Leena Alsulaiman: “My drive is fueled by optimism”
Originally Published on Thrive Global
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By: Tyler Gallagher
My drive is fueled by optimism. Although it’s anchored in reality, I am an eternal optimist and silver linings chaser. It all comes down to maintaining a positive perspective. And just like any muscle, the more you practice and work it, the stronger it gets.
Startups have such a glamorous reputation. Companies like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Uber, and Airbnb once started as scrappy startups with huge dreams and huge obstacles.
Yet we of course know that most startups don’t end up as success stories. What does a founder or a founding team need to know to create a highly successful startup?
In this series, called “Five Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Startup” we are talking to experienced and successful founders and business leaders who can share stories from their experience about what it takes to create a highly successful startup.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Leena Alsulaiman.
Leena is a multi-passionate entrepreneur focused on helping women take the next steps in their lives and businesses. As a style coach and self-described creative enabler, she helps women around the world awaken their unique style, brand, and purpose. She is also a busy mother of three.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
Asa female Saudi/American that grew up in the Middle East, I had the privilege of having access to both sides of the world. Curious by nature, I constantly searched for inspiration in a time where it wasn’t necessarily an easy thing to find. Then when choosing what to study in college, I landed on Jewelry Design as it ticked the creative box and was accepted as a career path by my family. In those days in Saudi Arabia, creative fields and careers were not widespread. Now, as I look back on my diverse career history, I see that I always found ways to infuse creativity into everything I have done.
For many years, I followed in my father’s footsteps and took the entrepreneur’s path, but unconsciously, I always brought a side of creativity to my roles. And while being an entrepreneur was my’ day job,’ my passion led me to color outside the lines. I offered my expertise, creativity, guidance, and knowledge to women starting their own ventures, growing their brands, or making career moves.
What was the “Aha Moment” that led to the idea for your current company? Can you share that story with us?
My ‘aha moment’ came about in early 2020 when I was furloughed due to Covid19 and working from home. Right before then, I started taking on some consulting jobs while working as a full-time personal stylist, and with the slow down, I had time to sit with myself to assess what I wanted my life to look like post-pandemic. And the more I sat with it, the more I realized how I wanted to help women find and amplify their voices while building brands centered on purpose.
Was there somebody in your life who inspired or helped you to start your journey with your business? Can you share a story with us?
I have a circle of close female friends that have been instrumental in my journey to where I am today. Some are newer relationships, and others span decades! There is nothing like having a group of friends that hold space for you, understand your passions, fears, drive, and goals, and can commiserate with you, lift you up, and help you continue on your path.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
As cliche as it may sound, I believe the main reason that my brand stands out is that I’m not afraid to share my personality through my platforms and communication. It is all heart, authenticity, and impact. And people that interact or work with me always come away feeling heard, honored, and magical.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Pay it forward. I have a good following on my different platforms, and I am conscious of how I use them. I do not shy away from supporting other amazing women or bringing attention to important world issues. I also love to connect women through my Clubhouse rooms, and that has been a beautiful thing; we are bridging worlds and collectively lifting each other.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Resilience: This skill/trait is at the core of every successful business owner. To have the ability to face challenges (there will be plenty of them), recognize where you made mistakes, then sit with those mistakes to learn from them and move on.
Grace: I am a firm believer that today, more than ever before, we need grace in our interactions (business and otherwise). And this grace is not reserved for others; we also need to be gentle and extend ourselves more grace as we go through the ups and downs of entrepreneurship.
Be People-Centric: “People make a place” — Applying a people-centric approach to your process is necessary to sustain a modern-day business’s viability in this hyper-competitive market. If you let your “people” be your North Star, they will help guide your journey to success!
Often leaders are asked to share the best advice they received. But let’s reverse the question. Can you share a story about advice you’ve received that you now wish you never followed?
For this question, I will go off track, and I won’t share poor advice I received, But I will share something I wish I hadn’t done: I bought into what people told me my strengths were and were not. Listening to people and having their opinions dictate how I worked and/or lived set my progress back by a good ten years, and yes, while it was a great learning opportunity, I do wish I hadn’t listened!
Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?
As a planner by nature, it took me time to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of entrepreneurship. When I first started my consultancy, I had a solid idea of how it would all look (or so I thought). So when things started to go off rail and the inquiries coming in didn’t match how I envisioned myself serving, I had to surrender to the process, pivot, and power through by staying ahead of the curve by providing the services clients needed and were asking for.
Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard? What strategies or techniques did you use to help overcome those challenges?
My drive is fueled by optimism. Although it’s anchored in reality, I am an eternal optimist and silver linings chaser. It all comes down to maintaining a positive perspective. And just like any muscle, the more you practice and work it, the stronger it gets.
The journey of an entrepreneur is never easy and is filled with challenges, failures, setbacks, as well as joys, thrills, and celebrations. Can you share a few ideas or stories from your experience about how to successfully ride the emotional highs & lows of being a founder”?
The nature of being an entrepreneur is that you put your entire heart and soul into building your brand — which is a beautiful thing. But with that beauty comes a ton of responsibility and a heightened sensitivity to every setback, bump in the road, possible sale, and opportunity. There are seasons of slowness and others where you can’t fit it all in. It can truly feel like a roller coaster! And this is why being an entrepreneur isn’t for everyone. You need a specific skillset, mindset, and resilience to weather the ups and downs.
Let’s imagine that a young founder comes to you and asks your advice about whether venture capital or bootstrapping is best for them? What would you advise them? Can you kindly share a few things a founder should look at to determine if fundraising or bootstrapping is the right choice?
I think this question comes down to work style and timing. What works for one company and entrepreneur may not work for another.
Having said that, I tend to lean into bootstrapping as that is what has worked for me.
I find that bootstrapping forces you to stay in a season of refinement to focus on what works and course-correcting what isn’t — preparing you for sustainable growth.
The right time to fundraise is when you have gone through all the seasons of building your brand and are finally ready and capable of managing exponential growth. Don’t rush into it. Be smart. Taking money too early often hurts more than it helps.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Many startups are not successful, and some are very successful. From your experience or perspective, what are the main factors that distinguish successful startups from unsuccessful ones? What are your “Five Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Startup”? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.
Be Led by Purpose — People tend to be more resilient when encountering obstacles if their purpose is clear. Purpose creates passion, and people who are passionate about what they do, rather than just “in it for the money,” tend to have more positive outlooks and overcome challenges better.
Your journey is not linear — On your entrepreneurial journey, you will face more obstacles than you imagined. Knowing this fact and being able to course-correct, pivot, or even change direction to settle into the organic timing of your business will serve you well.
There is no perfect time — Time doesn’t align itself with your goals, and it passes whether you act or not. So if you wait for the ideal set of circumstances and that perfect timing, you will be waiting a really long time.
There’s room for everyone — Understanding that other people’s success doesn’t take away from yours. So much mental effort and energy are wasted playing the competing game. The market is big enough for everyone, and if you stay true to your voice and purpose, you will find and serve your niche. Remember, you only need a small piece of the market to be a success!
Delegate! — For many entrepreneurs, this is a hard ask. Delegation, by definition, is problematic for many business owners because it involves giving some control away. So, when I talk about delegating, I encourage you to identify the tasks that you and “only” you can do. Then all the other tasks that could essentially be done by someone else and are not part of your strongest skillset — delegate those! Give yourself the gift of more time and energy efficiency.
What are the most common mistakes you have seen CEOs & founders make when they start a business? What can be done to avoid those errors?
The most common mistake I see is when founders and entrepreneurs scale up too fast.
Every business goes through seasons, and scaling up is the last one, but many brands rush to that point too soon, which is understandable because it’s easy to get caught up in the hype of growing our business. Instead, look to your clients and market to determine your next steps. If you find that you went off course too fast, be intentional and correct quickly!
Startup founders often work extremely long hours, and it’s easy to burn the candle at both ends. What would you recommend to founders about how to best take care of their physical and mental wellness when starting a company?
Create firm personal boundaries to protect your time. This means even with social media consumption and emails!
Be clear in communicating your boundaries and “work” times to your clients and family — and then guard them fiercely.
Take time alone to do the things that replenish your soul and center you.
Put your phone on airplane mode! If you do one thing from this list, this is the one!
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
A female mentoring database.
I would love to see more mentoring opportunities for female refugees. Maybe have a database of creatives donating their time to mentor and guide women refugees worldwide and help arm them with the tools and direction needed to succeed.
We are blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
I would absolutely love to have coffee and breakfast with Mel Robbins! I have read all her books and her authentic insights are invaluable, and having the ability to chat with her in real-time would be amazing!