November 20, 2024 • 19 mins
In this episode of Connect the Knox, host Julia Hurley interviews Erika Biddix, owner of the co-working space Aught. Erika shares her journey from launching Girl Boss Offices to rebranding as Aught, highlighting her mission to support female entrepreneurs. They discuss the significance of archaic words in branding, the impact of the pandemic on business models, the challenges and successes of women in entrepreneurship, and Erika's role as an entrepreneurial strategist. The episode delves into the importance of purpose-driven business, flexible working environments, and the support communities that aid women in defining their own success.
Show Highlights:
(00:00) - Intro
(01:00) - The meaning behind Aught
(02:27) - Rebranding from Girl Boss Offices to Aught
(05:06) - Transitioning from corporate work to being an entrepreneur
(06:32) - The biggest self-hurdles for Erika
(08:14) - Tips that will make a business last
(10:42) - Ad - Just Homes Group
(11:12) - The biggest challenges facing women in business
(13:32) - Is childcare an issue for working women in Knoxville?
(14:26) - Erika's thoughts on return to office
(16:33) - What goes into transitioning into entrepreneurship
(18:29) - Where you can find more from Erika and Aught
Links Referenced:
- Aught’s website: https://weareaught.com/
- Aught’s Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/942222426470098
- Aught’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weareaught
- Erika’s Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555790129038
- Erika’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erikabiddix/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
Welcome everybody to an episode of Connect the Knox.
I am your host, Julia Hurley, connecting Knoxville to the nation.
Today, we are joined by Erica Biddix, Owner of Aught, and it's
not what you "oughta" know, and I'm very excited to have her
(00:25):
explain to everyone here what she does for the Knoxville market.
Erica, thank you for joining us today.
No, absolutely.
It's my pleasure.
There are so many puns that can be made with our business name.
Trust me.
I do love a good pun.
So let's start telling everybody across the nation
who you are and what you do here in Knoxville.
Yeah, absolutely.
So I am a mom.
(00:46):
I'm a serial entrepreneur.
I am a meeting planner by trade, but mostly I am a woman who loves
supporting other female entrepreneurs and getting towards their
purpose and what it is that they are here in the world to do.
I love that so much.
So you and I were talking earlier off camera about the word Aught.
(01:06):
It's a different spelling.
It has a different meaning.
You actually trademarked it.
It's ingenious.
I love it.
Tell everybody what it actually means and what you're using it for.
Absolutely.
So we opened as a co-working space called Girl Boss Offices.
There was some legal stuff that happened with that
and because of it we had to rename the company.
(01:27):
Part of the legal issue was trademark, so it was important
for us that we had a business name that could be trademarked.
One of the best ways to do that is to use what is called
an archaic word, meaning a word that has stopped being
used, so it may not be in dictionaries any longer, etc.
So as we were reading through those archaic words, aught was
(01:47):
one of them, and the definitions There's three definitions.
The first one is actually zero.
We just skipped that one.
The next one is anything.
And then the third one is at all.
And the way we legitimately read it was that it said anything at all.
It didn't.
Those are two different definitions.
But at that point, we went with it.
So we consider Aught to be anything at all for female entrepreneurs.
(02:10):
We do own the trademark on that word.
Now, and um, I think that means we can define it any
way we want to, just like how you can entrepreneurship.
That's really cool.
I didn't know any of that about that word.
How do we spell it?
A-U-G-H-T.
Kind of like it sounds.
That's pretty cool.
I like that a lot.
Tell us about how you went from girl, whatever it was, to Aught.
Like this is a really big move.
(02:31):
Your purpose has stayed the same.
You're obviously very focused on it.
It's your one thing.
What has got you into this space, and where are you
going with Knoxville fempreneurs, I guess you could say.
So we opened December 1st of 2019.
So do the math.
That was not ideal for an in person co-working.
(02:52):
That's when we opened as Girl Boss Offices.
That was the only reason we opened was just to
be an in person co working space for 12 women.
When you leave the business world and go into entrepreneurship, you leave
behind the water cooler and the lunch and the having colleagues, right?
Like a lot of women who go into this are solopreneurs.
So creating a community, because that's what I
(03:13):
wanted as a, as an entrepreneur, I was looking for.
I was lonely and looking, you know, looking
to be around other people as a business owner.
Shortly after we opened, obviously the pandemic shut everything down.
