Sep 11, 2019
Successful entrepreneurs make
running a business look smooth. It’s easy to see the success, but
rare to see the behind the scenes of the hard work, failure,
fatigue, baby steps it took to make it. Jennifer Allwood is a
dynamic business coach and host of The
Jennifer Allwood Show podcast. Jennifer helps creative
women build their social media and turn their passions into
lucrative online businesses. She fosters an online community of
over half a million people and coaches over 2,000 women monthly on
how to find their tribe and grow their business online. You’ll be
encouraged by my chat with Jennifer as we discuss the time early on
in business when you’re giving it all you’ve got for the sake of
your dream.
5:08 - The Jennifer 101
- Jennifer coaches creative
entrepreneurs from makers to designers, bloggers, artists, bakers,
and more how to grow and monetize their social media
channels.
- Twenty years ago, her life looked
much different in a regimented business world of software
development, but she would spend her free time working side jobs in
interior design and painting.
- After she was laid off, she saw an
opportunity to take her side business full time. Being laid off
made Jennifer realize she didn’t want to go back to a
cubicle.
- Jennifer literally started
knocking on the doors of interior designers to expand her painting
business and left the corporate world forever in the year
2000.
- When she was pregnant with her
first son, she hired her first employee and landed a huge interior
design job in a mansion. It wasn’t long before her business took
off. It also wasn’t long before she realized she was hustling too
hard for there not to be more money coming in.
14:16 - Clients
Anywhere
- Jennifer asked herself why she
wasn’t making more when the stress was high and she was working
hard. She gradually grew a Facebook following, and knew that
following would be interested in how she did things.
- She had the idea to teach her
interior design techniques through online videos. It wasn’t long
before she sold $100,000 of videos sold in a year (before it was
even a thing)!
- The “ah ha!” moment came when
Jennifer realized she could extend her reach beyond her own town by
teaching to anyone online, anywhere.
- She doubled down on social media
and grew a following 350,000 people on Facebook, as well as large
audiences on Pinterest and Instagram.
- She encountered a lot of business
owners who had large followings online but were not yet making any
money from it. She began teaching others how to build their social
media and use it to make money for their
business.
39:50 - Blessings In
Disguise
- Jennifer felt a calling to bless
others through her experiences, but it happened over a long period
of time. She takes each day one at time and trusts that there’s a
reason God only gives her small glimpses of the future to protect
her from overwhelm.
- If she’d not been laid off from
her software job, Jennifer may have stayed in a cubicle and office
environment for ever. Sometimes what seems like a roadblock ends up
being the exact thing to get us where we’re supposed to
be.
- Jennifer’s online business grew
enough to allow her husband to quit his corporate job and work with
her full time. Their “full time” schedule is four days a week from
9am-3pm. Now she has the time to focus on her family and is
actually grateful for being laid off.
- Success in Jennifer’s business has
also meant pursuing things that do not come naturally to her. She
continues to equip other creative women with the skills to get out
of their comfort zones.
- In the same way that successful
people spoke truth into Jennifer’s life, her work is to do the same
for others. She focuses on doing the next right thing for those she
can influence, even if it means tackling public speaking or
tackling her first book.
45:54 - Getting to Know Our
Guest
- Find out what things Jennifer does
every day that she wishes were automated, her guilty pleasure, what
books and podcasts she’s listening to, and of course, what it means
to run a business with purpose.
Memorable Quote
(45:12):
“It changed something in
me, and I feel a deep responsibility that if I can do that for a
few other people, it can change something in them and then it can
change a part of their world.”
Meet Jennifer
Jennifer Allwood is a wife, mother, dynamic business coach, and
host of The Jennifer Allwood Show podcast. She has been a business
owner for over 18 years, getting her start with decorative and faux
painting, and has turned that into a booming empire.
Today she coaches creative entrepreneurs in turning their crafts
and hobbies into profitable businesses. Jennifer’s casual,
girl-next-door decorating style has brought her a social media
following of over half a million people and a thriving online
business academy for creative entrepreneurs.
Through her social media following, Jennifer encourages home
owners to decorate and paint their homes to be a space they love.
Through her monthly coaching group, The Creators’ Inner Circle,
Jennifer encourages and teaches business owners to grow their
platforms and run a profitable business, and through her course ,
The Creators’ Roadmap, Jennifer takes her students on a deep dive
into implementing multiple revenue streams and monetizing their
platform.
Jennifer is especially excited about her upcoming Equipped
Conference, through which she will empower attendees to craft a
God-focused business that’s also profitable. The Equipped
Conference will feature a rockstar lineup of faith-filled speakers
who will arm attendees spiritually, mentally, and emotionally to
succeed in business.
Connect with Jennifer