Long maligned by comedians for our fashion sense, TomboyX founders Fran Dunaway and Naomi Gonzalez know lesbians have a style all our own. That’s why they created the comfy, chic and totally unique TomboyX collection, designed to fit the eclectic, rough-around-the-edges lesbian aesthetic.

What do you do and why?

We saw a need for a clothing line that recognizes the white space between menswear and women’s wear. We were tired of frilly, patterned clothing made for 20-year-olds. One day Naomi asked me, “How hard can it be to start a clothing line?” Ha!

What did you do before you started your company?

I am a partner in a media strategies firm and produce political ads for democrats and campaigns nationwide. Naomi is a sports massage therapist and was on staff for the U.S. Women’s Olympic Soccer team when they won gold in Athens.

What’s the single most important piece of advice you received when first starting your company? What would you tell a young entrepreneur in turn?

My dear friend Sue sent me a Goethe quote that I printed and put on the wall. The condensed version is: “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

What aspect of business ownership came as the biggest surprise to you?

The challenges associated with raising money.

What do you find most rewarding about owning your own business?

Having had an idea, then implementing plans with Naomi. We are partners in business and in life. We became financees (I like to say Beyonce because she put a ring on it) a few months ago and are still going strong. There is no way we could have come this far without the other being part of it. This is an all consuming endeavor. At least, I get to spend all this time working with someone I love and respect so much.

Where do you see yourself / your company in five years?

To be an internationally recognized brand that women feel represents the proactive, confident and courageous parts of themselves. We want to have a full line of clothing for women of all sizes, of varying backgrounds and varying levels of tomboyishness. We want women to feel seen and recognized by a brand that represents their independent spirit.

What resources would you recommend to someone who is contemplating starting her own business?

Perseverance. Courage. Determination. A solid, well-thought out business plan, mentors in the business you’re seeking to get into and three to six months of financial reserves in the bank. Also, don’t quit your day job. Plug away until you reach success. And a rich aunt wouldn’t be a bad thing either.

What obstacles did you face in establishing your company and how did you overcome them?

We didn’t have any fashion experience so we just jumped in. Today, we know so much more than we did two years ago. I’m a big believer in informational meetings. I ask a lot of questions. So every time we got to the next chapter in the book “Fashion for Dummies,” we’d find someone with pertinent experience and set up a meeting. We’ve had some incredibly generous people offer guidance and advice every step of the way. We brought on advisors in a more formal capacity who we could rely on for ideas, encouragement and suggestions. I think we’ve tried to remain open to all recommendations, but at the same time have kept true to our personal vision.

Is there anything we didn’t ask you about that you’d like to share with our readers?

I think that sometimes it’s challenging for people who aren’t trying to run a small business to realize that reaching a vision takes time and baby steps. We often hear from people about expanded sizes, more styles and cheaper prices. Of course, we want to get there, but we had to start somewhere. Despite what it might look like, we really are three women working on this for no salary, out of a garage. It takes most small businesses three to five years to hit profitability, so the most that our community can do is support small businesses and understand that we are listening and we care, but give us time to get there. We don’t have the funding of a big brand. We’re working hard to stake a claim in a fashion industry that has ignored us for too damn long. So help us show them that we are a force to be reckoned with and wear TomboyX with pride.

Follow these fabulous fashionistas on Facebook and Twitter.

The post Enterprising Women: Fran and Naomi, TomboyX first appeared on Lesbian.com.

When I started my career 35-plus years ago, there were few business opportunities available to me in my chosen field, and even fewer that effectively tapped into the lesbian market (business owners and consumers). Plus, few organizations were around to support the particular needs and concerns of lesbian-owned businesses. Something had to be done to bring together and promote this underrepresented population.

While there are myriad resources available to the wider LGBT community, none are targeted to the lesbian business community or that help consumers or businesses easily identify lesbian-owned businesses-nor do they do so on a cost-effective basis. The seeds of The Lesbian Business Community took root and in June 2016, it launched-a vibrant business directory and community in one, designed to get our members connected, sharing ideas and building their businesses among true peers-from startups to seasoned pros. Simply put, we’re all about building your business network-in your area and across the nation-with entrepreneurs and business professionals who are all identified as lesbian or LGBT-friendly.

