Episode 31: Tips for success from an entrepreneur
/December 2, 2013
“My attitude really is that yes is always the answer - now how are we going to do it? Instead of approaching a problem like, 'I don’t think we can do this, this is gonna be hard.'" - Alexandra Ferguson
The first in my Tips for Success series featured the CEO of an advertising agency. We're staying in the creative sphere with this second show. A lot of women dream of starting their own business. My guest actually did it. She's Alexandra Ferguson, CEO of the company of the same name, prolific maker of pillows and makeup cases inscribed with cheeky sayings.
Alexandra Ferguson at her desk in BrooklynShe started sewing in her living room five years ago. Now she works out of a small factory space in Brooklyn and has more then ten employees - and growing. But getting to where she is now has involved plenty of ups and downs.
We talk about:
- How she got started and overcame naysayers to keep going
- What it's like working with her mother
- Mistakes made and lessons learned from them
- Not doing it all alone
13 minutes.
Here's a blog post Alexandra wrote earlier this year that's relevant to our discussion: How I Went From Whiny 'No' to Unstoppable 'Yes'.
In this photo, taken at the factory, Alexandra is holding a couple of the 'shrunk' pillows you heard about during the podcast - ready to ship, taking up less space and costing less money.
Her mother, Charlotte, is on the far right.