When businesses are covered in the media, often there is a lot of focus on the initial idea, the genesis moment. Then they almost brush over the middle part – the scaling up part – and arrive at how big and awesome the business is today. It makes for a fun read or in the case of a movie or show an entertaining watch, but it’s also a missed opportunity. The middle part – the scaling up part is where so many small business owners get stuck. It’s the part so many of us need more guidance with and so we wanted to get conversations going on the topic of scaling up.

Madison Reeves

I recieved my real estate license in August of 2019 after working as an unlicensed assistant for a real estate team for six months. I turned 18 in July of 2019 and started selling real estate one month later. In my first six months, I helped serve five clients. In March of 2020, during the midst of the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic, I made the leap to switch real estate teams. I worked for that team for three years and had the opportunity to scale my real estate production to an average of 35 transactions per year. Read more>>

Nicole Lee

When I first started my journey as a private chef, my sole goal was simple: to earn enough as an entrepreneur to pay my bills without relying on anyone else. I wanted to be my own boss, but I also understood that achieving that level of independence required laying a solid foundation. The first step was gaining the experience and education I needed to confidently stand on my own. Read more>>

Inga Samurl

When I first started my business, I had zero clients. I didn’t even have one student. I decided to work for free and teach one six-week computing class at the library. The head of all libraries came to my computer class, and loved what I was doing, and proceeded to give me more libraries, and he paid me what I requested. I did that for a few years, then I started sending more proposal to schools, afterschool programs, other nonprofit organizations, and churches. At one point, I was teaching multiple classes a day, at up to 5 sites. When COVID hit, I had to downsize for a year or two, pivoting to other businesses that I created to stay afloat. When the coast was clear to return to teaching in person, I scaled up a lot, because by then, I taught close to 15,000 students, but I wanted to have a bigger impact. Read more>>

Susie Park

This was probably the most challenging realization of my journey. Like most small business owners, I found myself juggling multiple roles, constantly trying to figure out where my energy and strengths were best invested. Early on, I believed I could handle everything myself, but after years of pushing through, it became clear that real estate sales — or any business, really — is incredibly difficult to scale on your own. The realization hit hard: if I wanted to grow, I needed a team. I could no longer wear every hat and expect to thrive. After 10 years of doing it solo, I understood that surrounding myself with a dedicated and skilled team wasn’t just important—it was absolutely essential. Read more>>

Angymer Del Carpio

Throughout her career, she had the opportunity to closely collaborate with her accountant, who, needing qualified staff to handle personal and corporate taxes in 2019, subcontracted her to work on these services for free, while she was still a full-time employee. She worked without pay and as part of her learning, starting at 5 pm and on weekends. Driven by her passion for accounting and her desire to start her own business, in 2021 she decided to leave her full-time job to found her own corporation, DCP ACCOUNTING AND CONSULTING SERVICES. Read more>>

Liz Tinker

Working in the salon industry collectively for 20 years, I’ve seen many different types of salon environment’s, artists, and business owners. There are multiple factors to “success” and getting to the next level that I’ve observed and also personally experienced. Every now and then you’ll see an extremely creative that will “blow up” and start off excited. 5 years in and that same person has left the industry. How does one “level up” let alone become established? Read more>>

Alice Tang

Scaling up my business has been a journey shaped by pivotal lessons and a willingness to adapt. When I first started in the financial industry, I was a solo broker, trying to handle everything myself. I prided myself on hard work but quickly realized I couldn’t do it all. Success required recognizing my limits and partnering with others whose talents complemented mine. Read more>>