Joyful Entrepreneurship: Redefining Success

Amy Vaughan

Welcome to our weekly Power Lounge, your place to hear authentic conversations from those who have power to share. My name is Amy Vaughn and I am the owner and Chief Empowerment Officer of Together Digital, a diverse and collaborative community of women who work in digital and choose to share their knowledge, power and connections. Join the movement at wwwtogetherindigitalcom. Let’s get started On today’s episode. We have an outstanding guest. Paulette Pinero is the founder and CEO of Unstoppable Latina LLC. Did you know that women make up 26% of small business owners, with this number increasing by 10% year over year? Love this stat. I want to see that keep going up. We’ve got a number of women that we support within the Together Digital community that are entrepreneurs, so we are super excited to speak with Paulette, because her work is pivotal to empowering women of color and gender expansive entrepreneurs to step into their potential and become themselves unstoppable CEOs of their small business. Join us as we dive into her journey and insights on entrepreneurship new narrative, entrepreneurship’s new narrative, values and equity-based business and impact transformation. Paulette, welcome and thank you so much for being here with us today.

Paulette Piñero

Thank you, love the introduction. I love a good introduction with Theta. I’m cold.

Amy Vaughan

We’ve got to have some stats in there I want to share with everybody too. For live events, I have always shied away from reading bios because I sometimes sense that it’s uncomfortable for others. I know it’s uncomfortable for me. However, for those of you who are listening and taking part in these kinds of events or live events, let people read your bios. They finally just kind of dawned on me that you need to hear how awesome you are. You’re amazing, paulette. Honestly, I think we could probably flesh out that bio even more, because there’s so much amazing work that you’re doing. I think that discomfort that we feel of hearing others speak highly of us we just need to be like you know what screw that. Please tell me about me and how awesome I am. My flowers? Exactly yes 100%, 100%, 100%. All right, Paulette, let’s get into your background, your story and your journey. I’m curious what inspired you to start Unstoppable Latina.

Paulette Piñero

Unstoppable Latina was the dream that I had when I started my career very, very early. I launched a nonprofit with my grandmother, with my old wife, and I was living in Puerto Rico at age 11. I was in a board of directors. In mass media, I was kind of like the teen representation of the organization, because my grandmother was one of the co-founders. I always loved worked and not in marketing, but I’ve always been passionate about amplifying stories the more I grew in my career. I have a background in human services. I worked in the social impact field for a long time, always doing consulting on the side, but I’ve always been passionate about telling stories. The more I grew within my career, the more I was craving stories that were not just related to me as a Latina, as a woman, as a newcomer to the US. Two days ago, I’ve officially been in the US for 11 years. Amazing, I wanted to hear in perfect stories. I only heard about all these great and amazing things. I’m like do people just wake up and are this amazing? Make a million dollars? Yes, are people enlightened? Where do I sign up? I need something I just continue to crave. I thought it was just mentorship. Or I’m craving mentorship or I’m craving mentors. I’m looking for women that look like me. That was a small part of it. What I was craving was access to stories of regular women doing amazing things. When I’m talking about amazing things amazing moms doing good things at home, learning, making mistakes that’s where Unstoppable Latina came from. I was doing a lot of leadership and business coaching when I launched my business. It was called Lead Media. I love even though I have a branding and marketing agency I really love talking about the stories and the leadership behind it. By year or two, I was like this name. I knew it wasn’t the name, but I was like I’m going to register it. This is what makes sense now. I went back to my notes and every woman that I worked with. When I asked them how do you want to feel at the end of our work together, they said I just want to feel unstoppable. Unstoppable Latina. It’s not really about me. It’s about my clients. It’s about the amazing Latina entrepreneurs and gender-expansive entrepreneurs that I get to work with. That is exactly how they want to feel. Unstoppable means something different to different people. I’m unstoppable Latina who takes snaps every day while rested. I will never be the one that works best when you send me an email there’s a disclaimer. I will respond to you in two to three business days. But unstoppable around my values, around my passion, around amplifying other people’s voices about normalizing women wanting better and more and still resting, going on vacation. It really comes from this passion of number one seeing authenticity around us. Second, that believe that we all have a story to share and someone needs to hear it. Your story is worthy to share today, not when you achieve A, b and C, not in the future, not when you have all the smart goals have been checked of the list. Today you’re messy, beautiful, sometimes exhausting. I’m not sure what I’m doing Hot mess and recovery today.

