JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Cheryl Wood, author of The GlamourLESS Side of Entrepreneurship – What They DIDN’T Tell You About Being A Woman In Business
(WEPP Publishing Company)
This book serves as a guide to equip aspiring, beginner and seasoned women entrepreneurs to face the challenges of being in business head-on and stay the course. This compilation of uncut stories from 25 successful women in business candidly exposes the challenges, struggles and truths of each woman along her entrepreneurial journey.
A majority of women who embark upon entrepreneurship start out with unrealistic visions of immediate fortune, fame and success, yet, they quickly come face-to-face with the glamourLESS side of entrepreneurship and are oftentimes unprepared.
The contributing authors of this book do not hold back or polish the untold truths about what it takes to be successful and sustainable in business. Rather, they authentically offer guidance to women considering this journey by sharing their own stories.
Spotlight authors include Cheryl Wood – award winning motivational speaker and coach; Lucinda Cross – mom entrepreneur and business midwife featured on ABC, NBC and WLIB-Al Sharpton Show; Doreen Rainey – Founder of the Get Radical Women’s Conference with featured guests Jillian Michaels, Lisa Nichols and Suze Orman; Ann Quasman – Host of WomanTalk Live Radio and Creator of Girls Gone Great and Conscious Conversations Café; and Dr. Joy Ohayia – Producer and Host of the Dr. Joy Show.
Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the inspiration to write The GlamourLESS Side of Entrepreneurship – What They DIDN’T Tell You About Being A Woman In Business?
Cheryl Wood: My inspiration for presenting this book was my own journey of challenges, disappointments, and truths as a mother of three embarking upon entrepreneurship.
I walked into the entrepreneurial arena with such a glamourous view and quickly realized that I was clueless about what was really entailed in starting and maintaining a successful business. I thought because I had what I deemed to be great services and products that I would easily find clients who would feel the same and keep the revenue streaming in. I presumed my passion and some hard work would get me to the place of claiming a successfully established business.
But I never realized that the time, energy, and finances I invested to get the business going would have to be equally matched with effective marketing, systems, and strategies. As I continued to grow and progress in my own journey, I knew I had an obligation to share these truths with other women to help prepare them for success in their journey versus being among the statistic of women who fail in business within the first three to five year.
So, my inspiration was simply to see women succeed in business, not fail! The more I considered it I knew that having other women in business to share their stories in the book would offer a diverse range of priceless knowledge and expertise.
JP: What sets The GlamourLESS Side of Entrepreneurship – What They DIDN’T Tell You About Being A Woman In Business apart from other books in the same genre?
CMW: This book is unique in that it comes from such a place of authenticity and raw truth. The contributing authors bare it all. They don’t hold back.
As you read the chapters, it is clear that each author wanted to make an lasting impact on the lives of the women who would read this book because they come with such raw emotion, exposing some of their most private experiences and innermost feelings as women in business in order to convey a message of enlightenment for other women who want to succeed in claiming their financial independence through entrepreneurship.
JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that led to The GlamourLESS Side of Entrepreneurship – What They DIDN’T Tell You About Being A Woman In Business getting out to the public?
CMW: The biggest key to success is hard work and opening your mouth about what you have to offer that will add value to others. You cannot be timid in telling others about how your book will positively impact their lives. You have to become your own #1 marketer and spread the word through word of mouth, social media, and any other sources.
But another crucial component is relationships. Success in anything we do is highly based on our connection to people who like us, respect us, trust us, and value what we are bringing to the table. It is no different with getting the book out to the public. I have had so many people who have referred me to someone in gaining increased exposure for this book because they believe in the impact it will have.
And others have simply read the overview of the book and support my mission to advocate for women being successful in business and have willingly supported the project and provided added exposure.
JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take you to start and finish The GlamourLESS Side of Entrepreneurship – What They DIDN’T Tell You About Being A Woman In Business?
CMW: This is my second published book. My first book was published in January 2011 as a solo project, so the process was very different from this compilation. However, as the editor of this project, the process was intense. Making sure I created diversity within the book by finding women entrepreneurs who were at various growth stages in their businesses and enlisting contributing authors on a national level, not just a regional level took lots of time, planning, and careful consideration.
In addition to overseeing the full production of the book, I also had my own contributing chapter. My process was simply to write a little every day. I wanted to get express the full gist of what I have experienced as a woman entrepreneur without leaving anything out.
I would write one or two pages every day, then review what I had written, then categorizing it into subsections within the chapter so everything could be cohesive. The entire compilation project took about six months to complete. My individual chapter took about two months to finalize.
JP: What’s next for Cheryl Wood?
CMW: I continue to work diligently to advocate for women being successful in claiming their financial independence through entrepreneurship. My greatest efforts go to growing my new women’s networking organization, Women Entrepreneurs Partnering for Profit™ (WEPP), which is founded on the ideology that a strong peer network of like-minded women who share resources, maximize exposure within each others networks, and increase revenue potential by buying and selling together can make the difference between success and failure in business.
I am hosting my first WEPP Women’s Summit on Saturday, February 18, 2012, and already have nearly 50 women business owners registered to learn how to walk the talk in business. I intend to grow WEPP into an international powerhouse organization that supports the continued growth of women in business.
http://www.cherylwoodempowers.com
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