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Empowering Self-Employment
Yengyee Lor is an NASE Member from Weston, Wisconsin and is the Founder, Coach, and Consultant at Faithful Consulting LLC. Faithful Consulting provides leadership, training, team building, facilitation, goal planning, strategizing, coaching, counseling, assessments, and management to help individuals and organizations with meaningful solutions that create positive and meaningful solutions both internally and externally.
When and why did you join the NASE?
I joined NASE last year because I wanted to be strategic partners with an organization that supports and helps small businesses thrive. NASE fulfills this mission because it provides resources for small businesses, networking, financial assistance, and education. I feel small business is what drives this country, and my focus is to be a business that helps them continue to disrupt and grow communities across the country.
What inspired you to enter the field you are in?
I have always known since I was eight years old that I was going to help people, but I would have never imagined the path life would take me on. My answer to this question would be, “life inspired me.” I have a 12-week leadership program called, “Find Ur Life-inspired Leadership.” I believe if we get curious enough about life, it teaches us and guides us towards our purpose. My first life-inspired purpose was a young Social Worker trying to help families, children, and keep communities safe. My second purpose was a result of my primary purpose; I worked in toxic leadership and work cultures. I became fascinated and hungry to learn everything I could about leadership and organizations so that I would be able to elevate work cultures and workforces.
When and why did you start your business?
I started Faithful Consulting back in 2015 because I wanted a business that focused on people and social change. I had worked in toxic work environments where I was indirectly affected by the negative culture and experienced poor leadership. My career impacted so much more than just my productivity at work, but the stress filtered into my family life as well. I saw how detrimental that was to me and everyone around me. We spend most of our time at work, and it should be meaningful, productive, and one of the best places to be. Faithful Consulting is founded on these grounds. I believe the more purpose-filled and happy people are, the more engagement and high-performing they will be in their work, family, and community.
How do you market your business?
Most of my business is through word of mouth. I am fortunate to know people in my previous career as a supervisor in the county government that helped me get work when I started my consulting business. I am also an active leader in my community and serve on multiple local and national boards. These connections, along with quality work, have helped market my business. Additionally, I use social media and paid ads to gather more contacts. NASE spotlight and membership is also part of my strategy for marketing my business.
What challenges have you faced in your business? How have you overcome them
The challenge with my business is probably trying to do all the work on my own to save money. I have a staff member who is a Virtual Assistant for my customers, but because I am entirely self-funded, I try to do everything on my own. One strategy that I have used to overcome this challenge is time management. I schedule all my time even when it comes to self-care time. I plan that right into my calendar. If I have a Keynote or training that I have to develop for a company that is due in April, I start working on it in February. Being very disciplined with my time has helped me be able to manage my business, have uninterrupted time with my children, travel and take care of myself.
Do you have any employees?
I have a part-time Virtual Assistant and partners that I collaborate with on big projects. I want to continue to grow my team of partners and employees. My dream is to have a full agency with a brick and mortar location.
What’s your schedule like, what’s a typical day for you?
A typical day for me is I get up around 5 AM, set my attitude and intentions for the day, work, get my two kids up and ready for school, put them on the bus, come back home and work. I try to schedule all meetings and coaching during times my kids are in school, or on days their dad picks them up for a couple of hours after school. I also travel out of town for work at least once a week.
What’s the best thing about being self-employed?
The best thing about being self-employed is doing what I love. From consulting to coaching to speaking to training to creating my materials, I love it. I also enjoy the traveling that comes with my work and meeting the people and organizations.
What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received from a client?
The best compliment from my customers is when they tell me, “I love my life and who I am becoming.” My customers’ happiness and satisfaction make me happy because I know I made a social impact.
What’s the most important piece of advice you would give to someone starting their own business?
Do something that you love and stay the course; everything will work out. You don’t have to go into debt to start a business, but you do need to be very disciplined and strategic with your business. I would suggest hiring a coach.
Which NASE member benefit is most important to you?
The NASE member benefit that is most important to me is the Growth Grant. I love how it provides NASE Members an opportunity to expand their business in ways they otherwise probably wouldn’t.
Any other information you would like to share?
I would love to connect with all of you. Please follow my Faithful Consulting business page on Facebook, go to LinkedIn and add me as a connection, and be a member on our website. If we can service your agency, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We are competitive in pricing and will work with you until you reach your goals.