The Visionary Woman Podcast
The Visionary Woman Podcast
Ep. 2 Becoming The Visionary Woman of Your Dreams
In this episode, I share the inspiring beginnings of Freedom Fleur and how a simple shirt design with the words 'speak up, voice for the voiceless' led to a mission that still stands strong today - resourcing the visionary woman. Learn how starting with just 30 sales laid the foundation for a process of learning, measuring, and iterating, and how women of all ages need courage to build their dreams. So, tune in and be inspired to become a visionary leader in your own life and discover the tips and tricks to bring your dreams to life while maintaining your day job!
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Don't put your dreams to bed. You've done that enough. Now it's time to stir them up. This is your friend and host, kirstie Fleur, with the Visionary Woman podcast, and I love resourcing the Visionary Woman, the creative, the artist, the business owner, the risk taker, and on this show, we will talk about what it means to get out of your own way and take your dreams to the next level. Join the conversation. Hello and welcome to the Visionary Woman podcast. I'm your host, kirstie Fleur, and I'm excited to be here with you for this next episode of the Visionary Woman podcast. Today, we're going to talk about becoming the Visionary Woman of your dreams. So if you're here today and you're listening to this podcast or you're watching this podcast on YouTube, it's very likely that you're an entrepreneur or you have hopes of becoming an entrepreneur one day and being in this arena. So, before we get into what that entails, i'm going to share with you my journey. I call it the journey of learning, building and measuring.
Kirstie Fleur:As early as junior high school, i used to draw clothing and shoes because I wanted to be a fashion designer. Like it was my dream, like I couldn't wait to live out my dream being a fashion designer, but I was also going to be a model and I was also going to do acting, and so, as an artist, i had all these things that I wanted to do. But as I leaned into the design aspect of what I wanted to be when I was younger, i spent a lot of time going through my mom's sewing kits and bags and her extra fabrics and like cutting pieces out of them, drawing designs. I mean, i was teaching myself at the moment, and then when I was doing these things, i was drawing like, okay, here's the name of my business, where my business is going to be called, here's the name of my line of shoes or my line of jackets or dresses, and so I had this idea of what I wanted for my life at a very young age making makeshift tech packs. I didn't know what a tech pack was at the time, but as I look back now, all these years later, i'm like I was really sitting here making tech packs. Okay, so that was crazy. So teaching myself how to do fashion design at a young age.
Kirstie Fleur:One of my best friends had actually given me my very first sewing machine, and so you know, even though my mom, my grandmother and different ones of us had sewn. I knew that I wanted my own sewing machine And so she mentioned having one. I got my own sewing machine that I got to play around with, mess up all my mom's fabrics with, but she didn't have a problem with it. So that was great. So I used to do that.
Kirstie Fleur:I had even got to the point where I was I had put on my own fashion show. So I had got a whole bunch of clothes from Goodwill that had taken apart and put together and just put like little outfits together, like styled pieces and some pieces that I had sewn together myself. Not only that, i would go to open calls and go seas. If you're like in the modeling space, then you know what open calls and go seas are. So I'd have my picture professionally taken to find somebody for like 20, 25 bucks to take a professional headshot for me, and they would have these modeling agencies come into our town. They'd be like at convention centers or different things like that, and I'd go in as young as I was And you know at you know interview in front of these people showed in my photos and all these different things. I just knew that I was. I just knew I was the stuff. I had it going on and to me in my head, i knew where I was going, and so it was exciting during that time frame and I kept that vision before me. I was like this is what I want, this is what I want to do with my life. And so I even sent letters to Oprah. I think I sent a letter to Tyra Banks as I got older I don't remember how old I was, in junior high or high school but I sent a and I wrote a letter and it had a picture of me in it to the Tyra Banks It's not the Tyra Banks show, but I think it was America's next top model or something like that And Jet Magazine and all these places. So if you guys, you know, if Oprah ever hears this, if Tyra ever hears this, you guys lost out because you got to die over here. You missed it, but no, seriously. So I was doing all those things.
Kirstie Fleur:It's like, you know, people say, what made you want to be an entrepreneur? Like what made you want to start the journey? I'm like there was something in me when I was a kid, you know, and I know that everybody is not wired that way, but I just had this ambition And, you know, i just knew that I could make it and knew that I could succeed. And I think that's something that we can all if we don't innately have that, that's something that we all can learn from, that's something that we can all grow and cultivate a muscle of. And really that's what entrepreneurship is right It's believing in yourself, believing in your dream and taking the risk when other people can't see it just yet. So I was willing. I was willing, i had the willingness, but I did not have the resources No cash money, but I had the willingness.
