Succeeding Together by Exchanging Services: An Interview With Anna Wolfman, Founder & CEO of the Femunify Skill Exchange

Anna is the Founder and Community Curator of the Femunify Skill Exchange, where female entrepreneurs, coaches and service providers exchange their services and expertise to help each other build and grow their online businesses. Before Femunify, Anna spent over a decade building a successful corporate career in several multimillion-dollar companies, where she managed large teams, led key strategic projects, and was a trusted advisor to many executives. Anna has taken her years of experience in business strategy and growth, operations, people management, and powerful networking, and is now blazing her own trail as an entrepreneur, while helping other women do the same.Anna shares her journey from a stable corporate career to becoming an entrepreneur focused on building a community for female entrepreneurs. She discusses how growing up with financial instability shaped her risk-averse mindset, leading her to a career in accounting. However, she eventually pivoted toward entrepreneurship after feeling unfulfilled in the corporate world.Anna describes how she launched Femunify, a platform where female entrepreneurs exchange services and expertise to grow their businesses. She highlights the challenges women in business face, such as fluctuating incomes and balancing roles, and describes how collaboration through skill exchange can grow a brand and expand a business without the need to pay out of pocket. “All of these challenges really brought me back to okay, why don't we do this in a more communal, supportive team type way and go back to the basics of essentially bartering and exchanging skills and leaning into? Every single person has their zone of genius, has their areas of expertise, has something valuable that they could offer. What if we lean into that and leverage that and use that to then access help from other experts that could help us in our business?” - Anna WolfmanKey takeaways:-Notice when you are being called to expose yourself to new things. Anna was looking forward to returning to work after an extended maternity leave. She began to listen to podcasts about mindset and success, which she had never done before, in order to give her a renewed sense of energy. -Recognize that change takes time. After Anna became exposed to these podcasts, she began a pivot and a shift and a very slow evaluation, as she put it. She asked herself if she was having the impact she’d like to have or was she operating out of fear? Still it took her several years until she actually acted on making a shift and left her corporate career to start her own business, during which time she did some financial planning and made sure her family was on strong financial footing. -You never know when, what we put out there might resonate with the right person who is meant to hear it at that moment in time, said Anna. Referring to a podcast with Robin Sharma she had heard, it motivated her to consider leaving the corporate world and starting her own business. Had she heard it earlier, she doesn’t know if it would have landed with her in the same way.-You might need the space to step away from your day-to-day routine and reflect before a big change. Anna noted that something life changing, like having children, helps put certain things in perspective. It could make you more fearful but, in her case, it motivated her to push past her fear, take a risk and be a role model for her children. About the Guest: Anna Wolfman is the Founder & Community Curator of the Femunify Skill Exchange, where female entrepreneurs, coaches, and service providers exchange their services and expertise to help each other build and grow their online businesses.She spent over 13 years building a successful corporate career where she managed large teams and was a trusted advisor to many executives. She’s taken her years of experience in business strategy, operations, people management, and networking, and is now blazing her own trail as an entrepreneur.Today she leads a collaborative community that helps female entrepreneurs build the businesses of their dreams – faster, smarter, together.Website: https://www.femunify.com/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-wolfman/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anna.wolfman.femunify/Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/femunify/Free resource: 7 Proven & Actionable Ways to Accelerate Your Business Growth - Without Breaking the Bank Stay connected:Connect with Laura on LinkedIn@Rotters5 on TwitterConnect with Laura on FacebookSubscribe to my YouTube channelSubscribe to my newsletterGet your free copy of Unlock Your Money Blocks Workbook: Your step-by-step guide to unlocking your blocks to financial freedom.Disclaimer: Please remember that the information shared on this podcast does not constitute accounting, legal, tax, investment or financial advice. It’s for informational purposes only. You should seek appropriate professional advice for your specific information.