Ep. 127 - Entrepreneur Mei Xu is on a mission to elevate women-owned businesses through her website Yes She May. She offers the exceptional products from women-owned brands in fashion, beauty, wellness and home. Mei encourages women to take advantage of challenging times and turn them into opportunities to either build or grow your business. Also learn why you should not be afraid of debt and should instead smartly leverage it to scale your business.
Top Takeaways:
-
- How to turn challenges into positive opportunities
- How to break out as a small business by finding ways to differentiate and stay ahead of the curve
- How to allow yourself to fail, learn, and succeed as a businessperson without apology
- Learn how to find other ways to socialize and network with diverse people that you can borrow wisdom from
- How to be very specific when approaching a possible mentor
- Why you should smartly leverage debt as a businesswoman to scale your business
- Write down your biggest ambition and keep it where you can see, reach out to your family, and support each other
"It's time women take advantage and we will see the changes we want to see. We can't rely on other people, but we can be the change we want to see." -Mei Xu
KEY MOMENTS
Mei narrates her story from China to the United States and how she found opportunities during recessions to start and grow her business [2:03]
She explains the challenges of having no access to the market in the 1990s and how she overcame that by predicting and capitalizing on trends [6:12]
The power of observing and immersing yourself as a businessperson to continue growing and succeeding 11:18]
Mei explains how she bootstrapped her business after failing to raise money from investors [14:51]
The four important things that Mei looks for when investing in a business, plus why this is a great time for investing [18:44]
Why you should never set lower bars for yourself as a businesswoman [21:53]
She explains why you should find diverse ways to network, plus the types of people you should strive to meet [24:15]
She talks about her Yes She May initiative, which is about supporting women to build and grow a brand [27:40]
The importance of finding and mentoring other women to give them the opportunities to learn from the mistakes of others like Mei [35:33]
Mei describes ways you can create a business out of current opportunities [40:21]
The ways you can demonstrate and prove to investors that your business is better than your competitors' [43:05]
Mei explains the importance of leveraging debt to scale your business, plus what you need to know before doing so [45:12]
The power of offering value with your product or service to create opportunities even during challenging times [46:43]
Mei advises you to be the change you want to see in business and the world [50:25]
ENTREPRENEUR
Mei Xu is a Chinese American entrepreneur, woman business leader, and the founder and CEO of two global lifestyle brands, Chesapeake Bay Candle and Blissliving Home. She successfully negotiated the sale of Chesapeake Bay Candle to Newell Brands in 2017, a leading global consumer goods company with a $14 billion portfolio of well-known brands. She is now focused on helping women-owned consumer products companies grow and prosper with Yes She May. Xu's entrepreneurial success story has been featured by major news organizations, including the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, NPR, the Baltimore Sun, CNBC, and MSNBC.
YES, SHE MAY
Founder Mei, Xu started consulting women businesses after she stepped down from being a CEO of Chesapeake Bay Candle in 2018.
The pandemic hit the U.S. in 2020 and many women-owned businesses were disrupted, lacking resources and access to consumers.
Mei decided to launch Yes She May in June 2020 to elevate women-owned businesses and give female founders support in technology, logistics, and marketing so they can compete with established e-commerce players.
AND she started Yes She May with an online shop for well-designed products in fashion, wellness, beauty, and home from women-owned brands. Link from our SHOP page to shop for women-owned business brands.
AWARDS
Mei Xu has many awards including, Politico's Women of Impact, Most Admired CEO, Women Who Mean Business, Business Leader of the Year, Entrepreneurial Leadership Award, Maryland International Business Leadership Award, and the Philip Merrill College of Journalism Distinguished Alumnus Award.