Being a community, though, was still super
important to me, especially because we were so new.
We were this baby community of women and I really wanted to support that.
So through some months of the pandemic, we
(03:34):
did that by keeping our women in touch, right?
So this was not normal, the online space for people.
And we started doing that kind of thing.
Keep it, keeping in touch with them, making sure they were good, but also
supporting others in the Knoxville area that were not part of our community.
So Hard Knox Pizza, they were one of the
very first to start doing curbside pickup.
(03:56):
It's so normal now, but back then, like
that, that was, you know, totally brand new.
So we started supporting those others in our community, the
wider Knoxville community, by the time we got to further into
the pandemic as it was not over, but we could get back in person.
It was very clear to us that we were more than just a community for
(04:17):
the 12 people in the physical coworking space that we had really gotten
our pulse on the overall community of the female entrepreneurs need.
So we are physically located in Knoxville, but we run now also a virtual
community for female entrepreneurs across the world so that they can
connect with each other, learn with each other, support each other, etc.
(04:40):
And the relationships that have come out of that have just been awesome.
That's amazing.
So you're, you're from Knoxville to the nation, to worldwide, which
is exactly what we talk about here on Connect the Knox is making
sure that the more people moved in Knoxville, as we're very popular,
very good area, people love us a lot, that we keep people local.
That we understand who is here, who has been here,
(05:01):
and what they are growing to bring it to the masses.
That's an amazing opportunity.
Tell us a little bit about the transition that you are seeing the
conversation that goes from nine to five corporate to entrepreneur.
What did, what are some of the struggles?
In addition to Aught, I am also an entrepreneurial strategist.
Come, like I said, from a background in meeting planning.
I ran my own agency for several years, and overnight it
(05:24):
went to seven figures, and it was about the end of me.
It was about the end of me, the end of my company, the end of my family.
It was just, it was awful.
And by all accounts, that's what success is, right?
Like growing better, growing in number, growing bigger, growing better, etc.
So it's super important to both myself and the DNA of Aught that
we are supporting women in entrepreneurship and how they want to do
(05:47):
it, which is very different than what a nine to five job is, right?
There is so much freedom in entrepreneurship.
There is a lot of ownership and hurdles,
and there's a lot that goes along with it.
So not only are we supporting their companies, it's super important
to us that we're helping them to define success on their own terms.
(06:08):
What does that look like?
Is it, you know, you're selling three dozen cookies a
month, or is it you're in three dozen brick and mortars?
We don't care.
We will help you get to whatever that success is.
So that is the difference that we're seeing between traditional employment.
of nine to five, you have to hit KPIs, etc, etc.
And entrepreneurship, where you can really better define success for yourself.
(06:31):
I love that so much.
What do you find is the, the biggest, in business in general, but
especially for women, what do you find is one of the biggest self-hurdles?
Not necessarily something that, It's real because we all know that we have that.
So what are you finding in that main conversation?
There's a lot of, "why me?"
Like why am I the one that can do this?
Who am I to think I can?
(06:52):
That's the biggest mental hurdle.
I think my response to that is who are you to
not do that thing that you can offer the world?
Yes, there are other cookies out there to keep that metaphor going,
but there's something about your cookies that make it different.
Or there's something that you're doing with the revenue
you're bringing in that is impacting someone different, right?
(07:13):
So I think we just have really been taught that there's
a certain way you do things, and you have to be super
special to do things a different way, and you don't.
I think that's what the last few years have taught any of
us, honestly, is that there are so many other options and
opportunities out there than we initially thought there were.
Yeah, I think one of the biggest conversations that I have, especially
(07:35):
with different age groups, is people don't want to be in an office anymore.
I can't believe people aren't working nine to fives anymore.
My thought process is I don't think they have to anymore.
There's seven streams of income everywhere.
You look, there's an opportunity.
You just have to make sure that you understand
the opportunity and take it when it comes.
And we work with a lot of women who are traditionally
employed, but also do something that may be considered
(07:58):
a side gig or something that they do after hours.
A lot of those then transition into the entrepreneurial life full-time.
But there's, it can look so many different ways.
There's not one way to do entrepreneurship, and I
think that's an important message to get across.
Absolutely.
What do you find are the biggest, gimme top five, maybe
10 personality traits that make your business last?
(08:21):
So, there's not a personality trait, but the first one is purpose.
If you start a business just to make money, good luck.
