Smart Women Smart Solutions

With Joy Chudacoff, Leading Expert on Business Success and Lifestyle Design For Women

Cathy Alessandra – Serial Entrepreneur, CEO & Founder of YES I CAN!

| By Joy Chudacoff Leave a Comment

Cathy Alessandra on She's Got Moxie with Joy Chudacoff

My guest today, Cathy Alessandra, is the real definition of a serial entrepreneur who has started and built several successful businesses to help women and families.

Cathy started her very first business in 1995 out of a need she saw in her community. From there, she caught the entrepreneurial “bug.”

Along the way, Cathy faced some life altering moments which included her son’s struggle with substance abuse, challenges in her marriage, and personal health concerns. She overcame those challenges by using her “YES I CAN” mantra and her daily rituals. Now, she has turned her mantra into a business, and she is currently the Founder & CEO of YES I CAN coaching.

On today’s podcast, Cathy talks all about her experience coaching women, the philosophy behind YES I CAN, her best productivity tips, and much more.

 

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And be sure to leave me a Rating and Review!

It was all built on a need of my own and figuring that other people needed it as well.” – Cathy Alessandra

Show Notes:

  • Great examples on Pivoting in business
  • The personal tools she used to move through a health challenge, her son’s substance abuse and an unraveling marriage – all at the same time
  • Cathy’s SECRET to overcoming challenges
  • The moment she got the idea to birth YES I CAN
  • Which daily routines helped her achieve success
  • Why Strategic YES’s and Abundant No’s have become a guiding light
  • Cathy’s best productivity tips as an entrepreneur
  • The Worst advice she hears in the Start-up arena

As my business has grown, I need to think ahead of the curve and outside of the box.” – Cathy Alessandra

Connect with Cathy Alessandra:

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Cathy Alessandra

Don’t worry about all the others. Be focused on who you are so that you attract people that are meant to work with you.” – Cathy Alessandra

My NEW ALIGN online Program

| By Joy Chudacoff Leave a Comment

Spots are filling up fast!

We’re taking applications now so if you’d like to learn more & jump on board, contact Kathy@SmartWomenSolutions.com or call/text 310-266-0416.

Read all about ALIGN online:

SmartWomenSolutions.com/align-online

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lisa Cook – Making BIG Waves in Business with Lisa Cook, Founder & CEO of kidSwim

| By Joy Chudacoff Leave a Comment

Lisa Cook on She's Got Moxie with Joy Chudacoff

I met my guest Lisa Cook, on a 7am flight to LA (no makeup, no hair, no coffee) years ago and the rest they say is history.

Lisa started her business, kidSwim, the Premier Development Based Swim Education Company in Southern California, as a way to make some extra money during the summer. Armed with a flip phone, a paper calendar and a rental car, she started jumping in the pool with LA toddlers. That was 19 years ago. Since then, she, along with her instructors, have taught nearly 10,000 kids how to swim.

On today’s show, Lisa talks about her mindset behind creating her swimming empire and her children’s book, See Me Bubble, which is available on Amazon in both English & Spanish. She also shares how to push aside the ego to achieve success, advice on cash flow and much more.

 

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And be sure to leave me a Rating and Review!

Start delegating as soon as you can. Don’t wait until you feel like you are under a rock.” – Lisa Cook

Show Notes:

  • Her “Secret Sauce” on serving Influencers in Hollywood – this will probably shock you
  • The moment she recognized that it was time to get serious about her business
  • The astonishing (and positive) awareness that occurred as a result of the pandemic – she Now Feels Free
  • How her Biggest Challenge is something most would consider an asset
  • Why LEADERSHIP matters more than almost anything else in business
  • Advice she wished someone would have shared before she jumped in the water to teach that first lesson
  • Why waiting 24 hours can be PURE GOLD
  • The most important communication you can have with your TEAM that builds loyalty
  • And much, much, more

When the staff knows they are respected and supported, they are more willing to go the extra mile.” – Lisa Cook

Connect with Lisa Cook:

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | kidSwim

Ego is your greatest enemy in pursuit of success in your business.” – Lisa Cook

Bibi Goldstein – CEO and Founder of Buying Time, Virtual Assistant Services for Your Business

| By Joy Chudacoff Leave a Comment

Bibi Goldstein on She's Got Moxie with Joy Chudacoff

My guest today, Bibi Goldstein, started her business 13 years ago to do personal errands for time-starved families. Her initial vision was walking your dog, picking up dry-cleaning and other tasks that busy families never seem to get to. Fast forward 13 years, Buying Time LLC has grown and morphed into something much bigger and her ideal clients today are entrepreneurs.

