Pascale Rowe may be known by the cutesy-playful moniker Ms. Bling Miami, but she doesn’t play when it comes to business. She’s a successful retail entrepreneur and accessories designer, and the author of Boss Up, Or Get Bossed Around,, a self-help business book. These days she’s a self-made millionaire, traveling the world on her own whim. If she wakes up on a Tuesday, and feels like staying in bed all day and sipping a bit of Barbancourt, she can. She doesn’t have to worry about a smaller paycheck as a result. She’s her own boss, thank you very much. If she wants to give her son his dream gift, she can, with the snap of a finger tip. The Haiti-born, New York-bred and Miami-residing mogul didn’t start out that way. In the late 2000s, she was in a disintegrating marriage, and made the leap to the life of a single woman with nothing but her clothes and her savings. She went from a negative balance to an annual income of $300,000 (to start). But what principles did she apply to get to where she is? Let your girl Kreyolicious tell you.
1. Jump, just jump—even if you don’t see a drape cushion when you’re looking down.
Pascale Rowe was working for an insurance firm, earning $70,000 a year. My, that’s a lofty little salary. And the perks…always looking forward to a bi-weekly pay stub, an attractive 401K firm, and the pride of being steadily employed. But the desire to be an entrepreneur and be her own boss was always gnawing at her like a tapeworm. But what do do, what to do? Jump, that’s what! And faith and courage will be the cushion.
2. You’ve got a product? Get it out there.
And the best way to get it out there effectively? It’s by getting people with higher visibility than you to use it. Or in Pascale’s case…to wear it. Pascale used her contacts to get her Bling bangles on the wrists of such celebrities as Lauren London, Trina, Gabrielle Union, Kim Kardashian to name a few. And these celebrities, in turn, helped spread positive buzz and intrigue about her brand.
3. Don’t flex aimlessly on social media. Make it work for you.
Some waste hours on social media, but seem oblivious to the opportunities that social media bring. Pascale’s presence has helped her business grow, and by having consistently updated profiles on social media—especially Instagram—she’s contributed to the mushroom-like growth of her brand. Speaking of which…
4. Talk is just that…talk.
Putting yourself on the internet can be hazardous to your reputation and your health, but if it’s a risk you just have to take. At any time, on any given day, someone is staring at your profile and gossiping about you. But, oh well. At the end of the day, your success will remain your own. Let people wag their tongues, while new zeroes get added to your bank account balance. Life is short. Why spend it being sad over people’s ill-intentioned comments, inaccurate speculations and intended-to-be-hurtful opinions. The majority of people badmouthing you have never met you, weren’t with you during your struggles, but feel entitled to judge you…so let them. This won’t stop you from prospering. Pascale Rowe detractors are just unpaid House of Bling employees creating word-of-mouth buzz for the brand and its creator…see it that way!
5. Be the teacher you didn’t have when you were starting out.
From Memphis, to Detroit, to Milwaukee, to Atlanta, Pascale addresses hundreds of aspiring entrepreneurs at hosting gigs, conferences, brunches and retreats. When she was grinding stone and bricks to create her own lane, she didn’t have certain resources available to assist her. But that’s to be expected when one is carving out self-created opportunities that were unknown to the world of entrepreneurship. Through the Bling Bootcamp, Pascale puts participants through informational intensives lasting from a day to several weeks and teaches them the ropes to success.
There you have it, kreyolicous cheries, 5 Success Principles We Can Learn From Pascale Rowe, better known as Ms. Bling Miami.
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