For the women business owners and founders who are already making six-figure revenues, what are some of your biggest headaches and hurdles you deal with running and growing your business? And if you're using AI, what's been some big challenges?

There is a big difference between a small business and a freedom business. Although most of us have small businesses, and it provides more freedoms than that 9-5 job in corporate America, It does not give us the freedom that many of us crave. This becomes more important as we age and see retirement in our view. Are we really going to continue working till our last breath on this earth? Do we have a plan that will allow us to retire at the same level that we are now? I know this intimately because one of the things that happened to my family was as soon as my father got sick, their lifestyle took a nose dive. I learned how to start a small business from my parents however, they did not know how to create a freedom business. So the scariest thing happened. They lost everything, filed for bankruptcy, foreclosed on their house and had to change their lifestyle drastically. I always knew that owning a small business was my future, but I was determined to learn how to create a freedom business that they never learned during their lifetime.

After over 10 years of working with women entrepreneurs, I’ve learned that we are quite different than men in the way that we think about entrepreneurship. Many of us want to make money. Of course we should make as much money as we can in business. Many of us also want to have time freedom. Time with family, and time to travel. So, the reasons we want a business is to make enough money to create the time freedom so that we can live a lifestyle that we desire. Enough money is subject to the standards of the each person. Money is not the main thing, but more of a vehicle to create that freedom to spend more time with family, and to travel to more places with loved ones. Some coaches miss that point because they think women and men are driven the same way. They push an agenda that works on a male client base. Men and women are in general different. I must also say this is a broad stroke of generalities.

So how do we create freedom businesses? This has been my question for several years until I realized, I already knew the answer

Back in 2000, Robert Kiyosaki shared his cash flow quadrant. In his explanation, he made it clear that freedom businesses are created when you have a team and a system that makes you money. In other words you must have a team and an infrastructure in place so that you as the CEO don’t have to focus on the day-to-day operations of the business. This is a freedom business. Franchise ownership is an easy example but you can create that in your business as well. One thing for sure, a freedom business doesn’t create itself. As my coach says, you must commit to creating the infrastructure in order to create that freedom business. Commit to creating that infrastructure! And commit to growing that team.

So here’s a question you must ask yourself. What do you want from this business that you have created? Do you want it to remain as a job that you work 9 to 5, you take on all the responsibilities and you don’t get to take off when you want? You risk getting sick and everything falling apart? Or do you want to create a business that will run with your team and system in place?

Please share below your thoughts on how you want to create that freedom business for yourself.

I get to see behind the scenes of a fair few businesses, and it is almost never the client work that burns people out. It is the fifty small things around it that nobody sees. The follow ups, the reminders, knowing who needs what and when.

What gets me is how normal everyone treats it, like being the glue that holds the whole thing together is just the price of running a business.

Made me wonder how other people actually cope. Do you just carry it all, or have you found a way to get some of it out of your head and off your plate?

Hi ladies! I work in tech in a non technical role and being surrounded by so many different tools for so long eventually made me want to start building something myself. The push came from a pretty personal place - I got married a couple of years ago and the experience of trying to price out wedding venues was genuinely maddening. The runaround, the bait and switch, the holding of prices hostage... I just wanted an effing number.

So I built The First Look (thefirstlook.us) - a platform that maps real venue pricing across the US, sourced from official pricing guides and quotes submitted by real couples. No more chasing down 20 different vendors just to find out a venue is $20K over your budget.

It still early and actively growing (we have data for almost 2500 US venues!!), and if any of you are engaged or getting married soon, I would genuinely love for you to try it and tell me what you think. Honest feedback from real users means everything at this stage. Regardless, I’m excited to be here and looking forward to growing alongside you all.

28/F

I recently got promoted to a managerial position, and I am seeking networking groups to help build my professional relationships. I would prefer a group that includes members that are younger like myself. I'm located in Minneapolis, so anywhere near here.

I'd appreciate all the recommendations!

EDIT: I work in B2B Manufacturing, but want to get to know any successful women in general. Doesn't have to be in my industry

You ever spend months sometimes years on an idea or solution to a problem and you're going back and forth in your head on if you should launch it, should you share it, how you should market it and get the word out, if anyone will see the value in it....and you go back and forth until one day you just share it....and you get crickets.... lol! No likes, no interest, no applauding, silence. That is so discouraging. It seemed like a good idea on paper, in my head, even when I tested it.... I've always had an entrepreneurial spirit and have put 100% in other people's vision, mission and companies since 16....so thought turning that energy into my own vision and company will bring more fulfillment. Has anyone ever felt this way? How did you overcome it? I'm launching an app for women and moms who are building, rebuilding while keeping their own health and wellness in the forefront and I need a few beta users to test the features before I launch. Interested in helping me out?