Rather than settle for a static business directory, we created a highly optimized platform that is interactive, interesting and full of insights geared to our audience.

Business owners listed on our directory can easily find strategic partners, vendors and potential customers; our community members will find loads of information they actually care about! Our nationwide LGBT events listings are quite comprehensive, and our compelling articles series provides timely, relevant business tips to help lesbians grow their businesses. There’s also some really cool info on LGBT lifestyle topics (Travel & Leisure, Arts & Entertainment and Life & Style). We will soon feature lesbian business writers who will share their expertise, all under our umbrella of services. This will be a first! And it’s all at LesbianBusinessCommunity.com.

The Lesbian Business Community, based in Livingston, N.J., is run by founder Janet O. Penn, a 35-year veteran of the publishing, marketing and web development industries.

The post Janet O. Penn shares spark behind her start up first appeared on Lesbian.com.

To say Crista Luedtke is a renaissance woman is an understatement. She’s all over the place. She is a successful mortgage broker who runs the successful boon hotel + spa, boon eat + drink and big bottom market. The hotel, restaurant and market are all in the Northern California town of Guerneville. She works her mortgage mojo in San Francisco. She splits her time between the two, in between her travel adventures.

She took a few minutes out of her busy schedule to share the secrets of her success.

What do you do and why?
I always wanted to have my own restaurant. Growing up, my family was in the business so we grew up knowing and doing everything related to it. I couldn’t get it out of my blood. One day, I told my mom that I wanted to open my own. She said, “Are you crazy? Didn’t you learn anything? It’s a 24/7 job. Maybe you should do a BnB or something.”

What did you do before you started your company?
Prior to starting the hotel, I worked first as a regional sales manager in Biotech, then as mortgage broker at a small firm in San Francisco. In fact, I still do mortgages today for friends, past clients and their referrals. It helps keep the other side of my brain happy. I needed to hold on to the day job for the first few years until my businesses were able to cash flow more comfortably. Now, I do it because I have loyal clients I can’t turn down and it’s fun.

What’s the single most important piece of advice you received when first starting your company? What would you tell a young entrepreneur in turn?

When I first started the hotel, I interviewed several hotel owners in the area. There was a couple from England who were so helpful and supportive they said to me “the bread is in the bed.” I took it to heart. I really heard them and decided to do whatever I could to make the beds the most important feature. People are paying for a place to sleep, make it the best night ever and they will be back.

It worked. As for the restaurant scene, it was to keep it simple and use the best quality ingredients.

For young entrepreneurs, I would say talk to people in the business, but not just anyone, talk to the successful ones. Ask a lot of questions. Find out what works and what doesn’t and where to focus first.

What aspect of business ownership came as the biggest surprise to you?
I think the biggest surprise of being a business owner was how much time you dedicate to dealing with employees and employee issues. From hiring to training to firing to other people’s personal problems now becoming your own, this was definitely more than I had planned for. I feel like a therapist at times dealing with it all. It’s both a blessing and a curse to be so involved at such an level. I have about 35 employees right now. They are all like family to me. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.

What do you find most rewarding about owning your own business?
I wanted to create a spaces that people just really felt relaxed, really enjoyed being away from wherever they came from, and for them to connect with the food and the place. I see people form friendships over a meal sitting next to each other at tables or sitting around my pool. It’s so fun. It makes me so happy when I hear people “ooh” and “ahh” about the food or rave about the hotel or when locals to say that I changed the town. It feels really good and it makes me want to keep doing it day after day. It’s really rewarding seeing what I dreamed up become such a success on many levels.

Where do you see yourself / your company in five years? Hopes / dreams / plans?

I still have a few concepts of my own that I would love to open, but I actually have begun consulting with other business to help them create brands, open restaurants and hotels, etc. That’s the direction I’m heading. I love the creative start up phase and I want to do more of it.

I am working on a few concepts of my own as well in other parts of California and Mexico. I’m still undecided as to which is next, but i get anxious if I don’t have 50 balls in the air at any given time. I love to be busy.

What resources would you recommend to someone who is contemplating starting her own business?
Do your research. Get as much information as you can. Work in the industry first either as an intern, apprentice or anything. Remember, it’s your dream but it’s still work. You need to love it.

