Meet Trailblazer Jessie May Kezele

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessie May Kezele.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Jessie May. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
It was a rainy November night in 2010 and I was driving aimlessly down the road feeling frustrated and lost.

A year earlier, I had quit my job to become a certified coach and start my own business. Probably not the smartest decision ever because at 25, I had no idea how to run a business, attract clients or make money.

I felt like I was being suffocated by this need to share my gifts, but I didn’t have an outlet, so everything inside me that wanted to come out was getting stuffed down and I was going stir crazy.

In a moment of frustration, I pulled my car into a dark, empty parking lot and began sobbing into the steering wheel. And then, the wise words of a past mentor spoke in my head: “you can’t achieve success in isolation”.

The obvious hit me: I was isolated.

That moment I decided to take the situation into my own hands. I finally realized that the only person who could get me unisolated was me. No one was going to hand me an audience to share my message with or clients to work with.

So I decided to do something that I had tried to talk myself out of for a long time: start a women’s community. I’d talked myself out of this in the past because I convinced myself it wouldn’t be a success:

● I was an introvert, so why would I go and build a social networking and events-based business where I had to socialize?

● I wasn’t well known in my community and I didn’t have a following, so why would anyone want to join my tribe?

● Other groups in my area seemed to be growing cobwebs. So how could mine be a success?

● The online world seemed to be where things were booming, so why would I go and build a local tribe when I could potentially reach far more people online?

But you know that quote by Anias Nin “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom?”

Well, I couldn’t endure the pain of NOT doing it anymore. So despite my fears, I started my group and I called it Daring Divas (currently known as The Daring Fempreneur).

The group started off successfully for the most part – on the first day 40 women joined and my events were filling up every time.

The problem was, a year in, and over 500 members later, my business was still struggling, I was getting burned out and my husband was getting impatient with my empty promises that soon I’d be able to contribute financially.

One day at coffee, I was sharing my struggles with a colleague, and she asked if she could give me a little feedback. Scared about what she would say, but always wanting to grow, I said yes.

She told me that my brand looked immature and cheap and that although I hosted fun events, she really had no idea why she should want to hire me for more.

At first, hearing this was like a dagger in my heart, it made me feel like the ultimate failure. But it motivated me to take an honest look at my brand, and when I did, I could see what she was saying.

Up to that point, I never considered why having a brand might be important. I thought it was just something for million-dollar businesses.

But when I started to look at the successful coaches in my industry, I realized that the one thing they ALL had in common was a clear and powerful brand that set them apart.

My brand was slopped together. It didn’t reflect my personality, my message was unclear and my ideal client changed from one week to the next. Nothing about my brand made me memorable (at least in a good way). I realized that if I wanted to build a successful business that attracted clients, made an impact and helped me earn a great living doing work I love, I’d have to build my brand.

This was a big “aha” and at that moment, I decided to learn everything I could about branding.

I…

● Studied color psychology to learn the underlying emotional impact of colors.
● I hired a business coach who helped me align the facets of my personality into a brand that inspired my ideal clients to want to work with me.
● I worked with a personal stylist to help my outer appearance reflect the true me underneath.
● I studied personal presence so I could learn how to show up empowered as the face of my brand.
● I had professional headshots taken.
● I read every branding book I could get my hands on.
● I earned a master’s in Communications so I could clearly & effectively communicate my brand to the world.

I’ve invested countless hours and over 100K into learning as much as I possibly can about how to build a successful brand.

And today, eight years after my colleague’s devastating feedback, I no longer feel like a failure. In fact, my business and Meetup group became so successful, that in addition to the brand strategy and business coaching I do with clients, I also created an online course called Meetup Mastery, for leaders and entrepreneurs who want to use the power of live community to make an impact and grow their businesses.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not at all! Getting started was rough (as you know from my story above), but once my business started picking up momentum I became overcome with dread and worry almost on a daily basis.

Putting myself out there as a leader left me vulnerable to judgment and criticism, and I constantly worried myself sick about pissing someone off with something I said, offending a client or someone thinking I was just “in it for the money”.

And I’ll tell you, all these things DID happen! And when they did, it would send me into a deep dark spiral of anxiety for days on end. I really struggled with shaking things off and I LONGED to feel confident enough in myself and my message to stand strong, even when someone questioned or disagreed with me.

