and My greatest reward is being an asset to people who inspire me in some way, shape or form.
I also see significant relational opportunities. I look forward to finding more like-minded and like-hearted people. I am always expanding my circle of fellow business owners and entrepreneurs. I recently moved to LA from San Diego, and I’m hoping to find more people who inspire me with how they live their lives and how they grow their businesses. support in my life to make sure I did. He is a successful businessman and real estate investor, so he definitely helped point me in the right direction.
How do you stay current with today’s trends? I am an avid reader of the WSJ. I stay up to date with what is trending on social media as well.
What is your growth plan? Keep expanding my circle of influence, keep investing in people, keep learning and growing.
What is the biggest item on your to-do list right now? To find more like-minded and like-hearted people. Also, launching Social Ad Experts is definitely a priority for me, as many people have requested I pursue something like this for years.
What is the most rewarding part of your career? Helping people. My greatest reward is being an asset to people who inspire me in some way, shape or form. Anyone who has the strength to believe they be more, do more and give more, will always leave a lasting impression on my life.
Describe a typical day. I wake up at 5 a.m., check my emails and accounts, hit an orange theory class, come back home, and get ready. Generally, I have a few morning calls, work on my growth strategy for each client. I do a lot of research and actively find new strategies to scale my clients’ accounts. I have a few prospective client calls a week. I generally go for a walk along the beach in Venice and listen to whatever is in my audible queue for a midday break. Grab a second coffee. Come back to my office and finish up the day. I will often throw something on the grill for dinner, have a nice glass of wine, and enjoy some music to end the day.
What is your secret to success? I welcome failure and fully accept and appreciate things. I do not know everything. I am always throwing things at the wall, and I place a large emphasis on creativity in my personal and business life. I think that gives me a different perspective when I look at how to scale a business. I understand what it takes to stand out and to capture your audience’s attention and maintain it.
One-on-One with...
Ashleigh Warren
Tell us about your family? I am an older sister, dog-mom, daughter and friend. I am the eldest of four children. Those kids are my world. I am from San Diego. I recently moved to Los Angeles for a change of pace, and it just made more sense for my job. I just turned 28 and have been working full-time for myself since I was 24. I quit my job at 24. I made $417,000 my first six months as a freelance social media marketer and went on to scale my business even more. I went from living paycheck to paycheck, to making $60,000 a year working for someone else, to making so much money working for myself that I had to start a business so I wouldn’t get completely slaughtered by taxes.
Before I got into marketing, I was a full-time student who lived with my parents and worked 30 hour weeks at Starbucks. We were still recovering from the market crash, so I worked to help my family and provide a little for myself. We lost everything in that crash—our house, cars, even our dog. We were on food stamps. It felt like things were just getting worse. My parents had to sell everything so we could survive. I’m grateful to them for getting us through that.
At one point, my six-person family had to move in with my aunt in her two-bedroom, one bathroom house with my two cousins (eight people living in that small house). She was incredibly gracious enough to let us stay for so long. Some of my best memories are from our time living there. Crazy enough, I got straight A’s that year and was determined to have a better future.
Eventually, things got better. My parents got good jobs. We moved into our own condo. Things were looking slightly up, but I was going through the motions: school, Starbucks, sleep, repeat. Starbucks was great for me. I had an incredible manager who invested so much support and kindness into my life when I needed it the most, but I knew I wanted more from life. I had no idea what that was or how to get there. I did not even know what online marketing was at that point, but one day after class, I told myself, “Enough is enough. Go find better.”
So I began looking for office jobs on Craigslist. I found an administrative assistant/creative writer role for a marketing company. I like what it paid ($15 per hour). I liked that I would be getting more business exposure than as a barista, so I applied. I got the position and quit Starbucks a week later. I changed my school schedule to complete my degree online so that I could work full-time.
I was an administrative assistant/creative writer for about four months, and then they offered me a promotion: media buyer. I had no idea what the hell that was, but I was down. It paid $40,000 per month, plus commission. I learned Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest advertising. I learned how to operate the platforms, build my own creative, write my own copy and a lot of best practices. I quickly became one of the best buyers in the office. My numbers proved this, and I was still a full-time, straight-A student.
Still, I knew I could do more and started feeling complacent, so I began looking for better opportunities in this field a few months in. I reached out to one of our tech clients who was looking for an in-house Facebook marketer. We went back and forth for a while, but nothing happened. Then literally, a year later, they reached out and offered me $60,000-plus commission, an excellent benefits program, unlimited PTO, a fantastic office space, great people, and pretty much everything you could want working for someone else. I took it.
