Ep. #6: From Co-Workers to Co-Founders, Ashley Lewis and Meredith Schroeder of Fleur Marché
I interview Ashley Lewis and Meredith Schroeder, who went from co-workers at Goop to co-founders of Fleur Marché, an online CBD education and shopping platform specifically for women. Ashley and Meredith tell the story of how they built their company from the ground up...both while pregnant.
They get real about the challenges of growing their company while also growing their families. But they also expound upon what entrepreneurship has taught them and the confidence it's given them to know that they'll always be able to figure things out, no matter what. We also hear why they believe being moms has made them better businesswomen, and how entrepreneurship in turn makes them better moms.
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EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Fleur Marché is an online CBD education, discovery and shopping platform for women.
How they batted around the idea for their company while they were “work wives” at Goop, with Meredith being a gung-ho entrepreneur balancing out Ashley’s more risk-averse approach.
How an unexpected offer from an investor pushed Ashley and Meredith to “start before they were ready” and go all in on their business idea.
Meredith explains how focusing on the smaller building blocks within the long term goal made the goal feel less intimidating.
How the bulk of getting the business off the ground took place while BOTH Ashley and Meredith were pregnant!
How building a business while pregnant was certainly hard, but a blessing and disguise, as they were each able to relate to the other’s experience on a very deep level.
Ashley explains how motherhood has impacted their approach to work...not only being more efficient with the time you have, but also being OK with things going slower.
Realizing that adjusting to motherhood and work is “the new normal” and that it’s not going back to the way it was.
Meredith on balance: How she is a better mom because of her work, and more engaged at work because she’s a mom and the challenges of being home with her kids all the time at the beginning of quarantine.
Ashley on balance: Finding her balance is ever evolving with her 1 yr old son.
How starting their own company has strengthened their self-confidence in themselves, their capability, their value, their mothering, and their resourcefulness.
Meredith: How her mother’s own entrepreneurial background has given her the confidence that she can always figure it out, even if she does fail.
Ashley: Recognizing how men are more likely to put themselves out there, apply for the job, even without the qualifications. And how as women we often have to get over the “rational” parts of our brains, which are so helpful in many areas of our lives but can hold us back when trying something new.
The pressure is always there and there will always be bad days, even if you’re doing what you love. It’s just underpinned by something bigger.
The biggest lessons they have learned in business so far. Go with your gut, have a business plan you can reliably execute, ask for help and seek mentors.
Their advice to anyone thinking of starting their own business. Pressure test it. Write it out. What does it look like on paper? Creating a financial roadmap so you have a cushion if you’re going to leave your job without a new income right away.
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About Me
Catherine Ferguson is a Life Coach for working moms. She helps high-achieving, high-vibe women create careers they truly care about, using simple concepts and tools she explores on her podcast and in her personalized coaching program.
She believes that doing work you love as a mother doesn’t have to be complicated or overwhelming, and that there are simple shifts you can make right now to help you move closer to your dream career by applying universal principles that you’re probably already teaching your children. She is the host of the One Badass (Working) Mother podcast and a mom of two cute but psycho kids.