Kristi Frank is the founder & CEO of Saturday Morning Success. Saturday Morning Success is an online-based company that helps women entrepreneurs live out their dreams through tele-seminars with the country’s top female CEOs, experts, and entrepreneurs. Kristi holds a degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Southern California and was one of the featured contestants on the first season of Donald Trump’s The Apprentice.
Here are my 5 questions with Kristi and her answers:
1) As an entrepreneurial consultant who specializes in helping women obtain their business goals, what would you say is one of the biggest hurdles facing the female entrepreneur in our current landscape?
Of course the economy would be an easy answer, right? But I do not believe that entirely – I actually think it’s an exciting time for entrepreneurs… a powerful time. Sometimes prosperity can go the opposite direction of the economy – FedEx and CNN are two examples of companies that started in economic downturns. It gives the entrepreneur a perfect opportunity to catch the pendulum swinging the other way.
To answer your question, the biggest barrier I see currently with women entrepreneurs is the limited amount of role models we had growing up. This is obviously changing, but in general a lot of women currently launching businesses do not have a roadmap to follow. They can change this by finding the right mentors that are already successfully doing the things they want to do. And that is, in part, why I started Saturday Morning Success – to respond to this problem.
2) Although there are unique obstacles specific to female entrepreneurs, there are also some unique opportunities. For instance, there is grant money that is specifically earmarked for women in business. However, many times the process to successfully obtain these advantages can be prohibitive. What are some of the female focused resources that you have seen women employ with the highest rate of success?
First off, I am not an expert on grants, but I can reiterate that I have witnessed mentorship as an extremely effective tool for women. Women especially gravitate to a social connection and the ability to feed off one another. They tend to have business models that are more creative than their male counterparts. One thing I believe is that you do not need a traditional business plan to successfully launch a business; a business model that is creative will, in turn, be unique and can make you standout in the crowd.
The best female focused resources are the ones that are organized to feed off the social connection desired by women. Some great examples are American Express Women’s Business Initiative from OPEN; then there are female business retreats, female online groups, and as you mentioned federal funding, etc. A little focused research on what it is you are trying to achieve will go a long way. My advice to women is to follow your own needs, desires and ideals, and go from there. If you are passionate about something, there is a lot of help out there for women, but it’s not going to find you, you have to seek it out.
3) A unique challenge specific to many female entrepreneurs, especially those with children, is the work/life balance conundrum. What are some of the top strategies you are able to pass down through your work and teachings at Saturday Morning Success that would immediately impact a “mompreneur” or female entrepreneur’s ability to manage time more effectively?
Women get flooded with self-talk: Can I do it all? What will happen if I leave my corporate job to stay home and be with my children? I crave being an entrepreneur but do I want to sacrifice spending time with my family?
The truth is you can do both. Again, I started Saturday Morning Success to help solve this problem. You can do so many things from home. There are too many successful “At Home Businesses” to name them all.
One thing that can make an immediate impact is the implementation of powerful time management tools. And they don’t have to be complicated to be powerful. For instance before I get out of bed I write down three things that will move me forward before I even allow myself to check my email.
Another thing is the importance for women to have a support system. I have found a lot of women have issues asking for help — women believe they can do something but they usually need to delegate more. It is important that they find other people to assist them with activities that support their business objectives. You will feel overwhelmed if you continue to perform tasks that you don’t want to do. You can farm out so much nowadays (ex. virtual assistants), and this is an important step so you can focus on the things that you do well.
4) Okay, I have to ask a couple questions pertaining to your experience on the show. In the episode of The Apprentice you were “fired,” one of Donald Trump’s comments seemed directed to the women on the show, which was one should tread lightly when using sex appeal for advantage. Without digging too deep into the debate, to what extent do you think it is fair to use what is uniquely female to gain market advantage? And not necessarily just sex appeal, for instance Lisa Hammond’s success with Femail Creations.
They asked me about this on The View, and the simple truth is sex appeal sells. Donald Trump said what he said on-air but he will also tell you the same thing if you ask him in person. Whether it is the color or length of your hair, sex appeal, or whatever, I am a believer that you use whatever you bring to the table, what makes you unique, or what is going to differentiate you or your product from the crowd.
For example, I identified raw foods as an up and coming trend. I knew it was going to be huge because it had become a hot topic in Los Angeles, so accordingly I created a raw foods restaurant because the differentiating factor had yet to be leveraged well, and of course the restaurant became a success. Again, you have to be different and differentiate yourself. I don’t believe someone has to apologize for using what is uniquely theirs if they do not hurt anyone in the process. In fact, if you don’t the end result could be failure.
5) In your experience on The Apprentice, what is one business lesson you learned that you will never forget?
I actually will give you two. The first was when I met Donald Trump and the rest of the contestants. They were going through their pedigrees, resumes and accomplishments and it was a little overwhelming. I mean I was freaked out the first day about how amazing these people were/are but the reality is that their past accomplishments meant little in the present. Sure, experience can open doors, however I quickly learned that action speaks louder than your resume. Believe in yourself as a leader — better yet prove you can lead the pack and take ownership of your life — but to do this you must first believe you can do it. I learned even amongst impressive accomplishments and resumes it is easy to standout and take charge if you believe in yourself and put that belief into action. Pretty big lesson!
The second lesson, speed is very powerful! On the show we would have to create businesses and plans of attack in a few days (and sometimes in just a few hours) and then launch them. And I saw first hand the power of just doing. The takeaway being that this type of pressure unlocks creative possibilities by forcing you to think and act quickly. Also, there is power in believing just good is good enough (i.e. things do not always have to be perfect). It forces you to get your product out there. There are obviously some pitfalls you need to keep your eye out for but I believe the good outweighs the bad. Perhaps you are the first to market or maybe it forces you to finish something that would never get finished without a deadline. Having too much time can evoke paralysis oftentimes. I learned on the show that enforced deadlines are pretty powerful for eliciting action.