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Founder@ Interview
Interview with Donna Maria
Credits@Amanda Richardson
“Create your own job, and, well, you’ll never have a job..” – Donna Maria
Today we feature Donna Maria, the founder at Indie Business Network. We hear their story in their own words, their successes, their challenges and their insights.
Let’s start by getting to know you. Can you please tell us a little bit about you and what you do?
I am the founder and CEO of the Indie Business Network. I have led IBN for 22 years. It is the first online membership business on the Internet. I am also an attorney, author, podcaster, and Certified Entrepreneur Mentor.
A great introduction and start to this interview. Can you please tell us, how did you start, from what age, and what made you decide to change direction and start?
Before I launched the Indie Business Network, I owned and managed a small aromatherapy cosmetics company and retail store where I made the products I sold. As my business grew, I felt the need to connect with other American Maker Entrepreneurs but there was no organization that I knew of that offered networking and training for businesses like mine. I noticed that I was naturally good at marketing my products while some of my colleagues with products that were way better than mine had a harder time marketing and selling their products.
I decided to offer business coaching services to assist them. After a while, I noticed that many of them had the same types of needs and questions. This led me to consider that I could help a lot of people with the same issues at one time. I loved the idea of connecting my clients so they could network and learn not only from me but also from each other. This led to the idea of forming a membership to serve and connect them, and the Business Network was born on January 16, 2000.
Thank you for that insight. So can you tell us…What does your business do and where is your company based?
The Indie Business Network launched in my hometown of Washington, DC, and is currently based in Charlotte, NC.
The Indie Business Network is an entrepreneurial training, coaching, and mentoring company. Our mission is to help American Maker Entrepreneurs build a solid and profitable business foundation that can generate income for a lifetime.
Our target market is creative artist business owners, artisan entrepreneurs, makers, and solopreneur product makers. We help them overcome their biggest challenges which generally revolve around areas of leadership, branding, marketing, sales, and growth.
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We help our members with things like business planning, community and confidence building, embracing technology, and growing a business that revolves around their lives and allows them to create success on their own terms.
What’s the story behind your success? What led to your aha moment? how did you get to where you are now?
The story behind IBN’s success is three-fold.
First, we have been extremely focused on a specific target market from the very beginning. We have never tried to be all things to all people. IBN serves one market to the exclusion of all others, and this has allowed us to be very clear and focused.
Second, IBN has been consistent. We have published a weekly newsletter for 22 straight years. We have managed a podcast since 2005 and published blog posts consistently for 15 years. We have never tried to be the biggest or the fastest, but we have made it a goal to be the most consistent.
Third, we embraced and nurtured relationships inside and outside of our industry. Relationships are the basis of all meaningful experiences in life, and we have been fortunate to be able to maintain solid friendships across multiple disciplines. We help others and we are helped. Most importantly, we go out of our way to remain in a relationship with our members who are the people we serve, and this has made all the difference in the world.
Thank you for sharing that. What’s been your life’s biggest lesson so far?
My biggest lesson so far has been to always keep my eye on the financial bottom line. When I first started IBN, I did not have a bookkeeper or an accountant. I generally knew how to make money but I didn’t track my expenses and costs as closely as I should have.
Had I done so from the very beginning, I would have become a better business owner sooner. I have learned from this experience, and today, we track and account for everything: costs, income, profit margins, etc.
I really don’t think I can answer this. As my life has unfolded, I feel like I have learned what I am supposed to learn when I have learned it. As I said earlier, I would like to have become a better financial manager earlier in my life, but as I reflect, I realize that I learned it when I needed to learn it.
If you were to go back in time, what piece of advice would you give to your younger self?
I have never once thought I should not become an entrepreneur. Becoming an entrepreneur has been the best decision I ever made in my entire life. One piece of advice I would give to my younger self is to choose my close friends more wisely. I was not a very confident person in my younger days, and I tended to try to be friends with everyone.
As a result, I was not always wise when selecting the people I spent my time with. Over time, I realized that I needed to be more discerning, and choose friends who would challenge me to grow and be my best self.
We’re nearly halfway through our interview so it’s a great time to ask how does your business run. What three tools make your business run better?
Three tools I am happy to share are WordPress, Infusionsoft, and Sleep Cycle.
IBN’s site is currently built on WordPress. It is easy to use and integrates with other apps we use to manage the business.
Infusionsoft of the program we use to manage our membership database. It integrates with our WordPress site and our payment processor, and allows us to manage our email and text marketing with general ease. It’s not perfect, but it works for us.
As a CEO, I need stamina, rest, and energy to enjoy life and business to the fullest. I use the Sleep Cycle app to help me manage and monitor my sleep. I tend to be a bit of a night owl, and this app helps me discipline myself to get good sleep.
What do you know now that you wished you had known before?
I really don’t think I can answer this. As my life has unfolded, I feel like I have learned what I am supposed to learn when I have learned it. As I said earlier, I would like to have become a better financial manager earlier in my life, but as I reflect, I realize that I learned it when I needed to learn it.
Credits@Amanda Richardson
What has been your greatest or proudest achievement or moment?
My proudest business moments occur when an IBN member tells me that my mentoring or training has helped her build a stronger business and be a better business leader. My proudest personal moments revolve around the raising of my children. It continues to be a great joy to see them thrive in their own lives as young adults.
What future life goals do you want to achieve and why?
I believe that entrepreneurship is for everyone, and my goal to empower and educate entrepreneurs has never wavered. My future goals include empowering as many people as I possibly can with the message that you can provide for yourself and your children because you can sell something you made with your own hands.
To finish our inspire questions…”We believe that sharing inspiring words can inspire others.” If there was one positive thing you would say to someone to inspire and empower them what would it be and why?
Create your own job, and, well, you’ll never have a job.
“Thank you it has been great learning more about your founder story and Indie Business Network”
To learn more about Indie Business Network Visit https://www.indiebusinessnetwork.com
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