We recently connected with Saundra Gilliard and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Saundra thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about the early days of establishing your own firm. What can you share?

The start of Femininely Free! evolved organically. It began as a commitment to helping ambitious women break-free of the social conditioning that was preventing them from maximizing their success and reaching their full potential, both personally and professionally. The seed was planted when I was 15 years old. Shirley Chisholm called for a “bloodless revolution’ in support of her political campaign. That’s when I first realized that there was a social limit on what women were expected to achieve, regardless of their dreams, aspirations, training or capabilities. Later, I witnessed how these imposed limitations were applied in the academic arena, and experienced them when I worked in a male focused environment. I knew I was not alone and vowed to join the revolution. At first, I used the stage as a platform to ignite social change. I created and produced storytelling performances and stage productions to counteract the stories sustained gender biased beliefs. My goal was to help women rewrite the stores that they we told, so that they could reframe the stories that they were telling themselves about what it meant to be a woman. I travelled extensively sharing my message and movement with women across the country. This social commentary grew into training and coaching individual women, groups and organizations. After 25 years, of focusing on the social narrative that was created about woman, I formed Femininely Free! and made it my business, to impact social change, one story at a time.

As a business entity, I have learned that I have to be more strategic about getting my message to my ideal client. Understanding my exact message and communicating that as value to my clients has been one of my biggest challenge. My biggest lesson learned is that passion does not necessarily translate into business. Yes, its true that you should absolutely have a passion for what you do, however, it does not always mean you can make a viable business around what around what you are passionate about.. My advice to those how are thinking about starting a business is;
1) do something you are passionate about. It will give you the staying power when thing get touch. They will.
2) make sure you have a product or service that solves a real problem for people. A problem that people can identify with.
3) know that value that our product or service brings to individuals.
4) be able to communicate the good that the business brings
5) run your business with your customer/clients in mind.

Saundra, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I grew up in a woman dominated household. This environment shaped my current beliefs. I have always known the power women, and structured a life embracing that power. Needless to say, I faced many challenges in school and at work because of my beliefs that women had the right and the abilities to do anything any where. My capabilities and competencies were consistently challenged. I was challenged and often confronted about my inability to “act like a lady”. My way of escaping became remembering the stories that my mother and aunt use to tell me about women who defeated the odds. Women who had special powers and sowed magic. I grew to love storytelling and the powerful role it played in ingraining social patterns and beliefs. I became a professional storyteller as used the stage as a social advocacy platform for more that 25 years. I created Femininely Free! as a personal transformation service to help women reframe the stories that they have been told. Femininely Free! provide narrative coaching services for women who are ready to break-free of the social conditioning that limits them from reaching their full potential. We provide coaching, training and support focused on changing the social narrative of women, one story at a time. I am most proud of the tangible shifts that I help women make in their personal and professional lives. I blended together my storytelling ability, corporate change management experience, and graduate level training in coaching and personal transformation to create my innovative approach to personal transformation. Our mission is to shift the social narratives that sustains gender biased beliefs and practices that so that women everywhere are able to reach their full potential.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

My commitment to disrupting gender biased practices wherever I am helped me build my reputation within my market. I am the branding tool for my company. My name and persona has become tied to my brand. I advocate for women. Period. It is important that I consistently represent my business mission and values, especially in the social justice space. I make sure that I surround myself with individuals who believe in my business and uphold my values. These are my business champions. They ensure that me and my brand stay top of mind for people who are in the diversity, equity and inclusion spaces. I am in a service based business. It is my business to help women reach their full potential, so It is imperative that I present that capability to my potential clients. My three keys to maintaining a business that is in alignment with your personal values are: 1) Be authentic
2) Know your why
3) Believe in what you do

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

I love the quote that people will not always remember what you say, but they will remember how you made them feel. I refer to this quote when I am thinking about generating customers. I believe that my best source for customers have been referrals. I operate a service based company. The majority of my clients are those I have met through other individuals or those that I have nurtured from a prior relationship. In either case – emotions are the main reason why clients purchase my services. I believe that customers are emotional buyer. If they feel good, comfortable and trust that you will bring them value and the right solution to their problem, they will purchase. I work on letting potential clients know that I always have the success of women feeding though everything I do.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.femininelyfree.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saundra_gilliard/