She quickly discovered there was a high demand for virtual support among small business owners so she jumped on board.

On today’s show, Bibi tells us all about how staying open to changes brought great success in her business. She also shares tips to maximize your cash flow, how to best engage with your support system, and much more.

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And be sure to leave me a Rating and Review!

We want it to be some place where people want to work. It is not just about the hourly amount that they’re making.” – Bibi Goldstein

Show Notes:

  • The One ACTION Step she took that catapulted her business to another level – this will surprise you
  • Why “shedding some weight” in her business was a tough but smart move
  • How the BEST decision she made for her business was also the HARDEST
  • The importance of STAYING OPEN to changes in your business
  • Why you must make friends with your NUMBERS
  • WHAT keeps her motivated as an entrepreneur after 13 years in business
  • The interesting change she sees coming out of the pandemic in her industry
  • The advice she hears in the start-up arena that makes her stomach turn

A virtual assistant can do anything that an in person assistant can do, except get you coffee.” – Bibi Goldstein

Connect with Bibi Goldstein:

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Buying Time

When you hire Buying Time you are hiring eight people with eight different skill sets.” – Bibi Goldstein

Maria Ure – Transforming Challenges Into Business Success as Founder & CEO of Spanish in Action

| By Joy Chudacoff Leave a Comment

Maria Ure on She's Got Moxie with Joy Chudacoff

Hold on to your seat. You’re going to hear a lot of energy and enthusiasm oozing from my guest today! While going through an extremely challenging divorce and the loss of her mother, Maria Ure, Founder & CEO of Spanish in Action, catapulted her home-based Spanish teaching business to success.

Maria realized early on that she had the gift of teaching Spanish lessons to children. Using this gift, she built her business, Spanish in Action, from three students sitting on her living room floor to a premier language studio in the upscale, family favorite and sand filled Manhattan Beach, California. She’s been featured on Univision 34, the popular LA channel for the Latin community, Ryan Seacrest’s KIISFM and she was chosen for a commercial for GoDaddy recently on how small businesses are making the pivot during the pandemic.

Today, we are going to talk about how she overcame her challenges and how she expanded into other vertical markets, and much more.

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And be sure to leave me a Rating and Review!

Be opened to rethink and reframe what your current thought process is in your business.” – Maria Ure

Show Notes:

  • How to turn challenges into FUEL for your business
  • How Maria’s FOCUS on her goals led to business expansion (and transformation!)
  • WHY you must stay focused on your CORE business while you expand into other verticals
  • Her GENIUS Pivot during the Pandemic that has opened so many doors for her
  • WHY who you surround yourself with MATTERS (especially in difficult circumstances)
  • How to UNLOCK your mentality in order to achieve your goals
  • What she wished she would have known before Student #1 sat on the living room floor all those years ago
  • And much, much more!

“You are not supposed to know it all, that’s why you surround yourself with good people who cheer you along the way, cheerleaders are so important.” – Maria Ure

Connect with Maria Ure:

Facebook | Instagram |LinkedIn | Spanish in Action

You are destined for something, you are put in this world for a mission.” – Maria Ure

Dr. Anne Hancock – Scaling an “Unscalable” Bootstrapped Business

| By Joy Chudacoff Leave a Comment

Anne Hancock on She's Got Moxie with Joy Chudacoff

I’m delighted to share my guest, Dr. Anne Hancock, with you today. I’ve known Anne for over twenty years.

Anne is an outstanding marriage & family therapist and I would argue an even BETTER entrepreneur. Many therapists have their own private practice and work by themselves, but Anne knew that she wanted something different – something bigger that could affect more people in a positive way.

