Why Women need to hire HELP

Do you want to know how I “do it all”? (Surprise - I actually don’t. Keep reading… and don’t miss my poll at the end.) 

How do you get it all done? Do you have things you need to get done right now? (Of course you do.)

Whether you are raising children, going to school, running your own business or working a 9-5 job (or all of the above), I just want you to know that you are amazing. I mean it.

As I’ve grown as an individual, as we’ve grown as a family and as a business, there are so many things I want to do, and goals I have set. I’ve had to adjust my expectations (up and down) over time, but right now one thing I want to do is spend more time having fun as a family (like cooking at home less and eating out more). 

I’ve had to be more strategic about how I spend my time and energy to stay present with my family, to grow as an individual, and keep the business running. I’ve learned some things over the years that I’d like to share. You can see if any of it is helpful and can be applied in your own life. (I hope it helps someone, somewhere).  

Side Note: Familial and emotional support is a huge blessing, but I’m not going to focus on that part today (that could easily be its own blog post).

Classes and Mentorships for being an entrepreneur

Jenna Kutcher - Been following her since the beginning. She focuses on inspiring and empowering women entrepreneurs.

Gary Veynerchuck - My work hard guru. Consuming his content helped me a lot in our beginning growing pain stage.

Maya Nichol - Has helped me out with social media and branding for Instagram. It's always great to pay experts to critique your work and Maya was a huge help in this aspect.

Classes and Mentorships for my artwork:

Skillshare (app with online classes)

Freya.art - Courses on watercolor

Rachelle Holowko  - I invested in her mentorship program, and she gives me one-on-one feedback on my designs and art skills. This is valuable as she's been in the textile industry for years and has a lot of the technical skills and company contacts that are needed to succeed as a surface pattern designer.

Aloe Corry is my amazingly talented cousin from Hawaii. She has gotten her Bachelors, Masters (and is getting her second Masters) all in Art. She is an incredible, established, recognized artist, and she has a lot of the technical skills that I don’t (I didn’t go to school for Art). When I was doing the Kaelepulu Mural, I hired her to consult me and to even help paint the mural. Her one-on-one feedback was so valuable - from if something was shaded correctly to how the colors feel and if they work with each other… (I could go on and on about the things she mentored me on). My experience with her reinforced the value of mentorships in real time, someone who has been-there-done-that and works right alongside, teaching each step of the way. You guys, that experience was priceless.  

Whatever you are passionate about (or even slightly interested in), I highly recommend investing in a mentorship. You’re actually investing in yourself. It’s always worth it, and you’ll see so much growth. 

My Business Team

My husband, Malu, does a lot of his own things, but he is my compass/North Star that keeps me aligned with my goals and purpose. Sometimes I get distracted or want to try all the new things, but he helps me stay true to the brand and reminds me that Kaulumaika is different because we value education - we educate ourselves and have experiences before we go and teach others. He is focused on raising awareness of Hawaiian culture and keeping the Hawaiian language thriving in our home and in our work. He’s the standard stick (and you do want to watch out for that stick - it can sting when it comes down.) I appreciate that he doesn’t hesitate to say what needs to be said to keep me on track. 

I also have my sister, Lori, on our team and she is currently my right-hand. She helps with social media which is a huge part of what I do. She has me plan ahead to stay consistent and keeps me accountable and focused.  It’s really important to me to stay in touch with my community, and to respond to every comment and message I receive, and Lori knows me really well and we’re constantly in contact so she’s a great fit for helping out in my DMs and comments. 

I love to write and talk and do all the things… but it eventually got to a point where I just couldn't do everything consistently by myself. Alicia is our wonderful copywriter… aaaaand my sister-in-law. (It just so happens that our team is made up of talented family members that we work really well with.)  She helps write the newsletter and blog posts (yep, like this one), works with me on website concepts and she helps Malu with his newsletters and website. When it comes to writing copy, I have been super blessed to have her help. I didn’t really want to pass on the writing (I really do love it), but Alicia has been an ideal fit. She’s from Kauai so she gets a lot of the Hawaii elements of what I do and where I’m coming from as a mother and business owner. She is great at putting my ideas into words that feel like something I would have written myself. Check her out. 

That’s the team, and how I have been keeping afloat. I don’t say that lightly, sometimes it’s all I can manage to stay afloat (but we have yet to sink) and the team really keeps things going.  

Whatever point you're at, whatever you’re working on (or dreaming about), I hope that something I’ve mentioned can be helpful to you. 

Please invest in yourself. When you invest in your own development (whatever that is) not only will you feel better about yourself, you’ll be able to give so much more to others. 

Invest in yourself as an entrepreneur. 

Invest in your business and build a team to help share the load and keep you afloat.

Surround yourself with people who help you and support your goals. It will make all the difference as you work hard and you deserve to have your wildest dreams realized. You’ve got this. 

If you could have help with one of the following things right now which would you pick?

1. Childcare at least 2x a week to get stuff done
2. Building a business website 
3. Taking a class or working with a mentor
4. Hiring a team to grow your business

Tell me in the comments!