Flight Club:  Rebel, Reinvent, and Thrive:  How to Launch Your Dream Business

Flight Club is a call to rebel, reinvent, and thrive! The book shares the journey of women who “leaned out” of corporate to launch their dream business.

Book Description:

Flight Club is a call to rebel, reinvent, and thrive! The book shares the journey of women who “leaned out” of corporate to launch their dream business.

Felena Hanson, founder of Hera Hub, shares her personal story and rise to entrepreneurship. The book also features the journeys of and advice from six courageous female entrepreneurs: Debby Eubank, Linda O’Keefe, Lorin Beller, Sara Clark-Williams, Deirdre Maloney, and MaryCay Durrant. Each shares an exercise to help you craft your flight path.

The final section of the book includes access to an online platform (www.StepsToStartup.com) which walks you through 17 foundational steps of launching a business. Book buyers will receive three months free access!

This book is for you if …
You are tired of building someone else’s dream
You want to pursue your passion as a career
You are over the corporate politics
You want more control of your time and life
You don’t want to build your dream business alone!

Learn more at www.FlightClubBook.com and www.Facebook.com/FlightClubBook

Buy the Book :  Amazon

Meet the Author:

Felena is a long-time entrepreneur and marketing maven. Her latest venture, Hera Hub, is a spa-inspired shared workspace and community for female entrepreneurs. This as-needed, flexible work and meeting space provides a productive environment for growing businesses. Hera Hub members have access to a professional space to meet with clients and to connect and collaborate with like-minded business owners, thus giving them the support they need to be prosperous. The company has three locations in San Diego, one in Washington DC, and continues to grow nationally via a licensing model. Her goal is to support over 20,000 women in the launch and growth of their business by 2020. Felena and Hera Hub have been featured in Inc Magazine, the BBC News, Forbes, and the New York Times. She is a published author and international speaker. Her book, “Flight Club – Rebel, Reinvent, and Thrive: How to Launch Your Dream Business” is available on Amazon.

Connect with the author:  Website  ~  Twitter  ~  Facebook  ~  Instagram

Win a copy of Flight Club: How to Launch Your Dream Business (print or ebook) with the option of a 30-min coaching session with Felena Hanson (open to USA & Can) 10 winners total

Ends Oct 15

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Interview with Felena Hanson

IT Revolution: In your life story, you were often where laid off because of mergers & acquisitions.  Did that false sense of security of working at a stable company help launch you into entrepreneurship?

Felena Hanson:  I think that was a big part of it.  I felt like I was putting my fate in someone else’s hands.  I felt that I had a better chance out on my own because at least succeed/fail… I was in the driver’s seat.  I had ideas that I wanted to bring to the world and doing it under someone else’s agenda was not an option.

You have the “fake it till you make it” mentality, how useful is that when a woman wants to launch their own business?  Why is it so important?

Women tend to be more cautious when it comes to making decisions and moving forward.  It is our nature to have everything in order and feel like we’re 100% prepared.  We tend to seek approval from others more, including earning advanced degrees, before moving forward.

This can hold one back in the business world.  For example, in a Harvard Business Review (HBR) blog post, “Why Women Don’t Apply for Jobs Unless They’re 100% Qualified,” women’s leadership coach Tara Sophia Mohr cited this compelling statistic from a Hewlett Packard internal report: Men apply for a job when they meet only 60% of the qualifications, but women apply only if they meet 100% of them.

I see many women plan and plan and plan to launch their business and never really get it off the ground.  For some it’s fear of failure.  For some, perhaps, it’s fear of success.  There is no real formula for being an entrepreneur – much of it is common sense and solid people skills.  Sometimes you just have to say “yes” and figure it out!

While I too was inches from losing my life in a car accident in my late teens (more of a split second between injury or death), how do you think such an experience changes you?

My car accident gave me a tremendous amount of perspective, of which I’m grateful for.  Perhaps this has made me more bold in my decision making and made me more tenacious when it comes to business.

Why is it important for a woman to “lean out” and start exploring a new journey?

Entrepreneurship is not for everyone, thus I don’t recommend “leaning out” unless it’s the right path.  Some women seek independent work to have more time with family, AKA work/life balance.  A study released by the National Association of Women Business Owners reveals that, while this is one source of motivation for 65 percent of women, the biggest reason (for 92 percent), is the ability to do something they are passionate about. This is closely followed by the ability to be in charge of one’s decisions and the potential for higher earning power.

A study from The Guardian Life Index cited in an article in Forbes (“Entrepreneurship is the New Women’s Movement”) found that “office politics” was mentioned as a driving factor for women who decided to leave their corporate jobs to start new businesses. The article states, “Many women view corporations today as being fundamentally flawed and limiting in their value structures…with the cost of starting a business at an all-time low, women are saying ‘no thankyou’ to spending years climbing and clawing their way up the corporate ladder, dealing with corporate politics, and working long days without feeling the overall fulfillment they crave.”

When women are feeling stalled in their corporate careers – underpaid, overworked, not enough flexibility – starting a business might give them more flexibility and control.

