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Bird Means Business

EPISODE 052: Monday, January 13th, 2020

I wanted to talk business development I knew I wanted to interview Ashley. She’s a well-accomplished serial entrepreneur with a lot of experience and knowledge under her belt. In this episode, we talk through the most important things to include on your business plan, how to market your app, and marketing mistakes to avoid in business.

LESSONS FROM ASHLEY

The biggest lesson I learned from Ashley was the importance of being loyal to your purpose and mission in business. I have now interviewed both her AND her husband and they both used the same language: “Our desire is to love people well…”

I can see that because of their mission, they develop new business ventures because they constantly ask themselves, “How can we love people well using the skillsets that we have?” Instead of, what would be a profitable business decision. Although, that’s important, it’s not the the starting point.

This is so encouraging for me because as I’m building Pay It Forward Taxes I too want to make sure that all of our business decisions are stemmed from our desire to pay it forward and help our friends and families change their lives.

This is a new series I’m starting called “Biz Dev” where I interview people who are in business and ask them questions I have in hopes that it helps other millennial entrepreneurs too!

ABOUT ASHLEY

How I went from an unfulfilled Wall Street Analyst to launching my own successful business and helping others do the same. 

I was once in your shoes — I knew entrepreneurship was the next step but had no idea what that even meant. Here’s my story: 

Wait, who is Bird?

My dad called my mom “Bird” when they were dating because she ate like a bird. When my husband Terry caught on, he started calling me Bird too.

I’m from Texas City, Texas and had 18 others in my High School graduating class. I went on to attend the best university ever, The University of Texas at Austin (Hook ‘Em!), and as it’s said, what starts there changes the world. Certainly changed my world. Having never considered working on Wall Street, I left Austin for New York City in 2010 where I was an Investment Banking Analyst at Barclays Capital. I absolutely loved the energy of New York City and the thrill of my job, but I wasn't fulfilled by the actual work I was doing, and I didn’t see myself thriving there 10 or 20 years down the road.

But, I also didn’t have a clear next step. I only ever really considered entrepreneurship when I wrote a list of tasks I would enjoy doing if no one paid me. Looking at those items on the list — it was like a light bulb went off. I wanted to run my own business! To manage the operations and plan the strategy of a startup. It was a surprising revelation, but my gut knew it was right.

So I took the leap. The biggest leap of my life (leaving a very comfortable salary in my favorite city in the world) into the unknown. And it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

When we finally launched, I didn’t know what I didn’t know.... 

In 2013, Terry and I launched The League, a circuit training gym in Houston, TX. I remember the launch party being a lot of fun, but having disappointing numbers… there was ONE person in our first class. This was just the beginning to so many lessons learned and mistakes made — more than I have space here to list. I’ve started Bird Williams Consulting because along my journey, I’ve encountered so many potential or struggling entrepreneurs who remind me of myself. Who just need some guidance and support. Many have come to me for help with their businesses — how to create a business plan, how to devise a marketing strategy, how to raise capital, what are the basic first steps, and so on. I’ve been through this process again and again... and I LOVE it. If any of this resonates with where you are, let’s talk.