For entrepreneurs, visibility is much more than just a means to showcase their brand or product. Visibility instills a sense of confidence, it enables one to stand out from the crowd, and opens up new opportunities of growth and networking.
Through her own experiences of success and failure, Danielle Joworski recognized the need for visibility for women entrepreneurs. Today, she helps women entrepreneurs to gain visibility and be more confident with their presence by starting with redefining what visibility is and means to them and why.
In this exclusive interview, Danielle talks about the need for visibility for women entrepreneurs and her own journey.
What according to you makes one an empowering woman? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership?
For me, an empowering woman is someone who makes me feel compelled to take action, grow beyond where I am today, and makes me believe that I can achieve what I put my mind to. She owns her life experiences and is a role model for learning how to overcome a challenge in her own unique way.
These elements are integrated into my own thought leadership by talking openly about my own failures and visibility fears that led to the demise of my first business. By understanding what didn’t work in my business the first time, embracing innovative thinking, and owning the differences that make me unique I’ve learned how to build and grow my second business differently – my way – and teach women how to do the same with their business.
From facing failure in your first business to today guiding hundreds of women entrepreneurs, what has been your journey like?
The journey from failing in my first business to today is not one that I would want other women to have, which is part of why I’m passionate about the work I do.
Transitioning out of corporate that first time at 40 was without a plan. I was literally a fish out of water. Gone was the security and the title I’d used to define who I was and what I could do. Without all of it, I was lost in a world I didn’t understand and didn’t feel equipped to be in. So, I struggled for 2 ½ years, lacking confidence in who I was and what value or solutions could be offered.
Getting to where I am today has come from making hard decisions and owning my role in that journey. Returning to corporate was done from a place of shame and guilt. Yet, it was done with a strange knowing that one day, I’d step out again. Time and space were needed to create the clarity, self-belief, and confidence required to step out again and succeed. It’s definitely been a journey of resilience and getting back up after falling and failing.
Being able to look in the mirror, take accountability for the failures, and commit to learning from them has been key. Those steps from where I was to where I am happened over time. It was work. Studying myself allowed me to gain a greater awareness of who I am, my strengths, value and why I’m passionate about what I do. It’s made overcoming challenges much easier and faster. “What is” today is a result of a continual journey and commitment to working on myself, having a clear goal, a supportive network, an unwavering faith, and an understanding of what makes me different and using that to my advantage.
Looking at this journey, what would you do differently if you were to start again?
There are three things that I would do differently if I were to start this journey again. One, have a greater understanding of myself before making the step out of corporate. This would be from knowing my natural strengths and values, and that a title or salary does not define me or equate to what I can do. Two, not make such a drastic leap. I understand why I did it at the time, however, the second transition out with a known date, clarity, and a plan made the process, and start-up, much smoother and faster. Three, have a better understanding of my finances and cash flow. Starting a business requires spending money, and when I first started, I was spending money when there was no money coming in.
Talk to us about the importance of learning from mistakes and tackling adversities for an entrepreneur.
Being an entrepreneur means that mistakes are going to be made. Learning is continuous and growth means taking actions outside of your comfort zone. It’s important to learn from mistakes so that they are not repeated as they can cost entrepreneurs time, money, safety, growth, and reputation. What can be challenging for entrepreneurs is understanding the root cause of the mistake, their role in it, or the full impact of the mistake. How an entrepreneur approaches and thinks of mistakes and adversities has a direct impact on their personal growth and the growth of their business. Changing the perception of a mistake to a learning opportunity, can switch an entrepreneur from being defensive, inflexible, and not seeing their role in the mistake. This is growth limiting, to a place of service, agility, and embracing an opportunity to innovate and make improvements. This is growth-enhancing.
Brief us about the importance of visibility and for entrepreneurs to put their brand out there.
With the explosion of businesses today, especially online, it’s more important than ever for entrepreneurs to be visible and to put their brand out there. It’s needed for entrepreneurs to establish their presence, differentiate themselves as an expert, position and promote themselves, and develop relationships with their audience. Being visible is critical to being found and hired.
Most often, there’s a strong focus on the where, how, and when with respect to visibility. The problem with this type of focus is that it’s looking at visibility from external outputs. This can cause entrepreneurs to implement strategies and processes that don’t feel good or provide them with the results they think they should get.
When becoming more visible, entrepreneurs need to also look at their presence from an internal perspective – what and why. What does visibility mean and look like to them? Why is being visible on a specific platform or strategy important? By asking these additional questions, a clear visibility plan that includes actions and strategies that feel aligned with the entrepreneur and their brand can be created. When entrepreneurs implement aligned strategies there’s greater consistency and confidence when it comes to the where, how, and when.
How are you helping women entrepreneurs to gain visibility and be more confident in presenting themselves?
I help women entrepreneurs to gain visibility and be more confident with their presence by starting with redefining what visibility is and means to them and why. Instead of looking externally for answers and what others are doing, I work with women to look internally to create the results they want to see externally. This requires creating a safe space where women feel supported to create their own vision and definition for what they’d like to see. How I’m different in supporting women entrepreneurs to be more visible is by combining mindset methods with visibility strategies. This results in having the tools to overcome the doubts, worries and fears that often hold women back from being visible, and implementing strategies that feel good which helps to boost confidence.
What would be your advice for women leaders struggling to take that leap of faith in starting their business?
For women struggling to take that leap of faith, understand what fears, doubts, and worries are holding you back. Clarity will help to identify what knowledge, skill, awareness, or support can be sought out in order to create the belief needed to take the leap or close the gaps so that smaller steps can be taken with more confidence. Find women entrepreneurs to speak to who have walked the path already, and ask questions focused on what worked and didn’t work for them when they took the leap and started their businesses.
Finally, what does the future look like for you and your brand? What are you most excited about?
That future vision for myself and my brand is focused on three elements; one, increasing awareness of the issues facing midlife women entrepreneurs growing their business in an online world, two, teaching and supporting women on how to grow their confidence while becoming more visible as the face and voice of their business, and three, elevating women’s voices and presence by providing larger platforms for them to speak on. I’m most excited about returning to one of the core reasons why I focus on visibility; leading conversations with women that showcase them as the expert they are by being seen and heard so they get found and hired.
Read the Digital Version of Empowering Women Leaders.
Visit Danielle Joworksi Website.
