Recently, Chelsea Glaser (Co-Founder of two organizations, Fredi and Launch It Girl) was interviewed by Women On Topp Magazine. We’ve selected a couple of Chelsea’s insights into business launching and other tips for our online magazine readers below.
Chelsea Glaser has always followed her interests and passions, carving out new paths when she couldn’t find one that suited her in that stage of her life. As Chelsea Glaser has grown passionate about innovation and entrepreneurship, she has leaned into her strongest skill sets of strategic business development and wordsmithing to help other starters get started. Everything she has done over the last 3 years has been to help innovative women build their ideas into reality. Whether their barrier is not knowing the first step for how to start their business, they feel too busy to add more to their plate, or they have self-doubt or fears in their way,
‘’I want to help them push through the barriers and embrace their entrepreneurial spirit. There are few things more empowering and liberating than having a great idea, creating a plan, and realizing “I am capable of making this happen.” Every innovative, ambitious woman deserves this feeling!’’ Chelsea Glaser
What motivated you to start a company in the first place? How did you get inspired to shape your career within the brand, design, and consulting?
My motivation for everything I’ve done is to create a life that I enjoy and feel excited about every day. I really struggle in rigid environments, so having to spend every day on someone else’s schedule and waiting for the approval of others before I could advance in my career was truly draining for me. I’ve felt very far from my best self in every “normal” job I’ve ever had.
The simple answer to how I found my career path is that I followed my intuition. I said “yes” to trying a lot of things that sounded interesting, and if I started to feel burnt out on something, I pivoted to the next thing. I remained optimistic that there was a career out there for me that was energizing and exciting.
As I explored different paths, I noticed my knack for high-level communications and for finding simple ways to articulate complex concepts. As a lifelong writer, I decided to lean into these skills and start freelance copywriting, and it just felt like such a natural fit. With my very first clients, I watched their confidence in their own ideas soar once they had a way of explaining them clearly. This filled me with purpose and I knew in my gut I was on the right path. Once I met my business partner, Lauren DeLoach, I found the web design yin to my copywriting yan, giving me a platform and clear structure for my work. Things just all came together from there, and we started Launch It Girl!
Then you recently launched Fredi, what was the inspiration behind this one?
Fredi is all about redefining what productivity looks like for ambitious women who are balancing a lot. We just launched our first product, Focused by Fredi, which helps to support focus, mental clarity, stress management, memory, and energy!
I cofounded Fredi with my brother, Mitch, who started taking supplements like this years ago when he was working a high-pressure job on Wall Street. He found them so effective and shared with me all the benefits he was experiencing as a result of nootropics. With his recommendation, I starting taking them, too, and also found them extremely effective. We decided to create the first blend that felt safe and approachable for women to take every day— one that’s all-natural, made from quality ingredients that are well-known in the holistic wellness space, and that supports calm energy rather than being overstimulating.
Which challenges did you face during your journey? How did you overcome them?
The biggest challenges I’ve faced in my career have come as a result of not trusting my gut. As soon as I second-guessed myself, let self-doubt take over, or any time I made a fear-based decision rather than an optimistic one, that’s when I ran into roadblocks and setbacks, or when my anxiety flared up. Between my two businesses, the breadth of these challenges ranges greatly, but every time I face one, I consider it a reminder to trust my gut, an affirmation that my intuition is leading me in the right direction, and an opportunity to learn and grow. With that mindset, you just keep moving forward, a little wiser each time.
What are the mistakes people make when they want to launch a brand? Can you give us some tips?
The most common branding mistake I see is jumping straight to having a logo designed. A logo is nowhere close to the first step, and it’s not even all that important these days! My number one tip is to start with a brand strategy. No matter how clear you feel in your idea, you will struggle to translate it into a compelling and engaging brand without a brand strategy in place.
Another mistake I often see is people skipping the step of website copywriting and jumping straight to hiring a web designer. The thing is, a custom website will do very little for your business if you don’t first know what you want it to say! So my second tip is to work with a website/brand copywriter either before or as a part of your website team.
Tell us more about Focused by Fredi!
