Event Recap: All About Consulting

Girls for Business hosted our March virtual event, “All About Consulting!” The event covered various consulting sectors and featured esteemed guest speaker Ashley Olafsen; Olafsen is the owner of 3 businesses and a startup coach at IFundWomen. She is currently a Business Consultant at Visionaria Consulting. She was also a TEDx speaker and has been featured in Forbes as a social entrepreneur. 

  Girl for Business’ March event featured guest speaker Ashley Olafsen, who spoke about different aspects of business consulting as well as the best advice she has learned throughout her career. Olafsen discovered her passion for business and women empowerment at age 15 when she realized that she aspired to help girls realize their self worth and increase their self esteem. In her teen years, she led several workshops to middle school girls in New England. She then created MOVE, an organization that focuses on increasing young girls’ self-esteem through summer programs and more. Over the past nine years, Olafsen has founded three different businesses. One of the businesses, Let’s Talk About It, earned thirty-six thousand dollars in funding, which Olafsen explained was a big victory for the business. Her second business, Visionaria, provides small businesses with resources and services to assist them with their goals. Olafsen also works as a start-up coach at IFundWoman, where she mentors women about business. 

Things She Learned:

The first thing Olafsen learned about starting a new business is that it can put one in a very vulnerable position. However, she also realized that one does not need to “wait to become qualified.” Olafsen was concerned that people would not take her ideas seriously as a high school student, but she had the drive and resources needed to succeed. Now, she suggests asking yourself questions such as “what do I have to offer?” and to focus on and think of reasons why you are qualified to perform a job, no matter your age or level of expertise. 

Third, she learned to overcome her perfectionism so that she could finally start progressing. “Perfectionism is never as important as starting”, Olafsen reminds us. There is always a lot of room for improvement, and as you become more experienced, you can make adjustments. If you wait to become perfect, then you can never start— “all you need to start is a starting point.” 

Questions to Ask Yourself Before Starting a Business

1. How are you branding yourself? Olafsen suggests to stick to a “branding kit” with a couple of colors or fonts and to use them consistently. 
2. Consider your pitch. In order to be as specific as possible, you need to ask yourself these questions: What is the problem you are solving? What is your solution? What are you offering? What makes you unique?
3. How are you funding your business? Olafsen articulates that if you are not making money, you will not be able to sustain your business, causing it to lose priority to you. In order to avoid burn-out, she recommends that you fund your businesses through grants, pitch competitions, and especially crowdfunding for newer businesses.
4. What is the free value you’re giving compared to the paid value? “Sales is about giving values, building relationships, and facilitating those interests,” Olafsen explains. She emphasizes the importance of developing a sales strategy to create clear objectives for your business.
5. What should you do when you’re feeling overwhelmed? It can be easy to get overwhelmed with the burdens of first starting a business, especially when there are so many things to take care of in the beginning. Thus, it is important to find a way to compose yourself so that you can handle overwhelming situations. 

The Q&A Session 

During the Q&A part of the event, attendees asked Ashley Olafsen questions pertaining to her career and personal life. 

• What do you wish you knew when you were a teenager?         Olafsen explains that she wished she was more present and attentive in all of her friendships and relationships. She says that it is important to “not [get] caught up in the future and the hypotheticals and just be [present] in the moment.” Loving people to the fullest is something that she wishes she did when she was a teenager, and she advises everyone to do so as well. 

• What was your biggest obstacle you had to overcome in your business journey?

Olafsen’s biggest obstacle was when she “had to move on from MOVE”, which was the first business that she started. She emphasized how she “was scared of letting everybody down.” Olafsen felt as though she outgrew her business and was ready for a new challenge. “Change and growing up is really hard”, she explained. The process of outgrowing something that shaped her identity was difficult. 

• What are some exit opportunities from consulting?

Olafsen explained that consulting prepares one for more leadership and coaching roles, as it shows that one has the ability to talk to others and support an individual in their growth within a certain field or area. 

• If you have a good business idea but you're not sure how to make it profitable or improve the sales aspect, where should you go from there?’

“Sometimes, you don’t even need to add sales, but you still need to be making money”, Olafsen said. Some great ways to get money is to crowdfund for scholarships, ask your local community to support you, and team up with established businesses to sponsor you. 

• What is the most rewarding part of your career? 

Olafsen believes that the most rewarding part of her career is “not only watching young girls become friends, [but also being] a part of a team with other amazing women” that she works with. 

• How do you reach out to other businesses?

Olafsen explains that you must find a key decision-maker first. There are several different ways to reach out, including “sending them an email that is personalized and direct, adding them on LinkedIn, and sending them a follow-up email three to four days afterwards.” Olafsen emphasized that follow-up emails are very important, as they increase your chances of getting noticed by the business. 

• What are some resources that helped you the most?

Olafsen expressed that instead of emphasizing certain books and online resources, she believes that experience taught her the most. She explains that “doing things and then failing, then learning from that” is the best way to learn about business. Another resource that helped Olafsen was reading about body image, as she focused on body image early in her career. 

• What advice/tips helped you naturally build and sustain relationships in terms of networking or expanding your reach?

Olafsen explained that in order to build and sustain relationships, you must connect with them and then consistently interact with others to branch out. She recommended visiting Givethx.org, a website that she uses to build relationships and show her appreciation for others. Additionally, she advised that you should try to commit to only a couple different networking groups; “Do not try to do everything,” Olafsen said. 

• How do you know if there is a market for what you want to sell/do?

Olafsen answered the attendee’s question by mentioning a website named Customer Discovery, which allows one to interview clients and assess if they would be interested in the product that you are interested in selling. The following link allows you to read more about Customer Discovery. 

https://ifundwomen.com/blog/2019/october/how-to-find-out-what-your-audience-wants-through-customer-discovery-maya-brooks

• What’s your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur and what qualities should one have?

Olafsen expressed that she “[loved] making all the decisions, being [her] own boss, and calling all the shots”. As for the qualities for an entrepreneur, Olafsen explained that some of the most important qualities to have as an entrepreneur are courage and passion. Being an entrepreneur requires you to step out of your comfort zone and take risks. You must have the passion and the courage to try new things in order to go far with your business. 

• What advice do you give to aspiring entrepreneurs in this generation?

Olafsen expressed that “social media can make things feel more intimidating, but you don’t have to immediately go public and it doesn’t have to be your first step.” It is important to begin experimenting when you feel ready, and meanwhile, you can work on other aspects of your business.