This week we have a partnership on the blog! How fun is that?! These two girls are absolutely rocking life outside their comfort zone! They own such a fun biz connecting women around town with fun social events.
Tell me a little bit about you and your mission with your biz!
HI! We’re Angela and Erica – we’re the co-founders of The B Hive Apiary in Austin, Texas! We met about 2 years ago and realized that it was super hard to move to a new city and not know anyone. We became fast friends and discovered that there were so many other women who need the same authentic female friendships that we were able to form so quickly. The B Hive Apiary is a women’s social circle, we help women new to town or otherwise make authentic female friends, and fill their social calendar in Austin. We organize monthly book clubs, brunches, social events, charity fundraisers and we also host regular business seminars and discussions for all of our business owners in the group. It’s an amazing community of women who are cheering each other on every day.
From the beginning the one thing Angela and I have had in common is our loyalty and shared value in the importance of friendship. Our mission has always been to build a community of women empowering women in all parts of their lives.
Have you always known you wanted to be a girl boss or did it take some soul searching to get there? What did you do before you became an entrepreneur?
Angela – I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. I resisted it for a long time but mostly because it wasn’t the right fit to make me feel passionate and committed. But when we started The B Hive, it was something that just instantly clicked. Having a business partner also alleviates a lot of the stress that comes with owning your own business, you have a shoulder to cry on and someone to lean on when you need a little bit of help. I don’t think either of us could have done this business without the other! We both are still employed full time but are working towards leaving our regular 9-5 as soon as we can. I currently work in Human Resources and have for the last few years.
Erica – I am also from a family of entrepreneurs but I wanted to be an actress! When that didn’t work I hit the corporate world hard with my eyes on success but I quickly realized that no amount of money could make me happy working for someone else. I also have my own Relationship Coaching Business. No, I DO NOT SLEEP.
My mission on meganseamans.com is to help women reconnect with their authentic self to start living their dream lifestyle, even though taking that initial step outside of their comfort zone might be pretty tricky.
Would you say you had to “find yourself” before you dove into your new plan? Did you find yourself starting on this brand new journey and having to learn about yourself along the way?
Angela – I would say I definitely had to find myself before we dove in. I think, however, it was a long period of finding myself and the right project. I’m able to identify my strengths and weaknesses much easier now, which gives me the ability to capitalize on those strengths and ask for help or challenge myself with the weaknesses. I think building a business in general is a learning experience both for yourself and for business, if you’re not learning something new about yourself you’re not challenging yourself enough!
Erica- I have spent the last 6 years “finding” myself. I have accepted that I am a lifetime learner. I will spend my life peeling every layer of myself and I think that is what supports my creativity in business and my fierce passion in supporting other women.
When did your comfort zone show up for you? Tell the readers a time when you had to fight past the limits or boundaries you were setting for yourself and how you overcame them.
Angela – For me personally, success is a comfort zone. When we have a great turnout for an event or a huge response for something we’ve done – we celebrate and feel totally amazing! But sometimes we take that success as an opportunity to take a “brain break” and not put forth 150%. Which there is nothing wrong with that at all, it’s easy to do and doesn’t change the success you’ve accomplished.
Erica- For me, my comfort zone is when I am not being challenged. I haven’t seen one of those for a while. I actually miss being comfortable sometimes. I will actually try to spend a day not doing something toward my passion and then I am bored. Then I find a different challenge like learning to cook from scratch or jumping out of an airplane.
Once you landed on your dream business plan did the unknown feel a bit scary? Did you find yourself asking a lot of what if’s or looking into the future a lot more than you should have?
Angela – I consider our business plan a living document – it changes with each passing day. Our business is somewhat unique – so everything is the unknown. And its always scary to look forward and not know what will happen, thats part of the reason why our business plan is a living document. Sometimes we come up with a great idea and we give it a try and its a total flop, other times we try something and we can’t believe how well it turned out and we give ourselves a pat on the back. I’m a very cautious person by nature, I plan for everything – even the worst, so I’m always thinking about the what-ifs, but I don’t let it affect the ebb and flow of business or the changes we make to help make it successful.
Erica- I am a visionary and that is why Angela is my perfect balance. She brings me back to earth. I never think in the what if’s and when things flop, I am like what did we learn? and when we succeed, I am like what did we learn? To me, there is no dream business plan. We are doing something unique and so everything is the unknown. The dream come true for me is when I receive a text from a member and she tells me she met the Best Friend she has always wanted. Then i jump and scream and know we are doing good work.
Did you run into any road bumps along the way or have to encounter any particular fears that you would like to share?
Angela – There are always road bumps- technology fails, time is limited or just overall chaos ensues. I think my biggest fear is that I don’t have enough hours in the day to actually put into what I need to do without sacrificing biological needs like sleep and food. It’s a balancing act when you have a full time job, plus a 45 minute commute each way – knowing how to balance my day job, the business and having a personal life is a constant struggle and always has me concerned about burn out.
Erica- I am a life coach, so, by trade fear is my best friend. Fear to me means we are heading in the right direction. I think my biggest fear is that there is someone out there who could really use our help hasn’t found us yet!
When you did hit road blocks, face challenges or have failures, what was the worst that happened? What did it take to keep you going?
Angela – Oh its never as bad as it seems. Especially when you look back on it. A new fire or a new road block pops up as soon as one gets resolved. Knowing that what we’re doing is helping other women but also our community is always what keeps us going. Seeing the women in our group tell us that they’ve met their best friend or have friends like they’ve never had before makes every failure, every road block, every challenge totally worth it.
Erica- I agree with what Angela said, the women in our group make everything worth it. Also, she’s my best friend and we both agree that there is nothing a shared bottle of wine can’t fix.
What is one big, amazing piece of advice you would give to our readers about stepping outside of their comfort zone and really going for the lifestyle that they have always dreamed of?
Angela – Be authentic, challenge yourself and be fluid. Running a business truly is a roller coaster. You’re going to have the ups and downs, the success and the failures and then one day it’ll all be flipped upside down. But ultimately when you finish the coaster – you want to get back on, because the thrill is worth it!
Erica- I have done both. I quit my job, traveled the world and started a business, and now I have 9-5 and I am running 2 businesses. There is no right or wrong way to do this. Don’t get caught up in the romance of being an entrepreneur. Do it because deep in your heart you can’t do anything else. Trust me if that is the only reason you do it, you will never need a comfort zone again.
Where can all the readers find you fabulous women!