Amy Vaughan

I love that, Paulette. I almost wish I would have started recording before we started recording because, as we were prepping to come on today, we were just having already such great conversation. I think we both find a lot of joy in entrepreneurship. I’m so excited that this is the topic. I think some of the things that you’ve already shared about your story it pinpoints exactly why this is such a great topic for you to come to us and speak on today. That idea that you gravitate towards the stories that aren’t just success without strife. I think, also being a woman of color or somebody that has come and migrated from outside of the US, that there’s just so much that you have to go through and experience that when we don’t share the messy parts of our growth and experience as entrepreneurs, it doesn’t encourage others who are marginalized or within a minority to take those risks because it just like well, yeah, I can’t just wake up tomorrow and be Paulette. Well, yeah, no, because it takes time, it takes energy, it takes work. I love that. I’m with you in the whole success without strife BS. As entrepreneurs, you’re going to step in it, you’re going to mess up, you’re going to fail, you’re going to make mistakes, but that’s the only way you can learn and grow. I also wanted to remark on our earlier conversation, because I think what you just said kind of speaks to our earlier conversation of your name for your company. Initially, I’m saying this because I think it’s important for those women who are listening right now that are in the early stages of their entrepreneurial journey is that we kind of tend to want to conform.

Paulette Piñero

You’re like a lead.

Amy Vaughan

Yes, clients want leads, so lead must be in my name. And then over time you kind of learned how to not just shift but kind of own more authentically what differentiates you when it comes to working with your clients, with unstoppable Latina, and that’s why I, just again, I love it and I love that you’re like I nap. I’m also not a fan of the hustle culture. I think it’s BS, I think it holds women back from entering entrepreneurship because, I think it’s the only way. So yeah, oh my gosh.

Paulette Piñero

I one of the things that I, when I start working with with clients and we were talking about your differentiator, they kind of like hold back and freak out. Or when we start talking about their competition and I start immediately saying who is your competition? Who is your competition now? We need to know so they become your collaborators. Yeah, Like, instead of looking at your competition as I am going to focus on market fit and I’m going to be in the middle what they don’t offer I will offer. That will always put you number one in hustle mode, and when you’re in hustle mode, you will hustle other people. I just want to put that out there. That’s so true. You will do whatever it takes and that usually means getting outside of your core values and your guiding principles. But secondly, it means that you’re constantly doing what others want you to do rather than doing what makes sense for you. So I’m always, when we’re doing people’s visual brand identity, when we’re doing their brand voice, when we’re building their kind of like the soul of their business and doing their growth goals, that’s the first thing I tell them Like, let’s look at your competition so we can identify ways for you to collaborate, so you can expand, there is enough money and opportunity for everyone. And it’s really when you are in communities of women like this, this is when you realize, wait, all of that advice, all of those books I have to take. Business books I have to, and leadership books, I have to take them with a grain of salt. And when you are in communities with other women, then you start talking to each other. It’s like, oh wait, I can do this my own way. I don’t have to sacrifice myself. Wait, if Paulette is resting and Amy is resting, Hell yeah.

Amy Vaughan

Yes, please take a nap If you can today. We want to see you all have naps, Paulette, oh my gosh, I wish we lived closer. We should be hanging out more often. Yes, I was like, oh, this is going to be such a good conversation today Because it is so true. You know, comparison and competition are the thief of joy and in a business where you get, you’re going. Most women are going into business for themselves because they want autonomy, they want the ability to choose the kind of work that they do and whom they work with. Otherwise, yeah, it would be easier to just take that regular paycheck from somebody.

Paulette Piñero

Yes.

Amy Vaughan

And have those sleepless nights that entrepreneurs often have. But, like you know, again, a part of the joy of entrepreneurship is truly I love that shutting that idea of constant comparison and competition and working in community. Oh my goodness, friend, all right. Well, I think this kind of starts to lend nicely maybe into the next question, which is you know we kind of nodded in your bio towards this idea of a new narrative in entrepreneurship. And what does that mean exactly to you and how does that differ from traditional narratives when it comes to entrepreneurship?

Paulette Piñero

So the first thing is build a business around your superpowers, now, what other people tell you to do. Whether you call it superpowers of stone, of genius, these are the things that you’re really good at. You’re not just good at because of your education or work experience. It really brings together your culture, your beliefs, your guiding principles, right, your values, the things that you’re passionate about and what makes you be the most creative and innovative. Like these are things that you’re like. I just want to learn what’s new. I just want to continue to learn more and develop. When an article comes out, you want to read it. When there’s a new course, you want to take it. It is not a chore, it is something that you get excited about. So you might feel that you know 100% of this and tomorrow you might go down to 70 or 80. These are the things you know. For me, it’s not just multicultural marketing. I could build a business around Bravo and the Housewives, right, like what’s happening, like what’s the tea. So that’s the first part, and when you look at traditional business advice, it’s only about market fit. Look at what are the needs and that is important. Right, you need to have a business that solves a problem or there is a blind spot within your audience or your ideal client and you’re fitting that need, you’re resolving that problem. But if it’s not aligned with what will bring you joy and joy doesn’t mean happy all the time. It does not mean happy all the time, it’s a very good point it does means that it’s going to fuel you, that you’re going to get excited. So, like that is the first tenant, like build a business. If you already have a business, shift your business or, if you have a part-time business, kind of like identify ways of how is this that I do or that I offer, keeping me engaged, creative, innovative, pushing me to try new things, to expand my horizons, to collaborate with others. And then the second piece is that it is important to embed your story. Just traditional. There is a couple of business books that do talk about personalized branding. Right, I always tell people your business might, your business is you, but you are not your business. So it doesn’t mean that you have to tell everything to everyone. If you don’t want to dance on TikTok or Instagram, you don’t have to, but part of building your brand voice is that your business should represent you. Right how you speak, how you connect how you approach situations. Your own kind of like saws your own son into how you connect with your ideal clients. It is okay to embed your personality and you should, because people want to do business with you. People want to do business with you. People want to connect with you. People are focused on the transformation, not what you do Do you want to know what you experience at the end Right?

