MAD LOVE MONDAY - Andrea Nwobosi |Park Girl Designs

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Before I left for a Hawaiian vacation with my family two years ago, I never could have predicted that I would make a decision that would change my life. While in Hawaii, I saw a friend’s post on Facebook about a new jewellery brand coming to Canada in April 2016 and that this company was looking for new Designers. After doing some research and talking it over with my family, I realized that this was the extra income opportunity I was looking for. Before I flew home from Hawaii, I had purchased a starter kit full of jewellery I had never seen before, I created a business page on Facebook and I started to share with my networks that I was launching a new business. I had taken a leap of faith and what is often the hardest part—the first step!

Before I share more about my boss babe journey over the past two years, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Andrea Nwobosi and I live in Sherwood Park, Alberta with my husband and our six-year-old daughter. I have a background in marketing and communications and I work full-time in Human Resources communications at an oil and gas company. In my “spare” time, I am a Founding Leader with KEEP Collective Canada and I help women make more money by designing personalized keepsake jewellery. Since launching my business, I have had the opportunity to tap into my entrepreneurial spirit as part of a movement to share happiness and change lives.

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A lot of people ask me how I have the energy to grow a side business while working full-time and supporting my family as a wife and a mother. To be honest, it’s a challenging balancing act! But there are a few things I’ve found that work for me. Fortunately, I’m able to work my side gig on-the-go, so I sneak it in where I can—messaging customers while on the bus on the way to work downtown, posting on social media during my lunch break, and coaching my team members or hosting jewellery design sessions in the evening.

Being an entrepreneur doesn’t leave much time for my family life, so I do my best to be present with my daughter and to make the most of our quality time together, and I schedule date nights with my husband so we maintain precious one-on-one time. Weekends with my family are sacred time, so I schedule my family commitments first before I offer time on weekends to my team members or customers. Fortunately, my husband and I are both very organized, so we coordinate our schedules on a shared iCal calendar, which is especially important since we share one vehicle. I feel like I’m getting better at saying “no” to events or commitments that don’t bring value to me, to my family or to my business. When you’re an entrepreneur with other responsibilities, it’s important to figure out what your boundaries are and stick to them so you’re in control of your schedule and so your schedule doesn’t control you.

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The past two years I’ve spent building my business hasn’t come without ups and downs. And I’ll admit, a year ago I almost gave up. After a busy Christmas season, I questioned whether this was the right business for me. But I took time to reflect and I gained more self-awareness of what I wanted to achieve with my business and how I wanted to approach it. I decided that I needed to have more fun and that I would only do things related to my business that make me feel happy. This shift in mindset yielded great results, which included hitting a huge team promotion and earning an all-expenses paid trip to Los Cabos.

The biggest challenge I’ve faced so far in my business is finding creative ways to build awareness of a brand that’s new to Canada. KEEP Collective is a sister brand to Stella & Dot jewellery, which has been around for over a decade. Many women I meet are familiar with Stella & Dot; however, KEEP Collective is a new personalized jewellery concept that most people have never heard of. I have an online boutique and digital design studio that are open 24/7, but I’ve found that connecting with people in-person and sharing the collection at local business pop-ups, at vendor events in my community and at in-home design sessions have been most effective for my business. Designing one-on-one with people allows me to connect with them and their story on a personal level so I can help them design a keepsake that best represents their family members, treasured memories or special milestones that are important to them and that is an instant reminder of what makes them happy.

I’ve also been intentional about branding my business to differentiate myself from other Designers. My business name, Park Girl Designs, pays homage to my Sherwood Park roots and reinforces my passion for connecting with my community. By bringing the KEEP Collective brand to life in-person, I’ve been able share KEEP Collective’s mission to give every woman the means to design her one of a kind life.

What began as a way to earn extra income to pay down debt has turned into something that’s so much more. For one, I’ve never before felt that I’ve had as many friends as I do now! I’ve created lasting relationships with customers, local business owners and team members, all because I now have a reason to connect with others by sharing something that brings me and others so much joy. This personal connection is why I love being a boss babe. Our supportive community of KEEP Collective Designers shares together, learns together and grows together. We share a deep belief that living a happy life comes from always keeping in mind what truly matters: love, faith, family, friendship and adventure.

