Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Wendy Rimmelspacher, a motivational speaker based in Clarkston, WA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I am Wendy Rimmelspacher, a Professional Speaker and creator of the TalentedWomen Weekly Planner. I help women take steps to realize their full potential and purpose so they can live a more joyful, confident life.
So many women are playing smaller than their potential. This is precisely the issue that motivated me to move outside of my comfort zone and create my speaking business. This journey I embarked on isn’t about a fascination with the microphone as much as it is about fully utilizing my natural talent to encourage others to find their joy and purpose. When women are surrounded by a supporting and inspiring group of inner-circle girlfriends and acknowledge their own passion for being more and doing more, they begin to evolve into their full potential and purpose.
Over the years, I have noticed women around me who appear to be bored with their daily routine. They appear to take action and change their future for the better, but really, they are taking the necessary steps required in their status quo routine while living their life on auto-pilot. As I speak to groups of women, I am rewarded each time with women sharing how they feel seen and understood. The tips and tools I provide make it easy to begin taking action right away.
Tell us about yourself
My career in accounting stretched over 36 years, with the past 30 years as an executive director for a school finance department. Last August, I retired and am now rewiring. While I am grateful for my career and its opportunities, I began to feel that I was meant for more. There was a level of frustration at the status quo of my routine and the high demand in my career. What has come to my awareness is this notion that humans are meant to evolve. My soul knew that I needed to learn, grow and give back to others in order to revive my soul.
I remember the moment that my mindset changed, which allowed me to evolve into the next version of Wendy. A colleague had provided me with a nudge to take on a new responsibility as a Board Member of a state association for school finance. It entailed meeting new people and giving back to the membership through speaking at conferences and mentoring people newer in their careers. It is this experience of personal growth that renewed my spirit. By saying “yes” to a new challenge, it put me in rooms with people who thought bigger than I did, and it helped me level up. This experience helped shape my vision of helping others and led me to sign up for an online class to get more women in the professional speaking arena. This course included a community of “speaker sisters” who, like me, built a business and were motivated to help others through speaking.
This one simple nudge from my colleague helped me recognize that many women out there are just like me, and now I have the vision to help them. The truth is, I am passionate about encouraging women to move beyond their fears and evolve into who they dream of becoming. The feeling of fear is real, but the power behind the fear often is not. I believe we can all learn to move beyond the feeling of fear and self-doubt and achieve our goals. My work is centered around helping women learn to embrace their energy, take bold steps towards achieving their goals and live the life they dream of for themselves.
Just like children are pushed to try new experiences and move along a learning continuum, adults would be well served to do the same. Often, we become adults and take on all the responsibilities that come with adulting, and our day-to-day schedule goes on auto-pilot. This leaves little to no room for us to grow and evolve. In other words, it is sometimes easier to keep with the patterns we have that work even though they no longer serve us and feed our soul.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My biggest accomplishment came over these past years when I began investing in my own growth and understanding what my passion is about. My passion led me to the microphone to help others identify their intuition, telling them it is time to grow and evolve, as well. I took an online course to learn the business of speaking and crafting a speech along with all the branding and business pieces that go along with this business.
The ironic part about me launching my speaking business is that I was that shy girl in K-12 grades who never wanted to speak up in the classroom. To be clear, I am not that same shy girl any longer. My family definitely is trying to get their head wrapped around this choice I made to pick up the microphone. The point is this: it isn’t about me. It is about helping other women take steps to realize their full potential and purpose so they can live a more joyful, confident life. This journey has been hard work and equally as rewarding.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
The transition from being an Executive Director for Financial Services in a school district to being a sole proprietor with a small retail shop and a Professional Speaking business was a big leap. I didn’t know much about branding, marketing, or starting a business, but I was able to figure things out one step at a time. I can look back now and connect the dots to see that I bootstrapped the businesses with consistent steps forward and help from girlfriends who generously shared experiences and knowledge. I created the Women’s Weekly Planner with graphics that depict the importance of our inner circle of girlfriends. Being a business owner can be lonely at times. When you are starting up a new business, you don’t have the funds to hire everything out that you don’t know how to do.
Figuring out all the things like building a beautiful website, posting on social media, complying with the state and federal business laws, and applying for speaking events can all be overwhelming. I learned early on to detail daily tasks in bite-sized pieces. This planner allowed me to look at goals for the current week only. I was loyal to this planner and the accountability it provided me. I am a believer in achieving things best when we only look at what is immediately in front of us. If I had pictured all the things each week, I would have been overwhelmed and most likely feeling defeated.
I have an amazingly supportive husband who lifts me up and is authentically interested in what I do. We play a lot of golf together, which is a great diversion when I need to step away from the difficult business tasks. We live on a golf course, and we can go out and just play a few holes if that’s all we want to do. Getting some exercise, fresh air, and time with my husband keeps me balanced and grounded.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Trust in God (or your higher power) who puts the passion and vision in you. It is uniquely made for you. Only you can bring this vision to reality in your beautiful way. Pay no attention to the fact that others have done this vision before. You will put the package together and deliver whatever it is different. It will be beautiful.
- Surround yourself with inspiring and positive-thinking women. It is essential that you know how to turn down the volume on the people who don’t understand your vision and turn up the volume and time with the people who will support your journey and vision.
- Understand that everybody has fears when they step into a new venture. Your brain is trying to keep you safe and give you all the reasons not to proceed. Pay attention to your intuition telling you there is excitement around moving forward. Let the excitement supersede any fear around your momentum.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
I am originally from Beaverton, Oregon, a suburb of Portland. My first big and brave decision was to move to South Carolina at the age of seventeen. I attended my first year of college and got to know my dad’s side of the family. I quickly fell in love with my southern cousins and the South in this one-year time frame. That was before cell phones, and texting was around, and a phone call home came with long-distance fees. My long-distance phone calls home were very infrequent due to the cost and much anticipated at times when I felt homesick. Up until my recent rewiring and launching of my speaking business, my time in South Carolina was probably the biggest personal growth period of my life. Note to self, keep evolving. It’s invigorating! My college years were completed at Oregon State University, resulting in a degree in accounting. I like to set big goals and power through the scary steps it takes to achieve them. One goal included taking the CPA exam. I did pass the exam, and not on my first attempt. Much pride was swallowed and replaced with determination to conquer this goal.
Currently, I live in eastern Washington state with my husband. We live next to the ninth tee box of the golf course, where we spend a lot of our free time. I am an avid runner and prefer to be outdoors, enjoying some form of exercise. I also set a goal at my golf course and now hold two Club Champion titles. Most recently, I launched my Professional Speaking business because I know so many women need help to move beyond their fears.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.wendyrimmel.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wendy.rimmelspacher
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wendy_rimmelspacher/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WendyLSR
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-rimmelspacher-3b7b8251/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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