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.

Monica Eischeid

I started my business in December of 2014 at the young age of 24. I had previously worked in a commission style salon after graduating cosmetology school. Looking back, I cannot believe I took such a giant risk and leap of faith. Not only was I moving to a new area but also becoming an independent stylist with almost no clientele. Read more>>

Christi Stafford

I didn’t scale by building funnels. I scaled by getting punched in the face—repeatedly—until I figured out how to stop walking into the same right hook. When I started, I was a solo act doing sales and marketing automation work on Upwork. It was high-risk, high-effort, and wildly unpredictable. Read more>>

Miriam Duenas

I built my business, Cute to the Bone, completely from scratch more than nine years ago. It started as a small grooming salon with a big heart, and over the years it grew into a place known for kindness, patience, and truly understanding each dog’s personality. Less than two years ago, I sold the grooming portion of the business. Read more>>

Michele Lando

One of my favorite sayings is that you can’t Amazon Prime everything. Most things take time, and building a business is no different. I started by doing this on the side of my “day job” in recruiting for about a year and a half before I felt ready to take a leap of faith and work for myself full time. Read more>>

Dayna Tames

I think a lot of people assume Tameless Lash Artistry grew quickly because they discovered the brand at its more visible stage, when I was winning awards, judging internationally, or teaching. But there was a long stretch in between where I was learning, experimenting, trying things that did not work, changing direction, and building systems that could hold up over time. Read more>>