Celebrating National Women's Small Business Month

October is National Women's Small Business Month so this feels like the perfect time to share that Peopleside completed the process to become officially recognized as a Women-Owned Business through the Small Business Administration.

I am so proud to share in this month's celebrations with women-owned businesses everywhere and I honor the outstanding progress female entrepreneurs have made over the years. Peopleside would not be here without the hard work of the trailblazer women who came before us. 

In keeping with the celebrations of the month, I’d love to share a bit about my own entrepreneurial journey as a woman.  

How did I get into entrepreneurship in the first place?  
Why is owning my own business as a woman important to me? 

I grew up with an incredibly entrepreneurial father. From the time I was born he ran his own business. He whole-heartedly believed in being his own boss and the flexibility that gave him, the ability to own his day.  

When I was in elementary school, my teacher had various parents come into class to share with us about a day in their lives. My dad stood in front of our classroom and explained to the audience of 9-year olds, “Work should feel like going to Dairy Queen.” 

Looking back, I truly believe that’s how he felt about being an entrepreneur. Each day was a treat, like a Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard! And as a little person, I got the message loud and clear.  

But my dad wasn’t the only parent modeling entrepreneurship and creativity. My mom was always finding a side hustle, something extra that she could do to help our family earn more and keep food on the table. I will be forever grateful for how hard she worked. 

When I was a kid, she had a small business making beaded earrings and selling them at the local farmers market. She let me help make things and sell them at our little booth. This gave me a front row seat to the world of small businesses. 

The Academic Side of Entrepreneurship 

I saw hustle and passion from both my parents. They were both doing things where they weren’t working for other people, doing things that filled them – something they truly enjoyed. What a gift to witness at such an early age.  

Fast forward to college and my interest in entrepreneurship became a bit more academic. After a life-changing study abroad trip to Costa Rica, I changed my major – designing my own undergrad to include more business courses.

These I took at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota and most centered around entrepreneurship. I even took a family and small business course! I found it fascinating. The challenges that small businesses run into are very different than Corporate America and that intrigued me so much.  

After I completed my studies in business, I began to teach it. In 2008 I was teaching introduction to entrepreneurship at a community college in Dubuque, Iowa and I LOVED it!

The people signing up for this class were people who wanted to start a business. They were energized and excited. They came into the course with an idea and walked away with an action plan. They came with a vision and got clarity on how to make it real. It was powerful to witness.  

At the time, I wasn’t running my own business yet. It would be almost six years before I would start a company. But I like to think a lot of seeds were planted as I shared in the joy of seeing all these lightbulbs blink on for my students.  

The Birth of Peopleside 

I got the guts to start my own company when I was working for a boutique consulting firm and was sitting on the bench. If you’re not familiar with that term, it’s when you’re not on a billable client project. You’re sitting in the office, not out consulting with clients, working on internal projects.

These internal projects were usually really fun for me…but I wanted to be out in the field, working with companies, solving problems. So I went to networking events and met with past coworkers and sold myself. 

One day I realized… Wait a second! I’m out here selling my own self. I’m selling the services that I can provide. Why am I doing this under somebody else?  

I knew I had the sales skills. I knew I had the consulting skills. So, I thought, why not!  

This was 2014 and by 2015, I opened Peopleside. 

Working with Talented Women 

Not only is Peopleside a women-owned business. I also feel very strongly about employing and working with women. 

As a woman, I felt overlooked for so many years in the spaces that I played in.  I worked in strategy. I worked in process improvement. I worked in project management. In many of those areas, when you look at the executive team, a large percentage are men. But not all and here is where I learned some great lessons.  

Some of the most impactful and focused leaders I have worked under have been women. I hope to fill that role for other women out there. I want to give opportunity to all the great ideas– no matter who has them. But I also want to give space for women, in particular, to do their magic and to feel empowered.

A Shift Away from the Patriarchal Mindset

Before I started Peopleside, I thought my outward appearance needed to symbolize strength and power by appearing more masculine. There were doors that didn’t open for me, opportunities that passed over me and given to my male colleagues. 

So, I wore my hair very short, I dressed in masculine clothing, and only accessorized with large, chunky jewelry. 

The patriarchy is powerful, y’all. 

When I opened Peopleside, it was the first time that I realized, “I’m going to wear whatever I want. I’m going to look however I want. And if somebody doesn’t want to work with me because of what I wear or how I look, then those aren’t the people I want to work with.”

These days, I may have my hair flowing and my pants tight, but there are people out there who will be inspired by these things. I am okay with being 100% myself and only working with the folks who are okay with that too.  

The farther removed I am from that subconscious patriarchal mindset, the more I’ve come to understand that gender is just one aspect of our humanness. You see, Peopleside’s mission is to promote humanness in business. It’s not promoting womanness in business. It’s not promoting men or another gender identification.  

Promoting Women-Owned Businesses

So, why am I choosing to promote my “womaness” by identifying as a women-owned business? To break down some of those stories we’ve had in society and in the business setting for so long about who is worthy of success. To rebel against the idea that a woman’s role is a singular thing. To showcase that, as long as she gets the job done, a woman can look however she wants.  

I want to create a space where women feel super able to be themselves – whatever that means. At the end of the day, being a woman is just one aspect of my identity. It’s just a piece. It’s just a label.  

But, in the name of representation, I feel called to honor this label…

This is me, Rebecca Sanchez.

A woman.

An empowered woman.

A woman who hires women.

A woman who owns a small business.

A woman who seeks to empower women.