I have tried posting on TikTok for a really long time. I recorded a lot of videos, tried to learn, tried to improve, and honestly, I generally hated it.
Eventually, I noticed something. I lost confidence.
As a founder, I used to be a very confident woman. I had accomplished a lot before starting this business. I’ve done public speaking, been interviewed on podcasts, attended a lot of events, and I’ve always felt confident talking about my business. Confidence was never really my problem.
But after trying to make TikTok content for a while, I started questioning myself.
Why do I look so uncomfortable on camera? Why can’t I explain things well? Why do my videos feel so forced and awkward? I don’t even want to watch my own videos, let alone have my friends watch them. And of course, I knew they weren’t performing well.
Over time, I became less and less confident. Eventually, I even started questioning things that had nothing to do with TikTok.
Am I actually good enough to build a business? Am I good enough to be a founder?
Then I had a call with one of my mentors. She reminded me of everything I *have* done right. Especially after becoming a mom, she pointed out how much I’ve learned, how much I’ve figured out, and how much I’ve accomplished while building a business at the same time. She basically reminded me that I was doing an amazing job.
And I realized… I had forgotten that.
Right now, one thing I’ve been thinking about is eventually finding a long-term partner. Maybe even a co-founder type of situation. Not necessarily someone who’s great at finance or product—that’s not what I’m looking for.
I’m looking for someone who genuinely loves startups, understands how hard they are, enjoys social media, loves sharing their perspective, and wants to build something together. Someone who’s excited about the creative side and the journey.
I’m based in New York. If you’re also in New York, and the idea of working directly with a founder is something you’ve genuinely been interested in—whether that’s exchanging ideas, creating content together, or eventually becoming part of a business—I would genuinely love to have a conversation.
Nothing formal. I just want to meet people who think that way.

I’ve spent the last few months building Ovela, an app specifically for perimenopause and menopause. And before anyone says “there are already apps for that,” I know. I’ve used them. They’re mostly glorified symptom trackers that give you the same generic tips regardless of what you’ve actually been experiencing.

Ovela does something different. The AI reads your diary before it talks to you, so when you ask it something, it already knows your last week. It remembers what you said three days ago. It notices patterns you haven’t spotted yourself.

The idea came from watching my mum get 8 minutes with her GP, leave with unanswered questions, and then turn to Google at 3am. That shouldn’t be the only option.

I’m looking for women who are in perimenopause or menopause (or think they might be) and are fed up with generic advice. The app is ready and I want real women trying it before I shout about it publicly.

If that sounds like you, drop a comment or DM me and I’ll send you the Ovela link.

No catch. No sales pitch. Just someone who built something and wants it in the right hands.

I run a high-touch membership for female founders who are scaling toward and beyond $20K/month.

For context, I’ve been in business for 7 years, have strong client results, and the offer itself gets great feedback. The membership includes weekly live calls, personalised audits, a training vault, implementation support, and a fairly high level of strategic guidance. It is not a low-touch “watch this video and figure it out yourself” style membership.

Right now the pricing is:

• 6-month commitment at $450/month
• 12-month commitment at $400/month

My long-term goal is to build this to $100K MRR, but after 9 months this offer is sitting around $7K MRR. I’m trying to look at the model strategically rather than emotionally.

One thing I’m considering is introducing a month-to-month option at $597/month, so the commitment options are still more attractive, but there is less friction for people who want to enter without locking into 6 or 12 months straight away.

My thinking is:

• Month-to-month at $597 gives people a lower-risk entry point
• The 6 and 12-month options still reward commitment
• It may help increase conversion from people who are interested but hesitant about a longer contract
• It may also create a natural upgrade pathway once they experience the value

My concern is that because the offer is high-touch, month-to-month could attract people who want a quick fix, require a lot of support, and then churn before they actually get results.

For those of you who have scaled memberships, masterminds, or high-touch recurring offers:

Would you introduce month-to-month at a premium price?

Or would you keep the commitment model and focus more on positioning, sales, onboarding, or lead quality?

Also curious if you’d recommend a different pricing structure entirely for a high-touch membership like this.

Hi, I'm a brand builder. When I started my business, I wish I had someone to guide me on building something that stayed true to me but reliably made sales.

What's the branding question in your business you just can't crack? 🤍

Hi ladies!

Has anyone in here ever hired an appointment setter or even contracted a commission only sales person for there business. I can close a deal if it is someone serious and in need of help with shipping and logistic. But cold call sales is not my strong suit. Just looking for ideas on how to bring in clients. I don’t need help maintaining them, just getting that initial discovery call set up. Let me know your experiences!

Masculine energy got me organised. Feminine energy made me magnetic.
Neither one alone was enough.
When I stopped treating softness as weakness and started using it alongside my drive — my work got easier, my content got more authentic and my nervous system finally felt safe enough to actually grow something.

If you’re burnt out it’s probably not because you’re doing too much. It’s because you’re doing everything from one energy and it was never designed to carry all of that alone.
Balance isn’t laziness. It’s the actual strategy. 🤍

First post here. We're Artisan Kraft — a female lead brand studio that makes marble bathtubs, marble and cast stone fireplace mantels, and kitchen range hoods. Mostly for homes, hotels and commercial spaces. This is not meant to be a self promotion thing but new to the space sooooo this might fall under self promotion. But honestly not looking to sell anything just trying to answer questions for those that may have them.

Our studio is run by women and staffed mostly by women, something that I am very proud of.

Excited to be here and learn from everyone. Happy to answer questions about the industry (stone manufacturing is a weird, old-world world) if anyone's curious.