We were lucky to catch up with Breonna Bowen recently and have shared our conversation below.

Breonna, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Before we talk about all of your success, let’s start with a story of failure. Can you open up about a time when you’ve failed?

The launch of my first two businesses, Nectarous Co. (a skincare line) and GraclyWillo Group LLC. (short-term rental properties), happened simultaneously.

I started these ventures without a clear strategy or defined workflows, driven by a personal need for change. For six years, I had worked at a startup. While I received minor promotions along the way, my requests for significant upward mobility were met with vague promises and new goalposts that hadn’t previously been discussed. By the spring of 2022, I decided to leave, with $3,000 in savings. I had experience making shea butter and an interest in real estate, so I decided to pursue both ideas, hoping I could make things work and cover my expenses.

From the beginning, I quickly learned three important lessons:

1. After taking leaps of faith, it’s essential to create a strategy to keep moving forward.Scaling a business requires proper workflows and systems to sustain growth. I stayed in “fight or flight” mode for too long, blending desperation with survival, which prevented me from taking a breath and truly expanding both businesses into what they could have been.

2. Alignment is crucial for business growth. At GraclyWillo Group, my business partner was risk-averse and had a different understanding of what it takes to not only run but grow a successful business. Our misalignment in day-to-day operations eventually led to stagnation and, ultimately, the dissolution of the business.

3. You can’t rely solely on your personal network to sustain your business.With Nectarous Co., I lacked a strong marketing strategy and depended heavily on friends and family to be my customers. While that worked in the beginning, I needed to stay focused on my target market to continue building and growing the brand.

Looking back, if I could offer my past self advice, I would say: **The external pressure to be successful will fade. Stay focused on your “why” and commit to a strategy that aligns with your goals and the life you want to build.** The money will come. The customers will come.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Breonna Bowen
Business Optimization & Accountability Coach at Accountabee

North Carolina Native | 8 Years of Experience in Project Management, Compliance, and Business Operations

From childhood, I was destined to be multi-faceted. My parents encouraged me to explore a wide range of activities—golf, horseback riding, swimming, and dancing—immersing me in different experiences to help me discover my passions and develop where my interests lay.

My early corporate career began at a startup, where I quickly gained hands-on experience in project management, building systems, and creating workflows. I developed skills on the fly to enhance client experiences, which deepened my passion for entrepreneurship and helping others create sustainable systems. By 2023, I began freelancing, providing support to small businesses as a project manager, building automated, repeatable processes for those with high workloads but little time to develop systems themselves.

I identified two major needs in the business world:
1. Entrepreneurs launching their businesses who need to establish efficient workflows and systems to manage their time effectively without getting bogged down by small, yet essential tasks.
2. Successful business owners who, despite their growth, lack the time to integrate new systems, onboard employees, and maintain operations efficiently.

This led to the creation of **Accountabee**. To build and maintain a thriving business, accountability is key, from start to finish. As a business optimization and accountability coach, I help aspiring and established business owners clarify what’s needed for their continued success. Whether you need hands-on, dedicated support or someone to check in with you weekly to keep you on track, Accountabee is here for you.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Here’s a revised version of your text:

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**Lesson: Unlearning that vulnerability isn’t a weakness, but a strength.**

We’ve all been asked, “How are you?” Depending on who’s asking, you might tell the truth, but more often than not, we’re inclined to respond positively, even when things aren’t fine. When things started falling apart with Nectarous Co. and GraclyWillo Group, I kept answering positively and upbeat, regardless of who asked, even with people I trusted. I was drowning, but no one could help because I appeared to be treading water.

It wasn’t until I read *Profit First* by Mike Michalowicz that something shifted. He shared how he had to break down his true financial situation to his family, and though it was embarrassing, it was also liberating. I had always been seen as the person who could “handle it” or “figure it out,” so admitting anything less felt terrifying.

As I reflected on the idea of opening up about the state of my businesses, I realized that pretending everything was fine wasn’t getting me any closer to the help I needed. So, I took a leap and began to be honest. What I received in return was a safe space, support, and advice from those who had been through similar struggles and had come out stronger.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I think the entirety of my journey as an entrepreneur over past 4 years has been of resilience. Waking up everyday with a willingness to try over and over again, each time doing it a little better. Whether it be studying better ways to market my business or scheduling an in person meeting I’m struggling to maintain a connection with over Zoom, I keep going because helping others achieve their goals fuels me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.accountabee.me

Image Credits

Andrea Mathis (Black Dress)

Delk Develops (White Dress)