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This week I am so excited to do a mentorship episode with Maeve Ronan who is the founder of Girl Innovate.

Maeve started Girl Innovate in order to provide teenage girls the opportunity to flourish and to have the tools for self-improvement in order to succeed in life.

Maeve is currently writing a book where she interviews and collects tips from diverse groups of women in different industries that will help teenage girls.

Maeve reached out because she wanted to learn how I was able to ditch the norm to pursue my passions, and to learn how to get the confidence to stay motivated starting an online business.

If you want to be part of this new segment make sure to visit theoffbeatlife.com or email me at guest@theoffbeatlife.com for more information.

Listen Below:

In this Episode:

How did you get the courage to leave home and do what you wanted to do instead of following what your parents wanted you to become?

• I knew that nursing was not the field I wanted to get into and I stood firm in my decision because I did not want to continue with something I was not passionate about.

Is this the time when you realized that following your passion is essential to your happiness?

• Being an immigrant and coming from a family of immigrants who went through so much to give me the best in life, it would have been a disservice to live a life that I was not happy with.
• Motivation, passion, and talent are crucial to starting an online business.

What advice would you give a teenager who wants to tell their parents that they do not want to follow the path that they have planned for them?

• Knowing what you want at a young age is very rare, we often change our minds and it can happen even as adults.
• Learning to communicate well and compromising is a good way to approach the subject.
• Show them your passion for what you want to do, your actions will speak louder.

What failures and mistakes did you make during that time and what did you learn from it?

• There were so many mistakes I have made, like starting a business and my only focus was creating content but didn’t actually make income.
• I also created a business that I only wanted the money and there was no passion, which later on failed.
• The best-case scenario is being able to create income from your passion.

What has been the biggest setback that you have ever encountered and how did you overcome them?

• My mindset has been one of my biggest setbacks.
• I realized that you have to create income from your passion, otherwise it is always going to be a hobby.

Have how you been able to create income from your podcast and business?

• I mainly create income through sponsorships and will be moving into digital products in 2019.
• Look for different ways to create income before starting an online business.

*Since this interview I have also been able to create income through affiliate sales on my website.*

Did having a 9-5 give you more freedom to build up the podcast without feeling stress?

• It definitely took the desperation out and allowed me to focus on providing the best content.
• Do not leave your 9-5 unless you have another source of income (at least for your essentials).

If someone wants to start an online business, what would be the first step they should take?

• Understand that in order for you to succeed you not only need to have the passion but all align it with you talents.
• You also need to realize that there is a lot of backend work that needs to be done.
• It does not matter how good your product is, if you do not know how to market – no one will see it.

How do you stay motivated to keep going even when you don’t see results immediately?

• It all goes back to having a passion for what you are doing.
• If you are not passionate about what you are doing, it will easily fizzle out.

What is your best strategy to build up your online audience?

• Building an audience does not come overnight.
• It is better to have fewer followers who are dedicated than a lot of followers who do not care.
• Collaborating with other content creators can be a great strategy.

You have to do a lot of public speaking and interviewing people, does that make you nervous? How do you deal with that anxiety?

• It comes with practice, do it as much as possible and get the experience. 

Looking back on your teenage years, what is something that you wished you had known?

• Enjoy every moment because you are never going to be as young as you are.
• Take every opportunity to experiment with different things because that is how you are going to learn.
• Failure is part of learning, so fail as much as you can.
• I wished I did not hesitate or wait long to start an online business.

What is the worst advice you have ever received?

• Just do things for the money.
• I took that advice and I hated it. I made no money because I had no passion.

What are your networking tips?

• Don’t go to random networking events, they can be a time-waster.
• Instead, research the people who you want to talk to and contact them.

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