Like that's, it's just not, it's not enough reason
to still get you out of bed in the morning, right?
So having a purpose, that purpose may be what you are working towards.
For instance, my purpose is supporting other women and growing their purposes.
It may be for some people that your purpose
(08:44):
is to send your kids to private school.
It may be that your purpose is to be able to be home with your dogs all day.
Like your purpose can be, you know, it is what it is.
I can't tell you what it is, but I think having that
purpose is the, like that's number one on there.
I think dedication, being a dog with a bone, keep the dog thing going, right?
Like you just have to be willing to get to where you're going.
(09:08):
There is a lot on Instagram that'll show you
entrepreneurship is like drinking champagne on a yacht.
I have never drunk champagne on a yacht
as part of my entrepreneurial experience.
You have to be willing to go through what you know will be difficult times.
It may be difficult mentally.
It may be difficult physically.
It may be difficult from a resource perspective, but you have to
(09:29):
have that dedication to the idea of what it is that you're doing.
Consistency is something that will burn you out, or it will
continue you, but if you don't have the why, the biggest
possible reason, you're just not going to finish it.
And I think also it has to be not about winning all the time.
In corporate work, a lot of it, if you step
back, you could see it as winning, right?
(09:50):
Like that's what you're constantly trying to do.
Win the deal, win the whatever, you know,
win the meeting, win the gig, whatever.
Entrepreneurship's not about winning.
Entrepreneurship is about being willing to fail
until you learn what it is that you should be doing.
I hate the word pivot, but I'm here to tell you, I wake up every day,
and I'm like pivoting some degrees this way or some degrees that way.
(10:11):
Yeah.
I think some really good advice on that would
be sometimes you got to go with the flow.
Because the plan needs to go out the door.
I was talking with my Ops Manager the other day.
Strategy is great.
I love strategy.
My job title is Entrepreneurial Strategist.
But there are times strategy and reality do not align.
And what that means is you have to be flexible.
(10:32):
I don't think our corporate world is as flexible as
it needs to be when it comes to strategy and reality.
One of the great things about entrepreneurship is that you can.
You can be more flexible.
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(10:56):
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What do you think one of the biggest challenges,
especially for women, are in business in general?
(11:17):
Nine to fives, corporate, non corporate?
What is, what are the top five?
Honestly, I'm just gonna say the framework that we have grown up with.
We have grown up with the framework that, um, I'm 46-years-old, right?
So I'm kind of in the middle of a couple different generations.
We have grown up with the framework that if you are a working
woman, you are also running the house and, you know, taking
(11:41):
care of the kids and feeding everybody, et cetera, et cetera.
That's not to say everybody believes that that's the way that it should be,
but that's how everything around us appears, um, on TV, on books, et cetera.
So I think that's one thing is we are our own worst critic when it
comes to being an employee or a boss and also a mom, if you have
(12:01):
kids or whatever relationship you may be in, um, with other humans.
I think that's number one.
Entrepreneurial specific, our funding is just not as great as it is for men.
It just is not.
There is so much data out there about the
disparity in access to capital for men and women.
And then I think, on the third piece of it, it
(12:23):
really is, you have to be willing to break the mold.
And so many of us are not willing to break
the mold anywhere in our lives, right?
So especially when it comes to money, making money, we joke all the time, myself
and other women that I'm around, that we'll walk into a meeting, I mean, not
now because we all know better, but a lot of women or young women will walk
(12:43):
into a meeting and it's, what I meant to say was, did, did that make sense?
I'm sorry, right?
But men just walk in with an innate confidence.
I realize that is a gross stereotype across the board, but
in reality, when you're in business situations, we have been
taught to be meeker, I guess is probably the better word.
(13:04):
And not use that confidence that we may
actually have to tamp that confidence down.
I say whip that confidence out and use it wherever, wherever you are.
I'm not someone who's going to walk around
and tell you how awesome of a human I am.
That's just not who I am as a human.
But I will walk around and tell you how awesome my friend
Aught, this business Aught, is all the live long day.
(13:25):
Because I believe in her and what she does so much.
And having that separate avatar as a business.
Really, it's very helpful.
Have you found in the Knoxville market where if childhood or child
care is an issue, is that becoming more of a hotspot for women?
I think there are several organizations and
women specifically who are working towards that.
Yes, it is an issue, but it is an issue that's not being ignored.
