If We Were Having Coffee

Hi love! I wish you and I could go grab coffee together today. Since you may or may not live in Philadelphia, where I’m from, I figured this is the next best thing for us to catch up.

Here are a few things I wanted to share with you today…

1 // Dubsado

Since we’re friends, you know that when I’m obsessed with something, I want to share it with everyone around me, too. Dubsado (← affiliate link) — a business and practice management platform — recently updated their entire backend and it looks amazing.

You can use Dubsado for e-signing those contracts you got from me, creating lead capture forms (aka. contact me forms, application forms, etc.), sending invoices, and giving your clients their own portal to login into to access their contract, invoice, and materials.

You can use my link to try Dubsado’s free trial and use coupon code samvw at checkout for 20% off 1-month or 1-year!

2 // Links I Love and Want to Share

You have to make Alexis’ almond butter zucchini bars. You’re welcome.

I’m making these eggplant pizzas ASAP.

I loved reading through these 15 smart and funny tips for life. Who doesn’t need those?!

If you feel like there’s not enough time in the day to build your business, learn how you can create room in your day by ditching these time wasters.

If you’re looking for a backpack that doesn’t look like you’re headed to class, you need this one. I just got it in the English Saddle color and LOVE it!

3 // How do you empower women?

Every once in a while, I check in with myself and ask, “what else can I do to help women in business?”

I help women entrepreneurs every single day through my signature product, the Ultimate Bundle™. But I know there are little ways I can make an impact with my purchase-power, too.

It can feel a little overwhelming if you start thinking about buying every single thing in your life from a woman-owned or local business. (As my friend Cameron and I said yesterday while chatting over coffee and spicy huevos rancheros, “where would we get paper towels from?!“)

So for me, I like to think of a few areas in my life that are the easiest and most obvious to tackle first.

I love to read and normally buy my books with the use of a single click through an online shopping giant.

But I recently read some things that left me less-than-happy about how they treat their employees, and I thought this would be a good area in my life to do a little “how can I empower a women in business in this area?” makeover.

With a little research using IndieBound, I found a local bookstore (Inkwood Books in Haddonfield, NJ) that’s not only owned by a fellow woman entrepreneur, but an attorney-turned-bookstore owner, too!

Inkwood is so charming. You instantly feel like you’ve walked in to a cozy book haven, surrounded by stacks of books that Julie and her staff recommend and hand pick based on your interests.

From now on, I’m either purchasing at Inkwood or renting from my local library (I don’t tend to read quickly enough to take out books! But I’m working on it ?)

There are plenty of ways you can support and empower women in business, without ever purchasing a thing from them:

• follow the old saying: if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
• Don’t gossip about women’s businesses. If it’s not for you, no problem! Just don’t spread negativity.
• Refer your friends. Actively share about someone’s business with a friend, in a Facebook group, or on a website.
• Recommend her for a podcast, nominate her for an award, or vote for her in a content.
• Share her stuff on social media.
• Write a review. If you can offer a personal recommendation, even if you haven’t worked directly with the person, do it!

Do you have more ideas? I’d love for you to share with me in the comments below!

4 // Boston Trip

Last week, Ryan and I road tripped to Boston. He had to go for work and I “had to go” to see my friend, Athena.

I’ve had a lot going on lately. So I was definitely up for a change of scenery and some time with friends.

You can read more about what we did and ate in Boston here! We had such a nice time.

Do you have any fun things to share with me? Articles or books I should read? I’d love for you to share them in the comments.