Amy Vaughan

Do you feel like that’s a hindrance for some women in particular? I know, coming into my role as CEO of Together Digital, eventually buying the business, that was something I struggled with. Oh wait, now I mean. Granted, we’re a mission-based business, so to me, mission vision is all at the forefront, but at the same time, I still have to be more present in the face of and I think, especially when providing a service and maybe even a product, like I think a lot of women do tend to find that difficult. They’re like I have to have a person, I have to have a brand and a personal brand. Do you find that’s like a hindrance for some women?

Paulette Piñero

Yes, but it is really a mindset road blog. So, as someone who has a background in diversity, equity and inclusion and injustice work, yes, we always have to acknowledge the systemic challenges that, as women and women of color right, we experience. I’m not saying, you know, we can mindset and manifest it all without addressing those we do. But the biggest roadblocks after that right number two it’s always our mindset. And when I talk about our mindset is the stories that we tell ourselves, the story repeat that, the stories that we tell ourselves. Right, I can do it. I shouldn’t do it. Is this going to be embarrassing? Everyone’s going to make fun of me. Nobody cares about what I have to say, just my execution. We put so much value into our product or service and our execution, we do it at work. Right, we equate our value to what’s in that resume. And if you look at that resume, even with the best bullet points I used to be a resume writer you ended up with the best bullet points. That really doesn’t reflect the value that you provide people. When I talk about value, I’m talking about after you work with someone what was their experience, what did they gain? How you know, how do they feel? And the biggest mindset roadblock that we have to articulate that that is really your brand. Your brand is the end result, not the beginning, not what happens in the middle. Do you transform, do you guide, do you empower? Who went how? That is your brand. That’s how you write your kind of like, your one sentence pitch. We are so focused on our output, plus the stories that we tell ourselves, and most of the times like it’s we’re our biggest enemy, that we then build businesses or we build our careers. Around the output there’s thousands of people with the same output. Thousands of people, millions of people that can provide the same output. But the way that you do it, like I was saying, with your superpowers, with your son of genius, that brings your expertise, your experience, your passion, your values, your education, your culture, your family, your community right, like all those things that make you you that special sauce. That is what people care about and that is what is a professional, like a professional or personal brand, and we feel like it’s like these, this external thing, that only it doesn’t come from the inside. Yeah, that only men, apparently, can figure it out. When, if we address, I tell my clients, like, write those stories, that those lies that you’re telling yourselves, your stories that you’re telling yourself. And then on the other side is like, is this a fact and I need you to prove it? Yep, or is this an opinion? And if and for both of them, what? If it went right, what would it happen? Right, and usually there are zero facts Other than I don’t know. Once I would do in a speaking engagement, I felt flat on my face Like well, that is a fact that you get nervous around public speaking. But then let’s look for evidence Like when have you done speaking that doesn’t have to be professionally, that you kind of like figure it out or didn’t fall flat on your face, or maybe you want to wear sneakers and not Right and not deals Wardrobe is so important.

Amy Vaughan

When public speaking, I’m not gonna lie.

Paulette Piñero

We could do a whole conversation on that. But really addressing those mindset role blocks that we, these are lies that we tell ourselves and I I already ADHD. I do this like 20, by the second.

Amy Vaughan

Yep.

Paulette Piñero

But we have to name them, acknowledge them and address them and then go back to, you know, our superpower, like that thing that we’re passionate about. And building a brand is really about messaging. It’s about sharing our story, parts of our story, our opinions, our points of views, collaborating with others not that have similar opinions, but that align with the transformation that we want folks to experience when they work with us, and then just sharing it. And your visual brand is a small piece of what your professional or your personal brand is. So I tell people, like just start sharing, find a place where you feel comfortable Doesn’t have to be digital, yeah, maybe it’s in a community, maybe it’s in a meeting, maybe it’s a presentation at work and start sharing from your point of view, knowing that you will have your own sauce and you will build your confidence around it too.

