Proof to Product 077 | Tanya Wheeless, Happy Grace on why she never wanted to be an entrepreneur and the value of investing in professional development
TSBC Alum, Tanya Wheeless is the founder of Happy Grace and author of three workbooks on soulful living. She has leveraged her decades of experience as a CEO, senior executive in the NBA, and community leader to teach women how to live the good life while struggling to balance work and family.
In 2016, Tanya saw a need in the market for physical products that busy women could use daily to motivate and center themselves. With that, Happy Grace was born! She took all of her coaching goodness, combined it with her love of paper and created a beautiful line of guided journals, inspiration decks, lip balms and more. When she's not working, you can find her traveling the globe with her husband and son.
On today's episode, Tanya shares why she never wanted to be an entrepreneur, how she's weaved both products and services into her business and why she prioritizes and invests in professional development.
ON TODAY'S EPISODE:
- How she became an entrepreneur when she didn't originally want to be one
- The catalyst to starting her own business
- The first service she offered
- The physical products that Happy Grace offers
- Why design almost kept her from pursuing physical products
- What the design process is like for her products
- Tanya's coaching services and how they have shifted over time
- The importance of wellness self-care
- Happy Grace's new digital membership program
- Why it's important for her to invest in professional development
- What Tanya finds most challenging about being an entrepreneur
- How she has updated her brand story
- Tanya's advice for someone just getting started in a product-based business
- What's next for Happy Grace
KEY TAKE-AWAYS:
"In my mind, I wanted to show up every day, know what I was supposed to do, know that the paycheck was going to be there, and have a ladder that I could climb because I'm all about climbing ladders." - Tanya Wheeless
"I can't figure out Asana. I can't do Trello. And you know what? We got through. We used Google Docs. We used Gmail. It was all fine." - Tanya Wheeless
"Timeout on the "shoulds" and really get clear about what you actually need, because I think every team's different, and I do not believe there's one way to do this whole entrepreneurship thing." - Tanya Wheeless
"Product's a whole different ballgame because I had to outlend a lot of money before I ever had anything to sell — designers, production, and my coaching funded that." - Tanya Wheeless
"We tend to think that there are two of us. There's work Katie, and then there's mom Katie, and there's not. There's just one Katie." - Tanya Wheeless
"It feels safe for people to hire a leadership coach or an executive coach but what I know most of us really need is more of that wellness self-care." - Tanya Wheeless
"Mental health, self-care, just being kind to ourselves is such an important facet for all of us regardless of whether we're an entrepreneur or not." - Katie Hunt
"It's okay to have your hands in multiple things until you find the thing that really excites you, and that you can make sustainable and fuel yourself financially as well as like in your heart." - Katie Hunt
"If you are a newbie, go to Paper Camp because the women and the men that you are going to meet, some of them will be at your level, but so many are going to be far ahead." - Tanya Wheeless
"There's so much value in being curious and learning about things that may be of interest to you because even finding out, "No, that's not for me," is incredibly valuable." - Katie Hunt
"One of the things that I did not appreciate when I started, Katie, was the importance of me and my brand, and people having a connection with who I was and what I was about." - Tanya Wheeless
"When people were exposed to me, when they got my personality, when they saw my passion what I was doing, they lined up to buy my product." - Tanya Wheeless
"Know that everyone started exactly where you started with an idea, with your computer, and with a hope that someday someone was going to send your card to someone for a meaningful birthday." - Tanya Wheeless
"Be patient with yourself because it's not as easy as everyone else is making it look." - Tanya Wheeless
CONNECT WITH TANYA WHEELESS
Website: http://www.happygrace.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyHappyGrace
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myhappygrace/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/MyHappyGrace
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MyHappyGrace
LINKS:
The One Thing: https://amzn.to/2NNYj6E
Essentialism: https://amzn.to/2wKR9ti
Big Magic: https://amzn.to/2wH1ju8
Soul Pancake: http://soulpancake.com/
Funny or Die: https://www.funnyordie.com/
Indigo Faire: https://www.faire.com/
Pinners Conference: https://www.pinnersconference.com/
Magnolia: https://magnolia.com/
Digital Lizard: http://www.digitallizard.com/
PAPER CAMP
What if you could sit in a room with 30 other product makers who are doing exactly what you're doing -- building a business they love! You could share resources, leverage each other's experiences and learn from those who are where you want to be. Imagine the growth potential!
Join us March 14-15th in Los Angeles for our Paper Camp Conference.
Over 800 brands have attended Paper Camp. Brands that sell to stores like Target, Paper Source, Container Store, Anthropologie and independent boutiques internationally.
This program is for you if you're a stationery or gift company interested in selling wholesale, exhibiting at trade shows or looking to expand your outreach to wholesale customers.
We believe in the power of community, collaboration and sharing everything we know. Get all the details and register at www.tradeshowcamp.com/papercamp
SUBSCRIBE
To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe to Proof to Product. On Android, you can listen using your favorite podcast app.
WRITE A REVIEWWriting a review on iTunes will help other product based business owners find Proof to Product as they are working to up level, scale, and build profitable and sustainable companies.
FOLLOW PROOF TO PRODUCTFollow Proof to Product on Instagram for the latest updates.
JOIN OUR EMAIL LISTIf you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list.
SHAREBe sure to share Proof to Product with all of the product based business owners that you know!
ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT:
Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!