(13:49):
It's an issue that people are working diligently to fix.
The solution is not there yet.
And much like everywhere else in the world.
Childcare costs are high.
The options for childcare are limited.
Hours are an issue.
My kiddos are older.
I've got two in high school and one in middle school.
But even with that, you know, there's an afterschool program for my
(14:09):
middle school kiddo, but he gets out of school early today and tomorrow.
So if I was traditionally employed, that would be real hard.
It's not easy as an entrepreneur because now
I've, I've lost two half work days, right?
But I can make it happen.
But people who are traditionally employed, it's not as easy for them to do that.
We're seeing a transition in the news a lot lately about larger
(14:30):
corporations saying hey we know we told you you could work from home
but
now you can't.
Get your butt back into the office.
People are literally saying no I refuse to do that.
Corporations are losing money hand over fist on multi-billion dollar
leases and buildings, not exactly sure how that's going to play out.
What is your stall for that or conversation?
Absolutely, there's two pieces of it.
The first is morale and relationships, right?
(14:53):
So I like to see all the sides of it.
And I do understand from a corporate perspective,
the benefit of having people in community together.
Right?
I don't think that's where most of the corporations are coming from with it.
They were coming at it more from that angle of community.
I think it would be an easier sell, but right now we live
in a world where for a while the Olympics got canceled.
(15:16):
The Super Bowl was different.
College football, for goodness sakes, we didn't get to go.
Like the world, everything we knew to be true about the world changed, right?
And this is one of those things that you don't have to be
in an office to make your job work, or to do good work.
And I think corporations specifically need
to see it is not a black and white issue.
(15:37):
There is a lot of gray in there, and how can they
take advantage of when their folks are in the office?
And by that, what I mean is use that as community time.
Use that as teamwork time.
Don't use it as a punishment or a you have to, you know, you have to do it.
That said, from a co-working perspective, we offer that because it's much
cheaper than a multi-million dollar building or, you know, real estate holding.
(16:03):
It still gets you around the people, and what I know is when I leave my
house and I go to my office at Aught, I am in a totally different mindset.
I am there to work.
I'm not going to do my laundry.
I'm not going to like pet the dogs, you know, like any of that.
Can you tell I have two dogs outside the office right now?
So I think there is something to be said from an
(16:23):
entrepreneurial standpoint about having an office and
being able to take your mental space into an office space.
So again, not a black and white issue.
I think it's both sides.
There's always room for improvement on everybody's
side, but your side is entrepreneurship.
So make sure that everybody kind of understands
what you can do to assist in that transition.
If they want to make that transition, a lot of people have one foot on
(16:45):
either side of the fence on a regular basis and kind of dabble in both.
They love their corporate job.
The benefits are great and they get a little bit of money on the side.
What about somebody who's full time, 80 hours a week, just 100 percent bought
into their idea, their, their future What does that look like on your end?
It depends is always the answer, but what size is their business, right?
(17:06):
So that's one piece of it.
Is their business In a space where having a physical office makes sense.
In that case, then in Knoxville specifically, we have that office space.
It's affordable for them.
They've got other people that are around them who, you know, they can have
lunch with, or they can ask, "Hey, does a social media post look good?"
before they hit go.
(17:27):
What we see are with our virtual community is that most people can't
even spell the word entrepreneur, much less understand what it is.
So as an entrepreneur, you oftentimes are on this island by yourself,
not just because you're a solopreneur, but because you're doing something
that the majority of your friends and family around you are not doing.
(17:49):
So having the virtual community space where they can
come together and get questions answered in a safe space.
Ask something that, makes sense to other entrepreneurs,
but you couldn't bring up at the Thanksgiving table because
nobody would even know what you were talking about, right?
So that's how the virtual community serves those women.
And then I love, as an entrepreneurial strategist, working
(18:10):
one-on-one with women to identify where is it they want to go?
Where are you now?
Where is it you want to go?
And how can we get you there in a way that
supports you, your family, and your business?
Not just, not just the business.
But everything holistically and do it in a healthy and sustainable way.
I love that so much, Erika.
We're almost out of time.
(18:30):
I have just loved so much learning all about you and Aught.
Can you tell our audience where they can find you?
Absolutely.
So we're on the socials all the time.
Instagram is where I personally hang out.
So Aught is at WeAreAught on Instagram and Facebook, W-E-A-R-E-A-U-G-H-T.
