(light music)
- Hi and welcome to Smartfem and Friends.
I'm your host Lea Woodford and with me today
is Elizabeth Leon, Mompreneur.
Hey Elizabeth how are you?
- I'm great, how are you?
- Good, Elizabeth has been an intern with us
and has been writing for the magazine off and on
and now your back full time.
- I'm back. - Yes.
So Elizabeth, let's talk about how you became
a Mompreneur, first of all I love your story
and let's talk about how we met.
You were a college student and a single mom,
but let's talk about your background
because I think it's so impressive.
- Yeah, so I was raised by a single mom of four.
Low income, really on every government assistive program
you can think of from food stamps
to health care, you name it, we were living off of it.
And one of those resources was second hand clothing.
So my mom would either take hand me downs
or thrifted goods and really dress us with those finds
because her resources were so low
and it was since then that I discovered
my ability to just be resourceful
and to work with what I had and to make the best of it.
- Let's talk about some of those tough times
'cause I remember with your permission,
I want to ask your permission,
you came to me, I believe it was your junior year,
and you were ready to quit school.
Do you remember that conversation?
- I remember.
- And I said no, we're not gonna do that.
Let's talk about how you pushed through that
because I think your story is so inspiring
and you were a young mom, you were a working mom,
and a full time student.
- That's right.
- And you were working for Smartfem and you didn't quit.
What were some of the things that pushed you
through the tough times?
- Yeah, so when I came to Smartfem I was a junior
at Arizona State University
and one of the requirements as a journalism student
is to have an internship,
so as I was looking nothing really rang a bell with me.
I saw Smartfem.com, I read some of the articles
and I fell in love because as a single mom
I just really resonated with a lot of the stories
that were shared and yes when I came to Smartfem
I was ready to quit school.
I was going through so many hardships,
my mom was actually going through deportation
and I was raising a girl on my own, had a job,
went to school, just juggling so many things,
I thought the easiest thing to lose was my education.
So when I came to Smartfem it was just this sigh of relief
that someone was on my side and that was you.
- And I will always be on your side.
Let's talk about deportation right now.
You know I really didn't want this to be
a political segment but the fact
that you know, so many immigrants, you know,
what are your thoughts on this?
You've seen it first hand what's going on
and now that you have an education,
what are your thoughts on this?
- I've never met anyone that comes to this country
with an ill will, my mother came to this country
in her 20's really looking for a better future
for herself and for her children.
Since then she had four kids
and really just wanted her kids to get an education,
to have a good upbringing,
because she couldn't get that in Mexico
and to just hear about the leadership in this country
having such a bad, you know, idea of who is coming in
legally or illegally, I think is unfair
and I think should be given a second chance
because really it's all the diversity
that really makes this country a beautiful place to live,
we bring so many different cultures,
so many different ideas and that's what makes
the United States just such a beautiful country in general.
- All right, well I certainly agree with that.
Now let's talk about being a Mompreneur
and let's talk about your Instagram account.
Okay, 'cause your Instagram account is pretty impressive.
- Thank you.
- So I know it's summer time right now
and you've had your daughter full time.
What is that like trying to work from home and be a mom?
- So starting as an entrepreneur my idea
was to have the flexibility to be with my daughter as needed
whether it was during her breaks at school,
long summer break like I just had with her,
and I recently realized that it's all about balance.
They say balance doesn't exist but as a creative
and as an entrepreneur I realized
that I needed my alone time.
I needed time to really think
and to cultivate ideas and although I am very grateful
to have been able to spend summer with her
I think she is excited to go back to school
and I am so excited to have my time back
because I love empowering women
and I realized that by not empowering myself
I wasn't able to do that either to my daughter
or to the clients I work with.
- You know it's interesting, 'cause my kids are grown now,
but I found that I was a much better mom when I was working
'cause when mom's happy, the kids are happier.
- That's right, and there's nothing wrong
with a stay at home mom.
- No.
- If that is your calling, by all means do it,
but as creative and as entrepreneur I realized
that part of, you know, letting that side of me flourish
was to have some distance between,
whether that's me and my husband or me and my daughter,
it's just some alone time because
that's when the best ideas happen
and that's when I'm able to really listen to,
whether it's my followers or my clients,
or just the people around me and what those needs are.
- Now let's talk about your Instagram,
how has Instagram enhanced your business?
- Wow, so Instagram was one of the first tools
I used as an entrepreneur, it was the first place
I got my handle right after getting my domain,
I looked if exclusively ego was available
and I went right to Instagram and got it.
It's such a powerful tool because it is visual
and I think in general no matter who you are,
whether you're an entrepreneur, or a student
or a business owner you are looking for visuals,
you are looking for ideas.
I think we're captivated by just images
and beautiful pictures so Instagram allows us
to get all those things and Instagram allows me
to share outfits, it allows me to share inspirations
or what I'm up to.
Now with Instagram stories I think you're able
to connect more with your follower.
Giving whether it's behind the scenes
or a day in the life,
and just breaking up those feed stories
into little snippets of your day.
- What's some advice that you give a new entrepreneur,
a girl like you just wanting to start out?
