301 | You Are Your Number One Resource with Michelle Angenent, 417 Press
"You are your number one resource." This is a direct quote from today's guest, Michelle Angenent. Michelle is a Paper Camp alum, LABS member, and the fierce founder behind 417 Press, an award-winning letterpress greeting card company and paper goods brand based in Montreal, Canada.
Always observing life with a dash of humor, Michelle's product line is a direct reflection of the personal challenges she has faced from infertility to ADHD, midlife divorce, and now midlife dating. Now in her fifties and a happily single mom to teen twins, Michelle is proof that everything is divinely timed for a reason and that it is never too late to pursue your passion.
Today Michelle and I are talking about navigating divorce as a business owner, overcoming and continually working on our mindset, and what to say when someone asks you proprietary questions about your business.
Today’s episode is brought to you by our Proof to Product resource library. It’s where you can get your hands on our free resources to help you start, streamline and scale your business in your own way and at your own pace.
Building a Product Brand Through Experience
Michelle’s business started around the time that she got married. She created her own wedding invitations, then started receiving requests to create them for others. Before long, she was designing and letterpress printing wedding invitations as a business.
She quickly pivoted into creating other stationery and greeting cards that were more custom to her own personality.
Now Michelle’s focus has moved away from custom wedding invitations and shifted towards creating wholesale products for 417 Press. She’s currently in the process of expanding and broadening her horizons—what that looks like is still in progress.
Understanding Proprietary Information
As Michelle has built her business, she’s put in a lot of work finding the right vendors, creating the right processes, and building relationships with those that have contributed to the success of her business.
One thing she’s found to be a recurring theme is other makers asking questions that invade the proprietary knowledge she’s built through her experience.
In the Proof to Product community, we stand behind sharing information that helps move your business forward, which means sharing vendor recommendations our community uses, the knowledge we teach in helping you grow your wholesale business and highlighting strategies you may need to incorporate.
This type of knowledge is very different from what an individual business owner has in regard to the hard work that they’ve put in.
This could mean the relationships they’ve built with vendors or buyers, the process they’ve implemented to create a specific product, and how they’re running the backend of their business.
Whether you’re the person asking the questions or you’re the maker being asked, as a community, it’s important to understand proprietary information.
For new business owners who ask about this information, the response for saying no to them is simply that they need to do the work to gain the knowledge and experience themselves—it’s okay to tell them that.
The lesson here is that it’s valuable to connect with and build relationships with other business owners, but be mindful of the questions you’re asking because the knowledge and experience that business owners have is an asset to their business.
Navigating Divorce as a Business Owner
In regards to assets, many business owners don’t realize that their business itself is an asset, legally.
Michelle quickly learned this during her divorce a few years ago. As the sole owner of her business, it meant that the business was an asset that was divisible—meaning she owed half of that business to her spouse.
In Michelle’s case, she was the only signing officer. To relieve the issue of division, Michelle could have made her spouse a partner with a 1% option.
In doing this, you’d be protecting not only your business but yourself as well. If Michelle could go back and do things differently, she would have set him up that way. Michelle ultimately had to sell half of her business to her husband.
After this experience, Michelle pushed through the fears that she had in seeing her business fail and went straight into a growth mindset because she was forced to.
Despite all of the negativity that came with the divorce, it was a blessing in disguise. Had she not been forced to make her business grow and work, she wouldn’t have seen the growth and success that she’s had over the last few years.
If you find yourself in a situation where divorce is on the table, don’t be afraid to get help and advice from a lawyer. You can even discuss options with your accountant before you pay for a lawyer on retainer.
Note: Michelle lives in Canada, where her divorce was handled, therefore, the process may vary where you live.
You Are Your Number One Resource
Those fears still creep in, but every day, Michelle practices gratitude to help overcome those fears. This means in every order that comes through, she is thankful rather than worried about the what-ifs. This is a tiny shift, yet has a huge impact daily.
We’re all human and we’re all works in progress—the work you do on yourself not only benefits you but your business and family as well. Michelle puts a lot of emphasis on the phrase, “Where the thoughts flow, the energy goes.”
Where are you putting your energy? Are you putting any energy and effort into you?
While there are so many tools and resources out there, the most important one is you. You are your number one resource—you can only depend on yourself.
quick links:
Here is a recap of links shared in this post:
270 | Opening a Retail Store Front with Lisa DiVito, Tiramisu Paperie
099 | Pivoting to custom wedding work with Emily Asher, Emily Rose Ink
Wholesale strategies and developing your product line with Katie Hunt
258 | Scaling to 500 Wholesale Accounts with Brittany O'Brien, Brittany Paige
Get access to the Proof to Product Resource Library with multiple free resources & courses to help you start, scale, and streamline your business
Today's episode is brought to you by our Is Wholesale Right for You audio series! This free 12-part audio series will help you decide whether wholesale is a good next step for your specific business.
After listening to this audio series, you'll know whether you want to pursue wholesale for your product business and you'll have the confidence and action steps to get started with wholesale. Sign up for the private podcast today!
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MEET MICHELLE
After more than a decade as a freelance graphic designer, Michelle founded 417 Press in 2015, an award winning letterpress greeting card and paper goods brand based in Montreal, Canada. Always observing life with a dash of humour, the line is also a direct reflection of personal challenges from infertility to ADHD, midlife, divorce and, now, midlife dating. Now in her 50s and a happily single mom to teen twins and a cavapoo, Michelle is proof that everything is divinely timed for a reason and that it is never too late to pursue your passion.
CONNECT WITH MICHELLE
WEBSITE: 417press.com | INSTAGRAM: @417press | FACEBOOK: @417press | PINTEREST: @417press
Connect with Katie Hunt
Katie Hunt is a business strategist, podcaster, mentor and mama to four. She helps product based businesses build profitable, sustainable companies through her conferences, courses and coaching programs.
Website: prooftoproduct.com | Instagram: @prooftoproduct
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