What would you say is the single most important key to sustaining a business long term?
Good employees. You can’t do it alone. Everyone who wants to be a business owner needs a strong team to support them and to keep the vision going. I am blessed with really amazing people who I hand picked or who found me because they loved the vision. It also helps to ensure that the work will continue to be fun when you are surrounded by people you like and who share your goals.

What obstacles did you face in establishing your company and how did you overcome them?
Being over budget. It’s hard to start with less working capital than you plan. I had to really scramble in the beginning. I also hit a bunch of unknowns.

Luedtke is offering Lesbian.com readers a 10 percent discount at her stunning hotel for Sunday through Thursday visits until the end of 2014. Use the code LESB2014 when calling to book.

Do you know an enterprising woman who you would like to see featured on Lesbian.com? Just drop us a line at info@lesbian.com with the name of the business, the entrepreneur and her email address and we’ll get to work on it.

The post Enterprising women: Crista Luedtke, Boon hotel + spa first appeared on Lesbian.com.

When Christine Svendsen’s first book was turned away by publishers, she launched her own publishing company.

Now, four years later, she’s got a stable full of award-winning lesbian authors and her own award-winning books published under the pseudonym Isabella via Sapphire Books.

“Believe in yourself. Rejection isn’t the end of a story, it can be a beginning,” Svendsen said. “Looking back, I didn’t think in terms of what if this doesn’t work? I only thought of the possibilities.”

Sapphire Books is offering anyone who likes their Facebook page a free book. After you like the page, email to Svendsen.

Svendsen took time out of her busy schedule to share the secrets to Sapphire’s success with us.

What do you do and why?

I’m the publisher and an author at Sapphire Books Publishing. I started Sapphire Books Publishing in 2010. We publish lesbian novels, written by lesbians. Our authors include Linda Kay Silva, Kim Pritekel, Beth Burnett, Karelia Stetz-Waters, Linda North, Lynette Mae, Riley Adair Garret, Lorraine Howell, Rhavensfyre and Stephanie Kusiak.

What did you do before you started your company?

I do the same thing now as I did when I started Sapphire Books, I work as a community college instructor in California. My current job affords me the luxury of working remote for most of my work load. The flexibility allows me to set my own hours, which really helps with the publishing company.

How did you come up with the idea for your company?

I had submitted my first manuscript to two publishers and was rejected by both. One said they weren’t looking for my type of story at that time. The other company wanted me to completely rewrite the story and resubmit. I thought long and hard about rewriting it. After talking to my wife, I decided that I’d try and publish it myself.

I researched self-publishing, looked at all the options and decided to start a publishing company. I’d always thought about growing the company at some point, but that was in the future. When Linda Kay Silva, a popular lesbian author, left her publishing company, I sent her an email. We met and discussed writing, publishing and motorcycles. It clicked for us and the company took off from that point. We’ve signed some really awesome writers. I have to say that I’m thrilled to work with some really talented ladies.

What do you find most rewarding about owning your own business?

I get to work with some amazingly talented women. They write books that blow my socks off.

Where do you see yourself / your company in five years? Hopes / dreams / plans?

Sapphire Books isn’t going anywhere. We’re in it for the long haul and plan on adding to our already growing list of fantastic authors.

What resources would you recommend to someone who is contemplating starting her own business?

Research the industry. Do your homework and ask questions. Learn everything you can and even then there will still be things that surprise you, so plan to be surprised. Roll with it, flexibility is important in today’s business world.

Social media is starting to play a huge role in business and it’s important that you treat social media as a tool in the business tool box.

Go to conferences, meet people in your industry and make sure to check out the competition. See what they are doing right and notice what isn’t working. IBPA and SPAN are great resources, if you really want to get into publishing.

Finally, be persistent.

What’s the process for an aspiring author to get published with Sapphire?

First, write your book. Polish the manuscript. Send the best work possible, you only get one chance to make a first impression. Sapphire isn’t the traditional lesbian publisher. We don’t have a formula. I like to think we publish great books that a lot of other publishers wouldn’t touch. For example, we’ve published books that were over 500 pages, most publishers in lesbian fiction won’t publish long manuscripts. We’ve published some truly scary books about serial killers and fetish killers. We also have published erotic books, Sci Fi, paranormal as well as romance. We just signed an author who writes the Happy Lesbian Housewife blogs and she has been referred to as “the love child of Erma Bombeck and Chelsea Handler,” so we are pretty open as long as they have strong lesbian characters, written by lesbians. Writers can contact me at publisher@sapphirebooks.com.