She rolled her sleeves up, surrounded herself with all the right people and scaled a typically “unscalable” bootstrapped business from one therapist to many. Anne created The Wellness Counseling Center, which is a thriving center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

On today’s episode of ‘She’s Got Moxie,’ Anne talks about how she grew the business, her best action steps to scale, advice on this pandemic time, and more.

 

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And be sure to leave me a Rating and Review!

Taking care of myself on a daily basis comes first.” – Dr. Anne Hancock

Show Notes:

  • How Anne went from a “flip phone & a pencil” to catapult her idea for Wellness Counseling Center
  • How Anne’s biggest CHALLENGE became her greatest Ally
  • The #1 feeling you need at your CORE to become WILDY successful
  • Anne’s TIPS to improve your health and relationships during the pandemic
  • Anne’s Best ACTION steps to grow to scale
  • How she filled her calendar and created a WAITING LIST
  • The WORD she hears thrown around loosely in her industry that worries her
  • How to build an amazing TEAM that helps the business succeed

I’m not afraid of having people around me who are smarter than I am.” – Dr. Anne Hancock

Connect with Anne Hancock:

Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | Wellness Counseling Center

We let the client be the expert, and we are their coach.” – Dr. Anne Hancock

Amy Franko – Selling During The ‘Restart’ With The Author of The Modern Seller

| By Joy Chudacoff Leave a Comment

Amy Franko on She's Got Moxie with Joy Chudacoff

Today’s guest, Amy Franko, is back on the show to do an encore interview!

Amy is an entrepreneur and best-selling author of the award-winning book, The Modern Seller. She was originally a guest on She’s Got Moxie, July 24, 2019, but a lot has changed since then. I brought Amy back to share with us how to ease into the sales and how to feel comfortable and confident as businesses start to reopen across the nation.

On today’s episode of ‘She’s Got Moxie,’ Amy talks about the first steps you can take to approach your clients NOW. She also shares with us the main principles of The Modern Seller, what she has been doing to help manage this challenging time, her plans for the future, and much more.

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And be sure to leave me a Rating and Review!

Perhaps our own internal approaches and our mindsets need to change with everything that’s happening in the world, but the way in which we work with our client as a trusted advisor that doesn’t change.” – Amy Franko

Show Notes:

  • WHY taking on the role of an “Ambassador” is the Key Right Now
  • The 5 principles of the modern seller
  • The 3X metric and why you need to get on board with this
  • Why putting a microscope on your BEST clients is the BEST use of your TIME
  • Why “shrinking or hiding” is the absolute worst decision to make
  • Excellent clarifying questions to help you, help your clients
  • The other “R” word that leads directly to REVENUE
  • The MOST IMPORTANT skill that an entrepreneur needs to build
  • The power of the strong network
  • How to build strategic partnerships and stronger relationships

People with a strong network rise above the noise.” – Amy Franko

Connect with Amy Franko:

 LinkedIn | Twitter | Amy Franko

Find ways to continue staying forward in your market so that you are still seen as a thought leader, and you are still seen as the resilient entrepreneur and business owner.” – Amy Franko

Jenn Kapahi – She Was a Make-up Product Junkie Turned CEO & Co-Founder of trèStiQue

| By Joy Chudacoff Leave a Comment

Jenn Kapahi on She's Got Moxie with Joy ChudacoffJenn Kapahi, my guest today, has always been interested in consumer buying habits. Through her career in the makeup industry, she realized that makeup was complex, with all the different shades and colors, and women were looking for something simple – the “essentials.” This is how trèStiQue, a line of smart makeup crayons with built-in tools that fit in the palm of your hands was born.

On today’s show, Jenn talks about the concepts behind her products, her three valuable tips to achieve success in your business, ways to avoid stress and challenging times, and much more.

 

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And be sure to leave me a Rating and Review!

