COWORK TO GET WORK: THE JILLS 5

Quick 5 minute reads to keep you up to date on trends, tools, and tips for the solo professional.

We love giving props to women entrepreneurs helping other entrepreneurs. It is the future of work and the realm of all independents. In today's JILLS 5 post, we recommend taking a few minutes out of your day to read about Kimberly Lexlow and Jess Legge, Co-founders of Sifted, an email sorting service, as they open up about the benefits of investing in a coworking space and the need for more women to consider doing the same. 

4 Reasons Why More Women Should Join a Co-Working Space | Entrepreneur |

Sharing THE JILLS with 1 Million Cups

THE JILLS OF ALL TRADES™ Co-Founders, Megan Boswell and Corinne Neil, jumped in to the 1 Million Cups community last week to share their start-up story and their mission to prepare women to lead the future of work. 

"We're so lucky to be part of such a wonderful and welcoming community of entrepreneurs in Madison", explains Boswell who promoted the importance and the power of women entrepreneurs helping women entrepreneurs as the basis for THE JILLS OF ALL TRADES™. "If you remember nothing else about us, remember this, we're women entrepreneurs helping women entrepreneurs", she said. 

I Million Cups is a weekly coffee meet-up at 9:00 am across the nation sponsored by the Kaufman Foundation as a way to to educate, engage, and connect entrepreneurs locally and nationally. I Million Cups Madison organizers, Rachel Neill and Drew Coursin invited THE JILLS OF ALL TRADES™ to present on Wednesday May 10th to a busy entrepreneurial crowd at the Madison Public Library, including The Capital Times reporter, Erik Lorenzsonn, who put THE JILLS face forward in his article, Startup looks to put women 'solo-preneurs' in spotlight.

CAPTIMES ARTICLE BY ERIK LORENZSONN.

Startup looks to put women 'solo-preneurs' in spotlight.

"We were thrilled to have the opportunity to share our story," says Neil, "and to be able to reach out to the entrepreneurial community to help fuel our momentum and support our JILLS MEMBERS."

Learn more about THE JILLS and watch the full presentation:

Chicago-our kind of town

We're on a mission. 

WE WANT WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS OF EVERY SCALE TO LINK ARMS AND WORK COLLABORATIVELY TO LIFT EACH OTHER HIGHER SO WE CAN POWER THE FUTURE OF WORK. 

And as the snow falls fluffy and white this morning, I'm remembering the busy year we've had working toward that mission. 

So last summer we headed to CHICAGO. 

And what a day we had! 

There's not much to not love about the Windy City, but on the particular day the sun was shining, Lake Michigan was glistening, and we had a schedule chalked full of dates, and coffees and 'lunch and learns' with some really incredible women. 

First stop, Chicago's 1871, a hub of digital innovation and a buzzing hive of activity and energy, to connect with Nicole Yeary, founder of Ms. Tech, and join her community of tech savvy gals and wicked smart female founders to meet and greet and talk social media marketing tips at the Ms.Tech Mastermind event. 

Later we would connect with Lakshmi Shenoy, Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at 1871 and Co-facilitator of WiSTEM, a sixteen week curriculum-based program that connect women to capital, community, and technology based resources. We chatted about women in S.T.E.M. and about our powerhouse of postdoctoral JILLS, like Sarah Caudill, Clarissa Muere, Sushma Kommineni, who are leading and shaping a path for women in STEM both in academia and in industry. We were amazed and delighted by the work being done at WiSTEM and left energized to have connected with other women creating paths for a women's workforce revolution. 

And we couldn't possible stop in Chicago without taking the time to meet up with our Chicago JILLS.  Lisa Ghisolf fought the traffic to enjoy an afternoon tea with us at The Mart, where she shared her experiences being a veteran solopreneur for her company, Gizmo Creative Factory. We laughed until we cried with her talented storytelling that had us living and loving the travel blogs she writes. 

WeWork Grant Park was the perfect ending to our day, where we relaxed, toured the amazing facility, had our first introduction to the WeWork community, and were completely smitten with the people, the architecture and the impeccable design of this gorgeous work space. 

'On Wisconsin' as they say and we headed home to Madison.

But after our whirlwind day, we definitely left a part of our hearts in Chicago. 

Ms. Tech founder, Nicole Yeary

Work Solo- Not Silo

So here's the thing.  Sometimes you just have to put yourself out there.

Even when you're not totally ready.  Even when you don't have everything figured out. Even when you don't have a business name, or your perfectly branded logo, or the right software package, or any money.

Yep, it's true and it can feel like you're about to drink a cold cup of sick. Your hands might get sweaty, your tummy is probably churning, you're likely riddled with fear and anxiety. But you need to do it.  You really do. Because even if you stumble all over your words, and your audience looks confused, or even worse patronizing, you did something really, really important.

You took the risk to fail. To mess up. To get it all wrong.

You, despite all the potential for complete disaster, did it anyway.  And that is the first, critical step. In fact, it might be the only step, and it's one that you have to keep doing over and over again.

So go ahead and put yourself out there.  You'll never get your business name right or your logo perfected or know what software you really need or get any money if you don't take that deep breath and put yourself out there.  You're going to need to talk to your customers and tell them what you're doing. You’re going to need to talk to your customers to understand what they need. You're going to need to try out language on real people before you can really figure out what works and what doesn't.   You're going to need to get feedback, and lots of of it, if you're going to carve your own niche.   And you can't do any of that in isolation.

Working independently shouldn’t mean working alone.

Find your people.  Know your tribe. Build your community. Collaborate. Connect.

Work solo, not siloed. 

iCandy Craft Brew

When THE JILLS OF ALL TRADES™ and iCandy Graphics decide to link up, the result is perfect experience of knotworking - a little food, a little learning, a little craft, and a whole lot of networking. 

Candy Phelps, owner of iCandy Graphics, shared her gorgeous office space in Madison's Atwood neighborhood for our event, and her husband, Tim Phelps, owner of SPROUT Landscaping donated materials for all of us make tiny succulent fridge magnets. While Candy gave a craft demo, she offered up SEO tips from her book Grow Your SEO to a group of eager JILLS members, who listened, chatted and put soil into teeny tiny pots for their succulents. 

New friendships were made, future coffee dates were set, lots of website revisions were considered. Candy was able to meet with potential future contractors for her business and more JILLS had an opportunity to share their talents and connect with the business community.  

A  'Crafternoon' - a great way to combine and little learning with community building

Candy Phelps instructing the group on SEO tips.

Cay's 'Grow your SEO' Book 

Capitol Gains

As founders of THE JILLS OF ALL TRADES™, we are the lucky ones out and about talking up and spotlighting the myriad talents of the amazing women who join the THE JILLS GALLERY. We get to boast on these solopreneurs who coach, strategize, design, present, educate, build, create, and collaborate with incredible grace, integrity, and expertise. 

They make our jobs so easy. 

On this fair summer evening, we enjoyed an evening of Jazz on the rooftop of the Madison Baird office as the guests of Meg Prestigiacomo.  We connected with women of all ages and backgrounds - business leaders, political advocates, corporate CEOs, small business owners, educators, and philosophers. They were thrilled about THE JILLS OF ALL TRADES™, and were eager to spread the word. They all recognized the power of linking up to lift each other higher. 

To all of the JILLS and all the future JILLS, thank you for letting us shine a spotlight on your awesomeness.