What would you say is the single most important key to sustaining a business long term?

Have a plan and be flexible. I can’t say that enough. The industry is constantly changing and we need to change with it.

What obstacles did you face in establishing your company and how did you overcome them?

I think the biggest obstacle I faced was being taken serious, both as a writer and as a publisher. I won an award for my first book and that started the ball rolling. When we signed Linda Kay Silva, a lot of people started to take notice.

After that, we signed some pretty awesome talent and our authors started winning awards, which moved Sapphire Books up on the list to be noticed.

Follow Sapphire Books on Facebook and Twitter.

The post Enterprising women: Sapphire Books, Christine Svendsen first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the Hip Chick Farms, of course.

Former Chez Panisse chef Jen Johnson and superstar event planner and non-profit exec Serafina Palandech hatched their sustainable, healthy business when Johnson’s healthy creations for her private chef clients, The Gettys, were a hit with kids.

Now, the dynamic, do-gooding duo lives on a family farm in Sebastopol, California, with their daughter Rubyrose and a menagerie of furry friends.

Serafina shared the secret sauce that’s made Hip Chick Farms a health food store sensation.

What do you do and why?

Along with partner, Jen, we own and operate Hip Chick Farms, a producer of organic, non-GMO, humanely-raised frozen chicken products: chicken meatballs, chicken fingers and chicken wings. Our chicken is sourced from Mary’s Chicken, a producer of humanely-raised, organic, free-range, non-GMO, antibiotic-free chicken. Each package is made fresh in small batches, then fast frozen to preserve taste and texture. Our products are available in more than 250 natural foods stores, supermarkets and gourmet shops throughout the western United States, including Whole Foods stores in the Northwest, Northern California, and Southern Pacific regions.

What did you do before you started your company?

I was a non-profit executive, project manager, strategic planner and event organizer for more than 15 years, helping nonprofit organizations access private funding streams through event production and management, donor cultivation, corporate support and in-kind partnerships. Just prior to launching Hip Chick Farms, I ran Tugboat Events, a boutique event production company, which produced charity events for organizations in the Bay Area.

How did you come up with the idea for your company?

For the last 20 years, my partner, Jen, worked as a professional chef, first for Alice Waters at Chez Panisse for 10 years, then for the last 10 years as executive private chef for Ann and Gordon Getty.

When Mrs. Getty started a Montessori school in her home, Jen’s role expanded to cooking a family-style lunch for around 25 children every day. The kids in the school loved her food, and when they went home at night, they would ask their moms for Chef Jen’s Chicken Fingers. The moms started asking Jen for her products because they felt good serving their kids food that was so lovingly prepared and made with impeccable ingredients.

What’s the single most important piece of advice you received when first starting your company? What would you tell a young entrepreneur in turn?

Business should be an opportunity to express your values, not compromise them. You have to align your heart and your head — do the work you love while being the person you want to be. As soon as you start compromising either one — doing something you don’t like, or acting in a way that is outside your nature — then you are not aligned. We have two goals at Hip Chick Farms. First, to provide delicious, thoughtful, natural and nutritious chicken products for all members of the family; and second, to build a business that models our values and reflects the beliefs of our family, including donating to the community and raising awareness about humanely farmed animals. Entrepreneurs succeed when their work and their values are aligned.

What do you find most rewarding about owning your own business?

In both of the businesses I started, Hip Chick Farms and Tugboat Events, I was lucky to let my business be a vehicle for furthering my values. Before, I helped non-profits raise money and expand their good work in the world. Now, I’m helping busy families enjoy good, organic, wholesome food that is super-convenient while respecting the environment with organic and sustainable food production and supporting local farmers and suppliers. Our values-based mission and business model is not only key to our business success, but also to our personal fulfillment.

What would you say is the single most important key to sustaining a business long term?

Building good relationships with your suppliers, distributors, retailers, consultants — everyone in the process that enables you to do what you do, and being fanatical about quality. Treat people with respect and don’t cut corners — these are the two most important pieces of our business model. The most important relationship is the one you have with the end-user: they have to be able to trust you, that your product or service lives up to the promises it makes.

Learn more about Hip Chicks Farm on their website, Facebook or Twitter.

