Seema Alexander: Corporate To Entrepreneur
In episode #15 of My 2.0, guest Seema Alexander, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Disruptive.CEO and Creator of the U.N.I.Q.U.E Method shares her career transition from the corporate world into entrepreneurship.
Seema grew up in a small business environment, since her parents ran the first Indian vegetarian restaurant in the DC area. She started working there when she was 12. But her experiences from that time took her away from entrepreneurship, and into the Brand and Business Strategy world in NYC.
She worked at Prudential for 13 years in 5 of their businesses, including in their historical rebranding effort—where she learned the importance of how repositioning your brand can be a huge lever in growth.
Over time, she didn’t feel authentic in corporate America. And as she experienced her first pulmonary embolism at age 36, she came to a mid-life awakening for the desire to go back to entrepreneurship.
She had been helping a client on the side for a while, who then asked her to join him full time. She got pregnant with her second child, took an extended maternity leave so she could explore her entrepreneurial options deeper and never looked back.
Seema is very passionate about amplifying the businesses and brands she believes in.
In debunking transition myths, Seema points out that entrepreneurship has its freedom because you are able to work on things you love. However, it takes time to build a reputation and more importantly—a profitable business—and you will make mistakes along the way. You will feel financial constraints, have moments of overwhelm, and second guess yourself (as impostor syndrome is real).
That’s why it is really important to surround yourself with people who believe in you, in your vision—because not everyone will understand your move from stability to instability to follow your passion and dreams.
Additional questions I asked Seema.
What were the challenges she experienced through her clients?
She said it was the process of discovery of the ideal client, the founder’s passion, conviction in their expertise and in understanding what the market wants.
Why did she pick the name Disruptive.CEO? Do we have disruption porn like failure porn?
She thought people like to reimagine the future and hence the name. She acknowledges that disruption gets used a lot but a lot of times it is what is required to reposition to grow and to become better.
What do you know now that you didn’t before you started your business?