Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Karina Ramos. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Karina, appreciate you joining us today. Talk to us about building your team? What was it like? What were some of the key challenges and what was your process like?

When I first started my business, I was a one-women show and I actually loved it! I was so enthralled by the entire concept of bringing my vision to reality that being in the midst of the chaos is actually how I learned how to hire effectively for my business when the time was right. From the start, I prided myself in being able to execute the systems and processes my business needed to thrive. Did it always turn out the way I envisioned? As you can imagine, that answer is NO! Of course not but I learned to trust myself, the decisions I was making, and I was able to have a clear understanding of what was working and what wasn’t in my business which led to feeling incredibly empowered.

It can be really easy as a business owner to throw your hands up and outsource the task or delegate it when you are overwhelmed or can’t seem to figure it out. As the CEO of your company, you have to be able to dig your hands into every area of your business. You can’t effectively do that if you outsource the task before you have a moment to process it for yourself.

That doesn’t mean you have to be an expert in every area, what it does mean is that you are aware of how your actions (or your teams actions) effect your results.

One of my first real jobs coming out of high school was at Nordstrom, a high fashion retailer, and they have a value that they embody of ‘hiring from the bottom up’. As a company, from their conception, Nordstrom has only ever hired their executive positions from entry level hires. Meaning, every single person who runs the company at the executive level has had experience going through every single position available at the company. Meaning they started on the sales floor and then worked their way up through management. Even the founders of the company had their sons go through every position at the company before they were hired for their executive jobs.

That taught me a valuable lesson before I ever had the idea to become a business owner for myself. In order to effectively grow your business, you have to know the ins and outs of how each component works together and contributes to the end goal. I have applied this concept in my own business and have ensured that I have learned every area of my company before I outsource it.

This ensures I can train each team member properly for their role (because I have been there myself!) and it also gives me insight into how well the job is being performed. Hiring and training your team can feel daunting if you don’t understand what that person is brining to the table.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a business coach and serial entrepreneur that is dedicated to helping passionate female entrepreneurs who have decided success is their only option, up level their life and business. I provide women with the resources they need to turn their passions into monetizable businesses and design their freedom on their own terms.

I am an educator, own a stationary line called Hustle Flow Daily, host retreats all over the world, and support my clients through 1:1 coaching and my signature program, The Freedom Foundation™.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

I feel the most effective strategy for growing my clientele has been in providing an excellent customer experience that delivers the results the client is looking for consistently. Since day 1, I prided myself in ensuring my clients were my number 1 priority. Instead of focussing all of my energy into where the next client was coming from, I doubled down on my current clients experience, creating programs and services that continued to elevate their results. This led to my clients investing in my service regularly and many of them have been with me for years.

As business owners, we can easily get caught up in seeking the thrill of that next sale or client. My best advice? Treat your current clients like they truly deserve and they will build your business for you by sharing your name in rooms you haven’t even stepped foot into yet.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

I’ve been an entrepreneur for almost 12 years now – but I didn’t get here via a traditional route. It all started when I was in college in a prestigious pre-law program and I realized it was the complete opposite of what I really wanted to do with my life. I knew I wanted to do something different. I wanted to get to work with women and make them feel amazing and confident in themselves again. So, I started my first business as a stylist for women going back into the workforce after having children and experiencing a large pivot in their careers. This led me to getting trained as a hair and makeup artist, and I combined my styling/beauty business to work on projects such as the New York and Miami fashion weeks.

Working in the beauty and fashion industries was fun but it soon led to burn out because I didn’t feel like I was truly making an impact anymore. I needed to switch things up (again) so as social media started to blow up, and I began to fall in love with being able to connect my work to a larger community, I took a position as Marketing Director at a local start up. I helped design and build over 120 new businesses within the few years I worked there, and although it was great, I still wanted to do more.

I wanted to work with clients on my own time, be able to travel regularly and not be restricted by working a rigid 9–5. I also knew I never wanted to be stuck on one general path of “success” – I am a multi-passionate person and proud of it. So, 8 years ago I decided to take the leap and finally start a business on my own terms, and I’ve never looked back. I quit my job and jumped full time into entrepreneurship. I honestly had no idea what I was doing, sometimes I still don’t! Like all great leaders, you just figure out. That leap of faith has led to a business that has supported over 20,000+ people from all over the world and my clients have generated $32+ Million in sales since 2017.

For the first time, I created a business around the lifestyle I truly wanted to live. And as a result? My business gave me everything I needed to be able to work at it full-time, thrive financially and make the impact I knew I was capable of making. My journey – having to dig into my passions, explore them and try them on for size before deciding whether it was truly for me or not – has instilled in me a great sense of awareness. And it’s that awareness, and my natural instinct to always follow my gut, which has helped me get where I am today.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thekarinaramos.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/thekarinaramos
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/thekarinaramos
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thekarinaramos
• Other: Retreats: https://thekarinaramos.com/retreats The Freedom Foundation: https://thefreedomfoundation.co/ Hustle Flow Daily: https://hustleflowdaily.com/

Image Credits
Samanta Katz Kayla Mendez