I have the honour of mentoring a team of independent business owners who are making more money for their families while sharing happiness through meaningful jewellery. As a leader of other business owners, my role is not to be their “boss” because we’re each our own boss. It’s a different type of leadership. I’ve learned to lead by example, to share my experiences with them so they can avoid making my mistakes, and to coach them to achieve what they want from their business.

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So far, my journey as an entrepreneur has opened my eyes to what is possible. It is possible to give back to your community in your own unique way, it is possible to achieve goals you never thought you could, and it is possible to earn an income doing what you love. This adventure has been worth every ounce of risk I took when I decided to take that initial leap of faith. I’m so excited for what’s next.

Andrea Nwobosi

Park Girl Designs

Independent KEEP Collective Canada Founding Leader

780-242-0484

andrea.nwobosi@gmail.com

Social media:

@parkgirldesigns

ca.keepcollective.com/with/andreanwobosi

Interested in being featured? Contact us at yegbossbabes@gmail.com

MAD LOVE MONDAY - Tammy Deren |Smiley Eyes Photography

Written by: Tammy Deren - Smiley Eyes Photography - The Photographer Studio

For me, life is nothing without passion. Each click of the shutter and every photo I take is designed to tease out the passion of my subjects. Sometimes it’s professional headshot of a new lawyer and in their eyes I see a desire to change world. Other times it’s a bride and groom with a serene stillness around them despite the busy wedding day – the stillness that comes from knowing you have found someone that touches your soul. In the same way a sculpture sees the story in a block of wood, I see the emotions behind each photo. I coax them forward and capture them with my lens.

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My name is Tammy Deren. I picked up my first camera when I was six years old, a Kodak Instamatic with 110 film! I took rolls and rolls of photos with that camera and I just never stopped shooting. Four kids, two thriving businesses, and husband later, I’m still clicking away.

I find inspiration everywhere and whether or not my camera is in my hand, I see the world through the eye of a photographer. A rainy day with fat droplets splashing onto a hot sidewalk, a meandering stream running past a campsite, bare feet sinking into flip flops – even the smallest moments inspire me.

Real passion cannot be contained – I decided to go official with my life’s purpose in 2006 and hung out my shingle: Smiley Eyes Photography.

I believe in giving back. Since not every photographer has the opportunity to work from their own fully stocked studio with lights, props and backgrounds, I opened my second business: The Photographer Studio.

This venture rents out three studios, two on the west side and one west central. The studios give aspiring photographers access to everything they need to create and share their beautiful art. The studios can also be rented as creative collaborative spaces for meetings, product launches, parties and events.

Being an entrepreneur is serious business, and ladies, you know with kids, a household and a career, it’s not easy to manage it all. I’ve been so fortunate to have a great support system, a strong work ethic, and wonderful clients that helped me to quickly build up the business. Today, I shoot in my three studio locations, on site at weddings and events, for magazine editorials, and even destination weddings. My work has appeared on the cover of Blush magazine and I’ve grown The Photographer Studio from one location to three fully stocked, bright and beautiful, in-demand studios. It’s hard work, but very rewarding.

Sometimes people ask how I do it – even I wonder some days! Taking photos is a very personal business, especially for families and weddings. My vision isn’t always what the client had in mind. I couldspend time second guessing my work or wondering if my studios are good enough, but the trick is to just keep going. My list of happy clients far outweighs the few complaints. When I do have someone that isn’t happy, I do my best to fix it. I take it all as constructive feedback, try to make it right, and move on.

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My advice for new boss babes is to determine if problematic issues were caused from an inefficiency within your business. If so, fix it so it doesn’t happen again.

My other piece of advice is set business hours and stick to them. It’s so tempting to answer every call and email even if it’s 9 PM, but that work/life balance is absolutely critical. Delegate, let your family help with the chores and household duties, and schedule time away from work. Remember, you can’t be productive or present for your clients, friends and family if you burn out.

