4 Lessons From Super Entrepreneur Alexa Hirschfeld of Paperless Post

Alexa Hirschfeld, the co-founder of Paperless Post, has innovated on a timeless product to mix the digital world with the old world. She started her online stationery company with her brother with the vision to build a more interesting work life for themselves and escape the grind of the corporate world. Here are four lessons from Alexa Hirschfeld to help keep you focused while building your dream.

Innovation Can Be Simple

There was a gap in the marketplace between paper greeting cards and online communication. Online communication was efficient but there was little design and beauty to it. Paperless Post planed to fill that gap by providing beautiful online greeting cards and invitations that you can customize.

Don’t Always Listen To The Experts

“I would have done a lot less of listening to people who charge you money for their expertise but don’t actually help you build something’ says Alexa in an interview with the Huffington Post discussing what she would’ve done differently if she had to start over.

Stick To it!

Hirschfeld worked diligently building her company for a year and a half while holding down a full time job.  “It felt like, is this ever going to be real? We sat in my parents’ living room and we didn’t celebrate any holidays for two years—we both lost a lot of weight.” says Alexa describing the company's gestation period.  

Collaborate

A few years after establishing themselves as the online source for well designed stationery, Paperless Post started to collaborate with brands such as Kate Spade, Oscar de la Renta and Jonathan Adler. Collaboration helped them evolved their platform and reach new customers. If you don’t have Kate Spade’s cell number on your iPhone, don’t worry, Paperless Post started collaborating with small designers and grew their network from there.

Recommended read for more on Alexa Hirschfeld and her journey into entrepreneurship:

9 FREE Tools For Entrepenuers

When you’re just starting out it is always wise to exhaust all the free tools you can get too before spending money on hiring extra help. Luckily the web is filled with tons of free resources for entrepreneurs and startups no matter how far along you are in your project. Below are some of my favorite tried and true sites that make the day to day of running my business so much easier.

Startupstash.com -This site is a huge directory of tools and resources all caterogirzed so you can easily find what you are looking for. My favorite is the ‘naming’ tab filled with sites that help you brainstorm and come up with the perfect name for your new business or project.

Canva.com - I use this website daily to make perfect sized instagram photos, make collages needed for my business and have used to design all of my logos. It is very easy to use, it gives you professional results that you achieve by simply using their drag and drop tools.

Fiverr.com - Fiverr is a huge marketplace filled with talented graphic designers and marketers that can help you jump start small projects. The best part? Every service has a starting price of only $5, it is easy to find someone to work with without fear of spending too much upfront.

MailChimp.com - Truly one of the best sites for organizing your mailing lists and sending out beautifully dsesigned e-mail. I cannot believe this tool is free!

IFTTT.com - ‘If this then that’ this is a website that puts the internet to work for you. I use it to automate my social media by setting up one of their ‘recipes’. When I post to instagram the image gets added to twitter (via an image post), pinterest, tumblr and facebook!

Squarepace.com/logo - This is an easy logo maker that helps you get something drawn up quickly for your project. The image quality is excellent and no one will know you paid nothing to get a cool logo.

Hootsuite.com - Checking through all of your social media channels can be a pain and often times you forget to check something. Hootsuite is a beautiful platform that organizes and lets you review all your social media happenings in one place!

Wave.com - As an entrepenuer it is critical to stay on top of your accounting and expenses. Wave.com links up to your bank accounts and tracks and categorizes your business expenses. It even lets you make invoices.

Stocksnap.io - This is the perfect site for when you need a beautifully shot photo for a blog post or for marketing materials. All photos are completely free to use and very high quality.

Lessons on Creating a Bad Ass Company from Reformation's Yael Aflalo

You may not recognize the name ‘Reformation’ but you have definitely seen their amazing flowy floral cut out dresses and button front denim skirts being worn by Rihanna, Karlie Kloss and fashion bloggers. Reformation is the newest “It” girl label made even more remarkable by the fact that their manufacturing uses all vintage, dead stock or eco friendly fabrics. Below are some steps Reformation’s founder and CEO Yael Aflalo took to turn her company into fashion’s new must have label.

Have a vision and plan. Yael Aflalo has discussed in interviews how she has a vision board in her bedroom to help her focus on what she wants to accomplish. She is also known for being very structured and organized with her time. Her technique is scheduling tasks at the same time on a weekly basis and setting time limits to her activities. This helps her never having to worry about what to do next, she simply follows her plan.

