Launching The Out Entrepreneur - A Weekly Podcast for LGBTQ Bosses
Today marks the official launch of The Out Entrepreneur, a weekly Podcast where I have the privilege of connecting with some of today’s most successful and authentic LGBTQ entrepreneurs. For those of you who have already listened, downloaded, subscribed and left a review, I want to thank you for joining me on this journey.
Our goal here to introduce you to some of the 1.4 million LGBTQ and ally entrepreneurs crushing it in business, and inspire you – the OUT entrepreneur to take action, and unapologetically be your authentic self 100% of the time.
I say “our goal,” because I’m an out entrepreneur just like you, and it’s my goal to build a thriving business that allows me to bring my whole self to work, and to inspire others to take similar action.
Just to be clear - I’m no guru here! I consider myself an up-and-coming entrepreneur looking to gain new skills and receive mentorship, which are ingredients absolutely essential to build a thriving business.
I decided to start this podcast because I was seeking this support from my professional network. Yes, I’ve earned degrees from fantastic universities, BUT my formal education and experience as an employee never taught me how to be a successful entrepreneur –or on how to leverage my LGBTQ identity to influence and strengthen my business, which is something central to this show.
The common understanding is come up with a brilliant idea, take action, and then hustle until you make it…WOW…the hustle is exhausting and so not my style. I’m a strategist by training – a really good, organized strategist, and the hustle approach just seemed entirely wrong to me.
Since becoming my own boss, I continue to see talented out entrepreneurs burn out from the hustle, and return to the employee ranks. SOME have even had to return to the closet in order to secure employment. They had no idea as to why things weren’t working out.
I have felt the burn from the hustle countless times, BUT when I was able to connect with others a few steps ahead of me, I heard a consistent theme. My mentors would say - you have what it takes to be your own boss, and you don’t have to compromise who you are. It is possible to create the job you have always dreamed of – so much so that when you’re at work, it doesn’t feel like it’s work at all!
Once you look at your business in that light, you begin to have sharper focus, greater commitment, and feel more professional about what you do. No one, not your clients or contractors are going to do that for you. They are a part of your business, but the work starts with you. You are the business owner, the start-up founder, the out entrepreneur.
So since I was seeking out this advice as I was building my business…and it was proving to already be such an incredible value, it only made sense to share these conversations with so many other out entrepreneurs who are asking the same questions.
Looking back on my own journey, I would have been so grateful to have had a sort of mentor-on-demand when I was just getting started. And now I’m thrilled to invite you, and so many others on this adventure to create bold visions for our businesses, and take action.
Together we can learn the skills and receive the mentorship we need to transform into the brilliant entrepreneurs we were destined to become without apologizing for who we are. We also have the power to model how to create inclusive workplaces for other ally businesses.
Together we are infinite! Take action today, and listen, download, and subscribe to the podcast, and Join me in becoming the out entrepreneur.
