Team Size
Myself + contractors
Revenue
Not Disclosed
Location
Stuttgart, Germany
STart Date
Nov 2018
Our female entrepreneur today is Brittany May, the founder of Simply Happy Life. Influenced by her father’s entrepreneurial spirit Brittany started a fashion line fresh out of college from her small studio apartment. One year later she was running a million-dollar company with 6 retail locations. After she started a family she realized that she can’t commit herself that much to work and that she needs to make some changes. That’s when she restructured her entire business and got it solely online. Now she has the freedom to choose when and where to work.
Read on to find out more about Brittany’s journey to simply happy life and how she’s helping other women to grow their revenue without increasing their workload through proven smart systems.
INTRODUCTION
PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF AND THE BUSINESS YOU STARTED.
I am a mother of two little girls, a military spouse married to my best friend, a coffee addict and thrive in all things creative and problem-solving! I am a digital strategist and business coach to female entrepreneurs. I help women grow and scale their business by creating and building smarter systems. I’m all about increasing their revenue without increasing their workloads!
WHAT DOES YOUR TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE AND HOW DO YOU STAY PRODUCTIVE?
Every morning I start with a fresh cup of coffee (vanilla latte to be exact!) and plan out my day. Mondays are reserved for my “CEO” day where I focus on planning out my own goals, content and self-growth. Tuesday-Thursday I am working with clients and in between taking care of my girls, often going to the park, fitting in a nap or movie time, and then wrap up early afternoon to make dinner and spend time with my husband when he gets home from work. Fridays I either take off or typically treat them as my ‘catch-all’ day where I can catch up on any work overflow or take off as I like!
I am extremely focused on what I have to do and utilize an array of tools, self-created systems and automations to keep my work simple but effective. I like to plan my day each morning so I can stay in tune with how I’m feeling that day and create a flow for my best work.
THE JOURNEY SO FAR
PLEASE DESCRIBE THE PROCESS OF LAUNCHING YOUR BUSINESS.
I first started my entrepreneurship journey over a decade ago after I left university in London for fashion design and marketing. I had no desire to work for anyone else so I started my own business with a sewing machine I got for my seventh birthday and the few dollars I had in my bank account.
Today, I help serve women entrepreneurs who are passionate about what they do, but not willing to sacrifice their quality family time in order to achieve it! I help them grow profitable businesses without increasing their workload by building smarter systems.
It was a long winding journey that led me knocking on boutiques door-to-door, showing in fashion weeks across America, being spotted by a Nordstrom buyer and stepping in to take over a 50-year-old brick and mortar company.
I ran a chain of my own stores for several years working around the clock and living out of my suitcase between the stores, buying conventions, manufacturers, training employees, and our office and warehouse. It wasn’t until I had my first daughter that I became grossly aware that this lifestyle would no longer work for me.
I decided to flip my business model on its head and start from scratch with our back end systems. I transitioned the brick and mortar into a solely online business. Through family moves for the military, I continued to pivot and learn more about navigating business in the online space. It was through this that many other makers and store owners reached out to me for help. I started, Simply Happy Life, originally as a blog to share my tips and tools that had worked for me to help set my business on autopilot. It quickly turned into my first online course, then taking on coaching clients, to helping them outsource key missing pieces to get their business streamlined.
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT AND YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE SINCE YOU STARTED YOUR BUSINESS?
Honestly, above all the awards and milestones I have hit I would say my biggest achievement and also my biggest challenge are and have been the same, which is self-growth. Being an entrepreneur tests you and pushes you past limits over and over again. It’s an ongoing journey of self-realization, testing your determination and growth.
WHAT STRATEGY DID YOU USE TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS? AND HOW?
As you could have guessed I’m big on systems! So I have grown my business through my own funnels, networking and truly connecting with my clients and customers on a deeper level.
WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS?
I’m currently working on putting together new courses and packages for different ways clients can work with me to cover various levels of business owners and price ranges. I am continually streamlining my own business (as I practice what I preach!) and envision continuing to refine my processes and offerings so I can work less and accomplish more.
RECOMMENDATIONS & FINAL THOUGHTS
ARE THERE ANY RESOURCES OR TOOLS YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH OTHERS THAT HAVE HELPED YOU RUN YOUR BUSINESS?
Oh my goodness, so many! First, I think getting the right business coach for you is crucial. We don’t expect to just learn how to play a sport or new skill on our own and excel, we hire experts to train and coach us. Business isn’t any different! We don’t know what we don’t know! So that is an essential first investment.
And I love finding the right tools and systems to automate and make your business more efficient. There are too many to list but some of my current favourites are Trello to house all my processes and often used links and swipe files, The Pomodoro timer to keep me focused and on track and Freshbooks for my invoicing!
WHAT OR WHO HAS BEEN YOUR GREATEST INFLUENCE IN BUSINESS AND WHY?
I would say my father. He raised my sister and me to have entrepreneurial spirits, he showed me the value of a hard work ethic and taught me to not work for anyone else!
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO OTHER WOMEN WHO WANT TO START THEIR OWN BUSINESS?
Stop overthinking it and JUST DO IT! Not being cheeky here, but so many dreams are left to die because the dreamer never took action on them! If you don’t know something learn it! If you are afraid, do it anyway! Whatever you do just go for it!
WHAT BUSINESS IDEA DO YOU HAVE THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO SHARE WITH OTHERS?
Hmm… I would love for someone to create an easy way for small product business owners to connect, sell and share with another to grow their businesses together. Like a shop small platform that isn’t for the end-users but the business owners only. Anyone who wants to create this, contact me when you do 😉
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH OUR READERS?
I just want all the ladies who are reading this that may be struggling with the idea of starting a business to know that EVERYONE has something valuable to offer! No matter your background or your education, you have something VALUABLE to offer and share with the world!
Violeta Semenova
Founder
theBizLadies
Welcome to the Biz Ladies interview series!
If you’re new to these series, I interview women entrepreneurs on how they started their business, what was the idea behind it, how they got where they are, the struggles, the reality and more.
By sharing their stories, we want to inspire other women to get started.
If you are interested to share your own story on the Biz Ladies LET ME KNOW!