Amy Vaughan

Yeah, practicing that voice is so important and I do agree, safe spaces are a good place to start. I know, like a lot of our entrepreneurs entrepreneurs within Together Digital Meet once a month as a peer group and as a mastermind. It just kind of practice that, with each other kind of talking about who they are, what they do, why they do it, what they do. Well, because it takes time to refine. But as you were speaking, paulette, it made me reflect on my own title. Right, it’s CEO. Initially, when I was kind of came into Together Digital, it was chief executive officer. As soon as I bought the business, that was one of the first things I did was change my title Because I wasn’t interested. I’m not in this for the executive title, like I am in this because I want to help to empower every single woman that walks through our in-person or virtual door, and so for me it’s still spells CEO. That matters to some people, but really what matters to me is the empowerment. I remember some people kind of questioning my decision to change the title. They’re like, oh, I mean, if you deserve that title, you’ve earned that title, and I’m like I’m not disagreeing, right, but it doesn’t like you said, it doesn’t explain my desired outcome or the output of the work that I am doing. I am not executive-ing all the time or whatever the verb of being executive-ing all the time, right, I’m empowering everyone as much as I can, when I’m where I can, anyway, so I do. You know, the work that you’re doing is so great because it is, you know, another way in which women can begin to explore amplifying their voice and building a more purpose-driven small business. What are some ways that you help to support entrepreneurs and finding their voice, since we’re kind of starting to lead down that road?

Paulette Piñero

So the first thing is building the strategy right. There’s three responsibilities of every leader, whether you’re in business or professionally. Number one a great leader sets a vision, an inspiring vision. Number two they create the roadmap to achieve the vision. And number three they inspire others to work with them towards that vision. So as entrepreneurs, but even as professionals, we have an inspiring vision. When we join a company is because we connect with the vision and the mission of the company. When we build the business whether it’s only you running it from your closet or having a large business with employees we all have this kind of like, these guiding principles our vision, mission and values and core values. What we usually lack it is a roadmap to achieve the vision. I’m not saying you shouldn’t leave with your intuition, but that’s the first step right. We help them create the growth strategy for their business. What is going to happen in the next two to three years? Because before we build a marketing strategy, before we rebrand their company and expand their digital footprint, we need to understand what are the steps that we have to take. What are we going to prioritize in the next two to three years to get closer to that vision? And I it gets sad sometimes because I get a lot of folks that but I just paid for a rebrand or a website, oh my God. And the first step that we do it’s build that strategy. We do a brand audit and build a strategy, the roadmap, kind of like the soul of their business. So they can, and we build a roadmap for them to move forward. And I said, well, did you, you know? Did you share your goals? Did you share your business plan? Did you? What information did you provide? Did you give them a client profile? No, I told them I like purple and I’m like that is great, buy a purple dress, paint your house purple. Right your business. It’s a combination of what you want but also how to attract, become magnetic to the, not just the client, but the opportunities that are right for you. So we always start with building that strategy and, if they do have it, revising it together to make sure it still makes sense. Because it doesn’t matter at what stage of our business we are whether you have an idea, you started or executing the idea it’s really easy to forget Not our values, not our mission, not our vision. It’s very easy to forget what we like about our business. We know what we don’t like. Right, we know I don’t. I don’t want to like work with these types of clients, I don’t want to do this at. But what do you want? Hmm, hmm, right. So building the strategy then allows us, and doing those exercises then allows us, to build the business’s proprietary framework and that really sets the tone for their services and for their pricing and their client experience and operations. And then we can build a sales process, a marketing funnel, systems and automations and kind of like wrapping up with their digital footprint, whether that is a rebrand for their company, shifting their website from informational into a sales tool or building their marketing strategy. But we always start with that brand audit and building the strategy, because we cannot, we will do. And I have people that have pushed back and I say, hey, we’re not the right like I’m stuck with Latina. It’s not the right fit because we, we know and I know I am a neurodivergent person, I have ADHD and I’m autistic. If I don’t have a roadmap to keep me focused, yeah, when my and I’m like, I’m, like, I’m not a ginger right, or I have a chronic illness, when I have very difficult days and I have to delegate everything. If I don’t have a roadmap to move forward of goals and objectives and initiatives that I created like this is the right mindset, then it’s very difficult not just for me to achieve my goals but for the people that work with me, for my clients, to see a future for themselves as part of this community. So that’s how we start and I’m so. I love. Strategy is ridiculous. Yeah, it’s so essential. Yeah, but it is essential.