When people meet me, they see a happy, upbeat, socially active girl that loves to smile, dance and laugh. That’s truly me, but I didn’t start out this way. Every day I work hard on my personal and professional growth. My life has had many ups and downs and I’ve had to overcome traumas that could have sentme in a much darker direction. I’ve learned that life is truly what you make of it. Sink or swim, walk or fly – that’s a choice I have to make every day. I choose to spread my wings and fly, and uplift as many people as I can along the way.

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Find the Photographer Studio

here

Find Smiley Eyes Photography

here

Interested in being featured? Contact us at yegbossbabes@gmail.com 

MAD LOVE MONDAY - Tara Dragon | Work Evolution

We go Q&A style with Tara Dragon, founder of Work Evolution AKA the place to consult with regarding flexible employment opportunities in Edmonton and area. We are so on board with her vision about flexible work opportunities as the new employee standard. Finally, a consulting firm for employers and employees to benefit from with a unique twist we l-o-v-e.

1. What is your Business all about?

I am the founder of Work Evolution and we are connecting the best employers with professionals seeking flexible employment. I am very passionate about helping professionals find meaningful work that utilizes their skills, education and talents while respecting the boundaries that they need for work-life balance. To do this, we are also changing the way that organizations think about employees and helping break down some of their barriers to accepting and/or hiring a flexible worker.

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2. What inspired you to start your own business?

I recently had a career in IM/IT and was a partner in a boutique consulting firm. I returned to work six months after my son was born and found work and roles that allowed me to balance time at home with time in the office and also gave me enough flexibility to attend my son’s activities and appointments when I wanted.

Looking around at one of my peer groups – professional women with young families – I saw that many were not able to find a balance that worked for them. Some asked their employers for flexible arrangements and were denied, forcing them to make a decision about what to do. Options that they reviewed included returning to the same role and same circumstances, not returning at all, or returning to a different role with more flexibility (sometimes in a different organization). Some of the factors that were frequently under consideration were: cost of child care, ability to spend time with their family, income, opportunity to use their experience/education, and their ability to stay in a job they considered meaningful. At the end of the day, the decisions were very important, extremely personal and often very stressful.

Rather than convert everyone to IM/IT careers (which can be very flexible), I decided to tackle the problem a different way and found that the model was appealing to parents of young families (they don’t want to be away from their kids all day, every day), folks approaching retirement (they often want to ease into transition with a flexible “bridge” job), and millennials (they want to have jobs that support all of their other interests and passions).

3. Do you have a go to quote / motto?

If you do the right things, the right things get done.

4. What’s a personal goal of yours to accomplish? (time frame?)

My personal goal for 2018 is to be more active and involved in the lives of those closest to me. I had a stressful work project in 2017 that reduced the amount of time that I had to connect with people. This year I want and  need to work at strengthening those relationships again now that I have left the consulting world.

5. Why do you love being an entrepreneur?

FLEXIBILITY! (Pun intended!) I love that I can work anywhere and at anytime. (E.g., I can take my son to gymnastics during the day and put in a few hours of work in the evening.) I also love to see the excitement and buzz around something that I am building.

6. What’s your best boss babe moment? (First moment of reassurance).

My best moments since launching Work Evolution have been the emails and notes from people that I don’t even know. I expect my family and besties to love my idea, but it’s extra-special when a stranger does!  For example, I received this on LinkedIn, “…I was just browsing on LinkedIn and somehow stumbled on your article and story about flexible work. Thank you for what you are doing to help others find flexibility in their careers. As an HR Professional, I have seen how this has affected colleagues of mine and understand how flexibility impacts me personally. It makes me sad to see that so many employers are so rigid in their belief that you can only do work within the confines of their offices. Kudos and all the best to you in this venture. I'm a fan…”

7. Work-life Balance: What you do you do to destress? What is your must-have moment of the day (me time)?

I wake up at 4:50am every week day and get in a 60-minute workout before the household wakes up. I also use this time to watch my guilty-pleasure shows: The Bachelor, Nashville, Grey’s and Dr. Phil.

8. What are you looking to learn from other YEGBOSSBABES in the community?

I would love to learn more about how other YEGBOSSBABES are achieving their work-life balance. I would also love to learn more about how I can support them through the services offered by Work Evolution and find any and all opportunities to collaborate.

Interested in being featured? contact us at yegbossbabes@gmail.com