Meet Sarah Williams

We recently connected with Sarah Williams and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sarah, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
My confidence and self-esteem developed over time and is still a work in progress. When it was time to grow my business, to take it online and grow outside of my town, I struggled with my confidence. I didn’t want to be the face of my business. I even considered hiring an influencer to represent my business – someone younger, thinner, blonder than I was.

Over time, I realized something really important. My customers were just like me. They were southern, busy moms who weren’t young, weren’t always thin, and may or may not have been blond. They liked me because they could relate to me. So I made the decision to step into my role as the owner – and face – of my business and own it.

There have been many times over the years when I’ve felt like I didn’t deserve to be in a room. Masterminds with business owners with much larger businesses, industry conferences with speakers with bigger name recognition, the time when the CEO of a major publisher offered me a book deal. All of these situations had me feeling unsure, even insecure. When I take a minute to remind myself of how far I’ve come and all I’ve accomplished, I’m able to step into my role and own it all over again.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’ve been called “The Subscription Box Queen” by some of my mentors and peers. It’s a title that makes me laugh and not just because I’m not likely to be seen around town wearing a crown. I don’t have the best subscriptions or the most subscribers. Rather, the title comes from my ability to bring consistent, recurring revenue into product-based businesses.

My business started nine years ago with a brick and mortar retail store. As my business and my core group of regular, dedicated customers grew, so did an idea to serve them in a different way. I longed to start a subscription-based business that provided an exclusive, VIP-level experience. But I didn’t know how. In 2017, there weren’t very many people doing it – and those who were, weren’t talking about it. I spent 18 months figuring out all the pieces of the subscription box puzzle and how to fit them together.

Once I did, I launched my box and worked hard to grow my subscriber base, always focusing on giving them the very best experience. Giving them my very best. My subscription box did grow – a lot. And having the consistent, recurring revenue stream from my subscription box transformed my business – and my life.

But I didn’t want to stop there. The same desire to serve that led me to start my own subscription box inspired me to want to teach other product-based entrepreneurs how to start, launch, and grow their own subscription box businesses. I wanted to trim that 18 months down, ease the strain, and help them get started right away. So Launch Your Box was born – a program for anyone who wants to start, grow, or scale a subscription box business.

In addition to continuing to surprise and delight our thousands of monthly subscribers, my team and I work with thousands of subscription box entrepreneurs every day – serving and loving on them, too – within two programs – Launch Your Box and Scale Your Box as well as my Elevate Mastermind.

Right now, I’m in the midst of launching a new, standalone course on how to start a t-shirt subscription and planning for the launch of my first book, One Box at a Time, which comes out in November.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I’m willing to take risks. It was a risk to quit my corporate job and start my own business. It was a risk to add a subscription box to my business. It was a risk to start a coaching business with an entirely different audience. As an entrepreneur, it’s necessary to be willing to take risks.

I’m resilient. This quality has been such an important part of my success. There have been times when I’ve failed, times when I’ve been faced with problems and challenges in my business, but I never quit. Resilience is such an important quality for entrepreneurs to have or to develop. You cannot let one problem or challenge shut you down.

I’m a lifelong learner. As my business grew, I sought out people and programs to learn from, then implemented what I learned. That allowed me to grow my business further and faster than I ever could have on my own. I tell members of my coaching membership often, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” New entrepreneurs need to seek out people who have the knowledge they need, learn all they can, and then implement that learning.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
Being an entrepreneur is hard. Being an entrepreneur without a support system is nearly impossible. I credit having the right support system with helping me grow my business and grow as a business owner.

I have coaches and mentors who are doing what I want to do. People who can teach me and act as role models, encouragers, and cheerleaders at the same time they challenge me to take the next steps in my business journey.

I also have a group of fellow entrepreneurs who are not only some of my closest friends, they are like-minded business women who fill so many roles in my life. If I’m facing a business problem or challenge, I can take it to them and they help me find a solution. If I’m feeling down about something not going to plan, they lift me up. When something goes right, they’re the first people who are ready to celebrate with me.

It’s these people who have been by my side throughout my business journey, helping me and sometimes pushing me to continue to grow.

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