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This Won't Be Pretty

Cassandra D'Alessio

First Year Lessons for the Female Entrepreneur

This Won't Be Pretty is written from the perspective of an introvert with bouts of anxiety. Could I create a successful business? Absolutely. And if I can do it, any woman can.

  Entrepreneurship & Small Business   40,000 words   75% complete   Published by Grammar Factory Publishing
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$3,080.00 funded

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Synopsis

Women entrepreneurs are often portrayed as aggressive, high-heeled Alphas who are out to disrupt the status quo or create the next new beauty solution. Some are. Many are not. As a female entrepreneur with no formal business education, just a lot of drive and grit, I started my marketing business without any real guidebook or role model. I'm an introvert with bouts of anxiety and writing is my passion. Could I create a successful business? Absolutely. And if I can do it, any one can. This book is based on my first year of business and the lessons I learned.

This book is based on a year's worth of blogs from my business website, pulling those that had the highest engagement from my network. I expanded on each blog and the context in which it was written and the lesson I learned. The topics include creating boundaries, establishing a support network, cultivating meaningful business partners, creating boundaries, organizing your time, and did I mention creating boundaries? At the end of every chapter is an "End of Chapter Wrap Up" with a short work plan to put the lessons of the chapter to practical use for each reader.

Sales arguments

  • I've read business books by women and they are often set in NYC and are written by aggressive Alphas, which is not me - or most women entrepreneurs.
  • If you Google "books by women entrepreneurs" you are met with assertive, shiny women who tell you to "Stand up for yourself" and "Lean in" which isn't always reality.
  • There are over 11 million female entrepreneurs in the U.S. and that number keeps growing.
  • Women are complex grit-driven individuals and entrepreneurs are sometimes born, but usually they are made.
  • Not all women entrepreneurs work in big cities or have earth-shattering ideas. It doesn't mean their business is not worthy or needed.

Similar titles

  • #GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amoruso - What about women who want to start a business without establishing an Empire? Is there a middle ground? You bet.
  • Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg - I like this book, but I don't have the innate strengths or business savvy of Sheryl Sandberg. So how do I lean in, in my way? I learned that in my first year of business.
  • Girl, Stop Apologizing by Rachel Hollis - Why do we have to tell women what they should or should not do? Apologize if you want. Wear high heels and lipstick at a networking event, or don't! We all look different but our strengths and businesses are all worthy.

Audience

This book is for women entrepreneurs in the first years of starting a business, or thinking about starting a business. It provides a roadmap of the likely obstacles they will face and how they can use their innate strengths to be successful.

Cassandra D'Alessio

About the author

Telling stories since she was 6 years old, Cassandra has been writing in multiple capacities for over 30 years. She studied Creative Writing at Miami University of Ohio, then focused on trauma writing during her Graduate Studies at the University of Louisville. Her thesis, "To Teach, To Write, To Heal: Trauma Narratives in the Classroom" was presented at the Northeast Modern Language Association conference in 2012. Cassandra has since been an advocate for trauma writing and is a regular practitioner.

As a teacher, Cassandra taught writing and career studies at various community colleges, technical schools and was most recently a Rhetorical Writing Lecturer at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.

Before and after her teaching career, Cassandra worked in marketing in both highly technical industries such as energy management and as the Director of Marketing at a Charlotte non-profit. After a decade of working for others, she founded Next Page Brand Strategies in 2017 and began working for herself. Next Page provides content marketing and branding solutions to small businesses including law firms, recruiting agencies, construction companies and non-profits.

When she's not working or writing, she is practicing yoga, walking her dog, Max, or binge-watching true crime documentaries.

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