Kirstie Fleur:So I would actually, as I got older and went to college, put a business plan together. So I was like okay, i want to have a business locally. I want to have my own clothing boutique one day, and I came up with the name for the clothing boutique And in that clothing boutique I was going to have my own line and I was going to also have other people's lines in there as well, like a marketplace, like several stores that we see now. So what I would begin to do is I would go around the city They would have economic development meetings in the city And I would go around, go to those meetings, show face and be present.
Kirstie Fleur:I had learned that I really needed a business plan at this point if I was going to get money from banks. So I worked with the SBA and you guys, i'm young, i'm like fresh in college and I'm like I'm going to start this business. And you know, going to the bank with this business plan, like here's how much money I need, i need $200,000 to get started. And they're looking at me like you don't have any money. You've never had a business before. You're coming straight out of high school. You're coming up with this business plan. The SBA helped you put it together. I mean, the business plan was phenomenal. Okay, the plan was phenomenal. Honestly, i think if I scour my house now I can find it. I just want to find it because it was really well put together. I think it's better put together than my business plan now, if I'm being completely honest which I don't know if that's sad to say or not, but hey, i had the time then on my hands, anyway. So put this business plan together. I'm around the city and I'm trying to get the funds that I need to move my business forward. And you know, in your business plan you have to put all these things together right. You need to put, like your marketing plan, how much the office is going to cost and all these projections that it wants in there. So I was going around the city meeting with different leasing agents for buildings And so I found this building that was downtown If you're from Monroe, louisiana, it's on Cotton Street, like downtown area, right there And I was like, oh my gosh, this is the perfect spot.
Kirstie Fleur:It's downtown, it's in the middle of the city. At the time, downtown in Monroe, louisiana, had absolutely no commerce. But for some reason, i had the vision and I was like this is gonna be, this area is gonna be popping And this is where my shop is gonna be at And my boutique and all these things and flesh. Back to now, you know there are several restaurants and boutiques and different things in that area now, but back then it wasn't. It was kind of a little bitty ghost town, but the architecture in the area was beautiful.
Kirstie Fleur:So I had an idea, i had a vision, guys, a vision, you gotta have that vision. Well, i got down there. So I'm meeting with the leasing agent. He's showing me this space. You know, it's really a holdout building. It has no bathroom, there's no partitions, there's no anything. And he's like, okay, this will be $300 a month, you'll have to get it wired for electricity, you have to do all these things to it or whatever. And you know, i was immediately like $300 a month. Huh, broke college kid, i'm eating ramen, noodles and mac and cheese out of these little containers And I'm like $300. Wow, that's a lot. And then, you know, i'm gonna have to put lights in it. So I started thinking, well, i could just bring, like, light fixtures. It was gonna be real, real, real, ghetto If I had a. Went the way that I was thinking in my head. But anyway, i proceeded to bring my business plan to banks, realizing that, oh my gosh, it really takes money to make money. And so that was a hard reality for me, realizing that I had the skills, i had the vision, i had the dream. But it took so much more than that, you know. And on top of that I had young girls in my high school who had their own boutiques, who had started boutiques in clothing. They didn't start clothing lines, but they started boutiques And we're going to market and stuff. So I knew it was possible to do it, you know, and I had saw it online with people like me doing it as well. So I'm sharing all of this because you know, this dream has been there for so long, you know, and it's been a swirly path for me as a three time CEO guys.
Kirstie Fleur:But entrepreneurship is in my DNA And if I'm talking to other entrepreneurs right now, you know how it is. Maybe you were a kid and maybe you had a lemonade stand or something. You had your little lemonade stand out there or you were selling. Who knows, my little boy wants to sell his baseball cards outside of the house And he wants to sell them for like $300. I don't know if anybody's going to buy the baseball cards for $300. And if they do, that's a lucrative business model And I personally think that I need to get into it as well. But you know he's got that grit in that. You know, want to start something and want to put something out into the world too, and like that entrepreneurial DNA as well.
