A bit of a background on me, I always just went with the flow – never was SUPER successful in academics, I just followed what interested me at the time, a job was a paycheck, I never thought I could achieve AMAZING things. I was totally wrong, and it just depends on what eyes you look through! I started two businesses the day after being laid off, a dog photography business and a marketing agency (the agency is still going strong and my primary income source – dog photography isn’t a focus anymore). I now am dipping my toe into podcasting and Blissful Paper Co. I have dreams my friend!! I didn’t think I could do any of it at first without my husbands support and hand holding but what’s even cooler, now I don’t even ask for his help! I started a podcast on my own, yes I asked for help to edit it the first time but I have the plans made, can do it by myself now, a friend I’m working with and a dream! With Blissful Paper Co, I’ve built this whole entire website using tutorials on youtube. My passions far exceed just going with the flow. These ladies below helped me get in the right mindset, or gave me tools or motivation to give it my all! Let me introduce you to the female entrepreneurs that inspire me.
Rachel Hollis – The Hollis Co
My queen. I can’t make a list without her on it. One personal development coach is not right for everyone, but she is my favorite coach that can get me off of my booty and not waiting around to try something new or live into who I really want to be. Her book that landed her on the New York Times Bestseller list Girl, Wash Your Face was good, but Girl, Stop Apologizing shakes me to my core. Rachel has been working hard for over 10 years, she is not an overnight success and I admire her drive and stamina the google search bar teaching her most everything she knows. My favorite quote I heard from her, which originally is from Dr Joe Dispenza “In the age of this much free information, ignorance is a choice.” PREACH!! Hence how I built this entire website using YouTube.
Her practice of writing the 10 “Oprah sized goals” every morning along with gratitude isn’t necessarily a new idea BUT she writes them all in present tense and that kicks it up a notch. It’s a mindset as if it’s already happening. My few examples of my personal 10 are: “I am an exceptional wife” “I am an exceptional friend” “We live below our means and give generously of our time and resources” and “I own multiple properties that all produce income.” I have other ones that I will be able to cross off one day too!
I’m attending her Rise Conference in Minneapolis in June with my best friend. SO excited and I will absolutely recap for ya’ll afterwards. The Hollis Co for all the happenings on Rachel. P.s. I love her and Dave’s morning show on IG and FB every weekday morning.
Emily Ley – Simplified
An author and creator of the famed Simplified Planner that I use every day. This gal is a genius of making things simple and decluttering. The designs, the content, the team she’s built to support her company are completely inspiring. She’s so authentic and I love her daily musings and life as a mom of 3 and business owner. Her books are wonderful, my favorite is A Simplified Life – Tactical Tools for Intentional Living. Helped me create calm in the chaos of my household, and I’ll continue to be using those tools when my family grows. As a entrepreneur she decided to stop all wholesale deals which she knew would be a huge financial hit to her company BUT it brought her back to her authentic roots and she was able to serve the community she built better in the end. She then went on to partner with At-A- Glance and was in Target and Staples and Office Depot with a line of products!
She was on a podcast with Jenna Kutcher and mentioned something that really stood out to me. To paraphrase the story, besides an un-engagement, struggling with infertility that it was the first time in life that something didn’t come easy to her. She wasn’t used to failing or things falling apart. She stopped and said “Wait, life isn’t perfect, you sometimes have to go through hard stuff to get to the really good stuff but that it looks different for everyone.” This resonated for me because as of yet, I haven’t had any extreme hardship and I felt often that I couldn’t succeed because I haven’t seriously struggled. I’m getting better about that point of view, and know that hardship does come in waves and different for everyone. It just really made me feel validated listening to her talk on that topic. Check out the website Simplified now! Their planners usually sell out, they are available twice a year but have a bunch of other beautiful products that I love in their store
Abagail & Emylee – Boss Project
Formerly Think Creative Collective – These badass female entrepreneurs are educators and consistently hit 6 figure sales during launches and teach other entrepreneurs how to build their businesses. They are of the state of mind that you give all that knowledge all away! We can all have success and there is plenty of business to go around for everyone. They have basically a million episodes of their podcast, The Strategy Hour and it helped me so much when I lost my job and turned around to start a dog photography business AND a marketing agency the next day. It has everything from social media tips, website advice, interviews of successful entrepreneurs, and how they became successful as well. They just did an ENTIRE rebrand and I love the direction they are headed. Check out the Boss Project website!
Claudia & Jackie Oshry – The Morning Toast
My not so guilty pleasure is keeping up with celebrity gossip and pop culture. These sisters are so funny and very savvy entrepreneurs. They have created a cult following called “The Toasters” who are tuning in to youtube live for their show The Morning Toast every weekday morning, buying merch, buying tickets to an adults summer camp put on by the sisters. The caliber of guests and co-hosts include Real Housewives, Bachelor contestants, musicians, etc. They’ve also faced some adversity were dropped by the company that hired them and therefore had to rebreand but have built an empire even better than before. Claudia is the genius behind Girlwithnojob on Instagram the meme account and also on a comedy tour. Jackie perfect balances out her sister (there are 4 Oshry sisters total) and her Instagram is JackieOProblems. They’re a whole new type of influencer that are smart, working their connections properly and I wish for them all the success! Check out The Morning Toast on Youtube weekday mornings at 10:30am eastern. They have all of their past shows up on their youtube channel as well!
Ree Drummond – The Pioneer Woman
This is the gal who taught me the definition of female entrepreneur. I came of age when Ree was releasing cookbooks and blogging, it was the first time I recognized that a powerful women can be multitalented and have their hand in many different areas. A cooking show, cookbooks, non-fiction and children’s books, the blog that made her famous, a restaurant, hotel, a line of adorable and affordable products at Walmart and the motherland, The Mercantile in Pawhuska, OK. I have all of her cookbooks and visited Pawhuska on a trip across the country and was able to eat and shop at the Merc. She’s the first #girlboss I ever recognized. I admire all that she’s done and how far she’s come. Check out her website The Pioneer Woman and a few of my favorite cookbooks of hers – Dinnertime and Come and Get It are my two personal favorites but I own all of them and they all have amazing recipes.
Joanna Gaines – Magnolia
Some of these I feel that there isn’t much to say, I’m sure not EVERYTHING she touches has turned to gold but she has a big heart, a lot of brilliant businesses and a style I dream of. I love that she and her husband make a good team, she loves her children fiercely and she isn’t afraid to take a step back from something awesome (Fixer Upper) to focus on her priorities. Also side note, a GREAT (and inexpensive) gift for a friend would be a subscription to Magnolia Journal – only $20 a year and the information she puts in there is amazingggg. That is one of my free secrets to gift giving! Her entire line of Hearth & Hand at Target is wonderful, one day I’ll get to the Silos but until then I’ll keep watching Fixer Upper reruns and redecorate my house each season. The Magnolia website gives me plenty inspiration and farmhouse envy.
Well that concludes this list of Female Entrepreneurs I Admire. There are plenty more, like Sara Blakely from Spanx and Brittany Williams of InstantLoss but I’m so happy to spread the word and share why I love these women so much. Reminder! Links in this post may contain affiliate links and I may earn money by your clicking on the links and purchasing something with no additional work on your end!
