WIFE + MOM + ENTREPRENEUR + AUTHOR
Juanita Aguerrebere is not only the CEO & Founder of Mastermindhi and Co-Founder of Aquahunters, both Hawaii based businesses; she is co-author of new book Mommy Divas on the Move. CWM spoke with her about her new endeavor and the juggling act called life.
Who is Juanita Aguerrebere? A kind human being on a quest for spiritual and technological enlightenment. I feel like I am renaissance thinker and I love to mix disciplines, such as entrepreneurship, leadership, science and spirituality. I love to create and live life by my own design. The computer and internet is my genie or my favorite medium to create and to brand. I am web developer and branding consultant.
Tell us about the book, its target audience and whether you found it challenging to come up with the foundation of what you wanted to express? Mommy Divas on the Move is an inspirational book for woman who aspire to have it all, you know being a mom and entrepreneur. It was so great to publicly reveal my story as an entrepreneur. The ups and downs are all a part of this beautiful journey and the juggling of being a mom to four kids is an athletic accomplishment. I love that my first opportunity to be in a book is about the part of my life that I don’t always celebrate or honor, or even give myself credit for. This book allowed me to see the awesome job that I do. I sometimes have a hard time believing it, I am a mom to four amazing kids! The most challenging part of writing my chapter was not writing a whole book! I turned the chapter around in 2 days, it felt like very tough natural child labour, but I would take breaks to swim in the ocean in order to clear my head. I always have to let go of the feeling that my writing is not good enough, or perfect. Perfection is NOT the goal- the goal is to share your story so you can build your tribe. Isn’t that how we bond as humans? Story telling is encoded in our DNA.
Would you consider other collaborations in the future? Oh Yes! The thing that I learned from my top clients and by watching top social media influencers is that collaborations are the key to sky-rocketing your brand. Nobody is your competition. Nobody can be you. There are so many people on this planet and we can not possibly serve them all! That’s why I love to connect and collaborate with people that I would normally view as my competition and change the relationship to support each other’s growth and to create support network. I would love to collaborate with positive thought leaders, people doing what they love making a positive difference in the world!
Not including your own, whose section is your next favorite part of a book? Why? I love all the stories and mamas in the book. Since you are asking me to choose one, Dr. Monika Ogando. She is an intelligent and successful entrepreneur. I was blown away by her story and how she overcame cancer. I have always believed in the power of healing in our bodies and her story just confirms my own thoughts and theories on health and our bodies.
Is there a message in your contribution that you want readers to grasp? To go for it, go for your dreams! I believe being an entrepreneur is the best way to create the life that you want! Brand the facets of your life. Did you know that every social media post, every comment, every like is you branding your life? So don’t feel guilty if you did not work on your business that day, ‘cause that instagram post of you making dinner for your kids was your branding for the day! Every human being connecting with the internet is creating a digital thumbprint, why not take conscious charge of that and have it reflect your authentic self. I believe in the future, archaeologist will be data miners of the internet, I can’t wait for my future descendants to read this very blog interview and I hope it will inspire all to create legacy that you are proud of.
What inspired you to participate in the project? Really because I would be sharing my story with a community of woman from across the country and inspiring women to become entrepreneurs. I just got very clear that I was ready to write and share. I decided to walk the talk, you know follow the advice that I give to my clients. With some coaching and mentorship, I was soon having the courage to ask for what I desired. When i met Patrice Tart on twitter, I asked her about her project and if i could join too. I signed the contract 2 days later, and I was the last one into the book with one week to submit!
What book are you reading now or the last book you read? I am an avid reader and read about 2 books a week! I love to read! So my favorite book I just read is “The Wet Woman” by Alejandra Diaz Mattoni. It’s a fictional book about a female assassin, Magda. I just love it when the hero is a female and she saves herself! This story is woven into a brilliant web of Latin novela style familial dysfunction as you delve into Magda’s mind. This is book is a sexy, intelligent page turner! Of course most of my time is consumed reading business books, I am currently reading “Take the Next Step”, By Mai Lieu. It is so awesome when you read a good business book that is written by a good friend. The thing about sharing your story in a book is that you share things that you don’t normally get to tell your friends. For instance, I didn’t know that before becoming multimillionaire inventor that Mai studied martial arts and lived in China for 2 years! I am looking forward to reading the rest of her book.
Do you see writing as a career? Most definitely, I think expressing your thoughts and your ideas is the most valuable tool in the world. At the moment, I am obsessed with expression in 140 characters or less on twitter.
In the book you mentioned “creating a system around caring for your family and business”, which can often be hard for women entrepreneurs or even career women. What advice would you give to women who are in the midst of this struggle and feel like they are losing the battle of balance in their lives? I think I could write a book on this topic alone. I can only give advice for what I have done myself. Get rid of the TV, it’s a time sucker, get rid of fast food or junk food, it’s a health sucker. Eat as healthy as possible, your kids will stay healthier, you will have more energy. As a mompreneur, you need to set up the game to be in your favor, set your family up to win with you. Keep a routine and stick to it. Teach your kids to be active in helping out in your home and business too. I helped them to do their chores until they could to do it on their own. Ask for support! Creating a system of support from all or your family members is crucial to maintaining balance. My mother in law takes my kids to judo practice twice a week, she loves watching them and I get a break for me. The biggest thing you can do is not to overcommit yourself, which is my weakness. I want to say yes to it all, but I must choose to focus on a few commitments. And it’s okay to be a hermit!
Now that the process is complete, how do you think you have evolved creatively or as a business woman? I feel that I have become vulnerable in a good way, to show and share my human side. I feel good to be writing again, I was always known as a writer as a kid. As a business woman, writing my chapter has allowed me to share with my future clients and speak to my ideal client and other female entrepreneurs. If you read my chapter and call me up, it’s going to be because you like me and the way I think. If you read my book and don’t like it no biggie, you probably won’t call me to brand you and that’s ok!
What advice would you give other first time authors? Go for it! Also just let it pour out of you and let go of the harsh self judgement because I want to read your story. I don’t care when I read a story if there is a typo, or the expression wasn’t quite magical enough. I just want you to climb into my head and share with me your story, ideas and thoughts.
Beyond Amazon, what are your expectations and goals for the book? We made it to #1 Amazon Best Seller for Women & Business Books for the kindle edition; I would love to do that for the paperback. On a side note- Who doesn’t have that dream of sitting face to face with Oprah as you open up your heart to her and share yourself with the world Well that’s my vision.
Do you have any upcoming projects, events etc. either relating to the book or your business? We are working on Mommy Divas book signing parties across the country, next one is in Atlanta. I am currently working on launching Snapshots of a Leader, a web-series collaboration with MLH Hawaii Foundation, celebrating leaders in our community. On the web frontier, I am developing a venture for a client that I am very excited about. I wish I could tell you more, but my lips are sealed at the moment. As far as my personal brand, I am in the process of creating online programs to share my expertise as an internet guru in 2015.
How can readers reach out to you? I love connecting and tweeting over on Twitter, I have built a tribe of over 38,000. Instagram and Facebook are a much easier way to connect with me right now. I love sharing ideas and advice. Of course you can connect with me or book a branding session on my personal website at www.JuanitaAguerrebere.com , it’s a beautiful site.
Is there anything else you would like to add? Yes, I would like to thank you, or as we say in Hawaii, mahalo for this opportunity.
Connect with Juanita https://www.juanitalicious.com/ and on IG @juanitalicious
