Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in training and education but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Elisse Barnes, Founder of Of A Certain Vintage Workforce Education, located in Silver Spring, MD, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I am a workforce educator and trainer who partners with public libraries, career and business development organizations, universities, and nonprofits to teach individuals 50andbetter to use LinkedIn to obtain jobs, execute career transitions and pivots, succeed as nonprofit leaders, and pursue encore entrepreneurship.
Tell us about yourself
I started my business in 2016 after losing my job and realizing that it would be difficult for me to hold a full-time job while being a caregiver for my husband as we battled his cancer. While taking a career development course, I discovered a training gap for older jobseekers who needed hands-on LinkedIn training that would address their online privacy and security concerns and unique learning styles. Six years later, I am blessed to earn a living sharing the power of LinkedIn for reinvention and reconnection with baby boomers like myself who, through no fault of their own, find themselves unemployed or underemployed despite impressive educations great skills, vast experience, and prodigious work ethic. There is no greater feeling than seeing the moment when my student "drivers" recognize how LinkedIn can be a game changer for their business pursuit, job search, or career transition.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My greatest accomplishment as a business owner is that I was able to start, grow, and maintain my business despite my responsibilities as a caregiver for an aging parent and my husband during our seven-year cancer journey.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
One of the hardest things for me as a small business owner is finding the right balance between:
- Doing the business
- Marketing the business
- Managing the business.
I'm very good at the first two, but in the third, not so much.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Recognize that a satisfied customer can be your best marketing tool because they promote your business for free and are a great source of repeat business.
- Share before you sell.
- A niche will make you rich.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Failure, rejection, and no are not permanent, personal, or fatal. Sadly, often the first person who says no to us is us. Why would anyone else believe in your dream if you don't? Self-directed negativity is the biggest barrier to our dreams because it lives inside our heads. Make sure that voice inside your head is yours and not some dead relative, misguided teacher, or long-forgotten bully. And if that voice is saying unkind, unproductive, uninspiring things that it would never say out loud to another person, tell it to shut up!
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.drelissebarnesjdphd.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elissewbarnesjdphd/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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