If at first you don’t succeed...Before Reformation Yael had another clothing line called Ya-Ya, which was a typical fashion brand she ran for 10 years. The label eventually closed due to difficulties during the recession. After running a conventional label for nearly a decade she knew that following the fashion calendar and dealing with overseas factories wasn’t for her. Her experience led her to build her new more innovative and more successful company.

Go against the grain. While in China for a work trip Yael noticed all the pollution around the clothing manufacturing regions. She recounts how in some areas the pollution was so thick it was hard to breath. When she returned home to the U.S. she immediately started researching how to manufacture clothing that had less of a negative impact on the planet. She focused on reducing waste and built her business following Earth friendly principles. This is the exact opposite of what most other fashion labels were doing at the time.

Look for gaps in the marketplace. Eco-friendly clothing is not necessarily known for being fashionable. A lot of green brands suffer from being too granola and often ignore design. Reformation filled this gap by producing clothing that is every bit ‘It Girl’ worthy.

Make it special. Since Reformation uses vintage and dead stock fabrics that come in limited supplies they only make about 200 pieces of each garment. Aflalo says "We want to always make less than what people want us to make so, in that way, it's special. It keeps things exclusive." They also focus on making pieces that aren’t too seasonal and can be worn over and over as Aflalo says “Clothes that are versatile and sustainable."

Powerful Life Lessons from Oprah Winfrey

The women I admire the most is Oprah Winfrey. Her story is incredible and completely inspiring in every way. Whenever I feel a bit lost regarding my business, or just emotionally down, I YouTube one of her interviews. Hearing people tell their stories of triumphing through hardship helps lift my spirits and reconnect to who I am and what I need to do next. Here are my favorite quotes and mantras I have gathered from studying Oprah through the years.

“You have to know what sparks the light in you so that you, in your own way, can illuminate the world” – Oprah Winfrey.

I thought about this a lot when I was contemplating leaving my secure job to embark on my entrepreneurial journey. I spent several years completely emerged in my retail career, I learned every aspect of the industry from A to Z. After six years I knew I learned enough to move on and pursue my dream which has always been to start my own business. I wrestled with this for several months, after all why leave a good job? But in the end I knew inside what I really needed to do for myself and I went for it.

“Start with knowing what you don’t want to do”

This mantra helped me not only in deciding to leave my career path, but also in figuring out what business to open. I knew I wanted to work for myself, so why keep trying to climb the career ladder? I knew then I had to push myself to be an entrepreneur. Regarding what business to open I knew that after years of managing physical retail locations and dealing with hundreds of employees, I needed a break. Knowing that I did not want to initially start my business as a brick and mortar helped me establish the layout for an online shop instead.

“Take care of yourself, keep yourself focused and centered”

Why is this so hard to do at times? I think we all learn this lesson the hard way sometime in our lives. I tend to work non stop, and several times this has caused stress related illnesses that naturally led to even more stress. Now I know I need to take the time to do things that are important to me. I like a clean organized home, it helps me stay sane during stressful weeks, so every so often I take a day to meticulously clean and organize my apartment. When the cleaning is done, I feel great about my space and much more relaxed. Taking care of yourself can come in so many different ways, it’s all about knowing what works for you, it may be taking a yoga class, getting a relaxing massage, or just taking the time to enjoy a good book.

“There are no mistakes, the losses are there to wake you up”

It can be hard to stay motivated when you are going through a rough patch at work or in your personal life. But when you look back on your life, you can clearly see how some wrong turns led you the right way. In an interview Oprah did at Stanford University, she suggested that when you feel overwhelmed, focus only on what is the next move. When you do that, you ensure your next step is in the right direction. Try not to be overwhelmed, and to know that your life is bigger than any one bad moment.

5 Apps That Reduce Stress And Make Life Easier

Originally posted on CareerGirlDaily.com

Sometimes your week is so crammed they have you running around like a crazy person, during these times it can be difficult to do the simplest things and this is when stress piles on. When you are having an intense week at work it can seem like all your brain power is being used up and you can’t even begin to think about simple things like tracking your water intake, there are even humans on this Earth who ‘forget to eat’! Let these five apps be that helpful little voice that reminds you to stay on top of things and relieve some stress from your daily life…

#1 WATERLOGGED

Dehydration can be a scary beast. It can bring terrifying consequences such as bloating, a foggy mind, feelings of hunger when you are actually just thirsty and at it’s worse it can land you in the hospital! Slay this beast by using an app to track your daily water intake. I know you have heard this a million zillion times, but seriously, it is the best and cheapest way to stay healthy.

