We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Elizabeth Forster. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Elizabeth below.
Hi Elizabeth, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?
I’ve always been drawn to individuals, you may call quirky, unique, or different. Although, those people were not always the most popular, sometimes isolated, or misunderstood, I would be drawn to them. There is power in owning your individuality and being unique but one thing I truly admire about those people who seem to be an outcast or just different from everyone else is that despite their differences in their surroundings, they stayed true to themselves, even if that meant not have a big group of friends. Their individuality was more important than being popular. Growing up, I would tend to initiate conversations with those types of people and they would be the most interesting, the most smart and intuitive people I have ever met. I was drawn to them because I was one of them. I was a very shy girl growing up and didn’t have many friends, but the friends I did have, we would have a blast. Throughout my life I would be in situations that would feel isolating or and always feel like an alternative to the masses and what I have learned, is that I believe being unique and owning who I am is more powerful and special than anything else. Knowing yourself, being true to yourself, despite your environment is key to surviving life’s challenges.
Many of us find comfort in moving, thinking and acting like others, but it takes guts, courage, and a sense of self-awareness to truly just be yourself and be out the norm.
So when I decided to step out on faith and do something completely different than most of my peers, something different than what I had spent my whole life pursuing, and stepping into the world of entrepreneurship, there was a sense of uncertainty but comfortability. Walking a path that no one else has walked is something that almost seems inevitable for me, as I lived my life and thrived on being an individual and being in my own lane. Was is scary? Absolutely! Was it life changing? Absolutely!
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
When I started this journey in entrepreneurship, I had little knowledge to what I was getting my self into. However, what I did know was that I was ready. After pursuing veterinarian medicine all of my adult life, all I had worked for was no longer a goal that was attainable. After being dismissed from veterinarian college, I tried my best to figure out how I was going to meet his goal of mine of becoming a Black Women Veterinarian. Despite the many many setbacks and challenges I was faced pursuing this dream, I was determined to make a way. But what do you do when nothing opens up for you and every door is closed to achieving this goal? You build your own door! Some may say, you wait on God to open up those opportunities or just keep praying about it, and wait. But, sometimes, God is waiting on You! He is waiting on You to build that door yourself so you can walk through it to the opportunities and blessing he has waiting for you on the other side.
So that’s what I did. I started to build that door, learning, reading, practicing how to make cupcakes from scratch. I started the self work that was necessary to start shifting my mindset out of depression and doubt, and started to hold onto the sense of allowing myself to dictate my own destiny, giving myself grace through it all and placing value on myself and not allowing anyone else to determine if I was capable. I immersed myself in business research, learning what it meant to be an entrepreneur, and started pouring into myself through motivational videos, self- help and business podcasts, many books, and every baking and cooking show imaginable. I decided in my heart and in my mind, that this new goal of mine in starting a cupcake business was something that ignited my discovery of purpose.
My love for animals and people was evident when my agenda was met by obtaining my Masters in Public Health. As, I was an advocate for the skills we learn in veterinarian college was transferable to all fields in medicine, essentially called “One Health”. Yes, I loved animals but my passion was people. Educating, empowering and encouraging my fellow veterinarians students, down to my clients, I had a passion for teaching.
Although the process of building my business has allowed me to be a master at social media, marketing, and selling my products online, I have now taken a different direction in the focus of my business, and that’s coaching and consulting.
All the work I have done promoting my online bakery business utilizing Instagram by using my creativity, personality, and testimony, it has also been one of the most personal and healing journeys I have every experienced.
I believe entrepreneurship and owning a business is more than just selling a product and making money, no…it’s about who you are, its about your story, its about purpose.
Although money is necessary to building your business, the first thing any business owner needs to understand is that your MINDSET is the key to your success, not money. My journey of healing from a failed attempt at a pursuit of a career for over 10 years and pretty much my whole entire adult life…took a lot of self- discovery, re-discovery and healing. To have enough confident to step into a career that I knew little about took courage and God. Without Him, I would not know where I would be. To have gone through all that I went through, thinking that this life as a Veterinarian was God’s Plan, turned out it was not…took a long time to wrap my head around and was very difficult but what I realized is that the goal of serving people never changed, just how I did has.
When discovering purpose, you soon realize that your life experiences and how you overcame them was never for you, they were meant to change the life of others.
My cupcake business is still a work in progress and we grow everyday, but my purpose is to use cupcakes, as I would have used animals, to connect people to where God wants them to be. To understand that life is full of failures, but that is okay, because without the failures, we wouldn’t have found the right answers for our lives. To change, to influence, to assist and to be an example of what being the exception looks like, is what Moja Cupcakes is All about.
Moja Cupcakes has now taken on the responsibility to be a source of business coaching and consulting to those who desire to build their online baking business by walking them through the journey of mindset and the process of self reinvention, to be comfortable walking in purpose, and to make money while doing it!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Within my scientific academic background, my abilities and training on how to problem solve would be the first skill necessary. Problem solving is a must have and an essential skill to moving forward in business and in baking. As a baker, we also understand that baking is a science, and sometimes, theories, trials, and testing is necessary. Learning how to adjust any recipes takes patience and the ability to problem solve. Which in a away, also requires my second skill in that you must have confidence an a sense of self to keep pushing forward. When a bake does not come out right, I have to know that this is a temporary failure and I know that if I don’t give up I can and will achieve this goal of baking this cupcake just right! But when it doesn’t…. the third skill or quality any baker should have, is the to ability to give yourself grace. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Patience and trusting the process is going to keep you grounded knowing that you are doing your best, you are staying committed to your goals, and you are more than capable!
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
As soon as I decided to embark on creating a coaching and consulting service within my business, I knew I had to start learning from those who are already successful in business coaching. One of the most profound statements I heard them say, is that “your ideal client, is the person you used to be”. As I continue to share my story on my Instagram page and continue to be a source of motivation and inspiration, I also am eager to meet those who can connect to my story. Those woman who had ever felt stuck in life, felt discouraged, or lost. To those women who suffered from depression or anxiety but has utilized baking or creating with desserts as a way to heal and express themselves. Those women who does not allow others to place value on them but to know your worth and that they are more than a conqueror. Those women who has decided to completely shift careers and decided not to settle. Those women who allowed God to lead but also have the courage to Bet On Yourself! Those women are considered my ideal client, because I was once her.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mojacupcakes.com
- Instagram: @mojacupcakes
- Facebook: Moja Cupcakes