And then if you're more interested in the strategic
(18:53):
items you can find me at Erika Biddix on both as well.
Well Erika, thank you so very much for joining us today, everyone.
This is Erika Biddix with Aught, A-U-G-H-T, here in Knoxville, Tennessee.
I'm Julia Hurley, your host of Connect the Knox.
Connecting Knoxville to the nation.
Thanks for tuning in, everybody.
(19:14):
Have a good one.
Thank you, Erika.
Thank you for tuning into the show.
Make sure to like and subscribe.
Leave a five star review on your podcast player of choice.
And if you would like information on moving
to Knoxville, send me a private message.
As always, this is Julia Hurley connecting Knoxville to the nation.
Welcome everybody to an episode of Connect the Knox.
I am your host, Julia Hurley, connecting Knoxville to the nation.
Today, we are joined by Erica Biddix, Owner of Aught, and it's
not what you "oughta" know, and I'm very excited to have her
(00:25):
explain to everyone here what she does for the Knoxville market.
Erica, thank you for joining us today.
No, absolutely.
It's my pleasure.
There are so many puns that can be made with our business name.
Trust me.
I do love a good pun.
So let's start telling everybody across the nation
who you are and what you do here in Knoxville.
Yeah, absolutely.
So I am a mom.
(00:46):
I'm a serial entrepreneur.
I am a meeting planner by trade, but mostly I am a woman who loves
supporting other female entrepreneurs and getting towards their
purpose and what it is that they are here in the world to do.
I love that so much.
So you and I were talking earlier off camera about the word Aught.
(01:06):
It's a different spelling.
It has a different meaning.
You actually trademarked it.
It's ingenious.
I love it.
Tell everybody what it actually means and what you're using it for.
Absolutely.
So we opened as a co-working space called Girl Boss Offices.
There was some legal stuff that happened with that
and because of it we had to rename the company.
(01:27):
Part of the legal issue was trademark, so it was important
for us that we had a business name that could be trademarked.
One of the best ways to do that is to use what is called
an archaic word, meaning a word that has stopped being
used, so it may not be in dictionaries any longer, etc.
So as we were reading through those archaic words, aught was
(01:47):
one of them, and the definitions There's three definitions.
The first one is actually zero.
We just skipped that one.
The next one is anything.
And then the third one is at all.
And the way we legitimately read it was that it said anything at all.
It didn't.
Those are two different definitions.
But at that point, we went with it.
So we consider Aught to be anything at all for female entrepreneurs.
(02:10):
We do own the trademark on that word.
Now, and um, I think that means we can define it any
way we want to, just like how you can entrepreneurship.
That's really cool.
I didn't know any of that about that word.
How do we spell it?
A-U-G-H-T.
Kind of like it sounds.
That's pretty cool.
I like that a lot.
Tell us about how you went from girl, whatever it was, to Aught.
Like this is a really big move.
(02:31):
Your purpose has stayed the same.
You're obviously very focused on it.
It's your one thing.
What has got you into this space, and where are you
going with Knoxville fempreneurs, I guess you could say.
So we opened December 1st of 2019.
So do the math.
That was not ideal for an in person co-working.
(02:52):
That's when we opened as Girl Boss Offices.
That was the only reason we opened was just to
be an in person co working space for 12 women.
When you leave the business world and go into entrepreneurship, you leave
behind the water cooler and the lunch and the having colleagues, right?
Like a lot of women who go into this are solopreneurs.
So creating a community, because that's what I
(03:13):
wanted as a, as an entrepreneur, I was looking for.
I was lonely and looking, you know, looking
to be around other people as a business owner.
Shortly after we opened, obviously the pandemic shut everything down.
Being a community, though, was still super
important to me, especially because we were so new.
We were this baby community of women and I really wanted to support that.
So through some months of the pandemic, we
(03:34):
did that by keeping our women in touch, right?
So this was not normal, the online space for people.
And we started doing that kind of thing.
Keep it, keeping in touch with them, making sure they were good, but also
supporting others in the Knoxville area that were not part of our community.
So Hard Knox Pizza, they were one of the
very first to start doing curbside pickup.
(03:56):
It's so normal now, but back then, like
that, that was, you know, totally brand new.
So we started supporting those others in our community, the
wider Knoxville community, by the time we got to further into
the pandemic as it was not over, but we could get back in person.