#2 RELAX WITH ANDREW JOHNSON – MEDITATION APP

It can be very hard to carve out a few minutes during the day to meditate, especially if your mind is buzzing about. I have tried to meditate so many times and within a few minutes I catch myself deep in thoughts of work and what to have for dinner. The best way to stay on track is to practice ‘guided’ meditation, it can be so much easier to just follow the voice in your earphones telling you to take a deep breath and focus. Andrew Johnson’s voice is very soothing, this is one of the best free meditation apps available!

#3 SLEEP BOT – REST EASY

To lead a more stress-free life, it is essential that your sleeping habits are rock solid. The Sleep Bot app will help you track how well you are sleeping by analyzing your movements and even sounds you make while sleeping! It will wake you up at an optimal time that will ensure you feel refreshed in the morning. This is important because often times a conventional alarm clock will wake you when you are smack dab in the middle of REM sleep which can leave you feeling groggy all day long.

#4 MINT BILLS

A month can feel like a really long time, especially when things move a mile a minute at work. I constantly struggled with remembering my monthly bills due date, missing a payment can lead to late fees and affect your credit score. Mint Bills keeps track of your bills and when they are due, you just have to log into one app to make a payment versus multiple websites.

#5 MONTHLY CYCLES

Last but not least an app I would, without a hint of sarcasm, consider life changing. Ladies if you are not using this yet you must start! An app that tracks your monthly cycle is a God send, you can see exactly how many days you have until your period starts and make notes on how you are feeling. If you keep daily notes on the app’s calendar you may start to notice patterns on how certain times of your cycle affect you. I get monthly migraines, a few months into using this app I realized that I always got a migraine during or directly before my time of the month, this was a breakthrough in helping me manage this debilitating monthly headache.

Becoming an entrepreneur, without quitting your day job!

Going off on your own, either as a full time or part time entrepreneur, may be your best career move. It puts you in the driver seat to manage your own time, it opens the door for unlimited earning potential and to opportunities a nine to five doesn’t allow for. You also open yourself up to more work opportunities as new business trends show corporations increasingly hiring independent contractors to work on short term projects instead of bringing on full time employees. This helps companies save by needing less office space, not paying for unproductive time spent by employees at their desk and by not having to provide healthcare and other benefits.

If you are not really sure what business to start don’t worry too much, realize you don’t need to invent the new Facebook. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you need to come up with something completely original to build up from scratch. Evaluate your dreams, interests and what you are naturally good at and start brainstorming from there. I myself made this mistake, while having a solid background in fashion retailing I kept trying to start businesses that did not have anything to do with clothes. Once I finally circled back and combined my love for vintage with my retail experience I started a little online boutique that I now run full time.

Think small, yes we are told to dream big (and you should) but when starting out a new venture, specially while still at your day job, small steps are what will get the ball rolling. There is a lot less risk involved in starting small, you need to allow time to test out your ideas before jumping full force into your new business. If you are interested in fashion a small step would be opening a little online shop or starting a for profit style blog. Once your new project moves beyond a hobby you can start researching how to officially register your business and set up formal bookkeeping practices. Only do this after you already have something that works, you do not want to waste your time formalizing something to later realize that is is not truly your passion.

Make the time. You will want to start your business on the side while still gainfully employed somewhere, this means you need to carve out time on nights and weekends. Schedule your time and make it a priority, it may be a slow start but once the ball is rolling the momentum will keep you going. Realize that creating something for yourself outside of your nine to five will elevate your confidence and open up doors for you. To keep you going I suggest having a personal mantra, positive words of wisdom keeps in line when I feel discouraged. While you take the time to collect your own inspirational words of wisdom you can meditate on one of my personal favorite old sayings “You can never get rich working for someone else”.

My self employment story part 2

This is the second part of my self employment journey. I left you where I had just started making money on Amazon selling a few things I bought at Kmart - so unglamorous. After I had success making a couple of dollars on Amazon and was actually making 'money' I felt amazing, like a switch went off that re-assured me that 'yes! you can make money'. However scanning things for Amazon got old fast, and not only that but going to big box stores, that was the real bore to me. I don't really frequent those places regularly so it was not very fun to be there.

Just around that time my partner and I went thrift shopping to buy things for ourselves and our home. When I was at the thrift store my wheels started turning and I thought to myself 'these clothes are so cheap, maybe I can buy a few tops and sell them on Etsy?'. I did that! Etsy was kind of a pain at first, the learning curve is not very steep but it is more on the annoying side of things. You need to learn how to write exciting descriptions, take good photos, price your items right, etc. Very slowly I started getting some sales. Soon I discovered the podcast Scavenger Life, they are eBay resellers who make a living selling unique vintage goods on eBay, they really helped me become more of a machine and build up my business.

