Introducing PerkettPR’s New Interview Series – “Persuasive Women”
PerkettPR is excited to present a new series of interviews entitled “Persuasive Women” – featuring women entrepreneurs whom we admire. These influential females will share their thoughts on how they’ve built their businesses, give insights on the hurdles they have encountered, and highlight some exciting tidbits on what they have planned next.
The first “Persuasive Woman” we are featuring in this series is none other than the fabulous and witty, Melanie Notkin, otherwise known as “SavvyAuntie.” Melanie is the founder of SavvyAuntie.com, an online community for aunts (Aunties by Relation, Aunties by Choice, Great-Aunts, Godmothers, and all women who love kids) and author of the best-selling book Savvy Auntie: The Ultimate Guide for Cool Aunts, Great-Aunts, Godmothers, and All Women Who Love Kids. Melanie has over 17,000 followers on Twitter and is known as one of the most powerful women in social media. Her site is on the Forbes Top 100 Sites for Women list and Melanie’s column over at Huffington Post is both entertaining and thought provoking.
You can follow Melanie on Twitter (@savvyauntie), check out her site SavvyAuntie, or join in the fun on Facebook at Facebook.com/SavvyAuntie. We hope you enjoy this new series and please feel free to share your comments below.
You recently celebrated three years of SavvyAuntie.com. Has it turned out to be what you expected? Is it what you envisioned many years ago?
Savvy Auntie has turned out even better than I expected. I had always envisioned Savvy Auntie to be a multiplatform media company, and with the addition of popular social media platforms, TV appearances, spokesperson gigs and a national best-selling book – that it is! But the journey I’ve been on is most wonderfully surprising. Finding potential I hadn’t realized until now has been the best reward.
A lot of us have ideas from time to time and many of us sit idle waiting to find the time to commit to the new project or idea. How did you push yourself to move forward with this concept?
I woke up one day in June 2007 and decided I was an entrepreneur. That morning I went to a class on how to write a business plan. It wasn’t the right class for me – but I was determined to do something that day to move forward. It was about momentum. I started to invest time and money in the business. And I never looked back. I knew if I did, my idea would turn into a statue of salt and I’d never move forward. You just have to keep going.
What was the biggest hurdle as you worked on growing the business?
I’m self-funded so what I earn goes back into growing the business. Bandwidth suffers from that but I felt if I took investment dollars, I’d be following someone else’s vision for my brand. That’s not why I became an entrepreneur.
Who was your biggest supporter?
Me.
If you could name one thing that truly made a difference in bringing your business to the next level, what was it?
Unconditional belief in myself and my business.
You recently published your first book which has become a best seller. Will there be another book and if so, what can we expect?
I’m working on what that will be now! It’s very exciting. If it happens, it will be much more personal and closer to the voice I have in my Huffington Post column.
What TV or movie character are you most like?
If I had to pick one, I’d have to say Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City – but I have more faults, fewer shoes, and bigger ambitions.
If you could have dinner with one big celebrity, who would it be and why?
Jennifer Aniston. We’re the same age. No kids – and I think she handles the pressure about that extraordinarily well. I think we’d be friends… No point just having dinner if it can’t lead to Sunday brunch one day soon after.
What’s next for SavvyAuntie.com. Are there any new features to be added or new partnerships you would like our audience to know about?
Well, I just launched SMITTEN by Savvy Auntie: Deals Curated with Love by Melanie Notkin. It’s a partnership with Saveology so I can bring the Auntourage deals designed just for them and their lifestyle. https://www.saveology.com/offers/savvyauntie. There’s more to come but I can’t talk about it just yet. Needless to say, I’m thrilled and excited for what’s next.
photo credit: Ana Schechter