Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in leadership development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Kelsey Boyer, Founder of Women's Leadership Accelerator, located in Toronto, ON, Canada.

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

Women's Leadership Accelerator is a 90-day mentorship program for aspiring and new female leaders to help them break into and master leadership while overcoming barriers that women face professionally, like imposter syndrome/lack of confidence, lack of mentorship, stress/burnout from trying to prove themselves, etc.

Tell us about yourself

I originally got into coaching in my late teens due to my own struggles at home, being in a toxic and abusive place with my mom as she was going through a rough time (we're great now and have put in the work—but that's another story). Thankfully, I had a great support system that taught me to channel these experiences into something more impactful and share my story with as many people as possible so that they could feel less alone. I decided to get involved with coaching young girls from grades six to 12 from underprivileged areas in Hamilton, Ontario, through leadership development, mindset training, self-appreciation, and working through self-doubt and goal setting. I have fallen in love with the profession since then. It's always something I did on the side, but I wanted to try out the corporate world in Toronto before doing it full-time. In terms of my professional background, I spent over six years in the tech recruitment industry, providing more career coaching, with my most recent role being an independent consulting partner helping to grow an AI recruitment start-up from the ground up. I also got my life/executive coaching certification in 2016. Throughout my experience, I was usually working as a leader or manager in male-dominated environments. This is where I noticed a major gap in women in leadership and living up to their full potential. And I have been working hard to put more women into leadership roles for as long as I can remember. So, after a breakup and a major transitional year, I decided to take the leap and combine my passions and experience to coach full-time and develop Women's Leadership Accelerator with the mission of lifting the potential of women and creating more female leaders in the world!

While this all may sound impressive, what you're not hearing is how these difficult experiences caused me to suffer from anxiety. Incidents like the bullying I faced as a kid or the uncertainty I experienced in trying to figure out what the heck I wanted to do with my life, broken friendships, and relationships. And, of course, the time I got fired four months into my second job in Toronto for saying how the work environment made me uncomfortable and so much more. I bring this up because this is a reminder that even when you see others' successes or journeys and are inspired by them, what you're seeing is the end result. There's a lot along the way that you're not seeing. So, treat yourself and this journey with kindness and compassion, as failure and hardships are an important part of success. What motivates me each day to keep doing what I do is seeing my clients continue to transform and change their lives/their professional trajectories.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I'd probably say building a business that's stable enough to support me financially while still giving me the space to have balance in my life is not an easy feat as an entrepreneur, lol. I'd also add my ability to continue adapting and expanding my services and giving myself permission to do that instead of just thinking I can only do WLA. I'm now a breathwork facilitator and am very passionate about it. I lead team-building workshops for organizations and do performance coaching for some of my corporate clients. All these things bring me a ton of joy while keeping things interesting.

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

Not giving up and sticking with it when everything seems to be falling apart. Maintaining equanimity through the ups and downs of business.

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

  1. Invest in a mentor early on - they'll help you get your business off the ground and in a scalable place. Don't stop investing in mentorship, but be strategic about it. Investing in mentorship early in my journey was a game changer for me, but I've also made a bad investment in a mentor, although I learned a ton from this negative experience.
  2. Find and form an entrepreneur focus group where you can all share ideas and mastermind things together. Community is super important, and you don't need to go it alone!!
  3. Post daily on LinkedIn even before you start your business! Starting building community on there, comment on other's posts, ask for coffee chats, build your network, so when you launch your business, you'll probably already have hot leads ;) I'm biased toward LinkedIn, but this can work for other platforms too, I've just found LinkedIn is the most supportive.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://wla.coach/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kelseyerinboyer/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelsey-boyer-she-her-838b7652/

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.

Turn your craft into recurring revenue with Subkit. Start your subscription offering in minutes and supercharge it with growth levers. Get early access here.