"You become an entrepreneur by developing a signature brand and embodying it."
Shampaigne Graves Tweet
Shampaigne Graves is the CEO of Bold Babes Companies, a multidivisional education, and marketing firm dedicated to helping business owners start and stay in business. As both an entrepreneur with a small global remote team, and having consulted over 200 businesses with digital footprints, she understands what it means to be an entrepreneur. When not strategizing with clients, Shampaigne can be found enthralled in a cult conspiracy documentary, spending time with her partner of 6 years, or cuddling with her rescue terrier, Bubba.
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Table of Contents
Thank you so much for giving us your time! Before we begin, could you introduce yourself to our readers and take us through what exactly your company does and what your vision is for its future?
Shampaigne Graves: I’m Shampaigne Graves, the founder, and CEO of Bold Babes Companies a multidivisional education and marketing firm dedicated to helping you start and stay in business. After sinking more than $30,000 into my first entrepreneurial venture, I only had $20 and a passion to pursue business left to my name. I used both of those assets to invest in launching Bold Babes and 3 years later we have served more than 250 clients and have grown to include a small global remote team.
Bold Babes Companies includes three umbrella brands that serve our larger demographic of tech founders. The Bold Digital Incubator for digital entrepreneurs. Bold Babes Radio podcast network for bold women in business. And Event Marketing Magazine & Firm, a dual publication and marketing service that highlights and curates memorable events that produce measurable results.
Three to five years from now, I see Bold Babes Companies becoming the number one solution for anyone wanting to start and sustainably grow their digital business.
NO child ever says I want to be a CEO/entrepreneur when I grow up. What did you want to be and how did you get where you are today?
Shampaigne Graves: I wanted to be a rich artist, which is why I think I became a CEO. When I was three years old I won my daycare’s art show and had my prolific painting of Clifford the big red dog submitted to the larger city art show. I didn’t win but that level of recognition sparked a hunger in me to produce more art. Soon I was practicing with every art medium I could get my hands on, I knew that I was in fact the next Frida, Augusta, or Anya. That was until my father kindly let me know that most artists starve in their lifetimes and suddenly my passion dimmed for the practice. I learned early that I wasn’t willing to sacrifice my worth for my art and managed to repeat the cycle until I found my fit as an entrepreneur.
Now I produce art each day as a marketer. When working with my clients I lean on my artistic background to convey the stories they want their clients to hear about their brands. I have a keen eye for color and its meaning and I understand the art of marketing.
In short, I’ve managed to become the rich artist I was told was impossible to become.
Tell us something about yourself that others in your organization might be surprised to know.
Shampaigne Graves: I struggle with imposter syndrome. When you start with $20 it makes for an amazing story when you accomplish great things but every other day I feel like I’m ten steps behind all of my peers. I do my best to keep that struggle personal. I think it would be a big letdown for my team members to see me doubting the vision we’ve all invested in. It’s not all-consuming more like 90/10 but the 10 always seems to happen when it’s time to accomplish big company milestones. Which is the nature of these fears but I do my job scared on those days.
Many readers may wonder how to become an entrepreneur but what is an entrepreneur? How would you define it?
Shampaigne Graves: An entrepreneur is someone who invests in and develops ideas for products and services. You become an entrepreneur by developing a signature brand and embodying it
What is the importance of having a supportive and inclusive culture?
Shampaigne Graves: The importance of having a supportive and inclusive culture is vital to bring forth the business ideas that will truly be impactful for the world. Entrepreneurs are by definition, decision-makers. Cultivating a society in which anyone can hold the title is extremely important to young people wanting to realize their visions of becoming one.
How can a leader be disruptive in the post covid world?
Shampaigne Graves: Leadership in the post covid world requires radical empathy. We need to not escape the fact that over 700,000 Americans have passed due to this pandemic and they have left behind grieving loved ones. Leaders that want to foster loyalty within their team members will be empathetic, forward-thinking, and focused on people, not profits.
If a 5-year-old asked you to describe your job, what would you tell them?
Shampaigne Graves: Even with a background in education, this one is stumping me. The simplest way I’d describe my job is that I help people figure out their ideas. As a business-to-business education and marketing firm we work primarily with founders themselves to educate them on the tools available to bring their ideas to life easier so that they can find the people that have been waiting for their idea to come to market.
Share with us one of the most difficult decisions you had to make for your company that benefited your employees or customers. What made this decision so difficult and what were the positive impacts?
Shampaigne Graves: When Bold Babes Companies was first founded it was a t-shirt brand that had a strong entrepreneurial empowerment mission. It was soon realized that although the t-shirts were cute, it wasn’t the t-shirts that were attracting young CEOs to our brand. So in 2019, we stopped selling t-shirts and moved to an education and marketing model.
Leaders are usually asked about their most useful qualities but let’s change things up a bit. What is your most useless talent?
Shampaigne Graves: This made me laugh out loud I must note. I don’t personally believe in useless talents, just talent that may not be useful in every context. So with that being said, my most useless talent has to be my obsession with cults. Cult brands may be something other peers in my industry are trying to build but I have no interest.
Thank you so much for your time but before we finish things off, we do have one more question. If you wrote a book about your life until today, what would the title be?
Shampaigne Graves: ‘She Saves Herself’
I think that title is pretty self-explanatory. When I was a little girl, I too was invested in the idea of the fairytale and the princess being saved but as I grew in confidence in myself I figured out that I was my own prince. I save myself every day, I come to the rescue when I need saving. I’m proud of the woman I have become and am becoming.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Shampaigne Graves for taking the time to do this interview and share her knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Shampaigne Graves or her company, you can do it through her – Linkedin Page
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