Amy Vaughan

Like you said, it’s this. I love that. It’s the soul of your business. I really love that. I wrote that down. I think that’s fantastic because I think, when it speaks to that desire to have something that feels unique, distinct, definable, but also, you know, something that others might gravitate towards, I think what happens with a lot of women that start businesses that I’ve spoken to, at least, is that they tend to start with a number of referral clients and it’s great, right, you’ve got paying clients, hallelujah, I don’t need to do foundational work. Let’s just go ahead and build this house, right? So they get in, they start the work, but they have no guardrails, right? They have no overall guidance to their practices, their procedures, how they communicate with their clients, the boundaries they create with their clients, the culture they create with their expanding team. Yes, and then those referrals dry up and all of a sudden you’re freaking out. You’re like how am I going to get new clients Because I’m not getting referrals anymore? You need a brand, you need a strategy, you need that foundation. And now the house is built. You can’t just lift up the house and slide the foundation up underneath it. It’s going to be a little messy, I mean. I’m sure that, of all people at Unstoppable Latina, like you, could help brands do that. But I think that’s why it’s so essential for us to kind of make sure that we get in and we do the work early and then we come back to it and revisit it, often just like you did that part.

Paulette Piñero

I also want to say it helps us move from personalizing everything that we do into customization. I build my clients’ proprietary frameworks with them, because this is the client roadmap. Now I can invest in the right tools and systems. Not every ad that comes on Instagram of all the apps and now with all the AI tools, we don’t have all the money for that and we shouldn’t be spending. And all of that if you don’t speak together or you don’t have a purpose, if we can’t tie it to the marketing funnel. But also not just. It saves you money and saves you time and you can build automations and delegate the real world work. It also helps us identify like here is what I offer, here’s the starting point. I can customize it for my client, but I am I. You can’t. It’s impossible to build processes and strategy when every client has a completely different experience, and it’s overwhelming. It is exhausting and overwhelming and that’s why the, the, the have laying the foundation with the strategy. It really helps you be like focused with yourself of maybe I will do. I always like draw a line from like A to Z. Uh-huh, oh, you’re a, you’re a web designer, that’s great. A to Z let’s write the whole process from not having a website into a corporation. Having a website, like where do you show up, yep? Oh well, a to Z. No, you don’t. Do they need to have a website? Do they need to have a presence? Do they need to have messaging? Do you write copyright, like oh well. I’m like L to M Perfect One step, maybe two steps. Start with an audit and do you know? Then messaging and then and this is how you’re able to collaborate and partner with other people without feeling that you need to meet every needs of the whole world Yep, and then even your client segments. Sometimes we want to be everything for our clients and it is impossible and exhausting and you’re going far away from your superpowers.

Amy Vaughan

Right.

Paulette Piñero

So that means that you cannot learn more about that industry Exactly, or you cannot learn more about your expertise. You will not be creative because you will overextend yourself 100%.

Amy Vaughan

This is exactly what it is. There’s joy in the boundaries and by kind of creating the definition of your brand, who you are, who you serve, the work that you do, it absolutely helps you have those boundaries in place to know what kind of work you say yes to, what kind of work you say no to, what kind of work that you outsource or collaborate for, and again you know. It really kind of breaks that myth that there’s this kind of constant need for hustle and again it’s just you’re just kind of going back to being this autonomous kind of you know cog in a different somebody else’s wheel. You’re a different cog in a different wheel yes. You’re just an agency to kind of fulfill the needs of clients. Now they’re just coming straight at you.

Paulette Piñero

Yes, so yeah, you’re like that job that you hated and you love, because you were doing the job of five people by yourself.

Amy Vaughan

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Paulette Piñero

Yes. So I would say I feel joyful most of the time, but joyful does not equate I’m having fun, happy, I feel joyful, and my definition of success and joy means that I have the freedom to work with people and projects that I’m passionate about. That doesn’t mean that I’m going to enjoy the whole thing. I am joyful when I have the flexibility to work on what matters most. I’m flexible, stepping into working with clients and in my business, but then if I get a phone call that my daughter is sick, I can’t Sorry. I have to go. Flexibility, for what matters most to all my clients is this from the beginning I am joyful when I can not just set boundaries but enforce them. If you see my email signature at the bottom, it says I worked in clinical environments for over 15 years. There is no sense of urgency in the work that I do. You will receive a response in the next two to three business days Not just having boundaries, but enforcing those boundaries. I am joyful when I can collaborate with people like you, people that I admire, people that are doing amazing work, people that we not just talk about our differences but really the intersectionalities that we experience and we can connect. All of those things make me joyful all the time, eating delicious food. My hammock is going out because you’re getting warm.

Amy Vaughan

This is how I knew we were going to be friends. You’re a hammock girl too.

