Caneka Hardon is a woman who understands being busy. She’s a wife, mother of two, professional, entrepreneur, author, and advocate for women. She is the designer and creator of #YourDailySuccessPlannerAndJournal and founder of Women Empowering Women, a non-profit organization that promotes the empowerment of women through professional, educational, and social programs.
What motivated and inspired you to start your own business?
Interestingly enough, my husband and I were both raised in homes with serial entrepreneurs, so entrepreneurship came very organically for us. In 2007 or so, we were approached about a business venture in direct sales and marketing that we took advantage of, building a relatively large network of other entrepreneurs (mainly my hubby building and me supporting).
What I found was that I was naturally coaching and helping women in our business who were a lot like you and me—in that they were wearing many hats, managing multiple things, but frankly unfulfilled, and not growing into their full potential.
At that time, which was a few years later in 2009, I started Women Empowering Women. I had a baby that was three years old, was expecting my second child, working a full-time job, running the back office of our business, and desperately seeking organization and a little “Me-time.”
I personally began doing some things on a daily basis that proved to be widely successful and later created tools, systems, and programs to help other women achieve balance and success, not only in business but also in life.
Tell us about your business.
My God-given purpose, my passion, and my business are to Inspire, empower, impact, and serve women by helping them manage their day-to-day activities with their God-given purposes. It doesn’t matter if you are an entrepreneur, stay at home mom, or millennial, everyone at some point in life ponders the question, am I operating in my God-given purpose and how do I get the most out of my day.
My business provides women with simple yet effective tools and systems such as The Daily Success Planner And Journal!
Are you currently running any promos/contests/giveaways that you would like our readers to know about?
20% off of one-on-on coaching sessions… just use the code BOSS.
List awards/certifications/accomplishments.
- Served as a member and director of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc., MECCA Chapter and Member of the Year.
- Atlanta Regional Liaison for the SEC Women’s Committee
- Featured Speaker, Teen Investor Week Workshop, Atlanta Fulton Public Library System
- Recipient of the SEC’s National Director’s Award
- Regional Exam Program Excellence Award
- Featured in South Fulton Lifestyle Magazine as a “Real Wife” in the South Fulton community.
- Author, 10 Tips to Tapping Into Your Purpose and Living A Successful Lifestyle
- Author, Daily Success Planner and Success Journal
- Stonewall Tell Elementary, Cambridge International School, Featured Guest Speaker – Awards Ceremony (May 2016)
- Atlanta Union Mission, My Sister’s House, Atlanta, Georgia, Coordinated and Planned A Charitable Fashion Show
Where is your business based?
Atlanta, GA.
What were the first few steps you took to get your business up and running?
As I mentioned earlier, my business evolved very organically and naturally. I was already coaching other female entrepreneurs, and I thought if this system works for me, it may work for others. My very first step was creating and designing the product.
I had ideas in my head, notebooks, journals, and paper. I took the best of those ideas and created a prototype in Microsoft PowerPoint (yes, Microsoft) and later printed by Lulu, a self-publishing and printing company.
I also hosted events and conference calls to tap into the heart of what was going on with other women. As it relates to forming the business, I met with a young lady for coffee, and she saw the passion I had for women and suggested that I apply for status as a 501(c)3 organization.
She gave me a few steps of what to do, and I followed them to the tee. I am always reminded of how she so gently pushed me into a full-fledged business and one of the many reasons I love to pay it forward with other women.
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness of your business and getting new customers?
Whew! I always say social media can be a blessing or a curse. Like everything else it has to managed appropriately, but it has been one of the best ways of raising awareness of my brand and business.
I would also say referrals or tap-root marketing… your friends and loved ones may not buy your products or services, but their friends will, and their friends always refer others.
A referral is the biggest professional compliment, and it always warms my heart and spirit. Lastly, I would say networking and speaking at events has been the most effective ways of raising awareness of my brand and business.
What have been your biggest challenges so far?
My business is a one-woman show, and I’m running this small but mighty “empire” with so many moving parts. I’m the marketing department, fulfillment warehouse, customer service team, social media manager, photographer, financial advisor and CEO. Ha! Honestly, I love it, but one of my biggest challenges is growing, stepping out of my comfort zone, and doing things differently.
How did you overcome these challenges?
