Claudia Reuter left a promising corporate career to raise her two young children but realized, when re-entering the workforce, that the gap in her resume looked like a gap in ambition - not a purposeful plan. Instead of leaning into a corporate career and fighting the structures and systems designed by and for men decades ago, or leaning out and giving up income, Claudia took a different path. That decision ultimately led to success in the corporate world and at home.
In Yes, You Can Do This!, Claudia shares her own reasons for starting a business and makes a call to action for women to consider entrepreneurship so that they can create businesses with the rules they want and change the playing field for others, making a significant impact in the world. More than a "how-to book" on building a business, Yes, You Can Do This! provides clear examples and practical resources to help others create the life they want through entrepreneurship.
In Yes, You Can Do This!, you'll learn:
- How to develop and share your vision
- How to deal with stereotypes and unconscious bias
- How to leverage perceived weaknesses and turn them into strengths
- How to balance life at high speeds and avoid burnout
- How to cultivate the confidence to move from idea to creating a company with the culture and rules you want
Praise for Yes, You Can Do This!
"It's rare to find a book on entrepreneurship that fuels your heart with inspiration and encouragement and your mind with practical, tangible things you can put into action immediately - but this is one of them. As a woman who has started three companies and been a senior team member of five startups, this is the guide I wish I'd read when I was starting out."
- Nataly Kogan, Author of Happier Now and founder of Happier, Inc.
"Combining compelling storytelling with practical, tactical advice, Reuter has created a manifesto for the next generation of female founders. Rooted in the research around gender and work, this is a must read for women looking to launch the next new thing."
- Jennifer McFadden, Associate Director of Entrepreneurial Programs, Yale School of Management
"A must-read for any woman considering taking the leap into entrepreneurship, You Can Do This brings together today's best thinking about women in the workplace with practical advice for creating your dream career and life - by starting a company. Whether you are just curious or ready to take the leap, this book is a great read and a valuable resource."
- Anna Barber, Managing Director, Techstars
"Claudia helps not just the female entrepreneur, but all entrepreneurs, find their footing in what can be an overwhelming whirlwind of starting a business. This book is not only inspiring and uplifting, but positively necessary for any woman looking to find success in the startup space!"
- Shira Atkins, Co-founder & CMO Wonder Media Network
"Stories of entrepreneurial success exist in abundance for men who receive 97.8% of venture funding and hold 95% of CEO roles. What is most inspiring about Claudia's book, making me want to shout from the rooftop, is that it is told from the perspective of an everyday woman who pushed hard through barriers, doubts, and setbacks that any entrepreneur would face. On top of all that, she overcame obstacles that are uniquely ours as women today. Claudia is now a standout among women, but with her book in hand, women who want to build a business to scale have a blueprint and path to do so. Here's to making dreams come true!"
- Coco Brown, CEO and Founder, The Athena Alliance.
"As I read through the book, there were multiple points where I thought, 'Every man in any startup or fast-growing business should read this.' As a man in technology, I took away lots of new ideas, along with examples that were explained in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to do prior to reading Claudia’s book"
- Brad Feld, Managing Director, at Foundry Group, author of Venture Deals and Do More Faster
"Reuter breaks the stigma about mothers that chose to leave the workforce. She provides practical tools to start a business, by showing the path to success for every woman that wants to write her own rules"
- Sharon Kan, CEO of Pepperlane & Co-Founder of the WIN Lab
"Reuter manages to put into words what women have been facing and feeling for decades. She leaves the readers with stories, steps and inspiration to create the career path they are worthy of no matter if it's starting from scratch or breaking glass ceilings. This book will fuel the next generation of women in leadership and entrepreneurship giving them guides and confidence as it has fueled me to start the business I have always wanted."
