The Startup Squad is Being Released Today!
It’s The Startup Squad’s Book Birthday!!
Nearly five years ago, I watched as my older daughter attempted to sell Girl Scout cookies at the end of our driveway with far more enthusiasm than understanding about how to market and sell a product. That was the first spark of my inspiration to write a book that would empower girls to realize their potential and follow their dreams, whatever their passions. It’s been the hardest, most humbling, and most rewarding five years of my career but today The Startup Squad hits the shelves in bookstores and Target stores across the country! My family and I are going to visit a couple of bookstores this afternoon to make sure that this is really happening and isn’t just some elaborate prank.
This book series and mission is about inspiring girls to start their first businesses to help empower them with an entrepreneurial mindset. It’s about teaching them basic business skills. And about helping them learn grit, a growth mindset, and how to fail and then start again.
I’ve had my own entrepreneurial experience these past five years, filled with rejections and failures and emotional ups and downs. This was the hardest and most humbling period of my entire career. But I’m thankful for each misstep, naysayer, and frustration for giving me the necessary course corrections and motivation that enabled me to reach this moment. (I shared some of the more colorful anecdotes of the journey in my recent TEDx talk which you can see here)
The fuel that kept and keeps me going on this mission is the stories of girls who have been impacted by the book. From 9-year old Katie who asked her mom what they were “going to do about word of mouth” at their charity bake sale, to Harlow and Shayne who finished the book and opened smoothie and lemonade stands, respectively, to the more than 7,000 girls affiliated with Girls Inc. of NYC who, thanks to the generosity of so many, will be receiving copies of the book and hopefully be inspired to start their entrepreneurial journeys and develop an entrepreneurial mindset.
From the bottom of my heart (and the top of it, too), thank you to everyone who contributed to this journey – you know who you are (if you aren’t sure if I’m talking about you, let me be clear, I am). And thank you in advance to everyone who will pick up a copy of The Startup Squad in the future and hopefully be inspired by it.
We’re just getting started and have so much more planned for the coming weeks, months, and years. Thank you for sharing this journey with me. And always remember that Girls Mean Business!
