Annalea Krebs of EthicalDeal
“Being able to make something happen!” That is what motivated Annalea Krebs to become an entrepreneur, she loves making things happen and has done a stellar job. Annalea is definitely a mover and shaker in the entrepreneurial world, having launched her second company Ethical Deal on November 8th, 2010. When I sat down with her I was honestly amazed at the focus, drive and articulation when it comes to her philosophies, her vision of how business can change and connect communities and how genuine she is.
Annalea is “enjoying the ride” and constantly fascinated by “how quickly things change in business”. She sought out being an entrepreneur early on in her career, during and after schooling she did countless hours volunteering and building her leadership capacity all while focused on the end goal, launching her own companies.
Ethical Deal is Annalea’s second company and where she spends numerous hours managing 10 staff and connecting the community with local green companies. Ethical Deal is mission based and intended to educate, create awareness as well as provide a resource to savvy shoppers. “EthicalDeal was born out of a mission of making green mainstream. We use the group buying model to introduce people to green alternatives – making it easy and fun for people to discover their green city!” – Ethical Deal website.
I asked Annalea about being a woman entrepreneur and if she felt like that created more challenges for her she simply said, “If you think it’s an issue, it will be an issue.” We agreed that this is an incredible time to be a woman entrepreneur and that there are some really exciting opportunities available to women, especially in media. Annalea was highlighted in Fast Company’s 25 Women Run Startups to Watch, check out the story here: http://www.fastcompany.com/1722401/25-women-run-startups-to-watch
She had some fantastic advice in getting started as entrepreneurs here are some of the highlights:
- VOLUNTEER – Seek out opportunities to intern, volunteer and work within the industry you want to start a business in to gain experience, leadership and management skills
- Build the Right Team – Making sure you have people on board that believe in your companies mission and culture is crucial to the success of your new business
- Everybody is a Customer Champion – make sure YOU and the people you work with exhibit and “can-do” attitude, demeanor is a very important trait in a manager as well as people you hire
Part of the Network Hub co-working family, Annalea and I chatted about co-working and the benefits. “I love co-working”, she said emphatically. The in-direct support of so many companies working hard and making their businesses a reality are inspiring to her and her team. “Co-working makes coming to work fun and makes you feel like you aren’t alone in business.” I couldn’t agree with her more.
I enjoyed the hour I spent with her over coffee and look forward to getting to know her and Ethical Deal even better. Check out her site at www.ethicaldeal.com