Breadwinner Conversations

Claire Howard
  • 4.7 (3)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Weekly

For Women that Multiply

Episodes

  1. 3d ago

    From Cybersecurity to Chandeliers: Victoria Raji Designs Luxury Homes Kids Can Actually Touch

    Victoria Raji spent years in healthcare, cybersecurity, and risk management asking one question: what could go wrong? Then, with a three-month-old at home, she started building LCA Luxury Decor, a Metro Atlanta design firm built on one promise: Luxury Made Livable™. In this episode: How a risk manager's instincts became the LCA Method™: Live. Comfy. Aesthetics.Building a business in the pockets of motherhoodThe constant switch between founder and mom, and why "balance" may be the wrong wordLearning the business behind the beauty: pricing, contracts, vendors, and systemsWhy the most beautiful chair in the room might be the wrong one About Victoria Born in Ghana and raised in the U.S. from age 11, Victoria Raji is the founder and principal designer of LCA Luxury Decor, a Best of Gwinnett nominee serving Metro Atlanta and clients nationwide. She is the author of The Safe & Stylish Guide to Pet & Child-Friendly Homes and a member of the Interior Design Society and the Sustainable Furnishings Council. Connect with Victoria Website: https://www.lcaluxurydecor.com Instagram: @lcaluxurydecor Read the full feature: https://breadwinnercollective.substack.com/p/from-cybersecurity-to-chandeliers?r=1wojly&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true Presented by Breadwinner Collective Breadwinner Conversations shares the stories of women moving the needle in their industries. New interviews every week. Hosted by Claire Howard Instagram & TikTok: @breadwinnercollective Shop: https://breadwinnercollective.com Wear What You've Earned.

    From Cybersecurity to Chandeliers: Victoria Raji Designs Luxury Homes Kids Can Actually Touch

  2. Oct 22

    How the Founder of Bead It Wear It Love It Strung Copper, Crystal and Pure Nerve Into 100,000 Orders

    What happens when a video hits 54 million views and the sales barely move? Tiffany Mims knows firsthand, and she’d have traded every view for a dollar. Tiffany grew up in poverty, watching her grandmother stretch one check from the first of the month to the next. Today she’s a mother of seven and the founder of Bead It Wear It Love It, a handmade jewelry brand with more than 100,000 orders shipped, self-funded from day one. In this episode, host Claire Howard and Tiffany talk about: Turning jewelry made for herself into a full-time business as the first entrepreneur in her familyWhy viral attention and real revenue are two very different thingsStaying creative when other sellers copy your designs and photosRunning a business through pregnancy, postpartum, and a household of seven childrenThe marketing lesson most makers learn too lateWhy the best products sit where your creativity overlaps with what customers actually wantIf you’re building something with your own two hands, this conversation is for you. Connect with TiffanyWebsite: beaditwearitloveit.comInstagram: @beaditwearitloveit Breadwinner Conversations shares real stories from the women carrying the weight and building the wealth. Wear What You’ve Earned.

    How the Founder of Bead It Wear It Love It Strung Copper, Crystal and Pure Nerve Into 100,000 Orders

  3. Oct 20

    Vernice Gaston on Building Affordable Gourmet From a Food Truck Window

    Vernice Gaston on Food Trucks, Spice Lines, and Knowing Your Worth | Breadwinner Conversations Vernice Gaston planned her first food truck while living overseas. She nearly lost it to a partnership that stopped working, rebuilt the business on her own terms, and turned one question customers kept asking, “What’s in this?”, into a spice and sauce line people now take home. Today she runs Affordable Gourmet as a food truck owner, spice curator, consultant, and author. In this episode, Claire Howard talks with Vernice about: Why she’d choose a food truck over a storefront againThe signs that a truck business is ready for a permanent locationHow the COVID shutdown turned her seasoning into a productThe moment she realized her advice was worth charging forHow an introvert runs a business that never stops facing the public Read the full feature on Substack: breadwinnercollective.substack.com Follow Vernice Gaston | Affordable Gourmet:Instagram: @1affordablegourmetFacebook: @1affordablegourmetTikTok: @affordable_gourmet Follow Breadwinner Collective:Instagram & TikTok: @breadwinnercollectiveYouTube: @claireleehoward This episode is presented by Breadwinner Collective Wear What You’ve Earned.

