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As a Vietnamese refugee, Community of Seven founder Lan Phan knew education would change her life. Her mother was a hairdresser who never earned more than $15,000 a year in Inglewood, California. She supported Phan, her two brothers and her father, who was unable to work due to a disability. Phan entered Stanford University on a scholarship and attended the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
“My life has changed through education. We can create systemic equity and eliminate inequalities through access to education,” says Phan.
In 2020, Phan was a Assets The magazine’s manager was given a multi-million dollar budget and a large team to create a startup within the magazine. Then she received the devastating news that she and her team had been fired. When she broke up, she struggled with depression and anxiety Assets, So she started posting daily on social media: mostly professional lessons she wished she had learned. Her first audience was her brother and some friends. One day, one of Phan’s posts received 30,000 likes and was viewed by hundreds of thousands. That’s when the Community of Seven was born.
Phan is now on a mission to democratize leadership and development opportunities for goal-oriented leaders. Community of Seven provides group coaching, workshops and training for large Fortune 100 companies and technology startups. She offers free social media content on her YouTube channel, including microlearning and livestreams.
“I grew up in corporate America where executives didn’t look like me. I was often the only one at the table who was a woman of color,” Phan says. “Those identified as promising, primarily white men, gained access to sought-after leadership and development opportunities. I and so many others were never on these lists. I want to change that for the next generation of leaders.”
Here are three lessons Phan offers founders that will transform how companies are built.
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1. Start with what matters most
“It wasn’t until I was 40 that I had access to leadership and development opportunities, even though I had been leading large teams since my late 20s,” says Phan. “I was often good enough at building the decks and writing the strategy documents, but not at presenting them. The company didn’t invest in me. I finally realized I had to start investing in myself.”
Because of her track record of building companies, Phan was approached by three venture capital funds with offers to invest in Community of Seven. While some may have jumped at the opportunity, Phan declined. “I want to have the freedom to build according to my own ideas. I want to stop pursuing predetermined goals, including charging exorbitant membership fees. That’s what’s most important to me.”
Phan withdrew money from her retirement account to fund her business. She has also taken on contract work in marketing and other part-time jobs. Her advice to others is: Don’t rush into funding, instead focus on clarifying the problem you’re trying to solve with your business.
“If you start raising money too early, you may be forced into growth metrics you can’t achieve and have less control over the products you develop. Be strategic when raising capital,” says Phan.
2. Develop expertise in multiple areas
“If you don’t take advantage of financing, you have to make compromises,” says Phan. “I had to be smart about how I spent the money I had. I learned to do a lot of things myself until I started making enough income to outsource it and get additional support.”
Phan became her own social media manager. She trained herself in the best social media practices and learned to create her own graphics, including a brand logo. She learned to build websites, create community platforms, invest in livestreaming equipment, and film and edit her microlearning sessions. She learned the importance of a balance sheet and how to avoid hiring too quickly or outsourcing things that could wait.
“By developing expertise in multiple areas, you get to know your company thoroughly,” says Phan. “And when you bring in people with expertise to help you, you’ll have a better understanding of what you need and how best to work with them because you’ve done the job before.”
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3. Don’t be afraid to ask your customers for feedback and adapt
Phan has built her business over the course of a few years, testing and trying out different offerings. She led small mastermind groups and received feedback that others could benefit from the discussions. She took these insights and built workshops for Fortune 100 companies. She offered 60-minute workshops and received feedback that some of them might be too long, so she now offers more bite-sized learning moments. She had so much content on different platforms and her audience wanted easier access to it – so Phan published her first book: Do this dailyThe focus is on secrets for finding success, happiness and meaning in work and life.
“Don’t be afraid to ask your customers for feedback and then adapt,” says Phan. “I see too many companies struggling because they are unwilling to adapt or test what their target audience wants.”
Phan continues to provide free resources for her mission to democratize learning for all. She has amassed over 500,000 followers across her social media platforms and built Community of Seven into a six-figure business.
“You shouldn’t have to look a certain way, have a certain title, or be friends with the CEO to get access to a coach, a week-long leadership training, or an exclusive membership-based community,” says Phan. “There should be no gate-keeping. We should all have access to the resources to help us become better leaders.”
The WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS® The article is part of our ongoing series highlighting the stories, challenges and successes of running a business as a woman.