Growing and scaling a business is hard and we wanted to hear from business owners who have successfully scaled a business. Below, you’ll find our conversations on scaling with some very talented and insightful folks.

Susan Greeley

It has been quite a journey of baby steps. I am a middle/high school art teacher of 41 years who loves to paint. I have spent most of my life questioning whether my art was worthy and wondering if it had the potential to be marketable. I always had the dream to exhibit my art and build a successful career through local exhibits and shows. I loved the idea that I could actually interact personally with other artists and clients who saw my art rather than in a gallery. In preparation, I actively sought out all the local art festivals near me and spent a great deal of time just talking to other artists about their journey and took careful note of the advice and info that I knew would guide me. My first step was to join several different local art organizations that hosted local juried exhibits that I could exhibit in. This gave me the opportunity to make personal connections and allowed me to compete with other artists and get a little insight to what might sell. Read more>>

Kayleigh Dwyer

This is a vastly loaded question I feel like, haha. Truly, everyday in this industry I’m still “scaling up”. Honestly, I still wouldn’t even say that today I’m actually where I would want to be. With that being said, I am far from where I had started. I’m not even going to lie, in the beginning I had no strategies nor tactics. I knew this is what I wanted to do but I was making everything up along the way. Yes, I absolutely was guided on how to do something’s, but until I personally found my “groove” I felt very, spacey if you will. I would say one of my strategies now is just being me and not who i thought I needed to be for people to like me. Of course everyone gets treated with respect but I like to think of services providers almost like finding friends or dating, sometimes you click really well with certain individuals and sometimes you don’t and that’s absolutely okay. Read more>>

Sara Shaul

When I first started, I was a one woman show juggling motherhood and trying to build a fine jewelry business as a side hustle to my 9-5. Fast forward a few years and I now run a seven figure E-commerce company together with my husband and a growing team of incredible people. My scaling process was threefold. Read more>>

Fatuma Khalif

my business has scaled over the years, we got partnerships from different parts of the world and we took every step possible to push and achieve what we have today, it could not have been possible without my amazing team and partners. i got extremely great team behind me who propelled the business and got us as many partners as possible. our clientele are mostly distributors, who buy in bulk, either distribute to retails in respective countries or have their own chain of retail and they resell in smaller quantities. my business is four different businesses in one, because they all share the same foundations and goals, our export business is very much vibrant and we are exporters fresh produce ,cut flowers ,coffee,tea and spices from Kenya to the rest of the world, we also invite our customers back to the country for coffee,tea tastings and safaris, we also have a safari company which gives our customers tours around the country. Read more>>

Rhysa Anderson

It’s hard to believe that only 6 years ago, Baddhare Salon opened it’s doors with just three hairstylists and myself. Fast forward to 2022 and Baddhare became a seven figure business with over twenty employees. Yes, we scaled quickly and yes, there was a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and maybe a little swearing along the way. I like to use the silly analogy that managing hairdressers is like trying to heard a group of wild cats…lol. Generally the beauty industry is full of creative and independent individuals with big personalities. I learned very quickly that if I wanted to grow Baddhare, I would need to organize my business with systems, policies, budgets, and a growth path for all employees to see their career potential. Read more>>

Brionna Patri

I scaled up with my business by constantly posting on social media, taking behind the scene photos, interacting with the community and attending continued education/ training courses. Social media has become such a huge benefit for small business owners by reaching people from all over… When you continuously post on social media it gets your name out there and allows potential clients to see your work. Nobody wants to book a service with unknown results! Read more>>

Tia Slightham

To be honest, I didn’t set out thinking that I would one day become a parenting coach, let alone start and run my own business. I’m a firm believer in the cliche saying, “everything happens for a reason.” With this belief at hand, I hold a very strong value in focusing on my journey step by step, instead of only looking ahead at the outcome. Read more>>

Jen Shaffer

When I first started out in 2017, I was blindly trying ideas. It was basically like throwing darts with a blindfold on, hoping something lands where it should. Through trying loads of ideas like print ads and tables at farmers markets, I slowly started to see what methods were gaining traction. I wasn’t afraid of putting my business out there for exposure, but I definitely wasn’t using the right methods in the beginning. My business slowly grew each year, but it was mostly by word of mouth referrals as my other attempts fell flat. It wasn’t until I started posting daily genealogy tip videos on TikTok in 2022 that my business really took off. That was the magical ingredient that I needed to reach my right client audience. Read more>>

Claudia Villalobos

I embarked on my entrepreneurial journey with a profound vision—to foster the love of art within our community. My goal was to break down the barriers that separated art from both adults and children. I kicked off my venture by pioneering the concept of “Paint and Sip,” but with an innovative twist: I introduced a mobile Paint and Sip experience and even included complimentary wine. This was during the height of Paint and Sip’s popularity, and my unique mobile approach set me apart. Read more>>

HERC GTH

It definitely take’s persistence, patience, and perseverance to build anything from the ground up, especially if you’re doing it the RIGHT way. Although tactics and game plans may change as I’ve learned more along the way from the beginning I knew I wanted to build a brand that’s inclusive and authentic. I also knew that Inwould have to be willing to evolve. And I think those principles has always carried Me in being able to grow My Brand. I had no blueprint to follow or prior knowledge before I begin, but I knew if I kept pushing and stayed consistent I could figure it out, and that has helped Me progress at every stage. Read more>>

Laura wilson

I started Natural PIlates in 2005 when i was only 24 years old. Originally from Romania i was only here for about 3 years at that point in time so i was just learning step by step on how are things working. When i moved in USA from Romania i started with cleaning for motels, then hostes in restaurant, So it was a steping stone process. soon after i went to massage school which led me to work into a PT office where they were teaching pilates for rehabilitation. That Was my first intro to pilates. I started my businss with one room and couple pilates mashines. I started building my businss with one client one at the time. My space is across the street from the Peninsula hotel, which is a busy street with hair and nails salons, so i started to meet a lot of people. Read more>>

Jorden Durkee

I started photography in high school. I worked at a coffee shop and saved up enough money to buy myself a camera. Originally, I wanted to start doing photography just to take photos of my friends to post on Tumblr. However, I’ve always had a love for music, I was always going to shows. One day, I was looking up shows to go to on Facebook Events and I found one at a local record store. I normally wouldn’t bring my camera to shows, but I felt a desire to bring my camera this time. Read more>>