117: From an Etsy Startup to a Big Box Retailer with Sophia Noreen

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This week, I welcome Sophia Noreen to our 117th episode of ‘She Doesn’t Settle’ as we discuss her entrepreneurial spirit and her experience as a fresh, minority business owner at the onset of the pandemic.  Sophia took an Etsy startup and launched it in big box retailers within 12 months. She is a self described ‘creative with an entrepreneurial drive’, who  left her full time career in healthcare to find better harmony between career, family and self care, and she shares her remarkable story with us all here today.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In our conversation, Sophia delves into details of  her entrepreneurial journey, how she incorporated lessons she learned as a minority in high school into her business practices, and her belief that we can follow her example and use our differences to our advantage, especially in professional spaces. She also shares the tragic story of  losing her father at the beginning of COVID-19 in the early stages of her business.  The two of us close the episode by exploring the importance of honesty and transparency when it comes to time management and working in a team, and Sophia shares some of her plans for the future. One of Sophia’s goals is to be an example to other minority women entrepreneurs that need to reach for their own big goals, and, as you will hear today, she is certainly accomplishing that and so much more.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">ANNOUNCEMENT: I hosted a workshop called <em>Why are you unhappy at work?</em> and a recording of it is available for you to access. With the hot topic being the “great resignation” many folks feel that if they are unhappy, they have to quit. I’m tired of this perspective, because there are other options. There are many reasons you might be unhappy at work — and the solution is rarely to just quit. (Sometimes it is, but I’d prefer you have a plan.) So, if you want to get a recording of this workshop to help you discover why you are unhappy and get some solutions, j