Motivational Monday: Interview with Leslie Haywood
Today we`re joined by a great work at home mom and the inventor of Grill CharmsTM, Leslie Haywood. She`s an awesome and funny woman who is seriously the fastest interviewee I`ve featured, she zapped the questions back so fast, I thought she`d changed her mind! So, without further ado, here she is!
1. What is your business?
I invented Grill CharmsTM. They are the must have grilling gadget that is revolutionizing the American cook-out! Okay… that’s the official “schpeel” but what they really are is a way for me to get what I want when my husband (being the sauce/rub/marinade junkie that he is) has 50 different spices on the grill! I came up with the idea when my husband and I had some friends over and he grilled some spicy and some mild chicken. By the time he brought everything to the table, he couldn’t remember which was which and gave me spicy instead of mild. That night I started sketching prototypes for the coolest grilling gadget and most awesome guy gift on the market Grill CharmsTM. So now I am Founder, President, top sales rep, bookkeeper, chief potty trainer, janitor, head nose wiper, collections, PR and marketing guru, taxi driver, short order cook and everything else that goes along with being the mother of 2 while trying to build an empire!
2. How did you get started?
After that very spicy light bulb moment I did a ton of research. I have to give credit where credit is due and that is to Tamara Monosoff for writing The Mom inventor’s Handbook. That book pretty much outlined the step by step process of bringing an idea to market. My research also led me to www.mompreneursonline.com which helped me build what I call “my village” of supporters and fellow entrepreneurial mom’s to bounce ideas off of. Thinking about the big picture of bringing an idea to market can be overwhelming, so it’s important to break it down into steps, just take things one baby step at a time and have your own “village”.
3. What mistakes did you make when you were starting out?
What did you learn from them? I naively thought that Press = sales. That is not that case at all (unless maybe you get on Oprah). I thought that a few big hits, a national cable TV appearance and a few national magazines would mean life on easy street. NOT SO! Press lends credibility to your business but it does not necessarily equal sales. There is no substitute for good ol’ fashion pounding the pavement.
Making sales calls is where my money comes from, not from an article in a magazine. Had I understood that sooner, I would have made a lot more sales calls early on and wouldn’t have been so preoccupied with the press. Don’t get me wrong, PR and marketing is important, but you have to understand what it is and what it does. It is NOT instant millions!
4. How long have you been working from home? (was this your first business or have you had others where you worked from home?)
Yep, this was my first rodeo. The night of that dinner party was April of 2006.
5. What are your tricks for balancing work, kids and household chores?
Honestly… I think I stink at that. The littlest one is in preschool and the older one is in kindergarten so I work while they are at school. When they are home, there is a little more TV watching then I’d like to admit so shhhh…. Don’t tell anyone J I also try to set them up with different art and craft projects. Now that they are 4 and 6 and naptime no longer exists, I’m having to get creative. They have a little art center they like to work on and just LOVE to watch home videos. Them watching themselves as babies and going on family vacations usually buys me about an hour.
The household chores…ummmm…. They don’t really get done. My kids come first, my husband comes next and thankfully he requires very little, my business comes third and that eats up every single other ounce of time and energy I have on this planet and the house and “housewifely duties” come in a distant 4th. Folks can look to me for a lot of things, but as a role model for a perfect work/kids/household balancing… that’s not me.
6. How many children do you have? How old are they?
Two children 4 and 6
7. When do you usually work?
While they are at school and at nights
8. What is the best part of being a mompreneur? And the worst?
The best: The flexibility of being my own boss, being able to be home when they are, allowing myself to go on field trips with them or take a day off when I’d like and to be able to go on family vacations when I want.
The worst: Not knowing when or how to “turn it off”, having to take my work on family vacations and never really being able to leave work behind. I pretty much AM my company an sometimes my kids pay a price for that.
9. What are your plans for the future of your business?
Seeing as it’s my company, my opportunities are limited only by my dreams and imagination. I have markets I have yet to tap, and I have strategies I have yet to implement. In my business plan alone I outlined a 5 year sales and marketing road map so I’ve got my work cut out for me. I can strive to grow the company into a Fortune 500 empire or I can decide to remain a small “boutique” business. The opportunities are endless and even I am curious to see how this story ends.
10. What advice would you give new work at home moms?
When you take the plunge to become an entrepreneur, expect the unexpected and never give up. I am learning that it’s pretty common to have to scrap what you initially thought was the prefect process, material, design, plan, solution etc… and just start fresh. You shouldn’t let that discourage you; it’s all just part of the journey. You will run into roadblocks and there are people and circumstances that will try to keep you down. PLOW THROUGH! You are in control of how this crazy entrepreneurial story goes; don’t give away the pen to another author. Stay in control, stay focused and when plan A, B, C and D fall through, E, F and G will be there if you know where to look.
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