Ivy Ejam – the epitome of Entrepre-HER. A Nigerian-American, Millennial Entrepreneur, and Mindset Motivational Author.
Ivy started her self-employed journey at only 18. Brave and bold, setting out on relying on yourself at that age is an achievement in itself.
It’s only natural she was able to write a book about a woman’s journey to thriving in a career.
Read below to find out more about her entrepreneur journey and book “Minding Her Business.”
What inspired you to write the book?
My book was inspired by my posts on instagram. I began “Minding Her Business” December 2014 as a way to empower ambitious women as I saw that there seemed to be a major lack of it on the platform at that time.
Although I initially intended on posting just a few quotes, I actually found myself writing well thought out captions every day. I came to realize that I didn’t know just how much I had learned until I decided to share with others how far I’ve come.
I issued not only words of advice, but also a spiritual and mindset perspectives based on what I’ve learned through my personal development journey. Creating that platform and reading the feedback from the women that followed, telling me how much they appreciated my written words, inspired me to officially launch the book.
What do you think are the biggest challenges that women face in the workplace and is there anything in your book that will assist with this?
Although I believe each challenge is specific to the individual, and that the size of that challenge is specific to one’s perspective, ultimately, I feel our biggest challenges are mental and mindset based.
I have been self-employed since I was 18, so I felt that my personal limits and challenges have always been internally based on how I felt about myself. I do encourage women to live a life on their own terms doing what they love to do, so even if that requires not staying in their current work environment, then leave. However, if you love your job but wish to climb to the top, you must feel that you deserve to be there and know that nothing else is standing in your way other than the idea that something or someone is.
“Minding Her Business” is a book that focuses on shifting one’s mindset to thoughts of “worthiness” and “success” so that we feel confident enough to go after what we truly deserve out of life. I don’t just talk about monetary success, honestly, it is a small portion of the book. I issue words of advice, empowerment, and perspective from every corner of life. From self-love and confidence to romantic relationships and friendships, the importance of giving, visualizing, issuing affirmations, and the like. All of these are absolutely imperative toward creating the life that you want and being the woman that you want to be.
How vital is the role of building self-love and confidence in career advancement?
It’s everything.
From personal experience as an entrepreneur, I know that I love working with people who are enthusiastic, absolutely confident in who they are, and know what they bring to the table. That type of energy is what you need to be around in order to have success in your business and build a well-oiled machine.
So, when you think about advancing in your own career, you must be absolutely sure of what you are willing to do in order to get there. When you are unsure of what you want and what you deserve, you will be unsure of every step you take. You need to make bold, confident decisions, no matter what the outcome. Remember that the road to success does not lack wrong turns. Every turn is necessary in order for you to build out an entire map of where to go, and not to go. Keep going, you’ll eventually reach your destination once you’ve covered enough ground.
When you love yourself and have confidence in your decisions, you’ll know how hard to work for something and when to let go of something that just isn’t for you. You’ll learn not to be so hard on yourself for making a wrong decision and love yourself enough to get back on that road again and keep trying.
What do you think the most important ingredient to achieving the career you want?
The most important ingredient is KNOWING that it’s the career that you want.
When you want something as badly as you breathe, you have no choice but to keep inhaling and exhaling – nothing can stop you. When you’re not where you want to be, that should be enough to motivate you daily to work to be there.
Don’t settle for what you don’t want when you know you don’t want it. Never stop reaching for greatness, you owe that to yourself.
Another important ingredient I would say is to keep “minding your business”, in other words, keep your goals to yourself. Not everyone is rooting for your success as much as you are and you don’t want to give them an opportunity to douse your flame. If you must share your goals, only share it with those who have amassed the amount of success that you wish to attain.
To purchase Minding Her Business visit: https://www.amazon.com/Minding-Her-Business-Journal-Extraordinary/dp/1519273037