Paulette Piñero

My husband is like you want the hammock out, and I’m like, yes, oh my gosh. It’s hammock season, right. None of that is fun all the time. None of that is happiness all the time. But I am joyful 90% of the day because I am doing things that keep me excited. I am doing things that are purposeful and I am doing things, most of the time, that are aligned with my definition of success and I think that’s the perception of joy. We equate it to happiness, but to me joy is living a purpose-driven life and that means that some things might be icky, some things will be difficult. I am in my wealth, education and building. There’s a lot of shame that comes into that, but I know it’s going to get me exactly where I want to get with the confidence and clarity that I’ve been seeking. That is joyful living. So I would say look at your life and identify what are the things that are not getting you closer to what success means to you and start identifying like how can you shift them a little bit so you can live your definition of success, knowing that that is embedding a life of joy that will have a lot of happiness. But it really helps us see, kind of like, the challenges that we face as opportunities for something better. So it really is like that, building that mindset. But yes, there is this. And like how much is joy in entrepreneurship going back to doing something that you love, with people that you’re passionate about, working towards a larger vision. That will bring joy to your business because you can pivot 100 times, keeping those kind of like, those key tenants. Your services or your products can change, but that soul of your business will always stay the same.

Amy Vaughan

I love that answer so much. And again, defining your own success. It’s such an important thing to kind of sit down and reflect it and do. As everyone who’s a regular listener knows, I’m big on the idea of mindfulness, self-awareness and personal development, and I think there’s nothing like entrepreneurship to make you reevaluate everything about yourself. That is yes Everything.

Paulette Piñero

Oh my God, it’s the biggest mirror.

Amy Vaughan

It is. It is, it’s a good old Swift kick in the pants, but at the same time it does help you redefine what success looks like. And again, when we’re kind of constantly flooded with images of InstaPerfect lives and success without strife, sometimes it’s really hard. We constantly compare and then we fall in the sense of not joy, right, we’re depressed, we’re anxious, we feel less than. But as soon as we walk away from that comparison trap, all of a sudden we start defining what success looks like for us. You know, at the end of the day you start to realize it’s different than what you often see on social media or kind of what’s exudes within the media. And I also think I have found that I am, I’ve always been, a productive person. But I am a million times more productive as an entrepreneur, not because I have to always be. I mean, I do. It is a requirement, right, we need to be focused and productive, have our processes, be clear on communication. We have limited resources, but I’m more productive because I one, I’m living my purpose. I feel and I do have that sense of joy and for me I would say the joy comes through in gratitude Like there’s just not a single damn day, no matter how hard it was, that I am not grateful that this is the opportunity that I have to do to kind of work but then also put something good out into the world. I know that that’s not going to be something that everybody has the privilege and the ability to do, but I do think by kind of doing that inner work of understanding what success looks like for you and what brings you joy, it does. Please just understand people. It doesn’t have to be your job, it doesn’t have to be your job.

Paulette Piñero

It doesn’t have to. That it is okay if your job only fits the purpose around your financial stability, health insurance right. It is okay if that is all that it does, right? What are your I always like to talk about, like my buckets of joy? My business is not my only bucket of joy. It is one of the venues that I use to build my buckets of joy, right? So what are the things in your life that and I use this because I have an autistic son and he struggled to talk about his emotions and I remember his first grade teacher got him a bucket with pom poms and when he would come in she would give him the bucket and it was like Alex, how’s your date been? If his bucket was full, then he felt full, joyful, and if he had a rough morning, he would take like half of it.

Amy Vaughan

Yep like dump it out.

Paulette Piñero

Nope, and throughout the day he would. He was struggling to self advocate. So he will go to the bucket and, like a friend gave him a cranny on, he will go and put pom poms in his bucket. So I’m a visual learner and I’m like what are?

Amy Vaughan

my buckets of joy.

Paulette Piñero

How is my career? How is my family? How are my friendships? How is my inner self feeling? Those buckets that make of that made me happy, that made me feel fulfilled, and how are they? You know, different days I work also with some professionals, with career professionals, and I don’t have friends because I can’t make friendships at work. I’m not eating because I’m not taking my lunch. I am going to the gym at my work I’m like so all of your buckets are being filled. You’re expecting your employer or your job or your career to fill all of them. Like learning, writing. That is a lot of pressure to put on yourself and it makes sense why you’re spending 10, 12, 14 hours at this job, because you’re putting a lot of pressure on yourself to fill everything when you don’t even know if the people there are aligned with your personal definition of success. And that shift and it happens with our business too right, we want to go to the Chamber of Commerce and find our friends there. Yeah, you know, go to the book club there. Like we have to fill our buckets with different things and our careers, whether that is a nine to five job or our businesses, cannot. That’s imagine if you were the only person responsible and even you know I’m a mom. We cannot be fully responsible for your children’s joy. No, we cannot be responsible for our children’s success. That’s why you know parenting is also a community approach. When we try to fill all of our child’s buckets of joy, we’re exhausted and burnt out. We cannot do that to ourselves either, and we would never ask this of the people that we love and we care for. Why would we do it for ourselves? We are worthy of love and beautiful things too.