It was very clear to us that we were more than just a community for
(04:17):
the 12 people in the physical coworking space that we had really gotten
our pulse on the overall community of the female entrepreneurs need.
So we are physically located in Knoxville, but we run now also a virtual
community for female entrepreneurs across the world so that they can
connect with each other, learn with each other, support each other, etc.
(04:40):
And the relationships that have come out of that have just been awesome.
That's amazing.
So you're, you're from Knoxville to the nation, to worldwide, which
is exactly what we talk about here on Connect the Knox is making
sure that the more people moved in Knoxville, as we're very popular,
very good area, people love us a lot, that we keep people local.
That we understand who is here, who has been here,
(05:01):
and what they are growing to bring it to the masses.
That's an amazing opportunity.
Tell us a little bit about the transition that you are seeing the
conversation that goes from nine to five corporate to entrepreneur.
What did, what are some of the struggles?
In addition to Aught, I am also an entrepreneurial strategist.
Come, like I said, from a background in meeting planning.
I ran my own agency for several years, and overnight it
(05:24):
went to seven figures, and it was about the end of me.
It was about the end of me, the end of my company, the end of my family.
It was just, it was awful.
And by all accounts, that's what success is, right?
Like growing better, growing in number, growing bigger, growing better, etc.
So it's super important to both myself and the DNA of Aught that
we are supporting women in entrepreneurship and how they want to do
(05:47):
it, which is very different than what a nine to five job is, right?
There is so much freedom in entrepreneurship.
There is a lot of ownership and hurdles,
and there's a lot that goes along with it.
So not only are we supporting their companies, it's super important
to us that we're helping them to define success on their own terms.
(06:08):
What does that look like?
Is it, you know, you're selling three dozen cookies a
month, or is it you're in three dozen brick and mortars?
We don't care.
We will help you get to whatever that success is.
So that is the difference that we're seeing between traditional employment.
of nine to five, you have to hit KPIs, etc, etc.
And entrepreneurship, where you can really better define success for yourself.
(06:31):
I love that so much.
What do you find is the, the biggest, in business in general, but
especially for women, what do you find is one of the biggest self-hurdles?
Not necessarily something that, It's real because we all know that we have that.
So what are you finding in that main conversation?
There's a lot of, "why me?"
Like why am I the one that can do this?
Who am I to think I can?
(06:52):
That's the biggest mental hurdle.
I think my response to that is who are you to
not do that thing that you can offer the world?
Yes, there are other cookies out there to keep that metaphor going,
but there's something about your cookies that make it different.
Or there's something that you're doing with the revenue
you're bringing in that is impacting someone different, right?
(07:13):
So I think we just have really been taught that there's
a certain way you do things, and you have to be super
special to do things a different way, and you don't.
I think that's what the last few years have taught any of
us, honestly, is that there are so many other options and
opportunities out there than we initially thought there were.
Yeah, I think one of the biggest conversations that I have, especially
(07:35):
with different age groups, is people don't want to be in an office anymore.
I can't believe people aren't working nine to fives anymore.
My thought process is I don't think they have to anymore.
There's seven streams of income everywhere.
You look, there's an opportunity.
You just have to make sure that you understand
the opportunity and take it when it comes.
And we work with a lot of women who are traditionally
employed, but also do something that may be considered
(07:58):
a side gig or something that they do after hours.
A lot of those then transition into the entrepreneurial life full-time.
But there's, it can look so many different ways.
There's not one way to do entrepreneurship, and I
think that's an important message to get across.
Absolutely.
What do you find are the biggest, gimme top five, maybe
10 personality traits that make your business last?
(08:21):
So, there's not a personality trait, but the first one is purpose.
If you start a business just to make money, good luck.
Like that's, it's just not, it's not enough reason
to still get you out of bed in the morning, right?
So having a purpose, that purpose may be what you are working towards.
For instance, my purpose is supporting other women and growing their purposes.
It may be for some people that your purpose
(08:44):
is to send your kids to private school.
It may be that your purpose is to be able to be home with your dogs all day.
Like your purpose can be, you know, it is what it is.
I can't tell you what it is, but I think having that
purpose is the, like that's number one on there.
I think dedication, being a dog with a bone, keep the dog thing going, right?
Like you just have to be willing to get to where you're going.
(09:08):
There is a lot on Instagram that'll show you
entrepreneurship is like drinking champagne on a yacht.
