How the Founder of this Media Platform for Women of Color Got Started
How I Got Started are Q&A’s with women founders where they share their experience emerging as a brand. The aim is that in sharing these conversations, they may impart motivation, guidance and validation to women who are considering starting their own venture and/or in the process of getting going.
“When I was learning more about entrepreneurship, it was either there was no information or the only way to be successful is to quit your job and jump into full-time entrepreneurship. The latter just wasn’t something I was able to do with how my finances were shaping up, nor did I want to. I love Notedd, but I also love my work in marketing. I wanted the opportunity to do both, and so I did. I became a multi-hyphenate entrepreneur and haven’t looked back since. Know that this industry is how you want it to be, not the other way around. You should feel empowered by what you need to do for yourself and your business.” -Lauren Strayhorn, Founder of Notedd
Lauren Strayhorn is the founder of Notedd, a digital media company for women of color. With Notedd Lauren is bringing Black women to the forefront of mainstream media through thoughtfully curated content and community experiences.
Two years into her business, Lauren shares a trove of getting-started wisdom, ideas and tactics. From how she got her first batch of newsletter subscribers, to how she plans to evolve her business model, her thoughts on VC capital, why she chose to do a crowdfunding campaign and more.
Founder:
Lauren Strayhorn
The business:
Notedd
First started:
2019
Impact you seek to make with your business:
At Notedd, our number one goal is to help Black women stay informed, connected, and authentically themselves.
Short background about you:
I recently made a career transition, becoming a multi-hyphenate entrepreneur. My time is now split between leading marketing and communications campaigns for my clients and building Notedd.
What led you to starting your business?
Ever since I could remember, I was always interested in the news. The news always played in the background, as my parents and I would watch Good Morning America over breakfast and then end the day watching ABC World News Tonight at dinner.
It wasn’t until I moved to the DC area in 2017 that I faced a dilemma. I had to cut the cord because cable in this area was just astronomical in terms of costs. I decided to subscribe to newsletters which became the best and most convenient way to stay informed, but I faced yet another dilemma: reading more than 20 newsletters a day. To gain a perspective of the day’s news within my viewpoint, I spent four hours a day finding and reading newsletters.
I felt invisible in the news that I was reading, found it incredibly frustrating to keep up with the news, and challenging to find an accurate portrayal of myself and my community in the news. I decided to ask my friends if they felt the same way, which expanded and led to a graduate research project while getting my Master’s degree at Georgetown. I spoke with over 100 women of color on their overall news experiences. I used that research for good to fill this void and help women of color like myself stay connected and be informed from their specific vantage point. That’s how Notedd began in April 2019.
What was the moment you knew you had to take the leap and start your company (aka your Big Whisper moment)?
I knew something was wrong when I reached my breaking point with one of the newsletters I subscribed to and shared how I felt with my best friend. It just read like I, as a Black woman, wasn’t the target audience. I think the Big Whisper moment was when I heard similar sentiments from more than 100 women of color. I couldn’t push their feelings aside and not use the research for something that could be good and a representation of them. I knew at that moment that I wanted to create something that was created for Black women, written by Black women.
What were the first steps you took to get started?
Research was a critical factor for us because I didn’t want to create something that was just for me and even my friends. I wanted to create something meaningful for a community deserving of the type of content we wanted, and in many cases, needed. After I completed the research, I hired and worked closely with a graphic designer where we created the brand essence and what Notedd would look like, from the logo and color scheme to the layout of the newsletter. I also felt it was essential to bring on other women of color to help participate in our development and branding. Again, Notedd is more than just me—it is a community.
What was your biggest fear when you were getting going?
I had two big fears: 1. going public with Notedd and 2. whether Notedd would gain traction.
With my number one fear, I kept Notedd hush hush for almost a year. Only a few of my friends and classmates knew, and they knew because I interviewed them. Outside of them, I launched Notedd and thought I’d let the brand grow without my public disclosure of it.
The reason is that I’ve always been behind the scenes. As PR practitioners and marketers, especially in client service, we’re often in the background and helping our clients be the stars or heroes. It was not something that I felt comfortable sharing until I had to. Because the pandemic encouraged us to slow down more, my investment with Notedd increased, which meant more content, more partnerships, and more presence. It was so bad, yet so good, that my cousin DMed me and said she had heard about this cool company called Notedd from a friend of hers.
Thus, it was catching the attention of others, and I knew I had to come clean.
With my second fear, I was this PR/Marketing girl who enjoyed writing and liked talking about the news. I was no journalist, nor was I a writer. Therefore, I wasn’t sure if Notedd would translate outside of my friends and honestly resonate with this community that I was trying to foster. The slower moments of the pandemic made me feel more comfortable and at ease as a writer, but also to start taking myself and Notedd more seriously.
Once I came forward, started sharing who I was and why I created Notedd, and took myself more seriously, those fears quickly disappeared, and we grew even more!
What actions/tactics have led to gathering your first batch of subscribers?
Since I conducted research with my target subscriber, I was able to reconnect with them all, and they became my first group of subscribers. Having the community I have is terrific because they enjoyed Notedd so much that they would share with their friends, families, and networks. It quickly grew through referral marketing. Additionally, I started to reach out to the network groups I was in, like alumni groups, Slack channels, MightyNetworks, and Facebook groups. Every once in a while, I would reintroduce myself and share Notedd in those communities, which quickly helped grow our subscribers. Lastly, as I started to share Notedd more publicly on my personal social media pages, it’s also gained traction with old classmates, work colleagues, and other people I’ve met over the years who became subscribers.
