#1: Why I Launched This Damn Thing

A wild woman sits at the table, no matter what! ~ Renee Warren

I have a mission to help over 1 million women start the business of their dreams. Why?  because I believe that we need more women in positions of power. More CEO's, more women in politics, more leaders, more female voices, and more spots at the table!

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Hey you WILD lady!

Welcome to the Into The Wild show. I am excited and nervous and overwhelmed and feel a huge sense of accomplishment for finally taking this idea and making it happen!

Can you relate? Perhaps you’ve finally started a business, or started working out, or stopped drinking, or just finally fell in love with yourself.

Well for me, I am happy to be launching this damn podcast!

I have a mission to help over 1 million women start the business of their dreams. Why?  because I believe that we need more women in positions of power. More CEO’s, more women in politics, more leaders, more female voices, and more spots at the table!

Entrepreneurship is a powerful way to achieve more equality between men and women because it puts us into a position of power by necessity.

By taking my past experiences in running several businesses, becoming a mother and being married to a high performing entrepreneur, I hope to inspire, motivate and empower more women to take a chance with their careers and pursue a life of purpose. 

I currently mentor and coach several female founders mostly all over North America and it is so much fun!  I am completely in my zone when I am helping these women overcome hurdles in their businesses (and love love love celebrating the wins.) From helping with lead magnets and PR issues to discussing distribution ideas and hiring needs - I take these women from stuck to GO in no time. These women have asked for more and were paramount in helping me shape the idea for what has become We Wild Women and this podcast.

So why this podcast then?

Well, personally, I am a podcast addict. Every morning while getting ready for the day, or while I am driving my kids to the bus stop or picking them up from after school, or going on long runs, or on an airplane, or whenever there is some quiet commute time, I have a podcast on. I have found so much value in the content from other experts, that I just couldnt resist my 5-year long urge to create my own! So here we are. The Into the Wild Podcast has officially gone live. Woot!

I want to provide that same value to a part of the marketplace that is only starting to come out from under the rock they’ve lived under First-time female entrepreneurs and those who want to bring their baby-sized businesses to the next level.  To help you as a woman, a mother, a partner -- to grow into something amazing. 

So why me?  Well let me tell you a little about myself and then you can decide if you relate or want to subscribe to this show (Psstt subscribing would be so much fun because then we could hang out every week!)

I am going to answer some questions my community had which I know will help you get to know me a little better. So are you ready? Here we go ..

1. Why did you want to be an entrepreneur?

For the freedom. But not the kind you may be thinking: not the time freedom as much as the creative freedom. I get to build my business on my terms, how I want and when I want.

Entrepreneurship also means that there is no limit to what I can earn.  And not to sound all capitalistic, but it means the more I earn, the more I can return....  the more I earn, the more I can give back.

Chris Harder, who has an amazing podcast called For the Love of Money says “when great people make good money, they do great things.” And his soul purpose is in teaching people not only how to make great money, but how to give back because of their financial freedom. 

So here I am -  in front of you making my dreams come true hoping that there is an inkling of desire for you to be great and to not hold back. That’s why I want to be an entrepreneur.

To inspire, educate and motivate over 1 million women to start the business of their dreams.

2. Tell me about your entrepreneurial journey?

Well, it’s all over the place ...

1. Started a jewelry company with my sister called mijoux. We sold jewelry at crafts shows and markets and made custom stuff for weddings and special events. We worked from our parents basement and had fun.

2. I was a restaurant operator for a while and saved up for school. When I was 17-years old I helped my sister manage and operate a seasonal snack bar. 

3. Then I had a corporate job in downtown Toronto for (almost) 2-years which was good, but I knew I needed more.

4. Then I Started Renee Warren communications where I worked with companies like CollegePro Painters and other entrepreneurs to help them with their marketing.

Now, this is where things shifted.... When i started working with bigger brands to help them with marketing, my confidence, and experience grew.

1. Then I launched a Social Media agency where I worked with some bigger brands out of the US. After a year or so, i eventually sold that agency and moved on.