I have never drunk champagne on a yacht
as part of my entrepreneurial experience.
You have to be willing to go through what you know will be difficult times.
It may be difficult mentally.
It may be difficult physically.
It may be difficult from a resource perspective, but you have to
(09:29):
have that dedication to the idea of what it is that you're doing.
Consistency is something that will burn you out, or it will
continue you, but if you don't have the why, the biggest
possible reason, you're just not going to finish it.
And I think also it has to be not about winning all the time.
In corporate work, a lot of it, if you step
back, you could see it as winning, right?
(09:50):
Like that's what you're constantly trying to do.
Win the deal, win the whatever, you know,
win the meeting, win the gig, whatever.
Entrepreneurship's not about winning.
Entrepreneurship is about being willing to fail
until you learn what it is that you should be doing.
I hate the word pivot, but I'm here to tell you, I wake up every day,
and I'm like pivoting some degrees this way or some degrees that way.
(10:11):
Yeah.
I think some really good advice on that would
be sometimes you got to go with the flow.
Because the plan needs to go out the door.
I was talking with my Ops Manager the other day.
Strategy is great.
I love strategy.
My job title is Entrepreneurial Strategist.
But there are times strategy and reality do not align.
And what that means is you have to be flexible.
(10:32):
I don't think our corporate world is as flexible as
it needs to be when it comes to strategy and reality.
One of the great things about entrepreneurship is that you can.
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What do you think one of the biggest challenges,
especially for women, are in business in general?
(11:17):
Nine to fives, corporate, non corporate?
What is, what are the top five?
Honestly, I'm just gonna say the framework that we have grown up with.
We have grown up with the framework that, um, I'm 46-years-old, right?
So I'm kind of in the middle of a couple different generations.
We have grown up with the framework that if you are a working
woman, you are also running the house and, you know, taking
(11:41):
care of the kids and feeding everybody, et cetera, et cetera.
That's not to say everybody believes that that's the way that it should be,
but that's how everything around us appears, um, on TV, on books, et cetera.
So I think that's one thing is we are our own worst critic when it
comes to being an employee or a boss and also a mom, if you have
(12:01):
kids or whatever relationship you may be in, um, with other humans.
I think that's number one.
Entrepreneurial specific, our funding is just not as great as it is for men.
It just is not.
There is so much data out there about the
disparity in access to capital for men and women.
And then I think, on the third piece of it, it
(12:23):
really is, you have to be willing to break the mold.
And so many of us are not willing to break
the mold anywhere in our lives, right?
So especially when it comes to money, making money, we joke all the time, myself
and other women that I'm around, that we'll walk into a meeting, I mean, not
now because we all know better, but a lot of women or young women will walk
(12:43):
into a meeting and it's, what I meant to say was, did, did that make sense?
I'm sorry, right?
But men just walk in with an innate confidence.
I realize that is a gross stereotype across the board, but
in reality, when you're in business situations, we have been
taught to be meeker, I guess is probably the better word.
(13:04):
And not use that confidence that we may
actually have to tamp that confidence down.
I say whip that confidence out and use it wherever, wherever you are.
I'm not someone who's going to walk around
and tell you how awesome of a human I am.
That's just not who I am as a human.
But I will walk around and tell you how awesome my friend
Aught, this business Aught, is all the live long day.
(13:25):
Because I believe in her and what she does so much.
And having that separate avatar as a business.
Really, it's very helpful.
Have you found in the Knoxville market where if childhood or child
care is an issue, is that becoming more of a hotspot for women?
I think there are several organizations and
women specifically who are working towards that.
Yes, it is an issue, but it is an issue that's not being ignored.
(13:49):
It's an issue that people are working diligently to fix.
The solution is not there yet.
And much like everywhere else in the world.
Childcare costs are high.
The options for childcare are limited.
Hours are an issue.
My kiddos are older.
I've got two in high school and one in middle school.
But even with that, you know, there's an afterschool program for my
(14:09):
middle school kiddo, but he gets out of school early today and tomorrow.
So if I was traditionally employed, that would be real hard.
It's not easy as an entrepreneur because now
I've, I've lost two half work days, right?
But I can make it happen.
But people who are traditionally employed, it's not as easy for them to do that.
We're seeing a transition in the news a lot lately about larger
(14:30):
corporations saying hey we know we told you you could work from home
but
now you can't.