A big dose of faith and a lot of research. I have faith and confidence that this is what God is leading me to do. I have had other life experiences where I completely trusted God, took a huge leap of faith, and He provided, so this is no different. I trust Him!
Now that is the spiritual part, but in the natural, I also had to do a few things. You’ve heard that scripture “Faith without works is dead.” I had to do a lot of research.
Google is an entrepreneur’s best friend. I jotted down names of people who I needed to reconnect with and periodically asked them to lunch or out for coffee to share what I was doing differently.
I created a cost of production and cost analysis to make sure I was profitable. And lastly, I took a huge risk, invested in my business and my personal as well as professional self-development.
How do you keep motivated through difficult times?
Yes!!! This is something that I teach to my clients in my coaching programs and throughout all of my books and planners. Self-care is Divine Care and vitally important.
As women, we give, give, give and daily you need a way to pour back into yourself without validation from other people or outside sources or influences… because trust me, those things will fade away. I teach women how to pray, meditate, and journal on a consistent basis.
If you do it consistently when there are difficult times, it will come naturally, and you’ll find all your motivation and inspiration there.
How do you distinguish yourself from your competitors?
My products are purposely simple to make sure that women can pick it up, use it on a daily basis, and look forward to doing it continuously. Women are completely overwhelmed and crave simple—yet effective and pretty things.
My brand is created to inspire, empower, impact, and serve women with tools to do what’s most important and aligns with their God-given purpose. Another distinguishing mark of my brand is that I am super transparent… you get the good, bad, and ugly. I over-share, because I know there is some lady who can relate.
What is the best advice you have received recently?
So I have to share this short story. It was a transformational conversation for me, and I knew it at the time. I picked one of my mentors up from the airport. She was in town for a meeting, and I just wanted to be in her presence. God had already been prompting me in my prayer and meditation to speak to her and serve her. So I was super excited.
We were driving, and she begins to ask me about some of my sales numbers. I thought I had a record year and was on track, but she said, “Caneka, you need to go big!” Oh no. My feelings were slightly hurt, and this sounds simple, right?
This, however, was groundbreaking. I called my best friend to share my hurt, but before the end of the year, I was stretching myself to go big! And what I realized was that what’s big to me may not be big to you. Your perspective, like mine at that time, may be limited, but stretch yourself.
Think of a big sales number or amount of revenue you’d like to make for a period of time… if it doesn’t scare you a little, it’s not big enough. So yea, the best advice that I received was to go big and having a mentor, or someone around you that can stretch you is critically important as an entrepreneur.
What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?
I would say, “Beautiful lady, you can do it!” If you are certain that this is part of your God-given purpose, you will inevitably achieve success. There are so many aspects of entrepreneurship but find a coach, mentor, advisor that will tell you what you need to hear and not what you want to hear.
What are your favorite business tools/resources and why?
Ha! Undoubtedly, hands down, my favorite tool is the DailySuccessPlannerAndJournal because it is simple yet extremely effective in organizing my personal, business, and career life with my God-given purpose.
I also love Aweber because it helps captures information of potential clients/customers in one database and I can follow up in a personalized way through a completely automated process.
And PayPal because I love those notifications.
What good article or book have you read recently?
Abundance Now: Amplify Your Life and Achieve Prosperity Today by Lisa Nichols and Janet Switzer.
What are you currently learning about for your business or looking for help with?
I recently hired an overseas supplier, so I had to learn international trade and shipping rules. I hired a local freight broker to help me, and it has been an interesting experience.
What are your goals for the next few months and how are you striving to achieve them?
Stoked because I’m going big! My overarching goals are to have greater impact, influence, and to give more but strategically. I’m selling 80% more planners this year and increasing participation in my group coaching by 5 times. I will achieve these goals by increased market presence, partnering and collaborating with like-minded women, sponsoring, speaking, as well as hosting women events.
What social media outlets do you use? List them below.
Instagram @dailysuccessplanner,@canekahardon
Facebook www.facebook.com/dailysuccessplanner
Website www.caneka-hardon.com
Email Caneka@caneka-hardon.com
Hashtags #InspireEmpowerImpactServe #YourDailySuccessPlanner #DailySuccessPlanner #DailySuccessPlannerAndJournal #WomenEmpoweringWomen #ClarityConfidenceCourage #Believe