Kirstie Fleur:But I will tell you, one of the things I learned so far on this path as a three time CEO is what I call learning, building and measuring. Something my husband says is measure twice, cut once, and I actually used to really hate when he said I got to be honest, I used to hate it. You know, he's like you know we've got to measure twice and you got to cut once. And I'm like what does that mean? Why do you keep saying that? You know? and he's in the federal contracting and construction arena And so it made sense for him. But you know, the further I got along in my journey, i was like what that really is is what I've always called myself anyway, and it's a calculated risk taker. And I'm like OK, i can resonate with it. Be, you know to measure, make sure that what you're doing, it makes sense. You do have to step out there and you do have to step out there and take the risk. You do have to do that, but you do have to pay attention to what are the details, what are my strategies behind what it is that I'm doing. So you're not constantly going back to the start each and every time. Sometimes you do have to do that, sometimes you've got to be willing to pivot as an entrepreneur, as a CEO. But measuring twice, cutting once, it helps so much. So all that to say that is what my journey has been. It has been one where I have taken the risk to grow, to innovate, to think outside the box and to believe in my vision and my products and the people that these products and things serve.
Kirstie Fleur:In the beginning stages of Freedom Floor, as you guys know, freedom Floor was a nonprofit And we started with speaking with women at conferences and meeting to do support group work with women who had been through abuse. The first thing I had did was digitized a picture. You guys have probably seen the logo. If you go on Freedom Floor's website, freedomfloorcom, you can still purchase some of those shirts. I call them the OG, but it's a picture of a lady with her word. The words are going out And it says speak up, voice for the voiceless. That was the first thing that I had designed for the movement that it was then, and it was just this shirt that let women know that, hey, your voice matters, what you've been through matters, all these things.
Kirstie Fleur:And I actually realized then that it didn't matter what I sold. It didn't matter if I sold sneakers, candy bars or if I sold business suits or if I sold hairbrushes or what it was, but what mattered for women was the mission behind it, the purpose, and what I was seeing and what I was serving And that meant something to me. I was like it's not that big of a deal. It's a shirt And it's a hand-drawn logo on it that I got a friend to digitize for me. That costs a little bit of nothing.
Kirstie Fleur:And I realized that men, women, need empowerment. We need to be told that. You know what we've been through, it matters, it's important, and that we can use the pain in the things that we've been through to create something epic, to create something absolutely beautiful that can change not only ourselves but can change the world around us. And so that is what we started out doing, guys. And it was amazing. And I got to be honest. Okay, so we had.
Kirstie Fleur:Initially we had 30 sales. Woop, woop, cue the confetti. Okay, 30 sales was a big deal, okay, so do not don't turn your nose up at my 30 little sales, because it was amazing, okay, and despise not small beginnings, because you have no idea what 30 turned into. But those 30 sales had me at home all day trying to put, secure and put those orders together, because I didn't have inventory and back end and all that type of stuff. So I had to place the order, fill it myself, package it, put everything in bags, you know, get the label maker print out, do all the things.
Kirstie Fleur:And then that helped me realize that, okay, that was me actually learning, had to learn all the things. That was me measuring, you know. So I'm measuring, okay, the success of the project, what it is that's happening, and then it's allowing me the opportunity to iterate and build. So I'm like, wow, okay, so women do want this. And then it helped me understand their why. Why do they want this?
Kirstie Fleur:And I had women saying, hey, you know, we're in the, you know, religious or church arena, i'm going to wear this shirt when I preach. Or, you know, i'm going to wear this shirt when I speak at conferences to women. Or Hey, when I go out, you know, when I put this shirt on, i feel brave for some reason, and it isn't again because of the words on the shirt or because of the picture of the graphic, is because what stands behind it And it's because it's a mission that we can all believe in. And so that mission still stands the same for freedom, for our goal, our mission, our heart is to resource the visionary woman. So some of the things that you've been through, it's like it's time. It's like high time to turn that thing into something that makes economic impact for not only you, because we need you. That's sustainability right there. We need you to get what you need to get out of it. But that is also going to create this domino effect that helps other people around you. So that's what we're here for, that's what we're doing. We're measuring twice when we're cutting once and we're taking those calculated risk And we're being bold and courageous in doing what we need to do to take our visions and our dreams to the next level.
Kirstie Fleur:One of the things I know is that women need the courage to build their dreams. It doesn't matter how old you are. I realize this with several women, young and old. The amazing thing about the work that I do is that I do get to talk to women in a broad range of ages, from as young as my baby sister to 23, 24 years old to up to 60 years old, who are having the same concerns or issues or challenges. Where it's I need the community. I don't have the space to talk about this.
