We recently connected with Sharonda Harden and have shared our conversation below.

Sharonda, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.

Hey world, i am Sharonda Harden. I now have to reintroduce myself as the OLBA Harford County Chapter President. I have been in the business world for about 5 years now. I have owned multiple small businesses. All have not stopped due to me being one person and struggling with growing one and moving on to another because i did not understand how important collaboration was. I burned myself out most days with offering so much, and it just being me. I financially hardened myself due to not having proper business education in finance. I’d say I’ve always been reachable and coachable but , a little prideful at times. And the combination of all this was a recipe for disaster. So when i sat down to rest, one day became and week, and a week has now become months. I am actually revamping and branding myself into one huge enterprise. How in the world do you do that you wonder? Well let’s chime in. I joined a woman’s networking group called The Opulent Ladies Business Association, here wise women connect and collaboration is the new currency. I have a role in the network where i host a monthly business exchange, and help to train upcoming ambassadors. At my networking events you connect with other women looking to grow their business. We also offer free business information from qualified experienced business owners who give us the recipe to advance in areas we need. You see i have gained exposure, business, and more education for all of my own businesses and skills. I think the part most people lack on is consistency, guidelines, and the fact that 80% of the thriving businesses have a network behind them. Even if one person is the face of the company. Connecting with like minded people is the key to a driven success. I’ve only been in my position for some months and the change in business for me is monumental. Finally, as the future sure will come i intend to be a household enterprise name, so please watch me continue to grow. And i wish you all well!

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?

I’ve been known for doing so many different things. Even to the point where when i finally sat down with the CEO or OLBA , she said we’ve been watching your page and you. And we have a position we’ve created just for you. At the time i went home and was like what could they possibly want from me? And sure enough, it was the perfect position created for someone like me. I spent years slowly branding myself. It came with great sacrifices like monitoring what i posted and how, photos i posted, connections i had to let go of, missing some family events because i had to take a class. And the biggest one, was to reset my mind to look at myself as a walking brand. And really stepping in my power. I think the issue is most ppl fear failure and want to be a consumer forever, well you miss you fate to create. As i say fear is only in our minds, push past it. You’ll be surprised what you find!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Being my authentic self help build my market. You see all humans need 3 crucial things to engage. They need to be seen, heard, and felt. The market has become an emotional profit. We buy, look, or listen based off of our emotions. And i personally know that’s key in who and what i connect with.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Whewww. This one home for me. Life is definitely a journey, you see I’ve learned that i should never regret anything that’s happened in my life. Good days bring happiness, bad days bring experience, worst days give lessons & best days give memories!! With that being said, last year 9/17 /2021 i lost my mother from Covid. At that time, i was considering real estate (and i did) revamping, and just getting a better life. Working smarter not harder. So the loss of her really sat me down with grief. But sooner than most i saw that everything happens as it should. So i moved forward the best i could. Got back into a steady pace,. Then a year later i lost my grandmom a year later the same month my mother past. So now I’m looking at life skeptically at this point, but I’m not stopping because i know iam in my purpose. I know that this pivot season ins a breaking point for me. Life will always life.. but God is always Goding! You have to sleep , eat, and breathe the dream. Take all the time you need to heal and process things. But do not dwell there long!

Contact Info:

• Website: I actually am the president ambassador for a women’s network. And i do a business exchange and networking event every month once a month. Check is out here https://www.opulentladyba.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/hostess_concierge?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yellowbone.harden

Image Credits
YRN Photography