There’s something about the traditional corporate world that does not fully recognize women’s contributions or does not create a hospitable climate for women to succeed at the highest levels – whether it’s gender discrimination, family-unfriendly policies that punish women who choose to take time off to care for children, or just an overall culture that only rewards those who “lean in”.  Sorry Cheryl… we’ve found a better path.

According to data from McKinsey cited in Forbes, Millennial women, who are often already feeling jaded and disappointed with corporate America. The article cites survey results showing that 54 percent of Millennials want to start a business or have already started one, and 96 percent of Millennial women said that being “independent” is their most important life goal. All of these facts suggest that the rising generation of Millennials could be the most entrepreneurial women yet.

What advice would you give someone who feels that their job is not fulfilling.  What questions should they ask themselves?

That’s where the second part of my book comes in handy.  My contributors take the reader through identifying their strengths, passions, and desires and tries to help the reader find the intersection of where these align with market opportunity.  Here are a few identifiers that entrepreneurship might be the right path…

1. You are determined. Let’s say you have an idea but everyone is telling you it can’t be done. What are you going to do about this situation? This experience might be motivation enough for you to try to one-up the naysayers.

2. You want to leave a legacy. You aspire to live a bigger life, to make an impact, to make your presence known. As they say, if you’re not building your own dream, you’re building someone else’s.

3. You want to control your time. Maybe you’re most productive from 4 a.m. to 9 a.m., or perhaps you’re a night owl. Maybe you want to be at your daughter’s soccer practice at 3 p.m. or your son’s acting classes at 4 p.m. Instead of being told when to work and when to take breaks or a vacation, you could finally determine your schedule.

4. You don’t mind getting your hands dirty. You’ll have to do plenty of grunt work as a new business owner. It’s not always enjoyable, but you find it rewarding to see the fruits of your labor.

5. You’re a born leader. Having a great idea is one thing. Being able to communicate that idea and convince others to jump on board is another. If you have the leadership skills to round up the troops and motivate them, consider starting your own venture.

What are the rewards for launching one’s own business?

I love being an entrepreneur because I can bring new ideas to life, almost daily.  I have total autonomy to do what I want, when I want.  There is not glass ceiling or salary cap.  I love being able to help other people bring their ideas into the world and love that I’ve been able to create a community of women who support one another in their entrepreneurial journey.

What is the single most important quality or trait for a woman when starting a new venture?

DETERMINATION – Business is hard. Yes, anything is possible, but you are going to have to be willing to stay the course (even if there are pivots along the way). There will be long hours and lots of frustration. Some days you’ll feel like someone has socked you in the stomach—or, as Gary Vaynerchuk says, “punched you in the face.” There will be many highs and many more lows. You must accept this and let your passion pull you through.

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “Press On!” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. – Calvin Coolidge

What are some of the pitfalls and how can they avoid them?

Of course there are the basics, such as not being able to properly reach your target market or cash flow issues but one that many people don’t talk about is, “shiny object syndrome”.

In today’s world of constant bombardment, it’s easy to be pulled off track. Everyone will try to give you advice, whether you want it or not. This will be challenging for you if 1) don’t have a solid business plan and 2) you are not confident in your direction. I’ve seen one comment send an entrepreneur on a completely different course.

Keep focused on your core business, and don’t let the dozens of other ideas that come your way pull you too far off track. I recommend getting an idea journal or using a platform like Trello to note down all of those “great ideas” and “advice.” After you have a solid foundation for your business, then you can go back and explore some of these ideas.

Focusing is about saying no. – Steve Jobs

What is the FIRST thing someone should do when they have a new business idea, but don’t know where to start?

Find community.  Surround yourself with people who can help and support you.  This can often be found in a business accelerator or coworking space.  Don’t do it alone!

To home office or not to home office…that is the question…what is your answer and why?

I ran my marketing consulting business out of my home for 8 years.  Yes, it was cost effective and convenient but it wasn’t the right solution 5 days a week.  That’s where being a member of a coworking space can be a game-changer.  Working for yourself, by yourself gets old very quickly.  Sometimes it’s a matter of not having access to trusted business advisors.  Sometimes it’s the isolation that get’s to you.  For me, it was having a hard time focusing.  Too many distractions.  Hera Hub offers flexible memberships for those who want to come in just a day or two a week.

Where can women find help to get traction when starting out?

Two government funded agencies that can be a great resources for all entrepreneurs – SCORE & SBDC.  They provide a mix between free/low-cost workshops and access to mentors.

When you are partway through your journey, why is it important to look back at where you started, rather than look towards where you want to go?

It’s important to me to do both.  Looking back helps me appreciate how far I’ve come and keeps me grounded.  Looking forward is a critical part of business growth… you have to know what you’re aiming for.  But equally important for me is to be in the moment.  I’m grateful to be alive and have the opportunity to build a business that has, so far, supported over 2,000 women in the launch and growth of their business.

If you were allowed to put up a billboard on a busy highway with only one phrase, what would it say?

Don’t take yourself so seriously.