Kirstie Fleur:I'm wanting to grow in my career not only in my career, but I think maybe one day I might start a business, or women who are already in business. This is what I really love. I love when women are like you know what? I don't know if I'll be able. I can't be an entrepreneur like you because I can't step out there and do this. I need to. You know, i'm at my nine to five right now and it's just. You know, i need to be there because I got to pay the bills, etc. Etc. You know, and I'm happy to encourage them to keep your nine to five and build your entrepreneurial dream.
Kirstie Fleur:In the background, it's the perfect opportunity to build your dream. And you know, and that's honestly, that's the reason why I share the stories that I share because, you know, when I was in high school and when I was in college, i was working like three and four jobs because I believe in this mission, i believed in this vision and I wasn't going to let anybody tell me that it wasn't happening, you know. So when it was like, oh, i need materials for this, or I want to put this shoot together, or I'm applying to the fashion Institute and all these things, you know, or needing to come up with money for different aspects of my business, you know I was very sure that I needed to continue working, that it was something that had to happen. So I know that we need that. We need that community, and so that's what we do over at the FF Social Club. We are an emerging community and we're creating that space for us as women.
Kirstie Fleur:So you aspiring entrepreneurs who are I want to leave my nine to five, maybe one day, or I want to do this in the background That space is for you, the young collegiate who is, who's in college and who's seeing I'm going to jump out there one day to start a business, but I don't have the community or the support. How do I do this? And my friends around me don't quite get it, don't quite understand what I'm doing, and they're like why won't you just get a job? So you need that support. You know it's something different when you're an entrepreneur and people are like you do too much or what are you doing and why don't you just do this? But our path looks different as entrepreneurs and CEOs. So I'm going to make this push for you guys to join the FF Social Club and be a part of the community, but not only that to join and take advantage of communicating inside the group and making it be the space that you want it to be.
Kirstie Fleur:And for those of us who are executive levels and C-sweets, who do this every day and who've had to overcome all of these challenges, don't forget what it took. You know you have to sometimes reach pretty far back. If you've gotten pretty high up the rung up the ladder, you sometimes have to reach pretty far back to remember how hard it was when you started or what it took, what kind of investment it took, what kind of loans or what kind of what you had to put in it to get where you are. Well, inside that community, you'll be able to speak to the aspiring founder you know and provide encouragement to be like hey, this is where I was at on my journey, you know, keep going. Or be able to provide your courses or the thing you're one-on-ones inside of that group. So it's all about giving back to each other. That's what the community of women is all about Giving back to each other and providing a space where we can economically advance. So this is how you're going to become the visionary woman of your dreams and become the businesses or the brands that you want to be.
Kirstie Fleur:I believe in the impact that your business can have. I believe in the markets that your businesses can serve. So what does it mean to be a visionary woman? So I'm going to read these definitions off to you. Being a visionary woman means to have the vision to see. As a visionary woman, you have deep emotional intelligence, boldness, strategic risk-taking skills, vision of a brighter, more illustrious future, and you're one who's not afraid to take that risk to do the thing that's not already pioneered.
Kirstie Fleur:Visionaries inspire and they energize people toward a future goal. Visionaries are not afraid to pivot and go back to the drawing board as many times as possible. A visionary leader sees holes and enlists a team of people to help bring that vision into reality. You are idea generators and you create guidelines for others to live by. Visionary leaders are the people who empower and encourage us. All of us know a visionary leader or two. You probably have somebody that you look up to. That's a visionary leader like Oprah or JK Rowling or Maya Angelou. But the crazy thing is we look at those people and we idolize them when we say, well, they can do that because that's Oprah, or this person can do that because that's Brene Brown or that's this person. All these people can do this, but it's different because it's me.
Kirstie Fleur:But you have to believe in your visionary dream and your goal, because they had to do it at some point. They had to overcome the obstacles and the people thinking that they were nuts or crazy to get to where they are now. They weren't always the superstar and the one with the magnetism around them. They had to grow that and believe that that was who they are. They had to get so tunnel vision about what they were doing that it just became no way that anybody could not believe what they were doing because they believed it so much.
Kirstie Fleur:So here's my approach to bringing your visionary dream to life. So one of the things I'm gonna say is to bring your dream to life, you have to see it. You need to be able to stay focused on your dream and then people will be inspired by it. You know we're kind of looking for people to be inspired by us and we haven't done anything yet. We haven't stayed focused on our dream, we haven't stayed in our lane.
