Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal and business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Marie Deveaux, CEO of High Tides Consulting LLC., located in Brooklyn, NY, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

At High Tides Consulting, we focus on supporting the lives and work of women and ethnic minorities. Our work focuses on inclusive dialogues via workshops and team and personal coaching so that where people work more fully nurtures who they are. Our clients include budding entrepreneurs as well as veteran corporate executives and teams who are dedicated to more inclusive work culture and more transparent and trusting work relationships.

Tell us about yourself

My career trajectory has always followed an educator's path. I worked in many education centers and companies, including some of the top test prep and supplemental education services in the world. Along the way, I fell in love with learning and development and supporting new managers and leaders to better serve their teams and, by extension, their clients. Academically, I am a writer and speaker with a long track record of attending communications-focused schools. When I started this business, it was a perfect outcropping of my deep passion for effective communication and my expertise in management and leader development. This is the kind of work that I do, even when I am "off the clock." My passion for words and the power of sharing ideas with people in a space that creates relationships and understanding continues to motivate me and remind me that workspaces can be nurturing and a place where all people can be seen and heard. When people are introduced to new tools to have better conversations and then are held accountable in community spaces to do that, we all are elevated.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Currently, my biggest business accomplishment is the curation of the High Tides workshop catalog. My team and I have written and produced over 30 workshop experiences that support people in communicating, collaborating, and advocating more inclusively in their workplace. The catalog continues to evolve, but it really is a great culmination of decades of work in the Learning, Development, and Management industries.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

The hardest thing about being a business owner is the responsibility for all the decisions. Every day, there are so many questions that my team is looking for me to answer, and the hardest part is that they're relying on me to keep their livelihood intact as well. As a manager working for another employer, you want to protect your team, but you don't have the additional authority of all the financial insight and strategy as well. That's what being a business owner is. It's shielding your team while having all the authority to elevate or downgrade the experience of your team and your clientele. It's a tremendous responsibility to own a business, and while I am honored and grateful to my team and clients for choosing to work with me, I am also humbled by that responsibility as well.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

If you are looking to start, run or grow a business, I would say:

  1. Get help quickly. Delegation can only happen if you surround yourself with an amazing group of people
  2. If you do it more than three times, write it down. SOPs are gold, and you should establish the habit of documenting processes early and often so it's easy to spread the work around (and get feedback for improvements).
  3. Stay open and nimble. The world is constantly changing, and the best businesses are responsive to what is happening in the world, for their clients, and for their industries. Change is good. Go with it.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://mariedeveaux.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hightidesconsulting
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urahightide/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Marie_Deveaux
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hightidesconsulting/

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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