- I would say to have a clear idea of
your vision as an entrepreneur.
A clear idea of your values, so what do you stand for?
Personally I believe that there are true gems
found in places like thrift stores
because I don't think you need to be a millionaire
to dress like a million bucks.
So that was one of my values when I was starting
as an entrepreneur.
Now it's a lot of sustainability as well.
So I refuse to dress in fast fashion
because I know the impact that it has
on the environment so I stand for those things,
in whether it's my website or when working with clients
or in my Instagram.
- So you mentioned fast fashion,
can you tell our viewing audience what fast fashion is?
- So fast fashion, I guess to make it a little bit easy
to understand, it's anything like your Forever 21's
and your H&Ms, it's fashions that are massively produced
in order to make it accessible or cheaper
for the consumer, so you will find usually
that these things are created in third world countries
whether it's India, China, you'll usually find
it in the labels and usually if it's under $10
and it's brand new with tags,
you can know that it's fast fashion.
- Now and I understand that the fast fashion,
part of the problem is they're just filling
the landfills, is that correct?
- That's right.
And it doesn't just have an environmental impact
it has an impact on lives.
The workers in the factories that are working
to get these things massively produced
since there's such a big desire for it
they have to have such a fast turnaround
for these pieces, they're working year round,
12 hour shifts, get paid $2 a day
and it's so heartbreaking and people think
there's nothing they can do about it.
There really is, you vote with your dollars
every single day, so if you refuse to purchase those things
these big retailers will take note.
- So Elizabeth, what's on the horizon for you next?
- So I'm actually working on an online course
that is going to be available to the masses.
Instead of working with me one on one,
women will be able to access this from around the world
and I'm so excited to make this available, you know,
to women who are just in need of some confidence boosting.
- I love that.
So Elizabeth, what were some of the toughest challenges
you've found as a Mompreneur.
- Some of the toughest challenges were time management.
Really deciding what was more important,
was it education, was it work, was it quality time
with my family and my daughter, or friends and family?
So being able to manage my time really taking the time
to be aware of you know, where is my time going
and what are the priorities in my life,
were definitely some of the toughest challenges
that I went through as a Mompreneur.
- So tell me how your mom feels about you
being a college graduate and an entrepreneur
and you've got this fabulous Instagram following.
How does she feel about that?
- I'm not gonna lie, I think I caught her off guard
when I told her I was quitting my nine to five.
My very secure, you know, regular paychecks and salaries.
I was letting all that go in order
to pursue this crazy idea to help women
discover their style and empower them through style
and confidence, so at first I would be lying if I told you
she wasn't surprised, I think after that,
she just decided that as long as I was doing
what was making me happy,
she always told me to trust my gut
and things would just work out in the end.
So she was very excited for me
and still roots me on from afar.
- So Elizabeth, you've been a paycheck player
and now your an entrepreneur.
What are the differences?
- One of the biggest differences
is not having a paycheck to fall back on every Friday
or biweekly or whatever that looks like.
My husband still holds a regular nine to five
salaried position so seeing his paycheck roll in biweekly
can sometimes make me a little sad.
But I will say that it just makes me work a lot harder.
I set money goals and now I know that
it's in my power to get that into my bank account.
It doesn't have a glass ceiling,
it doesn't have limits.
I can make as much money as I set my mind to
and I just have to write it down
and get out there and achieve it.
So instead of having limits like I would
at a nine to five now I can find as many streams
of income as I want and really set my own limits.
- What was your biggest challenge going from
paycheck player to entrepreneur?
What was the scariest thing?
- Other than letting go of that steady paycheck,
one of the scariest things of making that transition
was understanding how I was gonna prioritize.
So again back to that time management,
I wasn't sure what do I concentrate on?
Do I do the Instagram feed that attracts the people?
Do I work on the marketing
and making all my services visible?
Do I start an online shop where people
can purchase my things right away?
I think that was one of the hardest things
and in the transition knowing where
to place my time was tricky.
- Are there any things that you would like
to leave with our audience?
Any tips or strategies that you want to leave a
woman that wants to possibly be an entrepreneur?
- Yeah for sure.
Well definitely for work from home moms,
or a stay at home mom, you do not have to dress
for your surroundings.
I know that it's very easy to be in lounge wear,
to be in flip flops running around the house.
But don't dress for the position you're in,
dress for the position you want.
So whatever that is that empowers you,
whether it's throwing on a nice coat
or a nice pencil skirt or even if it's a nice jumpsuit
that you usually wear to date night
but you want to wear it on a Monday morning
just to be more productive, there is nothing wrong with that
and there's no such thing as saving that outfit
for a special occasion.
I think the now is a special occasion,
don't worry about the later, wear what you want now.
Because I really think clothes has the power to
bring confidence to people
and when you start with yourself
and really prioritize yourself
and how you look I promise things will start
looking up for you.
- Well it kind of goes back to dress for success.
Right? - That's right.
- Awesome.
Well thank you for coming.
- Thank you so much for having me, Leah.
This was a blast.
- It was a lot of fun.
This has been Leah Woodford with Smartfem and Friends.
Thanks for watching.