Amy Vaughan

She’s gonna start looking for more buckets. I love that. I think that’s great. My, our school teaches kind of a similar philosophy with the buckets. I just love the language and the tools that they’re giving kids nowadays to speak about their emotions. I think that’s so wonderful and exciting. So let’s come back to this whole. Let’s talk about some more misconceptions of entrepreneurship. You know, I’m sure that there’s some people here that are listening live and that are gonna be listening later, that are in that highly competitive hustle mode. Paulette, how can we start to navigate these misconceptions about entrepreneurship and build a thriving business? I think some people think this is the only way.

Paulette Piñero

Yes, Number one stop buying books and listening to podcasts and following people on social media that make you feel bad.

Amy Vaughan

This is true. Oh my gosh, nothing like a good cleanse there. Yes.

Paulette Piñero

Because, like, well, everyone’s reading this book and this is the New York Times’ selling book for businesses and I go to my local bookstore and like it’s the same phases, it means that they’re the industry. Go to. No, it’s okay, if you build a business, that it follows the flow that you have. Right, take business advice with a grain of salt. This is a great starting point for you to understand and identify what makes sense for you. So filter, like you would TV, like you would do other things In business and in leadership. We do not filter the advice and the information we receive. We believe that because someone was able to publish it or someone was able to put it out in the world that it must be true, yep, incorrect. So you need to build a filter and use this. Take this advice, take these tips, take these frameworks as a starting point to build something that makes sense for you, because and I wanna preface this with my belief that you cannot focus on other people’s definition of success or what we see as success, because we don’t know what shortcuts they took to get there- oh yeah, or what privileges they had to get there, and the privileges that they have the power, influence, privilege and shortcuts that they took to get there. And if we are willing to do it ourselves. Yeah, I see way too many I will get in my soapbox. I see way too many business coaches and marketing coaches telling you this is the my route is the only way to do it. I got the secret sauce. I got the framework man, but they don’t tell you the money that they had at the beginning, how many ads they’re buying to achieve that, and they’re telling and then you feel guilty that way I didn’t achieve it, but they achieve it. What am I lacking? When we don’t build a strong filter for business and leadership BS, we will always feel guilty that we cannot achieve what other people are achieving. Yeah, but it is because we don’t have the full story. So use this as a starting point. Secondly, it takes consistent work. I’m not gonna say hard work, but it takes consistency. It will. If someone, if someone is promising you will do it in 10 days and 30 days and 45 days and that is a promise run away, yeah. And if you’re using these tactics, I don’t want you to feel guilty. This is what traditional business has. You have to build a sense of urgency, right. If you don’t have the data to back it, then don’t promise something that you can have right, something that you can offer, because we don’t know other people’s power, privilege, experience, network, wealth or capacity, time, ability. A lot of the advice is it’s not neurodiverse friendly. It’s not neurodiverse friendly. It is not disability friendly for people with different abilities, is I have a chronic illness I can’t do half of those things right or that someone is a dual language learner. So make sure that you filter those promises that you’re receiving them. The third one is that you need to bootstrap it and do it alone. No one does it alone.

Amy Vaughan

No, you need community.

Paulette Piñero

You don’t need just mentors and sponsors and a coach. You need community to be active. Just like you book time to check emails, just like you book time for sales, just like you book time for marketing Block time in your calendar, to follow up with your communities, it’s as important, or even more.

Amy Vaughan

Even more. It is essential.

Paulette Piñero

Don’t let anyone lie to you, telling you that you can do it on your own. You should be. We are communal beings but we are building yourself, your business or your career and leadership in community. So 100% promises filter, delete, don’t follow, don’t buy. It doesn’t align with you or you’re not ready to have that filter and lead into your community. Be active within your communities, follow up, be very clear. This is what I can share in this community, this is what I will like to receive, this is how I can show up, this is how other people can show up for me. And then planning you have to plan it. We will always find more work. I am a work crassinator. I love it. I always love new work. I will find work to not do what I need to do. So that’s why it’s important, as important as to do everything else in your business or your career being in community. Plan it and do it intentionally.

Amy Vaughan

Yeah, I agree, I think one thing I learned really quickly and it maybe it stemmed it likely also stemmed from becoming a CEO and a business operator eventually owner in the middle of a pandemic, but nonetheless, I think even outside of that the entrepreneurship can be lonely and isolating. I felt I was kind of lonely and isolated already as a creative leader within an agency, being one of the only female creative directors and a mom. Then put me in working from home, you know, five days, four days out of the week, with a fully remote team, after being in kind of open work environments for 15 years. It can be very isolating and I, you know again, I have the awesome benefit of running a community that have additional entrepreneurial women within it. But I’ve also extended beyond that and kind of been meeting women who run completely different kinds of businesses because I have learned so much from them, and I’ve also learned the kinds of businesses that I would never want to get as well, you will learn a lot of what you don’t want to. Exactly, but I do. I really think that community is a form of self-care and, as leaders running our own businesses and companies and teams, that it’s such an essential part of maintaining our physical and mental wellbeing. You know perceived isolation, which is the same as you know feeling like alone in a crowded room. So you don’t have to be completely isolated to have this impact, but extended perceived isolation the Surgeon General says it can be the same as smoking 15 cigarettes a day and can shorten your life by up to 15 years. So for everybody, for all my introverts, I love you, I understand you, I hear you. I’m an Ambervert, so I see both sides.

