Lifestyle empowerment guru, Abiola Abrams, is an award-winning author, motivational speaker, advice columnist, popular TV and media personality and self-worth coach. As the founder of Womanifesting University, she empowers spirit-based women leaders to have better relationships with themselves, their businesses and their partners. As seen on networks from the Discovery Channel to the CW, Abiola’s life manifestation tools include “The Sacred Bombshell Handbook of Self-Love”, African Goddess Affirmation Cards, Chakras on Fleek meditation journey, “Life Coaching Startup” eBook and the Spiritpreneur School podcast. Read her blog at SacredBombshell.com.
What motivated and inspired you to start your own business?
I was motivated and inspired to start my own business by the fact that I always knew that I wanted to uplift and empower women – but I didn’t want to do it as a side-hustle. I had to figure out how to use my gifts and talents as a writer, speaker and healer to build a business.
Tell us about your business.
I am the head goddess in charge, the dean and founder of Womanifesting University. Womanifesting University is a sacred and fun online-based hub that inspires soul-based women leaders to stop playing small, get out of their own way, and step into their feminine power. I do this as an award-winning writer, transformational speaker, media personality, and life manifestation coach, through my online courses and programs.
I also create physical products like my African Goddess Affirmation Cards and Womanifesting Goddess Affirmation Cards and meditation albums. In addition, I do live events and retreats, like the upcoming Abundance, Pray, Love Goddess Retreat in Bali, Indonesia.
Are you currently running any promos/contests/giveaways that you would like our readers to know about?
I have three exciting giveaways:
- Free Coaching Business Kickstart Course
- Free ‘Chakras on Fleek’ meditation album
- Go to chakrasonfleek.com and use coupon code LIFELOVESME
- Free Spiritual Business Success Camp
List awards/certifications/accomplishments.
As a TV lifestyle expert and media personality, I have given advice on networks from MTV to BBC. As an advice columnist, I write the popular “Dear Abiola” advice column for Essence Magazine. I am the winner of an African American Literary Award for Best Self Help Book for my last book “The Sacred Bombshell Handbook of Self-Love“.
My blog SacredBombshell.com was chosen Best African American Lifestyle blog from Black Enterprise Magazine. My blog has won several awesome awards including:
- Psychology of Eating’s “Best 50 Women’s Empowerment Blogs”
- Guided Mind’s Top 101 “Most Inspiring Blogs”
- 2017 #38th spot on STDcheck.com’s “Top 100 Sex, Lust and Love” blogs
I also have an undergraduate degree from Sarah Lawrence, a master’s degree from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and a master coaching certification in neuro-linguistic programming (NLP).
Where is your business based?
The beautiful thing is that my business is not location based. I have coaching clients I work with worldwide, both one-on-one and through my online courses, products and programs. I speak around the country, and now around the world! I am going to be speaking in London, Paris, the Bahamas, as well as Bali, so I am proud to say as a first generation American daughter of Guyanese immigrants, that I am an international speaker.
What were the first few steps you took to get your business up and running?
The very first thing is to figure out the value you have to offer, and who you are going to offer it to. In my Spiritpreneur Warrior Business Sisterhood coaching mastermind I call it the “UGP”- Unique Guru Proposition.
- You need to figure out what it is you are offering,
- What is special about what you have to offer,
- And who is your ideal client or customer.
Most people are really afraid to niche down. I was one of those people. But if your niche is too broad and you are speaking to too many people, it’s the same as if you’re speaking to no one.
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness of your business and getting new customers?
Speaking, whether it is in person, via podcasts or through videos, is a really effective way of raising awareness for your business, giving value, and getting new customers. I have a YouTube channel, I also have my Spiritpreneur School Podcast on iTunes. Whether you are using Facebook live, YouTube live or Periscope, you can just start to communicate with your tribe right now. We don’t have to wait for anybody. You can start in your living room, turn on your camera, and just go for it.
What have been your biggest challenges so far?
One of the biggest challenges in the beginning was trying to figure out a niche. This is because, like many people, I had ‘people-pleaser syndrome’, which can cause your personal issues to leak into your business. I didn’t want to turn anyone away. I didn’t want to turn anybody off. It is important to realize everybody doesn’t like you anyway. You are not for everyone. And I’m not for everyone. Once I was able to realize that and say things that would have been unpopular in some circles like “I’m going to call my ‘goddess tribe’ the “Spiritpreneurs” – it was immediately freeing. It turned away the people who were not into that, and turned on the people who were. That’s what you want to do. You could be potentially very polarizing, but that’s okay.
How did you overcome these challenges?
