If you want to quit your job this year to strike out on your own, you’re in good company: There are a ton of female entrepreneurs making waves. If you’re thinking about making a big move in 2017, there’s a wealth of knowledge to draw from. Glamour talked to 10 successful female business owners, and they’re here to tell you why they made the leap—and give their best practical and inspirational advice so you can do the same.
Danielle Tate, 35, founder of Miss Now Mrs. and author of Elegant Entrepreneur
Why she quit: “I left a six-figure salary and company-issued Land Rover because I craved the freedom to create my own definition of success, the power to have my own ideas and make them happen,” she says. “I also had a new truly terrible boss who took credit for my achievements and bungled some of my biggest deals.”
How you can follow her lead: “Make sure that there is a market that will purchase your product or service before you start your company,” she says. “You may have a great idea, but if there aren’t enough people to purchase from you, your company will not be successful. When I had the idea for an online name-change service for brides, I scoured census data and found that there are 2.3 million weddings in the U.S. each year, and then dug through journal articles to verify that 88 percent of women change their names. This research showed me that there was a huge, renewable market for my service, so I felt comfortable spending more time and money created my company.”
Why she quit: “I was working in the marketing department at a finance company,” she explains. “I felt like I wasn’t able to use my creative side and I hated the demanding hours. To be honest, it was a soul sucking job. I needed a career that allowed me to be creative while also giving me the freedom I needed.”
How you can follow her lead: “Find a local market to get feedback on your new product or service,” she says. “It’s a great way to get exposure and see how people react to your new business. I found an artisan market in Brooklyn and sold my jewelry there. I was able to get feedback from customers on which pieces they liked or didn’t like. This allowed me to modify my collection to what people wanted.”
Erica Perebijnos, 31, EP Designhouse
Why she quit: “I left my full-time corporate marketing job because I wanted more time to be home with my son,” she says. “I only had six-weeks maternity leave, and it wasn’t enough. I made the decision to leave and start my own business when he was around three months old. I’ve always loved marketing and design—I’m self-taught and am pretty damn good—so I started talking to the female business owners I knew and told them I was starting my own agency. I offered my services for free for awhile just to spread the word. Now the business is booming and it’s all been from word of mouth.”
Rachael Bozsik, 24, founder of The Brand Girls
Why she quit: “I left my nine-to-five because I wanted to become the boss of my own world and help other women to do the same,” she says. “Time and time again, I watched my college girlfriends with big dreams and aspirations settling for careers that did not align with them. They went from wanting to be an upscale event planner to working as a secretary for a landscaping company. We live in a day and age where women underestimate their ability and men overestimate theirs. This fire grew in me, and I knew I needed to use my voice in order to help the next generation of women.”
How you can follow her lead: “Sit down and brainstorm three people who you can enlist during the upcoming tough times, and dub them your ‘confidence boosting committee,'” she says. “Taking the leap is scary—you will face some dark hours. Upon enlisting your committee, sit them down and let them know how you are about to live from a space of courage, but, there will times when you will be fearful, put yourself down, and not trust your creative abilities. Let them know part of being on this committee means that it is their job to not let you listen or believe to the tiny mad ideas in your head.”
Why she quit: “I had always wanted to be the founder of a tech start-up, but never felt ready,” she says. “I worked at two starts-ups with inspiring female founders who were also entrepreneurs, creating a business for the first time. In 2012, I become the chief product officer at Chloe + Isabel. I was there for a short time before I realized that I was constantly thinking about starting something of my own. I thought, I may never be as qualified as I think I am, but I just have to do it. I gave my boss plenty of time to find my replacement, but I resigned the moment I knew that I had to leave to go out on my own.”
How you can follow her lead: “Don’t start a company as a running away strategy from your current job,” she warns. “You should only go out on your own if it’s all you dream about doing and you can’t imagine doing anything else. The average life of a start-up is seven-plus years, so know that you are committing to something that you need to stay excited and passionate about for years to come.”
Kasia Wisniewski, 28, owner of Collected Edition
Why she quit: “I started my career with my dream job, working as a designer in luxury fashion,” she says. “A few years in, though, I felt unhappy and unsure of my path. I think I had lost a lot of the joy of the work, and I was far too young to be so burnt out. At the same time, I found myself increasingly pulled toward digital and digitally-aided fabrication. I initially started some side projects with my boyfriend—now husband—outside of work, but the long and unpredictable hours of the fashion industry made it almost impossible to ever make any real progress. After saving some money, I finally just took the plunge of quitting my job, and two months later, launched my first accessories collection.”
Cassie Galasetti, 34, owner of Social Sidekick Media
Why she quit: “When my long-time boyfriend and I broke up a few years ago, I went on an all-girls [trip] surf and yoga retreat in Nicaragua,” she says. “At the time, I had only surfed a few times and had never been out of the country—and definitely not out of the country alone. For some reason though, I knew this was a trip that I needed to go on. I met 12 amazing women from all over the world and became instant friends with them. I had never met so many women that inspired me and made me feel so proud. After that trip I had a continuous case of wanderlust. And from then on, I was sure that sitting at a desk wasn’t going to be part of my future.”
Jenny Dorsey, 26, owner of Jenny Dorsey Culinary Consulting and I Forgot It’s Wednesday
Why she quit: “I only realized after I had my ‘dream job’ everything I envisioned was not rewarding—it was a facade of success,” she says. “I [had] landed a glamorous job in management consulting in fashion and luxury goods in New York City, and I desperately wanted to show how happy I was—I starved myself, I was dead broke from buying brands I couldn’t afford, I posted all my life on Facebook—but inside I was miserable. I decided to apply to Columbia Business School as a way out, but nine months [in], I decided to take a wild plunge and go to culinary school. I began to freelance in the food industry to find myself.”
Meghan Donovan, 31, owner of mmd communications
Why she quit: “I sat down one afternoon and physically wrote out what I liked about my job and what I didn’t like,” she says. “What quickly came into focus was that I didn’t just need a new job—I needed a totally different working style and atmosphere. I wanted to be the master of my own career satisfaction. I no longer wanted to feel reliant on senior leadership to make me happy. I no longer wanted just the gratification of telling people the big-name, recognizable brands I was working on. I no longer wanted to be working in an environment that didn’t make me feel challenged or inspired. What I really, truly wanted—and was desperately missing—was fulfillment.”
Stephanie Wolf, 36, Stephanie Wolf Public Relations
Why she quit: “At the time I went off on my own, I had worked for several years at big and small PR agencies in Manhattan,” she says. “I learned so much from them, but craved being involved with projects that resonated for me and clients doing meaningful work in the world. If I was going to remain in a client-services industry, I knew I needed to love my clients. I was also looking for a more personal, warm, collaborative interaction with my clients as opposed to the somewhat robotic culture that can exist with the big-wig accounts.”
How you can follow her lead: “Stay organized,” she says. Running your own business is an incredibly detail-oriented proposition—there are a million micro and macro things to manage every day. Have a functional system—one that works for you, because we all are different—to stay organized enough not to let things fall through the cracks. Being organized and thorough gave me my career. It allowed me to juggle new business with existing work, juggle multiple clients and projects, and help remind my clients and contacts that they matter. Being organized and detail-oriented enough to prioritize people is key.”