Today, I am interviewing Stephanie Breedlove of Breedlove Capital. Stephanie co-founded Home Pay, a full-service company that helps families process, payroll, and taxes related to their household employees. I heard from John Warrillow about Stephanie's experience with selling her company for over $50 million to Care.com. Super inspiring to hear about some of the struggles that she had to go through all the way to what she's up to now.
Many of us who are founding companies deal with all sorts of things that can come up and it can be easy to get distracted by the small stuff when in reality, the potential can be so much bigger than we realize. When you hear her story and how she niched and how that played out for her success, it is very inspiring and will likely give you some ideas about how you can increase the value of your own company. Enjoy!
Stephanie shares her insights:
- "I will say the number one thing that I have become is more self-aware and, I think that's really hard for people. And, when you are an entrepreneur, I do think that you are more successful if you can look in the mirror and recognize the warts and work on them, which none of us like to do. On the flip side, recognize the great moments that have happened. And, you're the one leading that ship and those moments and pat yourself on the back. So I feel like one of the gifts that come to me in this journey is the highs and the lows that come with self-awareness. And, I will say, I think that makes you a better person."
- "Absolutely nothing can replace the value of hard work and sacrifice. As long as it's, you know, burning you out and you're finding balance in that process, nothing replaces that hard work, the sacrifice, the compromise. And I love this adage, that failure is a learning for something next. And that's something next may be the greatest thing you ever do. And that's what makes you feel like a rock star? I mean, that those risks, the hard work, the compromise, the failures, all these things that sound like negative terms, you know, they turn you into a rock star to think that you're really good at, and that feels good."
Stephanie is a career entrepreneur. Growing a business from idea to scale to long-term value is where her best talents are exercised, and she has been passionately dedicated to the success of small businesses for nearly 30 years.
In 1992, Stephanie co-founded HomePay by Care.com (formerly Breedlove & Associates), the nation's leading firm dedicated to making household employment payroll and tax compliance easy for busy families and their caregivers. After more than two decades focused on quality growth, building value, and earning industry leadership, the company joined forces with Care.com, the largest online marketplace for finding in-home care.
Stephanie is continuing her entrepreneurial journey as co-founder of Breedlove Capital, a family office focused on acquisition of small businesses with big potential. Entrepreneurs are the creators of new businesses and generate 80% of new jobs each year. They are instrumental to the growth and strength of the economy, and Breedlove Capital is dedicated to playing a role in smart progress for the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Stephanie's community work is a natural extension of her entrepreneurial passion. She is a mentor, board member, and investor to early-stage companies. Her best-selling book, All In, provides example and strategy to encourage female entrepreneurs to grow companies of scale. Stephanie and her family are also dedicated to giving time and resources to the things they value most (besides entrepreneurship) - education, the outdoors, and family.
Learn more about Stephanie:
Company websites:
https://www.breedlovecapital.com/
https://www.care.com/homepay
https://linkedin.com/in/stephanie-breedlove-862537a
https://twitter.com/BreedloveSteph
https://www.facebook.com/BreedloveSteph
