Hello everyone, glad to have you all back here. Can you believe there are only 2 days before Thanksgiving? As you begin prepping for whatever your holiday looks like, I ask you to take some time to sit back, relax, and read to learn more about an amazing woman, Alexandra Daras. Alexandra is a business owner, who’s instagram page I have followed for sometime now and I have been waiting for the perfect time to feature her. I hope this article fills you with as much excitement and enthusiasm as I had while speaking with her.
Alexandra is from Basking Ridge, New Jersey where she grew up her whole life. She graduated from Ridge High School, and from there she attended Rider University. She graduated from Rider with a degree in Art History and a minor in English Literature. If you’re wondering how a Liberal Arts major ended up a business woman, stay tuned! After college Alexandra went to night school where she got her teaching certification and began teaching Kindergarten. For 10 years she taught, until it was time for a change.
When I asked Alexandra what she would consider her greatest achievement, she laughed and took a deep breath. After a moment's pause, she explained that her greatest achievement was quitting her job to take The Pretty Pink Rooster from an online only store, to a brick and mortar. She detailed the situation best when she compared her transition to jumping off a cliff with no safety net. Alexandra went on to say that she worked hard to make her dreams a reality and being able to live this reality has been her greatest achievement. During this part of our conversation, Alexandra touched on how vigorously she worked to ensure her goals were met. I really admire the courage she had to leave her job and go after a true passion of hers. We all have dreams and aspirations in life, but how many of us go after them wholeheartedly? It can be uncomfortable to make big changes in the beginning, and people will try to reroute you out of concern, but don’t stray from a path you know will bring you joy. Alexandra is the perfect example of how far persistence and pure hard work can take you.
As I read over this article, I feel as though I imply a lot that owning a business is extremely difficult, uncomfortable and a lot of hard work. Some of you may be wondering, why would anyone want to put themselves through so much trouble? While business ownership can be a long, windy, bumpy road; it comes with the amazing benefit of pursuing your passions and achieving your goals. Along with the right tools and a supportive group behind you, it pays off. Alexandra shared some of the things she felt helped her, or she wished she had when she started. The first thing she brought forward was having a mentor, she encourages entrepreneurs to find someone they can talk to about the ins and outs of business. She explained how helpful it can be to talk to others about situations they’ve been in, even if they aren’t in the same exact product realm as you.
The second thing she highly recommended was keeping a business diary, detailing the journey of your business. Alexandra explained how beneficial it has been for her to keep a little diary, and how just a few days before we spoke she had looked back on it, which led her to tons of gratitude. She went on to say that having this gratitude helped balance her out when fear began to creep in. I loved this piece of advice, personally I find it really easy to get caught in the mindset of go, go, go and it is always humbling to reflect on how far I have come. I have already begun taking Alexandra up on this advice, journaling as often as I can on where I am with I Am Woman. I can’t wait to look back in a few months to a year and see how far I will have gone!
Besides being an amazing business woman, Alexandra has other roles, interests, and hobbies. A main part of who she is, would be being the eldest sister of 4 sisters. During our conversation we spoke about the world of sisterhood when your siblings are all girls. Alexandra spoke on the close bond she has with her sisters and how being the oldest can many times come with the responsibility of the role model or the example, which can be really hard, but it does pay off in terms of fostering happy, healthy relationships with your siblings. Another key point Alexandra hit was remaining true to yourself, it can be so easy to fall into who your younger sibling except or want you to be, but if you remain true to who you are and who you want to be it sets the tone for originality throughout the whole family. Family is everything to Alexandra, she is thankful for the bond she has not only with her sisters, but their mother as well.
To start wrapping up this article, in 10 years Alexandra hopes to be doing more philanthropic work including expanding the work she already does with the Marines Toys for Tots foundation as well as the Caron Renaissance Program for Addiction and Alcohol Abuse. She also hopes to begin holding conferences on being a business owner to help those along in their journey as an entrepreneur. All in all in 10 years Alexandra wants to be giving back to the community as much as she can!
Finally Alexandra attributes some of her greatest female inspirations to her mom for being an amazing pillar of strength, as well as all of her sisters for keeping her inspired through all the different ways they lead their lives. She also notes what a great role model her grandmother has been for her! What an amazing group of women, am I right?
I want to thank you all for taking time out of your day to learn more about Alexandra! She is a vibrant, ray of sunshine to be around and I am so grateful I was able to speak with her! For those of you who know someone that would be a great fit here on I Am Woman, please be sure to nominate them. I love meeting with the important people in your life!
If you made it this far, I assume you have enjoyed today’s article. For emails on when my next article will be posted, subscribe at the bottom of this page, it's completely free! To stay connected with all things I Am Woman, including this month's giveaway, give me a follow @iam.wwoman on Instagram and TikTok. Thank you again, and have a wonderfully filling Thanksgiving!