Focused by Fredi is a daily nootropic that’s designed to help you boost productivity! (A “nootropic” is a broad statement for any supplements/ingredients that help to improve your mental performance).
Our product is 100% all-natural and is full of brain-healthy herbs, mushrooms, and amino acids that work together to clear brain fog, help you feel sharp and focused, adapt to stress, and give you a calm, non-jittery energy that lasts all day. Additionally, we only added 50mg of caffeine (about 1/4 of a cup of coffee’s worth), so Focused by Fredi is the perfect compliment to your morning coffee that helps to keep you feeling great all day, without the midday crash.
What is important in having the right business partners? What do you have to look for?
One of the main things I value in my business partners is the support I feel from them. Both Mitch and Lauren understand my goals, they understand me and how I work, and they also understand what I need in my day to maintain my energy and keep me feeling my best! Being able to express what I want and need, and to be heard and supported makes all the difference in helping me balance both businesses without getting overwhelmed.
Giant shoutout to Lauren, who fearlessly supported me through launching Fredi while we were running Launch It Girl— it’s a scary thing to have your business partner’s energy suddenly spread thin, but she trusted me and my commitment to what we’ve started, and it’s actually made our partnership even stronger and we’ve been making huge strides in the last months, as a result, our mutual support and commitment.
In other words, supportive partners help you, and therefore your business, grow.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
Don’t let “I don’t know where to start” be the thing that stops you! If you’re feeling stuck or aren’t sure how to take your first step, just start asking questions. Get resourceful. Who do you have in your network that you could reach out to, even if it’s just to tell them your idea and ask if they know anyone who can help? You’ll be surprised at how willing people are to help, offer their advice, and make introductions for you that can open doors you never knew existed.
And remember, nobody knows what they’re doing when they’re just starting out. Just one step at a time is how you climb the mountain!
Busy startup entrepreneurs have lots of demands on their time and are often pulled in lots of different directions, do you have any tips for effective time management and what to focus on first?
The first priority of your day should be whatever is the most important for your big-picture goals. So many entrepreneurs get so caught up in the administrative demands that they forget to continue to work on the business. Rather, start your day working on the most important thing for your business’ growth. Those smaller tasks, like getting caught up on emails and bookkeeping, should be the second priority of your day after you’ve taken another step toward accomplishing those bigger goals.
However, the single most important factor in managing your time and staying focused is to have a great attitude. Learning how to manage stress and overwhelm is the first step to shifting your mindset to a more positive one! If you start to resent your work, procrastinate, or let stress consume you and block your output, you’re heading toward burnout, which is the least productive thing you can do. Make sure you’re making enough time for your individual needs— exercise, proper nutrition, sufficient sleep, hydration, meditation— so that you can stay ahead of stress and keep your mind clear.
And, of course, for that boost to help you keep your focus sharp and stress levels low throughout the day, take your Focused by Fredi! 🙂
How do you stay motivated?
This is simple: I LOVE my work, and I chose this path because it energizes and excites me every day. My clients at Launch It Girl are so innovative and are starting exciting things— every meeting is one big girl power party and it’s so much fun. I sincerely want these amazing women to succeed, to love their brand, and to feel confident stepping into their new role as entrepreneurs, so it feels easy and natural for me to pour my heart into it every day.
With Fredi, I really believe in our product and how much it can help women along their path to achieving their goals, so I keep our mission close to my heart no matter what the task at hand is. Plus, it’s fun working with my big brother!
Share us some tips for women who are in doubt of leaving their secure job and starting their own business.
My main advice is this: don’t have a safety net, just be prepared to get scrappy.
If you have that safety net or a “plan b” in mind, then as soon as the road gets rough, as soon as you get scared and the protective voice in your head starts shouting at you that this isn’t going to work, you’ll give up. If you’re serious about making this work, you need to be 100% committed to finding a way. This means pivoting around the roadblocks, building bridges over the trenches— even if you have to reroute on the way to your destination, you need to remain committed and keep your main goal as the ONLY plan, and your main priority.
Get creative, get resourceful, get ready to move through the fear instead of running from it. It’s going to be uncomfortable, you’re going to have moments when you wonder if you’re cut out for this or not. You are, as long as you’re willing to stay committed to it.
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