The post Enterprising women: Hip Chick Farms first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Frustrated at not finding sex toys designed for lesbians, Alice DeRock decided to design her own and launched Wet for Her.

What do you do and why?

I am the founder, creator and owner of Wet For Her, a sex toy company that designs and manufactures products specifically for women. Why? I was inspired and motivated to launch Wet For Her once I discovered that the majority of the sex toys available on the market were not only designed by men but also mostly created to replace the one organ we women do not have, namely the penis. Our goal was to invent sex toys that would enhance a woman’s pleasure, particularly between lesbian couples. We are women who love women and we know what makes us feel good. We felt that we needed to fill a gap in our sex-toys life.

What did you do before you started your company?

I was a Room Division Manager in the luxury hotel industry. I was managing 250 peoples and taking care of all the VIPs. I always wanted to be an entrepreneur and create products. The world is so big and there are so many ideas. What made me choose Wet For Her was that my desire to bring something different and new and do something for my community. WetForHer gathers all those elements.
It was important for me to create a business where I would have an undisputed legitimacy and credibility.

How did you come up with the idea for your company?

A few years ago, my girlfriend and I were looking for sex toys and all we found were realistic ones with this thing that we hated: a ball sac. We really wanted to find something that was designed and manufactured by lesbians for lesbians. After some extensive research, we were surprised to see that there actually was no sex toys made by and for lesbians … and that’s how we found our new professional careers.

What’s the single most important piece of advice you received when first starting your company? What would you tell a young entrepreneur in turn?

The most important advice is that without money and/or sales you don’t go anywhere. You need to create products that innovate. If you can’t sell easily your products or create the demand it will be hard to establish longevity. When we see a successful company we think that they did it very quickly. More often than not, it actually requires years to reach a comfortable level of success, not to mention a lot of financial investment and hard work.

Another important advice was listening to customers’ feedback. You have to learn quickly from good or back feedback to adjust your strategies. And lastly, you have to enjoy the process of being an entrepreneur and be willing to put in long hours and persevere.

What aspect of business ownership came as the biggest surprise to you?

At the beginning I have to say that although I knew I was going to have to do it all, I just had no idea what “doing it all” really meant.

Handling everything from the designing, the shipping of orders, mounting the website, supervising sales and trades, etc, was extremely taxing. Once I got the routine down, then came another challenge: Having to answer thousands of questions from customers who were interested in learning more about the company and the products.

What do you find most rewarding about owning your own business?

The most rewarding aspect of running your own business is to have happy customers, to see your business grow and going where you want to take it without changing your mission statement.

Where do you see yourself / your company in five years? Hopes / dreams / plans?

In five years, I hope Wet For Her will be known and recognize worldwide as the best and the No. 1 lesbian sex toys designer and manufacturer.

My goal is also to have released on the market additional new and unique products for lesbian couples so they have fun in bed and never fall into a dreadful sex routine or worse, the mythical lesbian bed death.

What resources would you recommend to someone who is contemplating starting her own business?

I would highly recommend reading books from successful entrepreneurs, such as Donald Trump or Anthony Robbins. Personally, I also follow one motto, which is F.O.C.U.S (follow one course until you succeed).

What would you say is the single most important key to sustaining a business long term?

Don’t rush. Be patient and grow slowly. We always think that when you grow to soaring heights you make more cash, but this is wrong. To grow costs a lot because you constantly have the re-invest in your business, and you need to have a very good cash flow. So yes, my advice is grow slowly.

What obstacles did you face in establishing your company and how did you overcome them?

Being in the adult industry, I had to face lot of denials from banks, insurance, website payment process, etc. They don’t want their name to be associated with the adult industry, much less a sex-toy company. What helped me were my existing business industry relationships. Other established business owners can easily recommend you to people with whom they work. That definitely made it easier to get my foot through the door.

Learn more about Wet for Her.

The post Enterprising Women: Alice DeRock, Wet for Her first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Mariah Hanson

The Center — a Palm Springs, California, based organization serving the desert LGBT community — is honoring Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend founder and producer Mariah Hanson with the first ever “Legacy Award” for her invaluable contribution to the Coachella Valley LGBT community.

The 5th Annual Center Stage Gala presented by Eisenhower Medical Center will be held on Friday, November 7, 2014, at The Riviera Resort & Spa in Palm Springs, California.

