What I Learned in 2016

What I Learned in 2016

Jan 3, 2017

  2016 brought a lot of learning and a lot of joy. My biggest lesson of 2016 was figuring out how to serve myself first in order to serve everyone else sustainably. People had always warned me about “burning out” but I had never hit my limit. Creating the 2nd Annual Women Grow Leadership Summit in Denver for over 1,200 women was my greatest accomplishment. It was also what broke me. Although I could have blamed external challenges for breaking me. I realized that all my external challenges were reflections of my own inner struggles. So I went about investing everything I had into working on myself. Yoga, meditation, books, dance, music, purpose-driven leadership, cannabis, psychedelics and the School of Womanly Arts were my practices. We found a new CEO to take over my role at Women Grow on July 1st and I focused on myself full-time. Leaving the CEO role at Women Grow was the hardest transition I’ve ever made. The unexpectedly tough part of aligning your personal and professional purpose is allowing them to separate when needed. It took me almost three months just to stop thinking of myself and my role as one. I ran away to play in Spain, speak in Berlin, camp at Burning Man, and work Symbiosis. I traveled 26 weeks of 2016. I learned a lot. I learned how to love myself unconditionally. I learned how to stop using food to solve problems that food doesn’t solve (and lost 30 pounds). I learned how to stop caring about what people who don’t care about me think. I learned how to put myself first every day. I learned how to process dark emotions and...
5 New Years Resolutions for Entrepreneurs

5 New Years Resolutions for Entrepreneurs

Jan 8, 2015

Photo: Jazmin Hupp, Women Grow Co-Founder | Tamara Beckwith/NY Post | Read Article ‘Tis the season for New Years Resolutions but NONE of these include going to the gym. Take a look at five things I’ve learned benefit every entrepreneur no matter what stage your business is in. 1. Focus on the Important Over the Urgent If there’s one skill that separates the entrepreneurs who are driving their businesses versus the businesses that are driving their entrepreneurs crazy, it’s this. There will always be urgent tasks but they often fill up your day so that none of the important things get done. Here’s a few different tactics to keep your focus on what really matters: Don’t start your day by checking your email or social media. EVER. This is the fastest way to get sucked into urgent instead of important. Start your day by reciting affirmations or journaling about your goals. It will be easier to make choices that align with your goals if you review those goals every morning. Rewrite your to-do lists into time blocks. Write out what you’ll be doing that day in 15-minute increments. It’ll be easier to tell when you’ve over-promised how much you can get done that day and you’ll quickly learn how poor you are at estimating how long tasks take. Find at least one thing to say no to every day. The hardest part of leadership is deciding what NOT to do. There are a million opportunities out there and it’s easy to get excited about something new every day. Start every morning by removing at least one thing from your to-do list that doesn’t support your...
Building Your Email List with Gmail + MailChimp + Zapier in 2 Clicks

Building Your Email List with Gmail + MailChimp + Zapier in 2 Clicks

Jan 2, 2015

This is a tip for all my artist and entrepreneur friends. If you plan to do anything in your future and invite people to donate/attend/up vote/whatever…the highest converting method is an email. Not Twitter, not Facebook, not an ice bucket. Sending personalized email to people who know and like you will help you accomplish your goals. Do this pre work now and reap the rewards for years. If you use Gmail (free but well worth $50/year to upgrade) & MailChimp (free up to 2,000 subscribers), Zapier will turn anyone who emails you into an email subscriber in 2 clicks (free up to 100 times per month). Just to clarify that math for you, if you’re a small brand looking to build an audience, ALL these tools are free until you get bigger. And when you do get big, shelling out less than $50 a month on these tools combined will be the most effective marketing dollars you spend. 1. Sign Up For Free Accounts If you haven’t already, create accounts on the following services (I get a free monkey on Tuesdays if you sign up using these referral links): Gmail MailChimp Zapier 2. Set Up Your Email Lists & Groups in MailChimp Do a little thinking about why you might email people to support you in the future. If you don’t have particular projects on the horizon, maybe you dump everyone into one list. If you have a company (Women Grow in my case) and web design services, you probably want to be able to email groups of people separately for those topics. Just note that this method only allows you to put...
How You Can Create a Cannabis Industry We Can All Be Proud Of

How You Can Create a Cannabis Industry We Can All Be Proud Of

Jun 24, 2014

Aaron Smith, co-founder and executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, reminded us that before cannabis was an industry, “we were a social movement, and we still are a social movement.” The legalized states are leading the way for what general use cannabis will look like after prohibition ends. Aaron reminded nearly a thousand attendees how the steps they take now will be the foundation of a Cannabis industry that we can all be proud of. 1. Be A Good Neighbor Reach out to your neighborhood–from local businesses to local citizens. When the federal government shut down Oaksterdamn, the NCIA got neighborhood businesses to hang green flags in solidarity. It’s a lot easier to move forward with neighborhood organizations on your side. 2. Be Professional Everything from answering the phone to paying your bills on time affects your own business and the cannabis industry as a whole. Don’t use marketing that you wouldn’t want your mother to see. Create a professional industry that shows the country what they’ve been missing. 3. Engage Politically Find out who your elected representatives are and get on their email list. Attend their events and give money to their campaigns to support your cause. Be present and make phone calls so that they hear from the Cannabis industry a lot more than they do now. Make it easy for your customers to engage their officials as well. Reward customers that call their elected representatives or send emails. Make it easy for customers to engage while they wait. Harborside Health Center has a robust Patient Activist Center that rewards customers with product for participating. 4. Join a Trade Organization If you...