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So was it with Nicole Liloia, an entrepreneur who grew up in East Rutherford.
Liloia started out as a licensed clinical social worker with a successful private practice in Ridgewood, A few years in, however, she switched tracks when other business owners, struggling to grow their companies, kept tapping into her for advice.
Thus began her career as a business strategist. The Lyndhurst resident, who did consulting and mentoring on the side, now works full-time with women entrepreneurs to help them make money doing work they love. She also works with them to create multiple income streams so they're no longer stressed by the ups and downs of business income.
Her clients, which run the gamut from therapists to T-shirt companies to pet care providers, health coaches and writers, are both local, as well as all over the world.
"So many business owners struggle with growth because of fear," she said. "I love helping them break through that."
The biggest challenge for women entrepreneurs, she said, is that they are very self-critical. "They set super high expectations for themselves about the goals they want to achieve and they don't give themselves enough flexibility to go with the flow," she explained.
Her advice? "It's okay to change tracks if things aren't working out."
"I think women in Bergen and Passaic counties are also overextending themselves," she stressed. "We live in an expensive area and because the cost of living is so high, it's also more expensive to run a business which means you need to be making more profits to have a good quality of life."
She stressed, too, the importance of constantly re-assessing your business and life goals to make sure that you're still motivated to reach them.
More and more people want flexibility and freedom, she explained -- they want to be able to work schedules that they choose and they want to be able to work anywhere in the world. "Thanks to technology and social media it's easy to make that happen," said Liloia. "I myself like a freedom-based business which is why I left my in-person therapy practice -- I spend a month in a sunny location every winter and it was hard to do that before."
Go to www.nicoleliloia.com for more information. You can also find a free goal assessment at www.nicoleliloia.com/assessalignaction.
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