But what no one knew at this point was that I had started looking for my own freelance clients on Craigslist at the same time. Literally, the only reason I thought to do it was because my little sister was living with me and I wanted to move back into a nicer part of downtown San Diego. But could not afford a two-bedroom on one salary. I responded to a remote Facebook marketer part-time position days before I had received that new tech job offer. The Craigslist client reached out to me the same day I got a call from that company.
I decided F@#$ it. Do it all: full-time online student, a full-time job, provide for my sister (a full-time traditional
on-campus student at that point) who did not have a car and manage a freelance client. Somehow, I was balancing it all well, taking my sister to school every morning before work and picking her up late at night, getting straight A’s, succeeding at work. All my accounts were performing to par or above.
So, two weeks into my new full-time job, I started looking for another client I could personally take on. I searched through Instagram beauty hashtags for clients, as I had previously seen a lot of success with beauty clients at my old job. I found a small brand with a lot of potential, so I sent them an email pitch. They signed with me, and in two months, I was making $30,000-plus per month as a freelancer. I thought, “Whoa,” but this might just be a fluke. I did not quit my job for another three months and made sure I had a year’s salary saved just in case freelancing did not pan out. I knew I would be okay, and my sister would be okay for a year.
Crazy enough, it kept working. Those two clients began to refer me to other clients and I officially did not have enough bandwidth. I did not have the time to work full-time for someone else. It no longer was worth the money. So I took a semi-comfy leap of faith and quit. I built my freelance business and finished school.
How do you prioritize your health, family and career? I place value on all. For me, I need all of them to flourish to feel like I am living my best life possible. I have always been an action over words type of person, so I place action behind these values. I am an active person, very involved in my family and friends who are family’s lives, and I am always looking for ways to grow my mindset and, ultimately, my career.
What motivates you every day? The process. I love building new things and attempting to perfect old things.
How do you tap into the power of you that makes you unique? And how has that pushed you forward? I know that no one else on the face of the earth is or can be me. No one else will ever have my exact perspective, my exact level of passion or my exact creative thought process. That has to mean something. I will always bring something a little different to the table— more than anyone else, just like every other person on the face of the earth will. That is the beauty of being a human being. I really wish more people tapped into that. Ultimately, I feel that is a part of my mission—to help people come into and live in that realization.
I tell myself daily, “I don’t want to be good. I want to be great.” Greatness in any area of your life requires a level of determination, excellence, practice, and trial and error that is unnatural. Greatness is a continuous action-based decision.
Who inspires you? Oprah, Ellen, Michelle Obama, Gary Vee, Warren Buffet, Jamie Kern Lima, Steve Jobs, Jim Collins, Jeff Bezos, Simon Sinek, Beyoncé, my little (adult) sister, Alex, all of my closest friends, and anyone who does not make life an excuse for why they are not where they wish to be.
What inspires you? Helping and encouraging people, building brands people enjoy.
What is the best thing a consumer/client ever said to you? “We would have never made it here without you, thank you.”
What are your strongest traits as a leader? What traits of other leaders inspire you? My strongest traits are my integrity and ability to encourage and inspire others to see their true personal and brand potential. Leaders who have a story, who are inspirational, think outside of the box, creative, genuinely care about their people and have a high success rate inspire me as well.
How are you mentoring/sponsoring others? I actively consult people who want to grow successful businesses and need help doing so. I take on an intern or two a year and teach them everything I know. I bring them into my world and show what it takes. I always tell them by my age I hope you are at least two times more successful than me because you get to learn from all of my mistakes. That is half the battle.
What book are you reading now? I’m an audible girl: “Good to Great,” “Start With Why,” “The Everything Store,” “Never Split the Difference.”
What are your favorite hobbies? I love to travel. I am a huge movie lover, a foodie and guitar player. I love going to basketball games, and spending time with friends and family.
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Thriving with MS Why I may have MS, but it does not have me
The fear set in as I looked up at the mountain from the bottom. All I could think of was, “How am I going to hike this mountain?” My chest started pounding as the fear set in. I got into my own head. How are my legs going to respond to this? I slowly started getting out of my head and into my heart and soul. My SOULYu sisters looked at me and said, “You got this—one step at a time.” I agreed and went for it. I took my first step up the mountain. When I arrived to the top, I felt very proud of myself. This euphoric and conquerors feeling was not part of my vernacular many years before.
By Jackie Tapies
In 1995, during my junior year at the University of California (USC), I landed an internship in Washington DC. It was an exciting, yet scary time. I had never left the Los Angeles area for school. I felt lucky and proud to have been selected to be a part of this amazing group of students. I quickly realized after arriving and settling into my new place in Arlington, Virginia that I was not in sunny California. The day I arrived was freezing cold. I was very much out of my element.
