Women in Business Fall 2017

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The book, Our Interrupted Fairy Tale, which Williams
self-published in February 2014, won the Hyack Teen
Read Award and was a long-list nominee for the Whistler
Independent Book Awards.
“A few months after Chad’s death, I found his journals
and the blog entries he had kept from the time he was
first diagnosed at the age 26 until he passed away at 34,”
she says. “As I flipped through the pages, on the last one
Chad had written, ‘Publish this when the time is right.’”
That journey would begin her initial foray into “sidepreneur”
– a term coined to describe someone who
has a full-time career while building a business on the
side. “My work on the book never affected my full-time
job; if anything, it enhanced it,” she says. “I only wrote
on the weekends and in the evenings.”
But it wasn’t until a couple of years later, while Williams
was driving her nine-year-old stepdaughter,
Madison (from her husband, Brad Watt), to school
that the idea of starting her own publishing company
would begin to bloom. “Madison didn’t like to read, so
to encourage her I downloaded some books by Robert
Munsch. We would listen to them while driving from
the North Shore to Coquitlam,” Williams recalls. “One
day, Madison said, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to write our own
book?’” That conversation morphed into a book they
co-authored, Don’t Call the Office, about a blended
family.
Throughout that process, she once again tried to decide
whether to self-publish or go the traditional route.
Then, one day the Vancity Business Babes networking
group asked if Williams was willing to run a workshop
about self-publishing. “After the workshop, I received
many offers to consult with other would-be self-publishers,”
she says.
That sparked the idea of launching her own self-publishing
company. “I started thinking it would be nice to
make a little more income, so I began to research whether
or not there was a market for another self-publishing
company,” she says.
At the time, Williams was on contract with the Provincial
Health Services Authority (PHSA), in corporate
communications. “I wasn’t really fulfilled there, and I
felt that I could find a much more rewarding career on my
own,” she says. In February, Williams launched the Self
Publishing Agency. Although it was nerve-racking and
sometimes scary, Williams says having the security of
a 9-to-5 job allowed her to transition from her career to
full-time entrepreneur. “It never felt like a risk because
I always had the stability of a full-time job,” she says. “I
also never allowed my side business to affect my work.”
It was a great piece of advice from a friend that helped
keep Williams focused on the end goal: “Time isn’t going
to open up for you, so you need to make time for what is
important.” Today, her company is growing beyond her
expectations. So well, in fact, that when the 32-yearold’s
contract with the PHSA ended in April 2017, the
self-publishing guru didn’t renew.
“I feel like the wedding planner of book publishing,”
she says. “What began as a way to supplement my income
became my new career. The skills I took from my
marketing jobs assisted me tremendously in getting to
where I am today.”
GILLIAN
BEHNKE
I have a balance
that is working
right now.… I
could make more
money if I put
more time in but
I don’t want to
compromise my
family
5 TIPS FOR SIDEPRENEURS
For fellow sidepreneur Gillian Behnke, her own side
business began much like Williams’. As manager of
community relations for Canada Place, Behnke has a
very demanding job overseeing marketing, education,
community relations and events. Add a husband and
two young children, and life was full.
But seven years ago, weighing 230 pounds, Behnke
decided she was going to finally lose the weight that had
crept on during her two pregnancies. “I was doing the
gym thing and running, but it was taking way too much
time away from my family,” she says.
Under the stress of juggling a demanding career and
family life, she turned to Beachbody home workout
programs. “I lost 80 pounds in eight months by doing
my workouts early in the morning before the kids woke
up,” she says, adding she also drank Beachbody’s dietaid
shakes. “Then, a friend told me about an opportunity
to run Beachbody fitness challenges.” That dovetailed
nicely into a side business, which provides extra income
for her family.
As an independent distributor/coach, Behnke’s job is to
help others reach their health and fitness goals through
challenge groups, which are posted on a Facebook group
page, or one-on-one interaction via text or email. She
devotes approximately three hours a day to Beachbody.
“First thing in the morning and at night after the kids
have gone to bed, I get on my computer and help people
from all over North America stay accountable to their
fitness goals,” says Behnke.
Today, she is steadily growing her virtual business. “I
have a balance that is working right now.… I could make
more money if I put more time in but I don’t want to
compromise my family.... My kids [10-year-old son and a
seven-year-old daughter] are still so young,” she says.
Whether you are thinking about a side business for extra income, or eventually transitioning
into a new career or for tax writeoffs, you need to master time management and of course
business acumen – all the while trying hard to never allow your full-time career or family suffer.
Here are five tips from those who have been there, done that:
1. Get up early: Behnke gets up at 5:30 a.m. every day to fit in a home workout, put some time
into her side business and get her two children ready for the day ahead.
2. Find support: Whether it’s your spouse or best friend, find someone who believes in you and
touch base with them when you’re feeling tired or doubting yourself. Behnke says her husband
makes her dreams possible by being supportive, helping with family chores and helping her get
the children ready in the morning.
3. Be kind to yourself: You can’t be everything all of the time, so be prepared to make sacrifices.
Both women admit they have had to forgo some things. For Behnke it means less
television and Facebook scrolling, while for Williams it means shutting down her cellphone at
8 p.m. nightly, and less downtime on weekends and weeknights.
4. Due diligence: Williams recommends researching the market you are considering getting
into and coming up with a business model. Seek advice from people you respect and trust. If
you have a mentor, all the better.
5. Believe in yourself: If you don’t, who will?