Elaine Rau decided to quit her job as a National Wedding Sales Manager in Chicago, pack up her entire life in one suitcase, and move to Honduras to be with her fiancé. Unfortunately, it was not as smooth a transition as she imagined it would be. So one day when she was stuck at home feeling frustrated because she had spent all her savings traveling down there, buying a car, and settling in… she decided to buy a website with the little money she had left to give herself something to do and decided to write about the people that she wanted to be – a female entrepreneur. And that is how her own entrepreneurial journey began.
What motivated and inspired you to start your own business?
I started ladybossblogger.com during a really tough time in my life. I had recently quit my really well paying job as a National Wedding Sales Manager in Chicago due to being burnt out from working 24/7, my lease was ending in a few weeks and I had to find some place to go, my fiancé was halfway around the world and after a year of long distance, I was getting pretty tired of it!
So I made a really big (and really spontaneous) decision to move down to Honduras to be with my fiancé without a solid plan as to what I would be doing there, where I would be living, or anything at all. I packed up all my belongings in one big suitcase and one carry on and put the rest in storage, then bought my plane ticket and landed in sunny Honduras the very next day.
The transition wasn’t as smooth as I had hoped and after spending almost all my savings on the plane ride there, buying a car in cash, getting an apartment, and all the other expenses of settling in, I was pretty frustrated. It didn’t help that I didn’t speak Spanish and didn’t have the proper paperwork either. So one day as I was sitting at home trying to find something to do, I decided to buy a website. I wanted to blog about the people that I wanted to be – a female entrepreneur.
Tell us about your business.
Ladybossblogger.com is a platform (blog) that highlights the successes AND struggles of female entrepreneurs all over the world to help unite, share tips/expertise, and empower. On our Instagram we share inspirational quotes from the featured ladies, on our Twitter we advertise their services so they can retweet it to their audience, and on Facebook we ask personal questions to get our audience to engage and share the post to spread the love. In our private Facebook Group we share videos that our ladies create to share their expertise on various topics related to being a female entrepreneur.
Are you currently running any promos/contests/giveaways that you would like our readers to know about?
For the month of October we are doing HALF OFF features! How it works is really simple: email me at ladybossblogger@gmail.com and I will send over the interview and the other info for you to complete.
Where is your business based?
I am currently located in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, however I am originally from Taichung, Taiwan. My business is 100% virtual so everything is done online.
What were the first few steps you took to get your business up and running?
I bought my domain name, decided what I wanted to write about, and started reaching out to people!
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness of your business and getting new customers?
Reaching out to people in female entrepreneur Facebook groups and my followers on my various social media outlets.
What have been your biggest challenges so far?
A week into it, I wanted to quit and completely change my idea because I wasn’t making any money and was desperate. But then my first payment came through my email, which gave me the push I needed to know that I CAN DO THIS!
How did you overcome these challenges?
I started believing in my abilities and myself.
How do you keep motivated through difficult times?
I seek people out and ask for advice or read something related to my business to increase my understanding of my field.
How do you distinguish yourself from your competitors?
I am very personable and give a lot of my time and attention to each and every one of my clients. I want to make them feel cherished, appreciated, understood, heard and know that they have the biggest supporter cheering them on!
What is the best advice you have received recently?
To check out SCORE mentors. It is a free mentoring program for anyone with a US business.
What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?
Everyone tells you to “find your passion”. However, you can be passionate about a variety of things, instead figure out what MOTIVATES you. Your passions can also just stay passions, a lot of the “passions” that I have are purely for personal enjoyment. For example: I love to scrapbook, make crafts and play around in Photoshop and have thought of how to monetize each one of those skills after reading articles about “finding your passion”, but then it would stress me out because it wouldn’t be fun anymore and the result would be me doing nothing about it.
I spent too many years trying to narrow down my passions instead of focusing on the motivating factors that drive me to want to be in business. I never would have thought that highlighting female entrepreneurs in a blog would be my ‘passion’, but I did know that I loved uplifting other ladies who were doing great things and that when I saw great things happening around me, it motivated me to also want to do great things.
What is your favorite business tool or resource?
I recently started using Canva for my Instagram posts and it is seriously the best and so simple to use!
What is a good article or book you have read recently?
Recently I have been reading a lot of articles from Nathan Chan, founder of Foundr Magazine.
What are you currently learning about for your business or looking for help with?
I currently have one lovely PR intern, Christian Cook, but am looking for two more, one for sales and the other for marketing.
What are your goals for the next few months and how are you striving to achieve them?
I am working on increasing my following, my email list, and my online network.
What social media outlets do you use? List them below.
Instagram @ladybossblogger and @elainerau
Twitter @ladybossblogger
Facebook www.facebook.com/ladybossblogger
Facebook Group www.facebook.com/groups/ladybossblogger
Website www.ladybossblogger.com
Google+ https://plus.google.com/collection/ISyInB
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/elainerau
YouTube www.youtube.com/channel/UCgjw_7BW-GoOMMHp6RQEWdg
Email ladybossblogger@gmail.com
Hashtags #ladybossblogger #entrepreneurblogger #womensupportingwomen
ideasthatbuildcities says
Her life is so inspiring! We should learn to never give up, thanks for sharing her story with us! <3
emmaandroseblog says
It’s so nice to hear about another blogger who has succeeded. It gives those of us just starting out hope we’ll succeed as well.