I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I knew it was going to be
On or about 2004,
a difficult transition, but I felt I was capable of anything coming my way. At least that is what I thought. It took some time to get adjusted to my new peers, the classes, the work, the metro system and the “true” independent living. There was no way I was driving back home. I did not own a mobile phone and FaceTime did not exist.
After all, this was 1995. Without my familial surroundings, I quickly made friends and felt I was unstoppable. I worked out, studied, walked a lot, socialized a lot, and made so many new and amazing discoveries about myself. My internship was going great and my grades were above average.
Suddenly, one spring day in 1995, I was working on a research paper on my Macintosh computer when I noticed the screen starting to blur. Maybe I had been staring at the computer too long and my eyes were getting tired. When my eyes blurred again, it was temporary, so I did not want to alarm myself. It kept happening frequently, but not enough to cause any alarm. I remember thinking it was strange. My eyes have never done that before. What could it be?
As the days went by, strange things started happening. I began losing my balance and my vision worsened. I did not want to alarm my family since the semester was coming to a close. I would just go to the doctor when I get home. The blurriness became progressively worse. When I
returned home on or about April 1995, I looked fine, but I knew something was really wrong. I was 21 years old and felt so helpless. I thought I was going crazy.
Upon my arrival, my mother took me to see many doctors. Nobody could definitively say what was wrong with me. I saw six different doctors. One said I needed to see a psychiatrist. As a young adult, the many changes you go through may have been the cause. The doctor must have thought I was crazy. It did not help that I was being teased at home about my continuous blinking.
It was the worst summer of my life. I could not drive, hold a job, or read or write for more than three minutes. I felt helpless. I was going into the fall semester of my senior year and I could not function like a normal 21 year old. I was in a dark place, and for the first time felt like God had abandoned me. Will I ever be normal again?
That is when I saw a doctor who uttered the words, “You might have multiple sclerosis (MS).” He sent me to get a CT Scan. While nothing showed up on the images, he administered weekly B12 shots. After receiving weekly doses, the blurriness started to disappear. I was happy to be blurry free before my senior year. I felt like God had sent me a miracle—heard my prayers. But I did not get a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.
I continued on with my life. Year after year, I had an array of interesting symptoms, but not enough to give them my full attention until I had my law practice, which I started in San Francisco. I was happy in my career. Once again, I thought I was unstoppable. I was on my own with my own law practice. But soon thereafter, everything came crashing down.
On or about 2004, I had a new set of alarming symptoms. This time they were with my legs. I specifically remember waking up ready to start my day but I could not move my legs. I would shake them to try and wake them up. After several attempts, I managed to get out of bed. This happened more and more every day. I lost my balance frequently. I could not wear heals. Every day seemed like a nightmare. Having a new law practice and becoming seriously symptomatic was causing me distress. I could not talk to anyone who knew what was happening. I began to fall into a deep depression.
I decided to make a drastic decision. Still not knowing what was going on, I decided to move back home—a place I swore I would never return. I did not know what was going what could happen, which only exasperated my anxiety and depression. I felt incompetent and that I was a total failure. After leaving my law practice, my clients, my friends, my apartment and my freedom, I felt stuck. I felt sorry for myself, and I believed that everyone felt sorry for me, too.
Through the years, I had to catch my bearings. I had to stop feeling sorry for myself and fight to regain the strength in my legs while practicing law. I again ignored the symptoms. Being a lawyer stressed my body. But how could I earn a living and stay healthy?
I do not feel sorry for myself anymore.
on with my body, and the depression was spiraling down the longer I stayed in the city by the bay. I left San Francisco in 2004—my apartment and my law office filled with the sounds of cable cars ringing.
I returned to Los Angeles and moved back in with my family. I went to see a chiropractor. After completing an intake and evaluation, Dr. Vollers sent me to get an MRI. It came back as MS. I was referred to Dr. Margaret E Burnett, an MS specialist at the USC Keck Medical School. She analyzed my MRI scans, which showed there were lesions on my brain from years of not treating the condition. She explained what few treatment options there were.
I was immediately placed on a steroid infusion and daily shots of REBIF. I was constantly reminded of
In 2017, a dear friend introduced me to personal development. I realized that everything in my life was happening for me and not to me. I realized that MS was a blessing because it caused me to stop and assess what is best for me and my family. I do not feel sorry for myself anymore. I decided to stop litigating and practicing law, and began to focus on my gifts. I realized that what I do in life does not have to physically hurt my body to be happy.
I have a balance in my life now. I feel I have a second chance and that my heart is filled with gratitude. I now can climb tall mountains. I exercise at least four to five times a week and try to eat as healthy as I can. I take my MS medication while taking supplements.
I now say that I have MS, it does not have me.