Over the years, I’ve gotten much better. I’ve had to find a balance between being open, loving and receptive and also not taking people’s shit 😉 I’ve also had to come to terms with the fact that I’m not for everyone… and the most successful brands aren’t!

My advice for women just starting out in the coaching, healing or consulting fields is to pinpoint your unique perspective and the qualities that set you apart and then share these things with your audience openly and consistently.

When it all boils down, if you’re a service-based business owner, you’re not selling a service at all – what you’re selling is a relationship with YOU.

And for your potential clients to know if they want to start that relationship in the first place, you’ve gotta show them who you are. Even if it’s scary.

This means you need to get clear about who you are and what you stand for and then be out there sharing your opinions, values, beliefs, personality and expertise through in-person talks, Facebook Lives, your newsletter, Meetup, and any other platform you choose to market your business.

As you get more and more practice doing this, you’ll grow more comfortable. But I won’t say it will ever be easy.

If you’re anything like me, however, you’re not here for easy. You’re willing to take on a challenge if the rewards are an authentic life and impactful business. And that’s exactly what you’ll create if you’re willing to show up and be seen (with a little strategy sprinkled on top)!

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about The Daring Fempreneur – what should we know?
I’m a Brand Strategist, Business Coach and founder of The Daring Fempreneur.

I work with women entrepreneurs who want to be leaders in their space but are stuck in a cycle of being underpaid, playing small and missing out on opportunities that could take their business to the next level.

My mission is to help you build an authentic, psychology-driven brand; and then communicate your brand through beautiful visuals, clear messaging, a strategic website and signature program that reflect your unique awesomeness and expert-level knowledge.

By empowering my clients to look, sound and BE the part, they can finally fulfill their higher calling, confidently pursue next-level opportunities, and attract clients who see their value and are eager to pay them for it!

In addition to my international coaching business, I’m the founder of The Daring Fempreneur Community – the largest and most active Meetup group for women entrepreneurs in Boulder, CO. Since 2011, The Daring Fempreneur has hosted almost 700 events designed to help our members in building relationships that support them in business and beyond.

I designed our popular monthly “Dare to Connect!” event for women entrepreneurs who want to move beyond “what do you do?” and into the deeper, more meaningful conversations so many of us crave. If you’ve been looking for a fun and inspiring environment to make new connections, nourish existing ones and turn your “networking” into long-lasting friendships and powerful business relationships, then I hope you’ll join us at our next event in Boulder!

And if Boulder is too far a drive (even if it’s not!), we also have a robust international Facebook group where I lead-free weekly trainings designed to help you build your tribe, up-level your brand, attract more clients, expand your impact and make more money doing what you love! I’d love to welcome you there!

We’re interested to hear your thoughts on female leadership – in particular, what do you feel are the biggest barriers or obstacles?
It breaks my heart when I see a woman who has an amazing gift – a gift that the world desperately needs – but she can’t figure out how to communicate her gift in a way that inspires others to do business with her.

Her messaging is a mess, her visual brand looks outdated or unprofessional, and her offerings are complicated and confusing.

I see this over and over again with “heart-led” women entrepreneurs (especially life coaches and healers).

Many are amazing at what they do, but because they don’t know how to communicate it effectively, they aren’t seeing the results they want, which causes them to lose confidence, not put themselves out there for opportunities that could take their business to the next level… and sometimes even give up on their dream.

This is the biggest barrier I see holding women entrepreneurs back from being impactful, profitable leaders and business owners.

The next barrier I commonly see is the inability to focus!

As entrepreneurs, we often have so many ideas that it’s easy to get distracted by things we really shouldn’t be focusing on. And the first issue here is that most entrepreneurs (especially newbies) don’t know where their attention should be in the first place. They get overwhelmed by everything they read online that they “should” be doing. So they try to do it all and get burned out.

When I start working with a new client, one of our first steps is to look at their business from a bird’s eye view so we can see EVERYTHING they’ve got going on… then we streamline their business structure and marketing strategy to something that’s more sustainable and effective.

My motto is “keep it simple!” – the simpler your business, the faster you’ll see results. I know it sounds counter intuitive, but keeping things simple means your brand and your services will be clear to potential clients, and clarity equals sales.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thedaringfempreneur.com/
• Email: support@thedaringfempreneur.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedaringfempreneur/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thedaringfempreneur/
• Other: https://www.meetup.com/the-daring-fempreneur/

Image Credit:
Dog Daze Photography took some of the photos the others are personal photos I took myself.

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