    Vernice Gaston on Building Affordable Gourmet From a Food Truck Window

  4. Oct 15

    How Nicolla Reneé Turned an “Incurable” Diagnosis Into a New Definition of Leadership.

    Her Body Wasn’t the Problem. Her Pace Was. | Nicolla of One Spirit LLC Nicolla was a VP of Health at a national nonprofit, leading teams and running at full speed, when her doctor diagnosed her with an autoimmune disease and told her to accept a permanent “new normal.” She respected the diagnosis, and she went to work anyway. In this episode of Breadwinner Conversations, Claire sits down with the founder of One Spirit LLC and The Soul Success Coach to talk about: The early warning signs she missed while trusting her productivity over her physiologyHer “Yes, and…” approach to a hard diagnosisThe simple daily journal that turned her from passive patient to active participantWhy rest, boundaries, and a regulated nervous system are leadership skillsBuilding toward six figures without burning outIf you’re a woman carrying the weight of your household, this one is for you. Read the full feature on Substack: https://breadwinnercollective.substack.com/p/how-nicolla-renee-turned-an-incurable Presented by The Breadwinner Collective. This episode is for informational purposes and is not medical advice. Talk with your healthcare provider about your own health. Wear What You’ve Earned.

    How Nicolla Reneé Turned an “Incurable” Diagnosis Into a New Definition of Leadership.

  5. Oct 13

    Dr. Evvie Smith on Worth, Grief, and Building for Three Generations

    Her sister told her to stop doing taxes for crumbs. In 2018, Dr. Evvie Smith listened and launched 3D Notary & Taxes, a Houston-based mobile notary and tax preparation company that now serves more than 200 clients. In this episode of Breadwinner Conversations, Evvie shares how she learned the craft on paper at nineteen, why underpricing nearly held her business back, and how COVID expanded her reach beyond Houston. She also talks about building Keep Moving Ministries and The Disciple Center International, going back to college at 49, carrying purpose through the loss of her son, and why she measures success across three generations. If you’ve been discounting your expertise, this conversation is your sign to set your price and stand behind it. Connect with Dr. Evvie Smith🌐 3dnotarytaxes.com📧 3dnotary.taxes@gmail.com📍 4201 Cypress Creek Pkwy, Ste 169, Houston, TX 77068 About Me I’m Claire L. Howard — a marketing and communications strategist with 15+ years of experience helping brands and organizations grow. I’m also a solo mom building multiple ventures at once, including CLH Cosmo ⁠ (my consulting practice) and Breadwinner Collective, which was born out of my own need for better tools to manage money, home, and ambition — all while doing it on my own. Wear What You’ve Earned

    Dr. Evvie Smith on Worth, Grief, and Building for Three Generations

  6. Oct 8

    How Tiffany Brown Built a Design Firm on Faith, Grit, and the Rooms That Raised Her

    She started her company in a pandemic, with a young family at home and no one in her circle who had ever built a business. Days before her due date, she hung commercial wallpaper herself, and that one job launched her commercial design career.Tiffany Brown is the founder of Brown Builders Design, a Charlotte-based interior design firm “Building Homes and Redesigning Lives.” In this episode of Breadwinner Conversations, she shares how her grandparents’ house shaped her design philosophy, how years in real estate development prepared her to lead, and why her goal in every room is to expand it.In this episode: The house that inspired her entire approach to designLaunching a business in December 2020 with no roadmapThe wallpaper job that opened the door to commercial workWhy the most expensive projects aren’t always the biggest onesAdvocating for diversity in design and constructionThe readiness behind her “Make It Mine” TV momentBuilding a team and a business that can outlast her Connect with Tiffany: Instagram: @brownbuildersdesign Website: www.brownbuildersdesign.com This episode is brought to you by The Breadwinner Planner, from Breadwinner Collective: ⁠https://breadwinnercollective.com/pro... ................. About Me: I’m Claire L. Howard — a marketing and communications strategist with 15+ years of experience helping brands and organizations grow. I’m also a solo mom building multiple ventures at once, including ⁠CLH Cosmo⁠ (my consulting practice) and ⁠Breadwinner Collective⁠, which was born out of my own need for better tools to manage money, home, and ambition — all while doing it on my own.Wear What You’ve Earned. #BreadwinnerConversations #WomenInBusiness #InteriorDesign #BlackWomenInBusiness #Entrepreneurship