Paulette Piñero

I’m also an IndieGram9, which makes me I’m an introvert.

Amy Vaughan

Yeah, typically, the older I get, the more I go towards that that I. But you know, at the end of the day you’re right. We still need connection, we still need the ability to have those safe spaces, to have the conversations, to ask for the things we need, the things that we don’t understand, and just to know that we’re not alone. Sometimes solidarity even is just enough to kind of get you through a difficult day. All right, this hour has gone by way too fast, paulette, I wanna just let our listening live listening audience know that we’ve got time for an additional question or two. If you guys have any questions, I wanna make sure that we get them in. There’s been lots of good chat inside of the chat, but as we kind of wait to see if there’s any additional questions before we wrap up for the afternoon, I wanted to ask my last question, which was what are some actionable steps aspiring entrepreneurs can do to take to align their business with their purpose?

Paulette Piñero

Yeah. So I would say, go back to that mission, vision and values that you wrote when you launched. Start with your values. And if you haven’t written your values, think of your values as the guiding principles of what you do in your business. If you were to measure the way that you approach the work or the you know, the experience that you want other people to have when they connect with your business, whether it’s a service or a product, write a list of you know up to 10. Let’s start with 10. And then take a look at that and define them. Values, as individual words do not make sense. Your values are not just for you or they’re not just for your website. They are guiding principles for yourself, for the people you work with and for your clients. And then write a definition for each. When I do, when we’re doing the brand elevation experience for our clients, we use a synonym finder and they’re like community. Okay, I’m gonna give you five more words. Tell me, you know, look at a synonym finder when you think community or there are other words that connect with you. Ooh, I like collective, I like collaboration, and then define like what does that mean for you and your business? Right, A lot of people say innovation. Well, that innovation can mean something different to different people. Absolutely, we foster new ideas. We allow everyone to talk about their ideas. You know what does it really mean? Turn your values into action. When you turn your values into action, rather than just reviewing analytics or KPIs that Chad, GPT or you at 3 am decided to write, you’re really. You can move and shift into measuring your impact within your business. Right, you will always have number, number goals, but just like I have revenue goals for my business, I have a goal of measuring how many of our clients went from feeling overwhelmed and that at the end, they tell me I finally feel like the CEO of my business. I finally feel like I can make decisions, that’s a great measure of success. That, to me, is success. When we measure success flexibility for what matters most we measure success of how many of our clients said I was finally able to disconnect and be present with my family. That is a measure of success. So turning those core values not just defining them but turning them into actions, that they are guiding principles for your services or your products, that way you can measure what really matters and when you delegate or when you bring people in and you have employees or have consultants or freelancers, you can and they know these guiding principles, you can measure their work into something that is tangible not just numbers.

Amy Vaughan

I love it. That makes so much sense. I know we have one more question. I’m so sorry, but we are at time. Paulette, how can folks get ahold of you? So our live listeners? I feel like they’re gonna wanna keep in touch. Where’s the best places to follow you or connect with you?

Paulette Piñero

Yeah, so you can number one. I love LinkedIn, so follow me. On LinkedIn. You can find me at Paulette Pinero and you can find me on Instagram at unstoppable underscore Latina.

Amy Vaughan

Fantastic. Paulette, thank you so much. I hope we keep having conversations because you’re such again. It’s such a joy to speak with you and kind of share this enthusiasm for entrepreneurship and just helping to empower every woman who wants to go out there and make a business in the world, make it happen, keep it in business and ultimately make it profitable. Next week we are gonna be on break. I will be in the mountains, far, far away from anything, phones and internet with my kiddos for spring break, and then we’ll be back the following week with Molly Ruland talking about creating a branded podcast. Molly is brilliant. She taught our masterclass in January earlier this year, so we had to bring her back for one of our podcast episodes so you all can just get a taste of her brilliance as well. But, paulette, thank you so much for all the work you’re doing to empower women and women of color specifically, Love it. Big fan and we hope to have you back soon.

Paulette Piñero

Yes, thank you, I’m joining that next session.

Amy Vaughan

Great. Well, we’ll see you then. All right, everyone, have a fantastic Friday and we’ll see you next week. Until then, or the week after next, till then, keep asking, keep giving and keep on growing. Take care bye.

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