The biggest thing was making a decision that I was going to serve one tribe: my fellow new age, weirdo, badass, spiritpreneur, goddess, warrior sisters. If we are on a coaching call, we may be talking about mailing lists, but we are going to meditate first or perhaps do a prayer or intention or pull an affirmation card, and we all totally get that.
Now I just create things that my tribe tells me that they need, like the Coaching Business in a Box Kit.
How do you keep motivated through difficult times?
- I think that it is really important to keep up your self-care. Having a business is not for the faint of heart. I know that it is really sexy and exciting these days to call yourself an entrepreneur, but you are still working. You are going to work really hard, and it feels like play when we are excited about what we are doing. But there are also going to be times when you have to do things that you don’t necessarily want to do.
- Keeping your eyes on the prize is a way of staying the course. Knowing that I have a greater mission and staying focused on that is the way to go.
- Meditation, self-love, and journaling are important self-care practices for me. That’s why I create meditation albums out, the Sacred Bombshell Self-Love Meditation album as well as the Manifest Your Miracles: Magic and Mojo. I have decks of affirmation cards: the African Goddess cards and the Womanifesting Goddess cards. And then I also have an online sister circle, Manifest Your Magic! Monthly Moon Circle, which is a sister circle and source of support for women. We meet monthly live online on the new moon.
How do you distinguish yourself from your competitors?
The strongest way to distinguish yourself from competition and actually do away with the idea of competition is by being authentically you. No one can beat you at being yourself. There are a zillion bloggers, coaches, speaker, and writers, but there is no one that has your authentic combination of weirdness and magic. It’s about being more authentically you, bringing all of your quirks and all of your things that are unique about you to the table. Then, you are choosing and creating your niche. There are other people in your space, but they are not necessarily your competition. You are your niche.
What is the best advice you have received recently?
The best advice I received recently came from writer Marianne Williamson who said that if you are a conscious person, it’s not just “okay” for you to be wealthy, abundant and rich, but we have a duty to be abundant so that we can truly make change.
What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?
Persist. A large percent of businesses fail within five years, but a lot of people give up after one or two years. Rather than thinking of your failures as, “OMG, I failed. Now I can’t do it anymore,” think about what you learned and apply it going forward. It doesn’t mean that you just blindly go forward, doing the same thing over and over again. It means that you adjust your course. Refine your ideas and take steps towards your goal.
What are your favorite business tools/resources and why?
I’m in love with Leadpages! It helps you create such beautiful sites and presentations. It makes the whole process of collecting leads and clients ‘pretty’. I don’t think of my client and customers as distant and nameless; they are my family, my friends. I feel like I’m in service to them. I love them. So, the fact that I can personalize and package my offerings in a beautiful way makes a difference to me. Leadpages helps me do that (and they are not paying me to say that!).
What is a good article or book you have read recently?
I recently read “You Are A Badass At Making Money” and interviewed Jen Sincero, the New York Times #1 bestselling author, for my Spiritpreneur podcast. I think it’s a good book and I recommend it.
What are you currently learning about for your business or looking for help with?
I recently re-launched my YouTube channel. I love broadcasting on YouTube and I have an awesome community there. I want to do better by them. So the way I’m doing that is by asking them what kind of videos they want me to make.
Come on over there and hang with me! I also want to be doing more Facebook live videos. I want to get to a place where I’m doing about three videos a week, and right now I am doing one. I advise my clients to be as visible as possible, so I’ll be taking my own advice.
What are your goals for the next few months and how are you striving to achieve them?
I am launching the Coaching Business in a Box Kit, this will help coaches, healers, trainers and consultants to start, grow, or save their empowerment businesses. I’m also headed to Bali for my Abundance, Pray, Love Goddess Retreat.
I’m really excited about my Money Mindset Reset course launching this summer. Along with my new Sacred Bombshell Self-Love Kit and Self Love journaling cards. I’m going to be speaking later this year on the Creativepreneur Summit at Sea Cruise to the Bahamas. I’ll be speaking in London, UK at the College of Psychic Studies on September 29th and October 1st. Life is beautiful! I’m just loving my tribe of soul based women leaders and going to try to serve them to the best of my ability.
What social media outlets do you use? List them below.
Twitter @abiolatv
Instagram @abiolatv, @spiritpreneurlife
Facebook www.facebook.com/abiolatv
Facebook Sister Circle Group www.IManifestMagic.com
New Coaching Business Facebook Group www.CoachingBusinessTribe.com
Blog www.sacredbombshell.com
Website www.WomanifestingUniversity.com
Email business@abiolaabrams.com
Hashtags #spiritpreneur #womanifesting #sacredbombshell
abiolatv says
This is awesome! Thank you for this incredible women’s empowerment site. i know that you are encouraging many to be their own bosses. xo