    How Tiffany Brown Built a Design Firm on Faith, Grit, and the Rooms That Raised Her

  7. Oct 7

    How Monika Monk Is Teaching Women to Run Their Lives in Rhythm

    Monika Monk is a UX designer by day and the founder of Monika with a K, a wellness brand built on cycle syncing and human design. After a thirteen-day period went unquestioned by every doctor she saw, she turned her computer science background toward researching her own body, and what she learned reshaped her health, her business, and how she manages her time. In this episode of Breadwinner Sessions, Monika breaks down how to use the four phases of your menstrual cycle as a business strategy: when to analyze, plan, connect, and execute. We also talk about the gaps in what women, especially Black women, are told about birth control and fibroids, and how a former AI skeptic made ChatGPT part of her team to avoid burnout. Follow Monika on TikTok and Instagram @MonikaMonk or visit MonikaMonk.com. This episode is brought to you by The Breadwinner Planner, from Breadwinner Collective: https://breadwinnercollective.com/products/the-breadwinner-planner?variant=53839025078579 ................. About Me I’m Claire L. Howard — a marketing and communications strategist with 15+ years of experience helping brands and organizations grow. I’m also a solo mom building multiple ventures at once, including CLH Cosmo (my consulting practice) and Breadwinner Collective, which was born out of my own need for better tools to manage money, home, and ambition — all while doing it on my own.

    How Monika Monk Is Teaching Women to Run Their Lives in Rhythm

  8. Aug 17

    How Zakiya Ellick Turned a Childhood Recipe Into Two Legacies

    Breadwinner Conversations: Zakiya Ellick, Founder of The Cookie Dip Company She built a luxury dessert brand out of a family cookie dough recipe — and a nonprofit out of the doors that stayed locked when she was starting out. In this episode of Breadwinner Sessions, I sit down with Zakiya Ellick, founder of The Cookie Dip Company and Dipping Into Change, to talk about what it really takes to build a business as a solo mom with no partition between "work" and "home." Zakiya opens up about homeschooling her neurodivergent son while scaling a self-funded company, why she doesn't believe in balance ("I think priorities exist"), the health scare that finally forced her to stop glorifying hustle, and how a career in accounting, HR, and retail quietly built the founder she'd eventually become. We get into: How one vending booth at the Playboy Jazz Festival turned into a companyWhy "luxury" is about how something feels, not just what it costsBuilding a business and a nonprofit that run on opposite instincts Exclusivity vs. accessLearning to ask for help after years of "I'll just do it myself"Why she measures success in numbers, not feelingsHer advice for the woman starting with no capital, no partner, and one good ideaThis is for every woman carrying more than one full-time job at once — the breadwinner, the mother, the founder, all in the same body, same day, same breath. For more information on The Cookie Dip: Website: thecookiedipcompany.com Email: cookiedip@thecookiedipcompany.com Instagram: @_thecookiedipcompany This episode is brought to you by The Breadwinner Planner, from Breadwinner Collective: https://breadwinnercollective.com/products/the-breadwinner-planner?variant=53839025078579 ................. About Me I’m Claire L. Howard — a marketing and communications strategist with 15+ years of experience helping brands and organizations grow. I’m also a solo mom building multiple ventures at once, including CLH Cosmo (my consulting practice) and Breadwinner Collective, which was born out of my own need for better tools to manage money, home, and ambition — all while doing it on my own.

    How Zakiya Ellick Turned a Childhood Recipe Into Two Legacies
  • 8 Episodes

4.7
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For Women that Multiply

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