Get your butt back into the office.
People are literally saying no I refuse to do that.
Corporations are losing money hand over fist on multi-billion dollar
leases and buildings, not exactly sure how that's going to play out.
What is your stall for that or conversation?
Absolutely, there's two pieces of it.
The first is morale and relationships, right?
(14:53):
So I like to see all the sides of it.
And I do understand from a corporate perspective,
the benefit of having people in community together.
Right?
I don't think that's where most of the corporations are coming from with it.
They were coming at it more from that angle of community.
I think it would be an easier sell, but right now we live
in a world where for a while the Olympics got canceled.
(15:16):
The Super Bowl was different.
College football, for goodness sakes, we didn't get to go.
Like the world, everything we knew to be true about the world changed, right?
And this is one of those things that you don't have to be
in an office to make your job work, or to do good work.
And I think corporations specifically need
to see it is not a black and white issue.
(15:37):
There is a lot of gray in there, and how can they
take advantage of when their folks are in the office?
And by that, what I mean is use that as community time.
Use that as teamwork time.
Don't use it as a punishment or a you have to, you know, you have to do it.
That said, from a co-working perspective, we offer that because it's much
cheaper than a multi-million dollar building or, you know, real estate holding.
(16:03):
It still gets you around the people, and what I know is when I leave my
house and I go to my office at Aught, I am in a totally different mindset.
I am there to work.
I'm not going to do my laundry.
I'm not going to like pet the dogs, you know, like any of that.
Can you tell I have two dogs outside the office right now?
So I think there is something to be said from an
(16:23):
entrepreneurial standpoint about having an office and
being able to take your mental space into an office space.
So again, not a black and white issue.
I think it's both sides.
There's always room for improvement on everybody's
side, but your side is entrepreneurship.
So make sure that everybody kind of understands
what you can do to assist in that transition.
If they want to make that transition, a lot of people have one foot on
(16:45):
either side of the fence on a regular basis and kind of dabble in both.
They love their corporate job.
The benefits are great and they get a little bit of money on the side.
What about somebody who's full time, 80 hours a week, just 100 percent bought
into their idea, their, their future What does that look like on your end?
It depends is always the answer, but what size is their business, right?
(17:06):
So that's one piece of it.
Is their business In a space where having a physical office makes sense.
In that case, then in Knoxville specifically, we have that office space.
It's affordable for them.
They've got other people that are around them who, you know, they can have
lunch with, or they can ask, "Hey, does a social media post look good?"
before they hit go.
(17:27):
What we see are with our virtual community is that most people can't
even spell the word entrepreneur, much less understand what it is.
So as an entrepreneur, you oftentimes are on this island by yourself,
not just because you're a solopreneur, but because you're doing something
that the majority of your friends and family around you are not doing.
(17:49):
So having the virtual community space where they can
come together and get questions answered in a safe space.
Ask something that, makes sense to other entrepreneurs,
but you couldn't bring up at the Thanksgiving table because
nobody would even know what you were talking about, right?
So that's how the virtual community serves those women.
And then I love, as an entrepreneurial strategist, working
(18:10):
one-on-one with women to identify where is it they want to go?
Where are you now?
Where is it you want to go?
And how can we get you there in a way that
supports you, your family, and your business?
Not just, not just the business.
But everything holistically and do it in a healthy and sustainable way.
I love that so much, Erika.
We're almost out of time.
(18:30):
I have just loved so much learning all about you and Aught.
Can you tell our audience where they can find you?
Absolutely.
So we're on the socials all the time.
Instagram is where I personally hang out.
So Aught is at WeAreAught on Instagram and Facebook, W-E-A-R-E-A-U-G-H-T.
And then if you're more interested in the strategic
(18:53):
items you can find me at Erika Biddix on both as well.
Well Erika, thank you so very much for joining us today, everyone.
This is Erika Biddix with Aught, A-U-G-H-T, here in Knoxville, Tennessee.
I'm Julia Hurley, your host of Connect the Knox.
Connecting Knoxville to the nation.
Thanks for tuning in, everybody.
(19:14):
Have a good one.
Thank you, Erika.
Thank you for tuning into the show.
Make sure to like and subscribe.
Leave a five star review on your podcast player of choice.
And if you would like information on moving
to Knoxville, send me a private message.
As always, this is Julia Hurley connecting Knoxville to the nation.
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