I’m beyond excited for our next Brave guest! Heather Crabtree, Founder of The Savvy Community – the newest sought after membership site for Biz Besties is here to share with us from the deepest parts of her heart. I’ve been blessed to have known Heather as a friend & my personal mentor for the past several years, and I’m the first to tell you that what you see it what you get with her. She is so kind-hearted, giving, and she genuinely cares for others and their paths to success in this sometimes often lonely entrepreneurial world. Heather’s road to business & success defiantly wasn’t easy or overnight, she has put in some serious work to get to where she is today. Heather went to school & became a lawyer, but after experiencing major loss in her life, she soon realized that being a Lawyer wasn’t what was fulfilling her heart. She then founded her first business as a wedding planner and owned it for eleven years before selling it in order to persue her next passion of coaching & mentoring creative entrepreneurs. She founded The Savvy Business Owners Facebook group, which now has grown to over 10k members (Holy Moly!). And now, she has just launched the biggest project of her life, the Savvy Community, A MEMBERSHIP SITE EXPERIENCE WHERE FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS CREATE, CONNECT, COMMUNICATE AND COLLABORATE.
Heather is a true pioneer for creative entrepreneurs and she is always a step ahead of the rest with her dreams and aspirations. What makes Heather so unique is her willingness to share her smarts & her heart with others. Let’s jump right in with Heather, shall we?
Tell me about a moment when you were brave and stepped out in your business.
Honestly, I feel like this happens a lot with me. I like to do things that haven’t been done before or doing them in new and improved ways based on the needs of my community. If feel like I am brave every time I launch a new product or service. I was brave when I created a conference, but had never hosted one before. I was brave when I first started my business as I left a steady paycheck and stability as an attorney to become an entrepreneur. I was brave when I sold have of my first business to gain a business partner. I was brave when I decided it was time for me to exit the first business and we sold it. I was brave when I started consulting businesses over 6 years ago. I was brave when I launched by current business after selling the first one. I feel as an entrepreneur, you have to be brave every day, because the entrepreneur life is not always an easy one.
Why do you do what you do?
I do what I do because I want to help female entrepreneurs who want to grow their business but are unsure of the next step to take and feel alone in their business journey. I have been that business owner who needed the guidance and had to figure most of it out on my own. I don’t want anyone to ever feel the way that I did.
What is your business super power?
My business superpower is connecting people and building community.
What in your life has allowed you to give away what you give in your business?
I grew up with a large extended family (my Dad was one of 11 children), so I had community since the day I was born. We spent every Sunday at my Mamaw and Papaw’s house with ALL of the family and cooked lunch and ate together, shared stories and then all of the grandchildren would go outside and play together. Other families and friends would show up every Sunday too. This is where I learned all about connecting with others and building community.
What is the hardest thing you have ever went through in your life?
The hardest thing I have ever experienced was the death of my Father when I was 23 years old. He died suddenly from cardiac arrest (heart attack.) My world flipped upside down that day and completely changed how I viewed the big and little things in life. From that day forward, I have chosen to focus on being grateful for all that I have instead of what I don’t.
What do you wish you could tell the world more than anything else?
Live fully, laugh openly, love tremendously and be grateful for every single part of your life…the good and the bad. Learn from your mistakes, and don’t let the fear of failing stop you from reaching your goals and dreaming those big dreams!
What was the women like that started her business, and who are you now?
Oh wow…well, I was 24 when I started my first business so I was definitely young and naive, but also had the drive to succeed at whatever I put my mind to. I was determined to prove to the world that I could make it on my own as an entrepreneur. I worked really hard and networked my butt off. I keep learning along the way, always bettering myself. Honestly, I am still that gal today, but just a little older and wiser…and tougher, because running your own business (well, starting a business, selling half and gaining a business partner, growing a team, starting two more businesses on the side, selling your first business and then going full force with my current business after the sell) is not easy. You have to be self-motivated, determined to keep pushing forward when obstacles try to stop you and work really hard. But I would tell my 24-year-old self…”You are exactly right where you are meant to be. Stop stressing about everything and trying to plan out every detail of your existence. You may not see it now, and you will go on a little journey to get to the thing that truly lights you up, but each dot connects to another dot and you will be lead to your calling…the thing you were truly meant to do.”
Share your secret to success!
Dang, these are hard questions! Well, I don’t think there are any magic formulas to success. In fact, I think the definition of success is different for everyone. Right now, my success looks like this: being the best mom, the best wife and the best business owner and business mentor I can be. I am not always 100%, but I treat each person I meet online or offline with kindness and always start by giving rather than asking for something. I find ways I can help them, but still finding time for myself and my own care as well as my family’s. Success for me is spending the weekends with my family, picking my kids up from school and being able to take off and go play with them whenever I want. Success is loving on my husband and making time for quality time without the kids or work. Success in my business is about helping women to run a business that they are proud of and excited about and one that gives to them financially as well. For me, I want my business to fit into my life instead of my life having to fit into my business. I know my core values and my priorities and knowing those help keep my business in check so that it is not running my life. That is what success is to me.
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Thank you so much Heather for sharing your brave heart with us today. If you are interested in joining the Savvy Community, hurry before the doors close on January 30th!
If you love the Show Me Your Brave series, be sure to check out past interviews of some other fabulous entrepreneurs, such as Kristin Kaplan, Sasha Gray, Dannie Fountain, & Ashley Stork.
And if you are wondering what you can do to start being brave in your business today, download my free tips below!
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Here are 5 simple, actionable ways that you can start being braver in your business in 2017!
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