What is the business model for Notedd and why/how did you arrive at this being the model?
Currently, we’re operating primarily in a subscription-based model for our newsletter. We also have an e-commerce marketplace model that serves as a revenue generator since our newsletter is free for our subscribers. Our marketplace recently launched earlier this year with a full line of branded stationery items.
At the time, subscriptions made the most sense considering that our newsletter was our main content and acquisition channel. In the beginning, it was too inconsistent to charge people fairly. The e-commerce model was a test-and-learn as I wanted to transition Notedd from a passion project into a company. After getting an LLC, we launched the marketplace to learn more of the business fundamentals while creating and selling products of interest to our community.
With our key learnings, we’ll soon shift to a freemium-based model, where our subscribers will continue to receive our newsletter for free and pay a fee as a member of our community platform. The newsletter will continue to serve as it is now, and we will continue to provide even more content, events, and experiences in the community platform.
What’s been helpful to stay motivated and/or inspired?
In addition to knowing that 250+ subscribers tune in every week to read our newsletter, it’s my family and friends who continue to celebrate me and my endeavors with Notedd that make it even more worthwhile now.
I also had a fantastic opportunity to work with an executive coach during an accelerator program that I participated in earlier this year. We’re continuing to work on my development as a business owner one-on-one which helps me stay motivated. Additionally, I also joined her community of fellow entrepreneurs, business owners, and side hustlers. We have co-working sessions that help hold me accountable, but this community of women motivates me to keep doing what I’m doing with Notedd as I’m inspired by what they are doing with their businesses.
How did you determine that crowdfunding was the right choice for you?
I’m still learning and growing as a business owner, but I knew early on that I didn’t want to go down the equity-based or Venture Capital (VC) route. Black women founders receive less than 1% in VC funding. The industry is improving, but it’s still not a route that is available nor favorable to women of color businesses. It also requires much scale and operations, especially when you’re offering equity to investors.
We’re currently raising our first crowdfunding round to help grow our business and launch our community platform. Crowdfunding allows me to bootstrap equity-free and enhances my skills all around. It is a numbers game because the amount of time and energy you put in is the amount of time and energy you will receive. Therefore, it was critical to launch our campaign using a platform that understood the nuances and support that women entrepreneurs need to raise capital, and even more specifically, for women of color entrepreneurs. After seeing successful raise after another with iFundWomen and the outpour of resources, tools, and classes they provide to help us do what seems impossible, possible, I knew that there was no better fit but to launch my campaign with them.
If you’d like to support Lauren’s crowdfunding campaign you can do so here.
What’s something you want other new women entrepreneurs to know?
First, if you are contemplating becoming an entrepreneur, ask the questions you need to ask and answer them and speak with whoever you need to make this decision. Once you have your responses, please find a way to do it and know that you can do this at any pace you want.
At least when I was learning more about entrepreneurship, it was either no information or the only way to be successful is to quit your job and jump into full-time entrepreneurship. The latter just wasn’t something I was able to do with how my finances were shaping up, nor did I want to. I love Notedd, but I also love my work in marketing. I wanted the opportunity to do both, and so I did. I became a multi-hyphenate entrepreneur and haven’t looked back since. Know that this industry is how you want it to be, not the other way around. You should feel empowered by what you need to do for yourself and your business.
Second, I think as women, we know some of the stats and disadvantages that work against us. That’s why we are so passionate about our work and businesses, as we want to ensure they succeed. That’s a lot for anyone to have on their shoulders. It’s essential to have other women entrepreneurs who you can learn from (your top mentors), work with (peer mentors), and support as the next generation (your mentees). I believe everything is a full circle, and we can all use an opportunity to grow from one another—no matter what level you are in your career. Creating a community of your own is what I’m learning will help you go far and grow as an entrepreneur.
What’s been the most fulfilling about this journey so far?
Genuinely taking this recent leap of faith and just letting the chips fall. As someone who likes to be in control, entrepreneurship seemed like the complete opposite and didn’t seem attainable on one end. However, on the other end, it seemed like the freedom that I desired as climbing the corporate ladder no longer interested me. I knew that I needed to put a plan in place but understand that plan may not work in the exact way I wanted.
I wanted to start freelancing by a specific date, which I then backtracked and determined the date I would put in my two weeks. Everything was going well until it wasn’t. With the help of my friends and family, I remained positive and leaned even further into my faith. Two days before my last day with my corporate job, I got my first freelance gig. Having dedication, discipline, and complete faith is how I got to where I am today.
How have you grown and/or what have you learned about yourself so far on this journey?
In my coaching sessions, I’ve learned that I need these three top things as a business owner: clarity, confidence, and celebration.
If something is unclear, I lack the confidence to proceed and go into this state of what I call “Lauren in Wonderland,” as I will question myself into a deep hole that can be mentally debilitating. I also have made tremendous strides in my work, but I don’t take time to celebrate any wins. I’m just ready for the next task.
It’s still all a work in progress, but once something is clear, I have the confidence to proceed and more often take the time to celebrate that win!