Welcome to Business/Women
A newsletter to give you the information you need to build a thriving, profitable creative business, in less time, doing the work you love. And having some fun along the way. Let’s scale with savvy.
I’m Katherine Danesi, a business coach & strategist.
For over 10 years, I’ve been helping ambitious creatives harness their passion and energy and get out of their own way to get their work out into the world.
Mission with this newsletter.
Business/Women is here to help awesome, fierce female founders like you uncover the hidden potential and possibilities for your business.
In the process, you’ll uncork the energy you need to get unstuck and take considered action. And through that action, you’ll gain confidence.
And you’ll see there’s a natural order to the steps to take that build on each other. This gets you results more quickly and frees up your time and energy.
It’s the same work I do in my consulting and coaching business.
This newsletter is new… and not.
For two-and-a-half years, I sent my weekly Level Up Your Business email each Wednesday morning through another email platform.
In that format, I shared stories — both personal and from what I’ve seen in my work with clients — to help educate, inspire, and offer the odd “kick in the pants.”
To get started, you’ll find posts from the most recent newsletters to help you in your business. Subscribe to get full access to the recent publication archives.
I hope to create community and spark conversation so we can all learn from each other.
What you’ll get here.
Best practices.
Business advice.
Lessons from other businesses.
Lessons from other fields.
Life stories —> business lessons.
Women in history, to learn from and to be inspired.
What I believe.
There’s no such thing as overnight success.
There are no short cuts or quick fixes.
No one strategy or plan works for everyone.
You need to do the right things in the right order to maximize your opportunity for success.
Everything is a test.
If you don’t ask, the answer is always "no.”
Don’t undervalue yourself and what you offer, ever.
Your mindset matters. It’s part of the work.
Stories have power.
History has lessons and can inspire.
There is power in the belief in possibility.
Why the pear?
When I was reimagining my Level Up Your Business newsletter for Substack, I wanted a new name to reflect the broader range of topics I’d be writing about, and I wanted a graphic that spoke the vastness of the idea of women and business throughout the years. Hence the pear.
The shape of the pear has represented the female form in the art world for centuries, creating a strong symbol of fruitfulness and femininity.
Pears symbolize wisdom, divine sustenance, abundance, and longevity.
There’s literal and figurative richness in this that I intend to bring to this space.
Get weekly business advice delivered to your inbox.
Subscribe to get the free Business/Women with Katherine Danesi newsletter delivered to your inbox each Wednesday at 8:15 am EST and get access to the publication archives. And you can follow me on Substack Notes.
Consider a paid subscription.
For $60 a year or $7/month, join this community of female founders who know that, with commitment and focus, as well as access to the right information, resources, and support, you can’t lose.
Here are the details:
Receive two weekly emails — one on Wednesday morning (business and life stories with actionable advice) and one on Saturday (contemporary and historical businesswomen, philosophy, spirituality, mindset, life)
Gain access to the full publication archive
Join the community
Comment on posts and Notes
Join and start chats
Participated in regular Q&A with me (in Chat and quarterly on Zoom)
Receive a Monthly Resource Roundup (easily check out what you missed)
If you’re experiencing a period of abundance, and want to purchase a gift for a friend or donate a subscription, click here.
And if you’re excited about what you’re getting here, become a Founding Member.
You’d have my eternal gratitude and, in return, receive a 50% discount on my Get Unstuck Strategy Session.
Want to know more about me?
After studying Chemical Engineering at university, I started my career in inside sales at a Fortune 500 company in the technology space. Not exactly a straight line, but it worked.
I stayed with them for 12 years, following a pretty traditional career path — moving to field sales, inside sales management, and eventually ran a highly profitable business unit for one of the company’s largest vendor partners.
I moved countries and cities in the process.
I started writing for the love of it and discovered I was woefully not-well-read.
So, I went “back to school” and did my Masters in 20th Century Literature & Its Contexts at Goldsmiths College, University of London.
I moved to New York, tried to open a business, and failed.
Needing work, I shifted to key positions at a series of tech start-ups.
Through it all, I managed teams in sales, customer support, operations, and marketing. I hired, fired, and project managed. I launched new initiatives within large organizations, and I launched new organizations outright.
But then, with 20+ years steeped in these experiences (trust me, I have stories), I transitioned out of the corporate world to run my own business helping others do the same.
Along the way, I discovered a spiritual path of mindfulness, meditation, and more. I followed my curiosity, always. Which has led to some pretty interesting places. Literal and figurative. This continues to this day.
I love asking questions, researching, providing direction, identifying and removing obstacles, and seeking possibilities to determine the right strategy, audience, and messaging.
Above all, I love seeing my clients build businesses and create lives beyond what they thought was possible. This is my “why.”
In gratitude,
Katherine