- Elizabeth Presta, CD(DONA), CLD
Table of Contents
Introduction: Create the Life You Want by Starting Up 1
How Did We Get Here? 3
Why Not Lean In by Starting Up and Move Past the Binary Setup? 4
The Privilege of Being in Charge 7
So Let’s Get in Charge and Lean-in to Entrepreneurship 8
Win or Lose, How Do I Know You Can Do This? 10
Why This Book is for You 11
How to Read This Book 12
Section I: Get Ready to Start Up 15
Chapter 1: So You Want More: Get Off the Fence, Start a Business, and Create the Life You Want 17
The Monthly Mentor Gathering 17
Real-World Experiences and Opportunities 20
Entrepreneurship as the Path Forward 20
What’s Holding You Back? 22
My Journey to Becoming a Startup Entrepreneur 24
What Starting Up as a Stay-at-Home Parent Looked Like 25
A Manifesto for Women to Become Entrepreneurs, and a Playbook to Help 28
Chapter 2: Reasons to Lead: All the Cool Things You Can Do When You’re in Charge 31
A Little More About Sophie… 31
Why a Business Can Give You the Life You Want 33
You Can Change the Rules 33
The History of Gender Equity is Still Recent 36
Legislation Can’t Be the Only Path Forward 36
Chapter 3: Stop Believing Your Own Unconscious Bias: Develop the Mindset and Self-Confidence to Be the One in Charge with Gratitude 43
Hannah at Work 43
Making the Ask 46
A Few Things About This Conversation 46
How We Think and Act is Conditioned 47
How to Consider Unconscious Bias and Self-Advocacy as You Start Up 48
I Didn’t Always Have This Figured Out 51
Why Affirmations Matter (Yes, You Can is a Good Example!) 53
Chapter 4: Your Perceived Weaknesses are Your Hidden Strengths: How to Leverage Your Weaknesses to Start Up 59
When It All Goes Wrong 59
Let’s Role-Play! 62
You Really are Perceived and Treated Differently 63
Goal Setting as a Framework for Success versus Perfectionism 64
Section II: Building for Scale and Avoiding the Traps: Debunking the Myth That Women Don’t Think Big Enough 69
Chapter 5: You Might Have the Next Big Thing: Your Experiences Might Lead to Something Revolutionary 71
We’re All Potential Innovators 71
Seeing What’s Possible 74
Identifying Types of Innovations 74
Why Diversity of Viewpoints in Innovation Leads to More Innovation 77
The Creator of Liquid Paper (White-Out) 78
An Incremental Innovative Sales Strategy That Created a Different Way to Sell: Tupperware 79
An Incremental Product Innovation That Created a Billionaire: SPANX 80
A Disruptive Business Model Innovation: Rent the Runway 81
Turning Reviews into a Viable Business Model 82
A Makeup Artist Takes on an Entire Industry 82
My Own Experience 83
Chapter 6: Write Down Your Future: How to Develop and Use a Business Plan as Your Personal Playbook (and to Combat Imposter Syndrome) 87
Getting Back to Sophie… 87
Standing Up for Your Business and Fighting Imposter Syndrome 90
Making Your Vision Concrete 91
Developing a Business Plan 93
How My Business Plan Helped Me 97
Chapter 7: Tell a Bigger Story: Don’t Apologize for Thinking Bold 101
Is Your Story Big Enough for Investors? 101
Putting the Press Release Strategy to Work 104
A Brief Example 105
Own Your Ideas with Confidence 106
Chapter 8: It Really is Okay to Make Mistakes: How to Plan for Them So You Can Quickly Recover 109
The Others Arrive 109
How to Get Started on the Financial Plan 115
Chapter 9: You Don’t Have to Wait for Revenue to Ask for Funding: Create a Compelling Pitch Deck That Gets Others on Board 119
Six Months Later… 119
When Bootstrapping… 122
Seeking Investors 125
Section III: Lead and Operationalize 133
Chapter 10: Empathy is One of Your Biggest Assets: Use It to Understand Your Customers and Make Your Teams Stronger 135
As Starboard Grew 135
Creating an Environment Where People Want to Work Starts with Knowing People 139
Understanding Your Employees’ Working Styles 140
Little Things Lead to Bigger Success 140
Working Together to Improve Outcomes and Customer Satisfaction 141
Chapter 11: Instill a Growth Mindset in Your Teams: Constant Change and Transitions are Never Easy 145
When You Move Beyond the Startup and People Start to Silo into Positions 145
Building for Organizational Success through Your Company’s Mission 147
Chapter 12: The Same Skills That Make You a Great Mom Make You a Great Manager: Bust Out Your Multitasking Skills as Your Team Grows 151
Sophie’s Day 151
Managing the Small Corporation of Your Family 153
Being a Mom is Being a Manager 155
Dismissing the Guilt of Being a Stay-at-Home Parent 156
How Your Two-Year-Old Honed Your Management Skills Like No Other 157
Chapter 13: You are More Than Your Product or Company: Protecting Egos When Things Change 161
Letting Go to Move Forward 161
Diffusing Fear and Creating Psychological Safety 162
Chapter 14: Balance Life at High Speeds: Make Time for Yourself 165
Running on Fumes 165
My Story (and Cautionary Tale) 167
What Balance Really Means 168
Conclusion: You Really Can Start Up and Scale a Business: You Might Just Change the Rules in the Process 171
Sophie and Jake 171
Hannah and Stan 172
Maria and Jill 172
How Will You Start Up? 173
Overcoming the Scarcity Mindset: There’s Enough for All of Us 174
Valuing Women as Entrepreneurs 175
Find, and Later Become, a Mentor 176
Bibliography 179
Acknowledgments 189
About the Author 191
Index 193