   Then I happily launched my previous agency called Onboardly, which worked with funded tech startups to help them get the media placements they deserve. I had clients from South Africa to San Diego, all which we acquired through some serious hit-the-ground marketing and sales techniques. We had a killer blog (Great for inbound) and a great industry reputation. I even won a couple of awards and had some interested acquisition parties knocking on my door. It was success in a can, so it seemed. That was the apex and final steps of my agency career. We grew, and grew and became recognized in the industry. It was also when I had my kids, moved and got married. It took me until hitting complete and utter burnout from working so hard before I realized I needed a break.., time for myself and to be a mom.... So I shut it down (there were a lot of interesting mistakes and BIG wins that happened in those days, but we will save that for another episode.)

3. Most people won’t know this, but tell them about your new mom story!

1. Oh yes, well I launched Onboardly when I was 8-months pregnant with my first son Max. After he was born, we welcomed our second son 11-months later. In that time, we moved, had two babies, a startup acquired, and launched two new businesses. Those days are a blur to me. I didn’t have too much help - my husband and I managed to figure it out on our own. But it was exhausting and I did manage to have two babies, and launch and grow an agency in 1 year! Yikes.

4. What was the toughest lesson you had to learn while running your business?

1.  People management is no joke. (HR and client management)

2. Getting sued for wrongful dismissal really hurt me (insult)

5. How did you properly scale your agency?

1  - Hired a coach. We worked with Jason Swenk at the time. He helped us a lot. I believe everyone business owner need a coach or mentor at some point if not during every stage of business. ..

2 - Accounting-wise Worked with Greg Crabtree author of Simple Numbers and he used this thing called “the thinking model”, which allowed me to assess when was the right time to hire a new team member based on two things 1) employee workload and 2) revenues. The Labor Efficiency Ratio (LER) was an important metric to review every month. I could gauge if my team was working too much and how those hours would translate into servicing our clients and growing our revenues. It started out as a best guess but over time the system grew smarter, thus enabling me to make SMART hiring decisions. Because as you know, employees are the most expensive part of your business. 

3- Marketing wise: We turned to a lot of content marketing and would treat the agency like our own client. This not only helped us grow our business, but it also allowed us to test what marketing channels worked, how well we could manage them and if it could be used for any of our clients as well.  We were always quick to iterate and take risks on channels we knew little about but were emerging (like Instagram at the time)

6. Best 1-2 tips for first-time entrepreneurs:

1. Start with your legal agreements and then your financial models. Do the dirty work first so that you’re properly set up from the very beginning. And take your time here. The last thing you want is to overlook a line item in any of your contracts that could hold you or business accountable. And ALWAYS have a contract, no matter who it is working for you. If you are paying someone or someone is paying you, SIGN A DAMN AGREEMENT. It is the best way to ensure that you know what you are getting, the expectation of the work is there, and that people are following the rules of engagement. 

2. ROUTINE. I can’t stress this enough ladies. Get momentum by updating your routine. This likely means you will have to wake up a bit earlier in the morning so that you can work on your business. I always ask myself this question “Gun to the head, what is the one thing you need to work on today to move your business forward?” DO THAT thing first. As Mark Twain once said “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.” The point is you have to work on the big rocks that are often the ugly things. We dont want to do it, but we have to.  For me that’s writing in my Morning Practice Planner: 1 My big goal for the day and then my three other important tasks for the day.

3. Bonus tip: Ask for help!  It boggles my mind why people don't ask for more help. I know some don’t want to appear vulnerable and dont ask for help to give others this illusion of success (like they have their shit together!) But for every entrepreneur who doesn’t ask for help, means another business that is set up to fail. A business that consistently breaks even, is a hobby, however big or small. So if you are stuck or unfocused, find someone who can get you started up again.

Alright, enough about me I want to leave you with some of my favorite quotes:

“The first step is always the hardest.”

“The best advice comes from someone who has successfully done it before you.”

To succeed in business requires daily minimal deposits. You don’t need to max out your schedule for the sake of it. High priority work gets down first, always -- eat that big frog first! If you know that Mark Twain quote.

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