Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna Laura Sommer & Alexandria Russell. They share their story with us below:
SHE x SHINES serves multi-passionate women with an entrepreneurial spirit, providing them with resources to turn their slightly monetized hobby into a profitable business, through private mentorship, podcast, and our TV show.
SHE x SHINES stems from a combination of Anna Laura & Alexandria’s shared mission in the power of women supporting women and dreaming big. Anna Laura was previously a speech-language pathologist-turned wellness entrepreneur. In addition to being a medical speech pathologist, Alex was also a multi-passionate fitness business owner. In 2017, we met through a direct message on Instagram. During a coffee date in Philadelphia (where we were both living at the time), we connected over speech therapy, health and fitness, and a shared love of entrepreneurship.
Over the next year or so, we went on similar yet separate journeys to find how we wanted to show up in the world. Anna Laura founded her brand & product photography business, The Shine Studio, where she serves women-led businesses. Alex started hosting SHE events, connecting local career women who had an entrepreneurial spirit. Throughout this, we continued to meet up, sharing resources to help one another grow.
We were doing two separate things, but the one common thread was we both had a passion for helping other women find their own niche and passions. In 2018, in the spirit of Connection, Community, and GirlTalk, we combined forces, and SHE x SHINES was created!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We have faced many obstacles in our journey together as business partners. The first being when Anna Laura moved from Philadelphia to Austin in 2019. We had to adapt to working from separate time zones, and because we were known for our networking events at the time, we had to create a new network in a brand new city. Anna Laura hit the ground running, forcing her introverted self to get out and meet new people in Austin. These new people became dear friends, photography clients, and many attended our first-ever Austin-based SHE x SHINES event in January 2020.
Just when things were beginning to take off for our events in both Philly and Austin, and Anna Laura was scheduling photography clients for the spring, COVID hit. This caused us to make adjustments in many ways: First, our event schedule (which was booked until December) was wiped clean. This freed us up to focus on finally launching our podcast, The SHE x SHINES Podcast, and also transition to online Masterclasses and private mentorship, giving us the ability to connect with women from all over the world.
Because of these changes, we were approached by Comcast later in 2020 about hosting a TV show on their new destination, Comcast RISE– an opportunity we are so grateful for and would not have been possible without these obstacles!
So while our business has been shaped by the effects of COVID, we are grateful, as it allowed us the space to truly identify how we best serve the women in our community and show up for them in more impactful ways, which is what we continue to focus on today.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about SHE x SHINES?
Most business coaches out there will tell you to quit your 9-to-5 and try to lead you to the “promised land of the #laptoplifestyle.” At SHE x SHINES, we don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to growing your business. We customize our mentorship to each client because some women love their full-time job and business (like Alex), while other women are looking to transition to full-time entrepreneurship (like Anna Laura).
With our combined 15+ years with both experiences, we are one of the few mentors out there who are able to successfully guide multi-passionate on their entrepreneurial journey and help them build a profitable business. Our community thrives off collaboration and support, which is part of how we’ve been able to help dozens of multi-passionate women build a thriving business, get them featured in podcasts, speaking engagements, and other outlets, and consistently help them land new clients each month, many while working full time in a 9-to-5.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
We actually met on Instagram! A mutual connection reached out to Alex, who ultimately sent Anna Laura a message on Instagram asking for a coffee meet-up. We both showed up to coffee with notebooks… and the rest is history! This is one reason we love helping women connect and sell through social media (because we know how life-changing it can be!).
Contact Info:
- Website: shexshines.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/shexshines
- Facebook: facebook.com/groups/sxsacademy
- Twitter: twitter.com/shexshines
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxOhfDnriRbwmgysptNQukg/
- Other: annalaurasommer.com/photography
Image Credits
Photography by Anna Laura Sommer (The Shine Studio) and Lizzy Hall (LC Photographic)