Listening to the Scavenger Life podcast kept me going, soon I realized that to sell more I would need to have more items listed. Sounds pretty simple right? I took my store up to about 150 items before I quit my full time job, and not it sits at around 400. I plan to bulk this up before the holiday season! I am able to make a living from my Etsy shop now and it is awesome!

If you are interested in opening up your own Etsy shop you can get 40 free listings by signing up using my referral link: http://etsy.me/1MRPlSs .

Best,
M

My Self Employment Story Part 1

I have wanted to have my own business, however the road to the dream was a long journey to actually get to something that paid all the bills. I want to share my story to hopefully encourage you to keep going out and trying new things if you also strive to have your own little (or large) business.

About 6 years ago I decided that I wanted to open my own vintage store, because I have always been interested in vintage clothing I figured it was a the business for me. In my early 20s I suffered deeply from impatience, I thank the heavens I now don't have such a bad case of it. At the time I was in no position to open a brick and mortar store, I took to the internet to research. It seems like at the time information was a lot harder to come by, I don't remember stumbling upon any blogs or sites for entrepreneurs. I ended up buying a book on Amazon that was directed towards women and the title went something like 'Start your own lady business'. Well this book was way too vague and the only thing I got out of it was that I needed to save money to open my business. I wrote down a goal and put it up on my wall 'save $5,000 to open my vintage store'.

Since at the time I had a long way to go before I got to that 5k, I decided to list a few things I had on Etsy and start selling there. I did a big old photo shoot and had my brother help me list the items up. At the time I was working 60+ hours per week and felt too overwhelmed and impatient to do it myself. He listed the items and I sold a few things, unfortunately I never kept up with it which I am now kicking myself for. Fast forward a few years and I discovered the 48 Days Dan Miller Podcast. I love this podcast and I believe it is one of the best ones out there to start listening to, it gives business ideas but it is not solely online businesses, which in my opinion helps you think through your options a little more.

I have been listening to this podcast every since 2009 and have tried to start a few business from the ideas I heard but none of them panned out, this was very frustrating. I tried to start a dry cleaning pick up and delivery business, a resume help business, a personal finance blog and nothing was working. I attempted to start a sustainable home decor business in late 2013, fortunately at this point I was maturing a bit as a person and my newfound patience was helping me a lot. The business did not work but I had taken this one further than any of the others. I remember just feeling so much frustration, it seems that everywhere I just kept hearing success stories from people who started their own business, and here I was, trying for so long and had yet to make a dime.

Finally on a Sunday afternoon which was a day off from work I plugged in and listened to a podcast I only listened to every once in a while. It was Pat Flynn interviewing a couple who sold full time on Amazon FBA. This podcast changed my life. It told me exactly what to do, download an app, go to the store and scan things, see what items sell for a lot more on Amazon, take them home and send them to amazon. Finally an extremely easy blue print. I did just that, the very next day I was at a KMart scanning and scanned a mason jar tumbler that was on sale for $3.14 and amazon sold it for $15. Bingo! I bought about 10, brought them home and followed the steps. A week or so later and they started to sell. This was pure joy! Finally I was making money on my own.

In the next post I will discuss how I actually got to my current business.

Best,
M.

My Manifesto And Why I Re-Started Blogging

So why did I polish off this little old blog from a few years ago you may ask? Honestly, and you do want me to be honest right? I did not feel like the blogs I have been following (some a few years) were providing me with fresh, truthful and fun content. Obviously there are exceptions, and I will eventually share my list of favorite bloggers, podcasters and YouTubers, but besides a handful of interesting new discoveries my old standbys made me feel like my brain was turning to mush when I read their posts.

I have been a fateful blog reader since around 2011 when I discovered Bloglovin and could more easily track all the sites I followed. Content from the bloggers I followed then seemed genuine, and it some occasions it felt like I was following people's lives. This is more in regards to the lifestyle and fashion bloggers of the time, the personal finance crowd has always been pretty genuine in my opinion. About a year and a half ago things started to change. It felt like a huge tide turned along with fashion, gone were the Zooey Deschanel dresses, in are the skinny jeans and booties. Gone were the kitchy and cluttered bookshelves, in were the blank white walls and sparsely decorated rooms. Not that changing fashion is a bad thing, I like that part of the blog world, but what came along with this new wave that I loathe now more than anything? Sponsored posts.