Kirstie Fleur:And then you know any win that blows or any new idea that comes up from somebody else or anything you see online. You know you may be quick to like, jump on the next trend or jump on the next thing. But to be a visionary, you have to see it. You see your vision and you stay connected to it and you're not moving. You're like this is my lane, i'm gonna drive depth into it until it makes sense. I'm gonna make it make sense. I'm dedicated to making this thing make sense, and then people are inspired by that. That is the uniqueness that people need. Like people need what you carry. That's the thing people are waiting on. So many people are doing what everybody else has done, doing what's been done, you know, and that's fine to a certain degree. But as a visionary, what we really need is innovation. We really need you to step out and do the things that you're called to do, but then to also again stay in your lane. Stay invested in your lane. Not only that.
Kirstie Fleur:Here's another tip Community. Who is in your community? How can you level up if your community is the type of community where it's a lot of discouraging comments or people don't understand what you do, and so you're constantly trying to explain to the people around you This is what I do, This is what I do, and you're constantly having to fight that disbelief or that confusion that they have around what you do. And there's this people pleasing that you feel to make them connect with the thing that it is you do. Your community is everything And, honestly, you know, if you don't take the time to see who's pulling you up or pulling you down in your community, then it can stop you from leveling up, it can stop you from getting to your next place, and so you have to reposition yourself.
Kirstie Fleur:Sometimes you're gonna have to let go and make peace with the relationships that can't move forward with you, and that's a whole another topic and a whole another episode there in itself that we will talk about. We will touch community and real friendships and and colleagues and what that looks like and how to discern and how to really understand in a practical way who goes where. That's a that's a huge piece of it, guys, because I see so many women who struggle with it and are not able to advance and move forward because they can't see who goes where, and so people are kind of all over the place in their lives. But we can be better. I don't want us to miss our personal promise lens for not taking the journey seriously and taking the journey ourselves. So as much.
Kirstie Fleur:As you know, society and social media wants us to focus on what everybody else is doing. I'm here to tell you to focus on what you have inside of you and build your visionary dream. What is the title of this? this podcast is called Becoming the Visionary Woman of Your Dreams, and that is exactly what I want you to do. I want to hear, i want to hear from you. I want to hear about any tangible steps that you are taking as listeners in this community to actively reach your goals. You know we're going to be talking about this a lot, so there's going to be so many resources on here about how you can do that, but then also how you can be willing to, you know, be reciprocal in the community, like the FF Social Club, what we're doing here and provide that sense of community and safety and goal getting together as women. So, in case you haven't heard already, or in case you haven't seen on social media, on Instagram, we are releasing a course And the course is called Find Your Voice.
Kirstie Fleur:Find Your Voice. Isn't all this about finding your voice anyway? So Find Your Voice, the course. It'll introduce my soul health approach sessions And in those sessions I'll have toolkits. The toolkit has worksheets and guides. There are journaling, exercises and quizzes.
Kirstie Fleur:It's a pretty hefty workbook but it's fun. A lot of the pieces of it are reflective. You get to go deep and, like, really dig into what it is. You know what's keeping you from advancing in your career, what's keeping you from advancing in your entrepreneurial pursuits and connecting your soul to what it is that you're doing. Because, again, i run into women all the time And the thing is, yeah, they have these great businesses, but you know they're not super connected to the soul of what the organization is, or they want to create something that's impactful, but they're not able to do that and they don't really know why. So we're going to help you figure out where you got off and how to get back on inside of this course. So don't forget to take advantage of that.
Kirstie Fleur:We are, of course, running a special promo, as you know about from the last episode, and that's a seven day free trial for the FF Social Club. You'll see the link in the show notes ffsocialclubcom. The only place that you can get to find your voice course will be inside of the FF Social Club, and right now we're only offering it to founding members. So founding members are women who come into the platform now, as we are building our proprietary software that we'll be using and launching in the year to come. So thank you so much for joining us today on the Visionary Woman podcast. I'm excited to see what you do with this information and excited to move forward into next levels with you.
Kirstie Fleur:Bye, thanks for listening and joining the conversation today here on the Visionary Woman podcast. If you enjoyed this episode and would like to join our growing community, the FF Social Club, please comment, like and subscribe so that you can be updated on our upcoming episodes and more happening over at freedomfluorcom. To catch the latest from me and to access amazing resources for visionaries just like yourself, please visit me on the web at wwwcuresteaffluorcom. Thanks again for hanging out with me and I'll see you next time. Until then, don't forget to be Visionary. I'll see you next time.