EP82: Going Back to Corporate - An interview with Lesly Simmons

Lean the F*ck Out | Fempreneurs | Women Entrepreneurs | Female Business Owners

This week on Lean the F*ck Out, we talked with Lesly Simmons about how she went from running her own business to taking a gig back in corporate. Lesly talks about the difference between working for herself and working at a corporation, and how she has been able to utilize her entrepreneurial mindset in her new role.

Episode Highlights:

• Bonuses for Lesly of moving back to work for a company: Going in to an office day-to-day and not having to pay quarterly taxes.
• It is important to remember that your goals and dreams can change over time.
• If an opportunity presents itself you do not have to decline it because it doesn’t live up to other people’s or even your own expectations.
• Security – whether you are running your own business or in a corporate environment – comes from within and honoring your own abilities.
• Bringing entrepreneurial mindset into a corporate environment:
• • allows you to look at things from different perspective.
  • gives you a chance to connect the dots between the many different organizations/companies you worked with while consulting.
  • bringing your grit into the workplace can give you a leg up.
  • you are better at time management.
  • you are likely more resourceful.
  • gives you a chance to recognize when to ask for help and see the grand scale of what she needs to execute a project.
• Started directing work to small business owners and consultants in the industry, while keeping some of her team when she transitioned to a full time job.
• #speakingopps lists a diverse set of speakers and opportunities.
• Three tips for budding fempreneurs: Go for it. Trust your instincts. Get a great squad around you.
• Dabble in a side hustle and feel your way through it if you feel unsure before launching a full time gig.

Lesly Simmons

Lesly Simmons is a content and conference producer in San Francisco. She specializes in working with speakers and brands to develop talks that leave audiences buzzing. Lesly works with companies including Google, Amtrak, Oculus, Airbnb and others to develop and execute incredible conferences, and recently joined Twitter to develop live programming.

Before Simmons Creative, Lesly managed disaster and diversity communications for the American Red Cross in Washington DC, and worked as a reporter for the Washington Post and the Bureau of National Affairs. She has a master's degree in ethics and philosophy from Georgetown University. In 2018 Lesly launched Backstage Box, an event planner emergency kit now in use at conferences, concerts and awards shows across the country.