Krystal is the voice behind ‘The Daily Femme‘, a blog for entrepreneurial lady bosses. With her content, she wants to help her readers build a business that shines! She offers tips about growing your email list, creating visual blog posts and staying away from certain social media mistakes.

She was kind enough to answer a few questions for me, which I have shared below. I am so happy to be sharing Krystal’s story with all of you because it is a shining beam of light for anyone who is on the fence about whether or not they have what it takes. My hope is that by reading the stories of other happy business owners, and how they finally achieved their own brand of happy, you will feel comfortable embarking on the miraculous journey to discover your own.

Interview with Krystal Abbott from The Daily Femme

What were you doing before you started your business?

Before I started my business I was doing the same as what I am doing now… I am still working my ‘day’ job as a Paramedic however have scaled my hours back since starting the business which has been amazing. I’m also a Mum to a gorgeous little (almost) 3 year old boy who keeps me running around like crazy – but is also incredible motivation to succeed in my business.

That being said, prior to being a Paramedic (which I’ve been doing for 7 years now) I also had a further 7 years of business management, customer service and a handful of my own businesses (some successful, other’s not so much).

How long did it take you to feel like you’ve got the hang of this whole entrepreneur thing? Was there a specific “aha” moment?

I’m supposed to feel like I’ve got the hang of this already??? Haha. The wonders of the online world means that it’s always changing, there’s always something new to learn, a new ‘big thing’, a new product…. But that also means that there’s no rules to success. My biggest aha moment was when I realised this – that there was no blueprint, there was no set way to succeed and that it was okay to fail myself forward. As long as I kept getting back up and going it was all going to be okay.

What was your biggest challenge/block in regards to launching your business?

Time… it’s always time. Because I’m still working my job and have a family to care for I am very strategic about how I use my time. I’ll often get up early to log onto a webinar, can be found working my lunch times on writing new articles, will use every spare second to keep up with social media or be reading on my kindle which I carry everywhere with me, and am up laaaaate at night.

I’m a little work obsessed but am so lucky to have such an incredibly supportive family – so much so my Mum has even invited me over to her house a few times so she can cook dinner and look after my son while I work on my business.

What has been your happiest moment as a business owner?

When I realised that I could actually make a full time income off of this. While I do a massive happy dance every single time I get a beautiful email from a reader who says that I have helped them in some way (and I do mean literally doing a happy dance) when I realised that I could do this for the rest of my life and have it pay my bills was huge.

I’m not ashamed of wanting to make money from my business and I don’t believe anyone should. I have a lot of experience and education behind me, I spend 80+ hours per week on my business and I am very okay with charging what my products are worth. If more women did this, they would be so much happier in their own businesses too.

What is your favorite part of being a business owner?

The flexibility and the possibilities. I love that if I prepare myself well I can take a week of work whenever I want. I love that there is no limit to what I can achieve or how big I can grow my business. And I love so much that I get to choose the direction my business takes. It is incredible.

Where is your favorite place to get work done?

Sitting at a beautiful cafe overlooking the beach. There’s something so inspiring about the beach. I love it. And a cafe reduces the chance of getting sand in my laptop – and they bring me coffee. Winning.

What does your morning ritual look like?

It depends on what day. If I’m home for the day then we usually wake around 6am and start our morning slow. I’ll make a coffee and cook breakfast, then will spend time with Alexander and Steve (if he is home) watching cartoons or reading stories. I won’t touch anything to do with work before 9am.

On days I work I am out of bed by 5:30am getting ready, drop my son off to daycare and am at work by 7am – these are hectic mornings…

Do you have a mantra? What is it? Why?

I have a few, but the ones I’ve been using lately are ‘Is what I am doing moving me towards my goal or holding me back from it?’ – not so much a mantra but a question I ask myself often. It’s certainly helped cut down the amount of time I spend aimlessly on Facebook.

The other is ‘what other people think of me is none of my business’. While it’s nice when people like you, it’s not my aim to please everyone – that’s impossible. Some people don’t like me and you know what? That’s okay. Because there are some people I don’t like too. I focus on the ones that I have a connection with and work on strengthening that.

What is the first thing on your to-do list for today?

To upload more content to my new and upcoming website The Genuine Guy. My amazing fiancé is the main content creator for this one and has put out a ton of posts, plus we have guest contributors so it takes a fair amount of co-ordinating. Step one – upload new content. 🙂

What do you do when you’re feeling unmotivated/uninspired?

Step away from the business. Forced ‘inspiration’ is never good – and putting more pressure on myself to create just makes me less creative. So I take time out. If I can I’ll get to the beach and just do whatever I feel like doing at the time. I try to spend a bit of time outdoors, with the sun on my skin and barefoot on the grass or sand. There’s something grounding about it all that makes me feel so much more at peace with everything.

How do you wind down after a busy day?

Cuddles and a story at bedtime with my son are an absolute must. We are currently reading Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and it is just such a special time. Steve and I also love playing Scrabble. Board games give us a chance to talk and have some friendly banter with each other and stop us from getting lost in watching TV. We love it.

If you can give one piece of advice to someone who wants to embark on starting their own business, what would it be?

Don’t stress about the end goal because it will change – looking too far into the future will only hinder your creativity. Allow yourself and your goals to change when needed, as you learn more and develop more you’ll find things you’re passionate about and work better. Also – surround yourself with amazing like minded people who will support you and give you honest feedback.

Have you ever worked with a business coach? If so, why…what for…and how was it?

I actually worked for a business coach prior to becoming a Paramedic and it’s now that I’m running my own business that a lot of what I learnt from him is coming into play. Being around him was like a whirlwind and I learnt a lot of good and bad practices.

There you have it! If you’d like to learn more about Krystal and her story, please visit her awesome blog, http://www.dailyfemme.com. And if you know of someone you think I should interview next, feel free to reach out to me via email at lauren@loeyllc.com! 

And if you want to start embracing your own brand of happy, make sure to join my Facebook group- #MyBrandOfHappy 🙂