"I can honestly say that I never saw myself as the entrepreneurial type. I knew that someday I wanted to have a family and be a stay-at-home mom, like my mother before me. It is so odd how life takes twists and turns that you never could have predicted in a million years. That is what makes life so interesting, and makes me excited to greet the day. You just never know what the next 24 hours will bring. For me, my life changed for forever during a dinner party I hosted in my Charleston, SC home in April of 2006. At our house, grilling is a year-round sport. My husband made some chicken for our guests, and was courteous enough to make a mild version of the chicken for me because I don't like spicy food. By the time dinner was cooked, plated and served, he had forgotten which chicken was which and gave me what he thought was the mild sauce. I’m sure you can guess what happened… this very spicy 'light bulb moment' changed the trajectory of my life forever.I couldn’t get the thought of 'wine charms for food' out of my head during dinner. After we cleaned the kitchen, I started sketching prototypes for my product 'Grill Charms™' that very evening, and I have never looked back since. I think that a lot of people make the mistake of thinking about the 'big picture' too early, and end up throwing in the towel while pursuing their ideas of bringing a product to market. You need to have some sort of big picture idea, but if you think too much, it becomes overwhelming. This is where many people just give up because the scope of the idea of 'bringing an idea to market' is just too much so they just don’t do anything. As with everything in life, bringing a product to market is nothing more then a process. It is a series of steps that get you from point A to point B. Once you break it down into small baby steps, it’s not so scary. You simply put one foot in front of the other and the path will appear. But be ready… the path that appears isn’t always the one you intended to take!"
To learn more about Leslie's Grill Charms™, visit GrillCharms.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @grillcharmer, and become a fan on Facebook.
Health and happiness,
Abbey
2 comments:
Love it! Leslie is amazing and not only does she have a great product, but she is willing to share her wisdom with fellow entrepreneurs. She has helped me so much in the past few months. Her story is an inspiration to us all!
I can really relate to Leslie's story. I didn't think of myself as ever being a small business owner but when I found myself out of work after the housing building bust, I dived right in and haven't looked back. I now own and operate a small business I call e-edge marketing, an internet marketing firm in Charleston sc and I help small to medium sized businesses develop internet marketing strategies for their brick and mortar businesses.
Best of luck Leslie!
Post a Comment