Hanson’s visionary leadership as the founder of one of the Coachella Valley’s largest tourism boosters and undisputed biggest lesbian event of it kind in the world, the legendary Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend (aka “The Dinah”) makes her the perfect choice as the first recipient of this inaugural award.

Presented by The Center, the Legacy award is a brand new distinguished honor, which pays tribute to remarkable individuals exemplifying the highest level of achievement and professional excellence when it comes to leading and travailing for the advancement of the LGBT community.

“When considering those who have made a lasting impact on the desert’s LGBT community, Mariah Hanson’s name quickly rose to the top. Her vision for an all-women’s event has become the largest lesbian event of its kind in the world. This is Mariah’s legacy to our community and our reason for recognizing and celebrating her outstanding accomplishment,” says Mike Thompson, Executive Director at the LGBT Community Center of The Desert.

Hanson’s incredible accomplishment with The Dinah has for the past 25 years continuously created a viable platform for the advancement of the LGBT community.

Transforming lives and making a difference in and for the LGBT community, The Dinah offers an unparalleled one-of-a-kind experience for myriads of women who come from all over the world to enjoy the freedom to be who they truly are without fearing the judgment of others, and gain, as well, a tremendous amount of self worth.

Over the course of a quarter of a century, The Dinah has not only been changing lives, but also spearheading music careers. Building on its reputation as the ultimate entertainment hub Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend has positioned itself not only as an event the entertainment industry’s most elite go to but also as a trendsetting event that music industry insiders watch and jockey to book their artists’ performances.

The Dinah is one of the only all-girl parties featuring a phenomenal line-up of talent ever to perform at a lesbian event. Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Colbie Caillat, India Arie, The Pussycat Dolls, Kesha and more recently Iggy Azalea, are just a few examples of major recording artists that headlined the epic event while still “unknown” and then systematically went on to hit international superstardom.

More than just an event promoter extraordinaire, Hanson is first and foremost an avant-garde business entrepreneur and exemplary community leader, who in a little over two decades has created an unsurpassed cultural and social phenomenon and built an impressive empire turning a small one-night event with 1,500 participants into a five-day bash with some 15,000-plus participants, booking entire hotels and securing major corporate sponsors.

The 5th Annual Center Stage Gala will open with a Reception & Silent Auction at 5:30pm, followed by a sit-down Dinner and Entertainment at 7pm, hosted by the quick witted Kate Clinton and concert by the nationally recognized singing string quartet Well-Strung. The Center will also honor Judge Vaughn R. Walker (Ret) with the “Vanguard” Award.

Already expected to be one of the highlights of the Coachella Valley social season, the Center Stage soiree not only stands as a fun kick-off to Palm Springs Pride, but also as the perfect opportunity for The Dinah to stamp its mark in its highly anticipated upcoming April 2015 milestone 25th Anniversary.

For more information or to purchase a ticket, call 760-416-7790 or go to www.thecenterps.org.

The Dinah 2015 — celebrating 25 Years of epic pool parties and world-class entertainment — takes place April 1-5, 2015, in Palm Springs, California.

The post Dinah founder receives Legacy Award first appeared on Lesbian.com.

No, Women On A Roll isn’t a sandwich shop for single lesbians. It’s one of lesbian social butterfly Andrea Meyerson’s two businesses serving the LGBT community.

Based in Los Angeles, Meyerson started a cycling group, Women On A Roll, when she came out so she could meet women who shared common interests. Well, it worked. Meyerson has grown Women On A Roll into a huge social club that travels the world together.

As her social circle grew, she began producing bigger and bigger events for her group, which grew into Standout Productions. Over the past decade, Meyerson has been filming these productions, creating the popular “Laughing Matters” series and more.

More recently, she’s tackled more serious documentary fare with her award-winning films “I Stand Corrected” and “Letter to Anita.”

Currently, Meyerson is working on a documentary about Provincetown called “Clambake.” She took time out of her busy schedule to share the secrets of her success.

What do you do and why?
I currently own and operate two businesses:

Women On A Roll, a social and travel organization for lesbians, bi women and their friends.

StandOut Productions (soon to be Andrea Meyerson Productions): In this company, I produce films, television specials and live productions; such as, comedy shows and concerts.

