Growing up, going to college, getting a job, and finding a way to support myself was never an option. It was a given.
In 2006, when I left San Antonio (where I had lived my whole life) to go to school in Boston, all I knew was that I had to find something that I could do for the rest of my life. I didn’t have the slightest idea of what that would be exactly, but hey, that is what college is for right?!
I knew a job was a job, but I wanted to find something that I could be passionate about. During my freshman year, I declared myself an International Relations major, with a Middle Eastern focus. I envisioned working for the UN, where I could help to find “peace in the Middle East”. Right.
However, my sophomore year, I transferred to NYU (my dream of living in NYC finally came true!!). On a whim, I decided to apply for an internship at NYLON because it was a magazine that I idolized. That is when I became enamored by the fashion industry. All of the sudden my dreams of Middle East peace treaties turned into fashion shows, photo shoots and ridiculously expensive clothes.
When I graduated in May 2010, I knew that I couldn’t work in fashion forever. I was grateful for my internship experiences…so many good stories! However, I didn’t want to devote my life to a career in fashion. I was freaked out because when I left San Antonio 4 years earlier, I thought I was going to leave college with a roadmap for the rest of my life. Not the case. I was still lost and confused.
Now, I am reflecting on the 4 years since I graduated from college. My life is nothing that I could have imagined in my wildest dreams. I live in Austin (I swore I would never move back to Texas), and I own a PR company called, fifteen media (I didn’t even know what PR was until my sophomore year of college). Life is one crazy journey, to say the least.
I never set out to be an entrepreneur. Yes, I grew up around small business owners; my grandpa and my parents have both always worked for themselves. Even with that influence, it was never my dream. I never remember thinking: I want to start my own business. I guess looking back, when I started doing freelance PR, it never seemed unreasonable that this could grow into a real career, since everyone in my family is self-employed.
Through growing fifteen media, I have become acutely aware of all the reasons why people, especially women, don’t take the risk to start something they love/care about. The excuses I hear from female peers, friends and strangers, fill me with rage and sadness. If these ladies have a great idea, why don’t they think they can make it happen?
For some time now, I have been racking my brain, trying to figure out how I can change this. Could I be doing more to encourage women to be entrepreneurs? I have various platforms, such as this blog, social media, my columns on Entrepreneur.com, to bring attention to these issues. However, the nagging voice in my head kept saying, “Come on, Bekah. There is no way you can make a difference. Half the time, you can’t even form complete sentences.”
My first thought was to start a networking/support group where women can come together, and discuss their ideas. We could all encourage and guide each other to follow through with our entrepreneurial dreams. Snooze, boring. Not what I wanted to do.
One day, I couldn’t tell you how or why, I had the idea for Glamtrepreneur.
Before I go into more detail, let’s be clear on a few things. There is nothing wrong with working for another company or making the decision to stay home. There IS something wrong in feeling like you can’t start your own business, if that is what you want to do. My goal in life is just to let girls know that entrepreneurship isn’t a big, bad scary monster. Instead, with hard work, silencing your self doubt and taking risks, you can do whatever you want.
At Glamtrepreneur, we are creating fun, engaging programs, which aim to teach girls, that entrepreneurship is an option. We are starting with middle school aged girls because they are old enough to start forming ideas about a career. Hopefully, one day we will have programs/activities for all ages.
I am not going to lie, writing this blog post is scary. For someone who makes the vast majority of their life pretty public, I suddenly feel very exposed and vulnerable. It is hard for me to talk about the things I really care about; I don’t want to be laughed at or doubted.
I reached the point where I don’t care what people think after reading a story in “Lean In”. A female consultant in Dubai, worked for a company of 300 where she was the only woman. When she started, they didn’t even have a women’s bathroom in the office. This is not okay anymore. These are the kinds of stories that I needed to hear to light a fire under my ass, and get Glamtrepreneur started.
When I first started NeonNotebook, I envisioned doing a lot of posts about the trials and tribulations of owning a company. At the time, I was in a pretty good rhythm with fifteen media, so I felt like none of the posts where that interesting. Now, as I start to make this dream a reality, I am going to be doing a weekly post called, “What’s up with Glam?”. These posts will keep me accountable, and provide insight into what it is really like to start a business.
So where does Glamtrepreneur stand as of now?
My first major issue was deciding if I wanted Glamtrepreneur to be a non-profit. As of now (always subject to change), my answer is “no”. We are a for profit company with a social mission.
When I started doing research about what it took to form a non-profit, I was shocked to find the negative feelings that people had about non-profits. The perception is too much red tape makes non-profits unproductive. Then, after reading Blake Mycoskie’s (founder of TOMS) book “Start Something that Matters”, I knew that I had to create Glamtrepreneur as a lifestyle brand. One of the things that he said that really stood out to me is (I am paraphrasing) the world’s problems can’t be solved with charity, but they can be solved through entrepreneurship (profound, I know). The point is instead of wasting your time asking for money, you can create products and services that create a constant stream of revenue that allow you to give back. In my case? It will be classes/curriculum of some kind.
I wish I could tell you that I have a nine-page business plan with everything perfectly outlined. The reality is I have a two-page business plan scribbled in a One Direction notebook. I think sometimes people get caught up in creating plans, and they never actually get anything done. I am more of a “YOLO, just do it” kinda gal, especially because I really have no idea what I am really doing.
How will I eventually make money? No idea. I have ideas, but I also see the roadblocks. I am first trying to plant seeds and create buzz. Realistically, I have gathered from my very non-mathematical estimates that I won’t actually be making money for about a year or so. Oh and btw, for anyone that is still reading this, I am not quitting PR; Glamtrepreneur is my side hustle.
The end goal is to create a multi-week curriculum about entrepreneurship, but that will obviously take time. So in the meantime, we are doing Glamtreprener pop-ups this summer. The idea is to work with various organizations to put on business plan writing workshops. More details to come soon.
While I don’t have any events set in stone yet, over the next 2 weeks, I am meeting with 7 organizations about the possibility of putting something together. As an entrepreneur, you learn to be cautiously optimistic. These meetings are a step in the right direction, but realistically they could all result in a “no”.
Honestly, every time someone responds to my e-mail, saying that they would love to meet with me, I get a little emotional. I can’t believe this is really happening.
Longest blog post ever. I apologize.
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