Extending Gratitude to my Extended Team

Owning a small business can feel surprisingly similar to playing that old arcade game, Thankful for TeamWhac-A-Mole (which you can actually play from the comfort of your couch now). While empowering and rewarding, it can feel like every time you have one part of the business under control, something else pops up needing your attention. It always helps to have reliable outside resources at the ready to provide support when you need it. I’m especially thankful for the following people this year.

Frederique (Fred) Irwin: As founder and CEO of Her Corner, Fred helps women entrepreneurs successfully navigate the, sometimes choppy, waters of operating a small business. Through Her Corner, I have met amazing women, gained invaluable knowledge, and taken advantage of opportunities to develop my business. This year, I joined Groups Plus, an intensive program offering personalized support and direction. Groups Plus has been a transformative experience for me (and you know I’m not the type to throw around the ‘transformative experience’ label). Without Fred, there would be a tangible (and negative) difference in what I was able to achieve.

Jackie Johnstone: Jackie is an all-around social media and digital marketing guru. But she is more than that. She helps entrepreneurs learn how to better find and connect with their audiences. It is easy to get trapped in our own little bubbles and when that happens, it is nice to have someone from outside bring some perspective. Jackie served this year as a marketing partner helping us get our team on the right track with social media. Oh, and she had a beautiful baby boy in October.

Julia Westfall: Julia is the visionary behind the DC outpost of Hera Hub which is a co-working space that opened this May specifically designed with female business owners in mind. I am of course excited to have a women-focused co-working space but the service Hera Hub has provided is more then that. In the short time they have been open, they have started to create a great community of women entrepreneurs and fostered collaboration by offering fantastic programming focused on getting women entrepreneurs to think bigger.

Small businesses often can’t take advantage of the organizational and managerial mechanisms available to larger corporations. So, we small business owners have to get creative. I’m thankful for the creativity of these women who have built these resources that allow me to focus on growing Spring Insight.