You have to let yourself have a bad day once in a while, but you cannot give up.” – Jenn Kapahi

Show Notes:

  • How accepting an invitation to a holiday party opened the door to her future (Jenn talks about how this was totally out of character for her)
  • WHY staying CURIOUS has become her greatest attribute
  • The “graphics” you need to pay attention to now more than ever
  • Why the number EIGHT is so important to her and the CORE of her makeup essentials
  • She takes a very DEEP DIVE into the Action steps that have propelled their brand to success
  • Why understanding the CUSTOMER is essential to starting a brand
  • How she avoids stress in challenging times
  • The importance of being surrounded by people that trust and understand your vision

I do think that the best entrepreneurs have a very good intuition about things.” – Jenn Kapahi

Connect with Jenn Kapahi:

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | trèStiQue

If you keep going and you try, there’s a small percent chance you can still win.” – Jenn Kapahi

How to Boost Your Leadership “Immune” System

| By Joy Chudacoff Leave a Comment

She's Got Moxie Show

We’ve heard a lot about keeping our immune system strong during this time period, but what about our “Leadership” immune system?

With the ‘Restart’ fast approaching, it’s an excellent time to explore how to boost your leadership. In this episode, I’ll share 5 simple and easy tips to help you start today.

 

 

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And be sure to leave me a Rating and Review!

Look for people who want to go on the journey that you want to go on.” – Joy Chudacoff

Show Notes:

  • Women leaders never shy away from a crisis – Joy gives a short history lesson
  • Why NOW is the perfect time to LEAD
  • Interesting facts about your immune system that you can apply to your business
  • A simple but incredible tip that EVERYONE can do, but not everyone does
  • Can’t meditate? Joy shares a simple exercise for you to try
  • Why a thinking partner is essential at all times

Great leaders have always practiced stillness and solitude.”- Joy Chudacoff

Links Mentioned:

People are looking for leadership. People are looking for someone to illuminate the path, light the way, and lead them through this time.” – Joy Chudacoff

Dr. Heather Kunen – Co-Founder of Beam Street, the Walk-In drybar for Oral Wellness

| By Joy Chudacoff Leave a Comment

Dr. Heather Kunen on She's Got Moxie with Joy ChudacoffMy guest today, Dr. Heather Kunen, is a Co-Founder of Beam Street Dentistry.

Her infectious energy and can-do attitude is a breath of fresh air.

Dr. Heather Kunen started her career working as an orthodontist, but early on, she recognized that there was a market for just the top three most-requested dental services – clean teeth, white teeth, and straight teeth. Heather and her co-founders were able to create a business model that focused on offering ONLY these three services at an affordable price.

Beam Street is the first dental “studio” in New York City which makes going to the dentist easy, affordable, convenient, and quick. They took a page from the drybar and their motto is: Clean teeth. White teeth. Straight teeth. That’s it. They figured if it worked for hair, it might work for teeth too!

On today’s show, Dr. Kunen shares with us the challenges of starting a new business, why it is so important to understand what the consumers want, the actions steps she took to grow her business, her marketing tactics, and more.

 

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And be sure to leave me a Rating and Review!

The key is figure out who are we targeting, and then, how do we best way reach those people?” – Dr. Heather Kunen

Show Notes:

  • Her “lightbulb” moment that led to rapid-fire reach and quick brand awareness with their target market
  • She knew her target markets problem and she figured out a solution
  • The importance of listening to consumers
  • The concrete steps that lead to a greater goal
  • The challenges of developing a new idea
  • How to recognize a new business opportunity
  • Ways to adapt your business model in difficult circumstances

Taking small concrete steps towards an ultimate goal I think is the most effective way to get something accomplished.”- Dr. Heather Kunen

Connect with Dr. Heather Kunen:

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Beam Street

It is important to find your voice, stick to your voice, and be confident in yourself.” – Dr. Heather Kunen

Strategy & Consulting

Imagine… finally discovering someone who truly cares about your success and believes in you. Someone who has the knowledge and a step-by-step approach to help you get clear, confident and focused on your vision and dream as a woman entrepreneur. Learn More

Recent Blog Posts

We’d Love to Connect!

We're here to help you get results and increase profits without burning out! Call us at 310-454-2005 or email us to learn more about how Joy's services can help you in your business.