Why? I believe the work I’m doing now is my calling. I’ve just completed my eighth documentary and I feel it’s so important to document and preserve our culture and history.

What did you do before you started your company?

I was in corporate world for quite some time, mostly as a national account sales manager.

How did you come up with the idea for your company?

By accident, really. I came out and at the time there wasn’t much available for lesbians. I was a little discouraged. Since I had a passion for bicycling, I decided to start a lesbian cycling club. The community was very receptive and we started offering many social events. It started out as a hobby, but I soon felt a strong desire to serve the community and decided to leave my corporate gig and start a company producing fundraisers for LGBT nonprofit organizations. That led to producing live comedy shows and concerts and special events. And that ultimately led to filmmaking!

What do you find most rewarding about owning your own business?

My very favorite thing is to create something where there was once nothing! When an idea comes to me, whether it’s a subject for a new film or a new event or travel destination for Women On A Roll, I have to the freedom to implement it and create something that may have never come into existence otherwise. And it’s even better knowing it makes a difference in our community!

What would you say is the single most important key to sustaining a business long term?

For me it’s been helpful to have more than one business. I feel more secure knowing I have options when something is bringing in enough money. Next year is the 20th anniversary for Women On A Roll and I would have never been able to sustain it without running my production company as well.

The post Enterprising women: Women On A Roll, Andrea Meyerson first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Erin Berg and Kyle Moshrefi found their sense of style didn’t match store-bought offerings, so they created Kipper, a clothier that tailors masculine fashions to women’s bodies.

These dapper entrepreneurs shared the secrets of launching their brand with Lesbian.com.

What do you do and why?

Kyle and I started Kipper Clothiers in July 2013. Kipper Clothiers is a custom suiting and shirting venture focusing on making menswear for women accessible to the community. Kyle and I came together with a mutual passion for menswear that blossomed into Kipper Clothiers almost instantly. We were tired of seeing our friends struggle to find menswear that fit or looked good. We provide clothing to everyone along the gender spectrum, but use the word menswear specifically to provide a particular timeless aesthetic that has never been accessible to us.

What’s the single most important piece of advice you received when first starting your company? What would you tell a young entrepreneur in turn? What resources would you recommend to someone who is contemplating starting her own business?

The most important piece of advice would be to do your research. Find your local LGBTQ business organizations and reach out to them: for us it was the GGBA, StartOut, and other local small business owners. You can’t be afraid to admit what you don’t know and ask others for help. Kipper Clothiers has succeeded since day one because the first thing we did was find mentors in our field.

What aspect of business ownership came as the biggest surprise to you?

To be frank, Kyle and I liked the idea for Kipper Clothiers and ran with it. However, if you would have told me that I would be working 15 hours a day for the first year of the business, I would have had second thoughts. Starting a business is an all-consuming venture. That being said, I couldn’t be more happy that we jumped right in.

What do you find most rewarding about owning your own business?

When you work at larger businesses or corporations, there are separate departments for each aspect of the company. But at Kipper Clothiers, Kyle and I are in charge of everything. No marketing department, no accounting department, everything Kipper Clothiers produces, we create.

Where do you see yourself and your company in five years?

We get this question a lot and Kyle and I like to have the mantra “one suit at a time.” We have seen other companies grow too quickly and have that be their downfall. We like to give our clients the individual care and attention they deserve. Obviously, we eventually hope to expand nationally and have a casual ready-wear line of garments and accessories, but first we want to focus on our brick-and-mortar store in San Francisco located at 78 Gough Street.

Connect with Kipper Clothiers on their website, Facebook or Twitter.

The post Kipper Clothiers tailors masculine style for women first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Her road to this dream job wasn’t strewn with rose pedals. Grace shares what she learned from her failures in order to make her dream a reality.

What do you do and why?

I call myself a professional lesbian. It started off as a joke, but it just stuck. In short, I teach straight people how to market to gay people and gay people how to market themselves. Ultimately, I strive to be a resource to any business or professional looking to market to the LGBT community, the caveat is the company must be authentic and transparent about their approach. They must have a genuine care for the LGBT community or I won’t work with them. I am not in the business of helping bad companies reach the good people of our community, in fact I want to protect our community from those greedy types of people.