And that ladies and gents was when things started going downhill fast! Gone were the posts recapping the week, in are the 'made this amazing meal using Blue Apron!' forced ads. And they just kept coming, and coming and coming. Now, I don't really trust any of these bloggers anymore. I started feeling stuck, which seems like a weird way to feel when you're talking about the world wide web, but I was. I have always followed entrepreneurial and personal finance blogs, but I also like fashion and lifestyle design. It feels to me like the two have not yet merged. I like being resourceful and frugal, but I am not into the 'coupon mom' type blogs. Besides not having any kids,  I strive to eat whole foods, and avoid buying packaged foods.

I also have dabbled in reading health and natural blogs, but some of them have a hyper focus on complicated ingredients and elaborate recipes and guides which were just too much for me to incorporate into daily life. With running my own business I only have time for so much, I would love to make chia pudding and make my own deodorant, but if it requires multiple trips to Whole Foods, it ain't gonna happen.

So on this blog I pledge to focus on self employment (because every entrepreneur is obsessed with their business) and easy lifestyle design. I am an extreme minimalist when it comes to some personal things like my wardrobe, beauty routine and cooking (bread & butter, duh). I like keepin' my mind on my money and enjoy tips on how to make things easier and looking good! I want to explore the natural world of making my own beauty supplies, and when I find the easiest and best methods I will share them here, and by easy I mean only using few cheap and readily available ingredients.

Hope you keep on reading on!

Best,
M.

Price of Coaching

Lately I have felt a little down and sometimes downright depressed about my current work situation. I feel as though I want a new job, but somehow that seems so difficult to do, I know I should just concentrate on making a stellar resume and go from there. Still I can't seem to get myself motivated to get on that path.

I listen to the 48 Days podcast by Dan Miller and I am truly inspired by his coaching and resources. I reached out to the website and contacted them about coaching, the total cost for a 2 hour coaching session with Dan Miller: $4,500. WAY out of my budget, so I have decided I will coach myself with the Dan Miller material.

This is my plan:
Read 48 Days to the Work You Love read by November 1st (will post review here)
Read Wisdom Meets Passion (Read by December 1st)
&
Read his newly released book of 48 Low Cost Business Ideas (Read through December before the new year)

I will keep you all update on this process.

5 Traits of High Achievers

I was listening to the latest Dan Miller 48 Days podcast and today he brought something up quite interesting. I felt compelled to write this down and see how I measured up to these traits.

5 Traits of High Achievers

1. Access to Counsel: Coaching, mentoring + being around success. I'm pretty good with this. I LOVE listening to podcasts and pretty much spend all of my free time doing things that will lead to self improvement.
2. Connections + Collaborations: Wide networks of friends. Eh...lately duh to some personal issues I have been very anti-social. I need to look up some networking groups or something, I have isolated myself and I know that is NOT good.
3. They take breaks! It's not a matter of time. It's a matter of doing things different. Not good with this one either. Whenever I'm not working I struggle with guilt... as if I am suppose to work 24/7. I'm trying to work through this.
4. They have lives outside of work: Rich private lives.  Another FAIL. This is not looking good. With a long distance relationship and my recent isolation stint my personal life has been pretty much non-existent. Why do I sound so sad and lonely? 
5. Strategies + Systems: Focus + clarity + plan + execute.  I'm good at focus + executions, I'm not so stellar at clarity and planning. Two out of four is better than nothing huh?

Okay, so I have a few things to work on. But I don't feel so horrible about myself. I guess I earned a 1.5 out of 4. I am hoping that by the end of the year my goal will be to work on and develop my other traits.

Hope this helps!

MH.

Podcasts!

It's hard for me, or most people I would imagine, to have face to face time with a friend to discuss finances for about an hour a day. No one really wants to sit that and do it with you, unless I guess you pay for a financial counselor.

Well, one of my favorite resources for "discussing" personal finance, even though you do all the listening, is through podcasts! Every one has their own mentors and favorite personal finance celebs and here are mine:

 Dave Ramsey - even though I'm not a fan of his political or spiritual views I do like his no nonsense ways of dealing with personal finances. I listened to his "Total Money Makeover" audio book twice and I admit there are some very basic things he talks about that sometimes you need to be reminded of.

Suze Orman - I learned about her through Oprah's "O" magazine. I LOVE her Saturday night tv show however I rarely get to watch seeing as I do not have cable! I have rented nearly all of her DVDs through Netflix though and I own one of her books. I love the way she empowers women.

Gail Vaz-Oxlade - I lover her Till Debt Due Us Part show, which comes on right after Suze's show. I have lurked the web so so many times looking for her "Princess" show that is only available in Canada!

I know these are the basic people for personal finance, but it's whom I follow mostly and learned the most from. I would happily read and look into any other PF gurus that are recommended!