I’ve had the pleasure of connecting with an awesome blogger on Instagram, Elaine Rau. She is an international blogger who interviews female entrepreneurs from all over the world and highlights their businesses on her popular blog. Over the 6 short months that she has been in business, she has amassed over 5,600 followers across her various social media outlets and is growing exponentially every day. Much like Elaine,
It’s important to me to interview individuals that are making a positive impact as entrepreneurs, influencers, empowerment driven gurus, who are authentically creative and that share a like minded desire to see and promote the resilience in others. It is with great excitement to share my interview with Elaine in the hopes that my followers, site visitors and global audience are inspired and motivated in some way to make 2017 their year to start “Living Life by Design”. Enjoy…Be Bold…Be You Unapologetically!
Ingrid: What motivates you to do what you do?
Elaine: Showing off other women motivates me. I love reading every single interview that comes into my inbox, then highlighting their business on my blog and delivering their message to as many people as possible. It gives me great satisfaction to know that my clients are being seen and heard.
Ingrid: Where does your passion come from?
Elaine: I never realized that being a connector was a skill and that it could be harnessed into a business. People always ask me if I know someone who does something and usually I do or know someone who does and connect them. The platform I created not only helps my clients get visible, but also as I am getting to know them through their interviews, I am gaining one more person I get to refer and I absolutely love it!
Ingrid: What and who inspires you?
Elaine: My mom. She is a very strong and independent Chinese lady who broke all cultural standards and social norms as she was and always has been the breadwinner. She has paved her way to success as a famous scholar and is known for her groundbreaking work in linguistics. She showed me that through hard work, discipline, and consistency, anything is possible… and not only possible, but inevitable. If you do those three things you are bound to get somewhere.
Ingrid: What do you believe gives you power to inspire others?
Elaine: I had a really sharp tongue as a child and have had to learn to tame it due to the amount of people I had hurt with it. I know what can come of lashing out and saying hurtful things so I try to do the complete opposite and have become a great encourager and motivator because of it.
Ingrid: Living with courage… what’s your personal experience?
Elaine: Over the course of one month I quit my job to get out of a verbally abusive and toxic working environment, moved from Chicago to Honduras without a plan, and also got engaged! All three experiences came with different emotions that didn’t go too well together especially considering that it was coupled with adjusting to a different culture and language as well. I went through a month of rollercoaster emotions – relief, despair, sadness, relaxation, happiness, anger, and loneliness. I tried working for several remote companies from the states, but found them all purposeless and boring. I am a little bit of a workaholic and needed to find purpose in my job but since I wasn’t finding what I needed, I decided to keep myself busy through blogging. The blog was meant to serve several functions; 1) keep me connected to the world and not isolate myself, 2) write about stuff that interested me, 3) give me a purpose. And it has accomplished all three of those goals and more, in fact the blog took off and did so well that I started monetizing it within just weeks of creating it!
Ingrid: What tips can you give on achieving what you want and to be intentional about doing it?
Elaine:
·You will never feel ready, you just need to start and let your business evolve as you do. It is all about taking that first step, then the next, and consistently placing one foot in front of the other.
·Keep learning about what you love, those passions and interests will turn into skill sets as you keep reading and mastering your knowledge, which will lead to expertise and opportunities.
Ingrid: Tell me about what you do professionally?
Elaine: I am a professional blogger. These are the exact steps that I take – I reach out to potential clients on social media, my target audience being female entrepreneurs ages 25-45 that own small businesses. Once they respond with their email, I send them the interview and payment details, they send the completed interview back to me with the pictures I need, then I post it on my blog and other social media outlets. Email me at ladybossblogger@gmail.com to be featured next ;).
Ingrid: Do you see yourself as a goal digger?
Elaine: I am more of a free spirit and very spontaneous, but at the same time have a good routine where I am consistent in everything I do related to business. I have goals, but they aren’t usually fleshed out, they just happen as I create them.
Ingrid: If you had to give people an essence of who you are in one to two sentences, what would you say?
Elaine: I am 100% on the extrovert scale, if you place me in a room full of strangers, I will work my way around the room getting to know people.
Ingrid: What is key for you to be and remain resilient in this economic and political time?
Elaine: I look out for what is trending and try to create my own niche in that trend before it becomes too mainstream. I am training myself how to look for trends before they become popular.
Ingrid: What motivates you to be the best you can possible daily?
Elaine: Providing for my husband and I and our potential family in the future. I never want money to be an issue.
Ingrid: For people who struggle with finding purpose, what would you say to them?
Elaine: It won’t happen overnight, but if you want it to happen quicker, find mentors who are working in a field of potential interest to you. Speaking your mind, hesitations, or concerns can help you not only clarify what you are thinking, but your mentor can provide solid directional advice and may see qualities in you that you may miss yourself. Sometimes your skill set is so natural to your being that you don’t even think it is a skill, when in fact it is just what the world needs.
In conclusion, I encourage you to stay connected to Elaine “LadyBossBlogger”, share, collaborate and inspire each other to be our most creative, passionate and intentional selves.
Email her at ladybossblogger@gmail.com to be featured next or to recommend a friend! Instagram www.instagram.com/ladybossblogger
Twitter www.twitter.com/ladybossblogger
Facebook www.facebook.com/ladybossblogger
Facebook Group www.facebook.com/groups/ladybossblogger
Google+ https://plus.google.com/collection/ISyInB
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/elainerau
YouTube www.youtube.com/channel/UCgjw_7BW-GoOMMHp6RQEWdg