Don’t settle if you can help it. And don’t do it alone.
That’s the headline that emerged for me after rereading a recent interview I did with One Source Direct — and honestly, my own answers surprised me a little. Maybe they’ll surprise you too.
🏗️ One Source Direct, a B2B platform and Trep House supplier, just published an interview with me about entrepreneurship, tools, failure, and what I believe women in business need most right now. What came through most clearly wasn’t a tidy success story — it was how non-linear, accidental, and human this path really is.
🌱 Becoming an entrepreneur (by accident)
I grew up surrounded by entrepreneurs — my dad, my grandfather, and eventually my brother — but becoming one myself wasn’t some master plan.
I actually trained to be a middle school teacher. I loved education. But the timing was terrible: far more new teachers than available jobs. After years of subbing and very few interviews, I had to let that plan go.
A volunteer role at a local museum led me into historic building research, which led to consulting, which led to my first business. From there, I’ve built three businesses across very different fields, along with stints inside planning and engineering firms.
At 20, that version of me would have been bewildered.
My father and grandfather? Not so much.
📌 Research backs this up: the strongest predictor of entrepreneurship is having close family members who run businesses. Sometimes the writing really is on the wall — we just can’t read it yet.
🧰 Tools that actually help
If you’re building something of your own, here are three tools I genuinely rely on:
⏱️ Motion — task and time management that helps prioritize what actually matters (especially when your to-do list is endless).
🎨 Canva — for those of us who understand design but can’t execute it, this is a lifesaver. Fast, flexible, and good enough to keep things moving.
📘 Business Model Generation — the book I return to more than any other. The Business Model Canvas is still one of the most powerful tools I know for understanding why something is or isn’t working.
💥 Failure (and what it taught me)
My biggest failure?
My first business partnership.
It unraveled due to assumptions, miscommunication, and unresolved trust issues. If I knew then what I know now, maybe it could have gone differently. I wish it had.
But that experience shaped how I think about structure, clarity, and shared expectations — lessons that now show up in everything I teach and build.
👩💼 My advice for women entrepreneurs
Here it is, plainly:
🚫 Don’t settle — if you can help it.
🤝 And don’t try to do it all alone.
So many women go into business aiming to simply replace a job with something more flexible. And sometimes? That isenough. Life is heavy. Caregiving, partnership, parenting, and survival all matter.
But when you do have the room to think bigger — I want more women to do exactly that.
💡 What if your business could:
Create more opportunity
Employ more people
Influence culture
Make work better for everyone
We already know what needs to change in workplaces. We can shout at the old systems…
or we can build better ones and eventually outgrow them.
And here’s the part we don’t talk about enough:
Entrepreneurship is lonely.
Even successful entrepreneurs struggle with mental health.
And women often carry invisible loads that make it harder still.
Your friends and family may love you — but they may not understand the risks, sacrifices, or pressure you’re under. That isolation can be crushing.
✨ Community is not optional. It’s infrastructure. ✨
Finding other women who get it — who are building, questioning, striving — can make the difference between burnout and resilience.
🚀 Want to go deeper?
If this resonates, there are several ways to keep the conversation going:
📚 Read the books — on entrepreneurship informing real communities, innovation ecosystems, and why so many systems fail to deliver what they promise
📰 Subscribe to Future Here Now — weekly insights on work, economy, technology, and community → wiseeconomy.substack.com
🎤 Invite us in — reach out to explore speaking, workshops, and facilitated conversations for organizations, leaders, and communities ready to think bigger
💬 Let’s stop settling.
🤝 Let’s stop pretending we have to do this alone.
🌍 Let’s build work and businesses that actually work — for women, for communities, and for the future.
Graphic & carousel ideas:
✨ Quote card: “Don’t settle if you can help it. Don’t do it alone.”
🧰 Tools slide: Motion | Canva | Business Model Canvas
🌱 Timeline graphic: Teacher → Consultant → Entrepreneur
🤝 Community icon: women supporting women
🚀 CTA slide: Books | Substack | Speaking & Workshops
