by Jennifer Bardot and Marianne Biangardi
When you began your career did you ever imagine you would have a leadership role like you have now? What advice would you give your younger self?
Actually No. I did not see myself in a leadership role or owning my own business. Now I think I see things differently and have grown into a greater sense of who I am and where I’m going. I would tell my younger self to reach for the stars. Nothing is impossible if you believe in yourself.
Who inspires you and why? What is your most valued attribute in the leaders you respect or mentors you have had?
People who get up and do the work everyday inspire me. Watching people create something from nothing or seeing those who have been dealt a tough hand with a disability or debilitating disease and yet they keep fighting the fight and inspire everyone around them that we can all do better if we truly choose it! True leaders find a way to ignite a spark in others. From former athletic coaches to Managers that all made an impact in my life they truly had one thing in common which was to teach me to get up and show up everyday, put in the work and effort and BELIEVE in myself. If we don’t believe in ourselves how can we ever really achieve anything we set out to do?
What did it take in order to trust yourself to step into leadership?
Honestly, it took a hardship for me to finally take the leap. I had always been in a role that required self-generated success BUT was continually helping other companies grow their bottom line. Over my career I had been part of a team responsible for bringing new lending companies to market and building their brand which we were doing very successfully. However, most recently we were 1.5 years into the build out of a new Company and then experienced a drastic market downturn, the owners decided to pull the funding on the project which left our team unemployed. I was fortunate to immediately secure another job BUT my gut was telling me it was my time to do something new and start fresh so I dove into this new venture, Bumble Bee Blinds, and have nowhere to go but up!
Have you experienced any hardships and how did you overcome the obstacles? When did you know, the business was going to make it?
Yes, I was in the Lending Industry for 30 years on the wholesale business to business sales side of things and there were always highs and lows, but the 2007/08 meltdown landed both myself and my husband out of work so we dug in and did what we could to survive. We lived off our kids college money and eventually started our Granite Company, Russo Stone Design, in 2008 which my husband runs today. We did not take a paycheck from that company for 2 years and I worked for a corporate lender to keep us afloat. We knew we were going to make it when we found ourselves in a position to purchase the assets of a competitor that was failing and ultimately purchase our own building for our Stone Company then after losing my job in 2022 we opened Bumble Bee Blinds which it the business I run today.
What do you attribute your success too? Secret to your success…
Always finding the silver lining in every situation. Attitude is the most powerful weapon we have and can easily control. So I think my biggest secret is staying positive, surrounding myself with other people who embrace positivity and fueling one another with ideas, encouragement and support. Whatever I may be going through that seems difficult I can guarantee that someone else has been there done that and I too can get through each hurdle and move on to the next level of success.
What advice would you give other local women leaders?
Network and find your tribe. Surround yourself with others both personally and professionally that help keep that spark alive and fuel your passion and positivity.
Life can be hard and we all get knocked down but it is that fact that you get back up and keep moving forward, learning from each failure and understanding it’s part of the growth process. If we did everything right all the time then we aren’t truly challenging ourselves. Making mistakes is part of building character and is a necessary part of our growth process no matter what we choose to do in this life.
Join the GRIT Community:
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8987243/
Jennifer Bardot (ownyourgrit@gmail.com, or
314-630-1451) is CEO and Founder of G.R.I.T. Community For Women.
Marianne Biangardi (mbiangardi@uhy-us.com or 314-322-4871) is Sr. Associate, Marketing and Business Development, at UHY LLP.