I started my business because I saw the apparent need for business owners and professionals to really understand how to communicate with the LGBT community. Truly understanding what makes our community tick and how to communicate in an appropriate and professional manner is key. I thought knowing how to communicate was obvious to people, but I quickly learned it is not. This is something many people are working on, especially if they want to see success.

What did you do before you started your company?

I was bit by the entrepreneurial bug at a young age. I started a landscaping business when I was 17 and have had a few other failed business ventures since. In 2004, I began helping small business owners with their marketing needs and have somehow been tied into the small business community since.

How did you come up with the idea for your company?

In 2009, I took on the role of executive director for the local Connecticut LGBT Chamber of Commerce. In the five years prior, I was freelancing and helping small businesses better market themselves. However, in my four-year role as executive director, I wore many hats, but the few I enjoyed the most where helping member businesses succeed and market themselves better. The chamber gave me the opportunity to hone in my skills of understanding varying businesses on a deeper level.

As the chamber grew, my desire to help their businesses with their LGBT marketing grew. Understanding LGBT marketing was a skill set unique to me, not the position I was in, and I felt I would be more effective and powerful if I changed the direction of my business to focus on the needs of small business owners across the country, not just in Connecticut. Helping the LGBT community be better understood is at the core of what I do.

What’s the single most important piece of advice you received when first starting your company? What would you tell a young entrepreneur in turn?

My guiding principle in business has been, “It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission.” I like to dive in and get things done. If you wait around for someone’s permission to do so you’ll be waiting for eternity. While I would give this same advice to a young entrepreneur, I would like to share something I’ve learned over time that I think is more important. Find out what you like to do and do that. Don’t be complacent. Try a lot of things. If you don’t like what you are doing, switch directions.

As an entrepreneur, there is no one way of doing things. If you see your business model isn’t quite working like you had hoped, you are agile enough to pivot and go in a new direction. I am always revising the ways I am doing things because I need to be happy doing what I am doing first and foremost. If you have a client who is a pain to you, get rid of them. You have to take care of yourself first and do what feels right to you. Success will follow if you stay true to your personal mission.

What aspect of business ownership came as the biggest surprise to you?

When you are first starting out, you need to know everything. While you are bootstrapping it or budgets are tight, you need to be the salesperson, the bookkeeper and the janitor. As you grow and have the funds to support your venture, you can begin to hire people to help you do these things, which frees you up to focus on the things you love to do. Finding this balance was a bit of a challenge at first, but once you get in your groove, the sky is the limit.

What do you find most rewarding about owning your own business?

One word: freedom. Owning my own business allows me to do what I want, when I want, on my terms. Sure there are client needs and demands that can leave you feeling like you aren’t in control, but ultimately you are choosing them to be your clients and allowing them to have that control. I have the freedom to go golfing with my wife in the middle of the week when I want to. Or go to a school play for one of my kids without having to ask for someone’s permission. I wouldn’t give this lifestyle up for anything.

What resources would you recommend to someone who is contemplating starting her own business?

I would say the first step is to find a mentor who is out there doing it. It doesn’t have to be someone doing exactly what you want to do, but go out and find a lesbian who is successful that you admire and ask her for advice. Ask her what she wishes she knew when she started her business. I find the majority of people are open and candid when you ask them these things. Don’t reinvent the wheel, get out there and learn from those who know it better than you do. From there, you’ll be able to gauge if this is something you are cut out for.

What would you say is the single most important key to sustaining a business long term?

The ability to remain nimble. The bigger your business gets the more difficult it becomes to be nimble and make quick decisions. For long-term sustainability, the ability to shift when the market shifts or to identify when something isn’t working and pivot in a new direction are key.

What obstacles did you face in establishing your company and how did you overcome them?

My word of advice is to embrace your failures. Before pivoting and landing in my company now of being a professional lesbian, I had another LGBT consulting business with a business partner. It was really tough for me to come to the conclusion that I needed to close that business and admit that I failed. But the reality is that failure has taught me so much that I couldn’t have learned in business school. It ultimately shaped my company now in such a positive way. So when you are faced with an obstacle or something unpleasant, look at it as a learning opportunity and know that you will come out the other side just fine.

Learn more about Jenn T. Grace on her web site or through Facebook or Twitter.

The post Enterprising Women: Jenn T. Grace, professional lesbian first appeared on Lesbian.com.