Biba Pedron, otherwise known as the “Connection Queen,” is the founder and president of Biba4Network. She is the best-selling author of Start Your Dream Business Today (published in English), Stop Pitching and Start Networking, and Sauter le Pas (published in French). Biba has also released a free E-book, 3 Steps to Connect, Communicate, and Convert, Without Selling, which you can access at http://www.Bibapedron.com/3steps.
Prior to establishing Biba4Network, Biba grew her first business in 1998, in France, from the ground up. She dreamed of moving to the United States, and, in 2003, moved to New York, where she started her second business despite having no contacts and speaking little English.
Growing not one, but two businesses from the ground up is no easy feat!
Tell us about your background.
“I have a Bachelor’s degree. I studied Law in Paris for two years, but I quit 15 days before the exam. I always kind of knew that my career was not based on my studies. For the past 15 years, I’ve kept learning about business and personal development from others. For me, learning from experience is of more importance than what we learn at school.”
Fantastic. It’s certainly important to recognize what learning-style works best for you.
Tell us about your business.
“I offer my clients a precise formula comprised of marketing, social media, networking, and branding. Through this formula, my clients have grown their visibility and doubled, or even tripled, their business revenues in less than three months. I am uniquely qualified for building international partnerships.”
Excellent! Walk us through a day in your work life.
“I’m not a morning person, so I never take an appointment with clients before 10 A.M. My days are typically a mix of coaching-sessions with clients and marketing. I work on new programs, webinars, social media posts, or videos. I never set appointments on Friday, which I reserve exclusively for marketing, reading, attending events, or watching videos and webinars.
I became an entrepreneur to do what I want, when I want. So, if I sometimes don’t feel like working for a day or two, I just do what I feel like doing. I used to feel guilty when I wasn’t working because I feared I was losing money, but that was when I was trading my hours for dollars.”
How have you been able to overcome your feelings of guilt and fear?
“I think what when you have a passion, it overcomes your struggles. That is why I tell my clients not to start a business for the money, because when the first obstacle arrives they will quit. When you start a business out of passion you can work days and nights, and for weeks or even months before you make money. You may be frustrated but if you are passionate then you won’t quit. You believe in your project and are willing to wait.”
Determination is essential, but what about revenue? How have you maintained cashflow while building your businesses?
“I started my first business in France, and in France everything is very quiet, business-wise, during the summer. I knew that summer wasn’t the right time to find clients, so I was willing to work for a temp-agency for two months to at least make some money. At the end of the summer they wanted to give me a new contract in September for three months, but I declined even though the salary was tempting.”
“My passion was to build my business. The salary didn’t feel worth giving up on my passions.”
You speak highly of passion. Which of your achievements do you feel most passionate about?
“For the past five years, I have organized events and summits to help women start, grow, and succeed in their businesses. I created the first summit for French women that was presented only by women. Before, most events for women were organized and presented by men.”
How inspiring! What did you learn from organizing a summit made both for and by women?
“The way women learn is different than men. Businesswomen are also often responsible for housework and childrearing. They get less time to dedicate to their businesses and themselves. I wanted to introduce them to women who had already succeeded in their businesses and say, ‘If they did it, you can do it too.’ The reception was positive and far beyond my expectations.
I received so many ‘thank you’ and gratitude messages from women who told me they didn’t previously have access to examples of successful businesswomen around them. Listening to successful female role-models pushed these women to start their own businesses. The more role-models we have, the more women will succeed. It’s a movement.”
I admire your dedication to the success of women. Who’s your role-model?
“My role model is Ali Brown. She’s opened doors to so many other women. I’ve often said that I wanted to become the French Ali Brown and have the same type of impact. Changing womans lives, one at a time, is the best reward.”
And, you are doing it! What’s coming up that you want our readers to know about?
“Now that I’m back in the US after a full year in France, I’m working on a new program, in English, related to mindset. You can do all the marketing you want, but nothing will change if you don’t have the right mindset. I’m also planning to do more conferences on this topic. In the meantime, I encourage people to get a copy of my free E-book, 3 Steps to Connect, Communicate, and Convert, Without Selling.”
Awesome! How can our readers keep up with you?
Website: http://www.Bibapedron.com/en
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bibapedronfans
Biba has shared such fantastic information with us.
Here are a few key lessons from her journey that you can implement into your personal and professional life, starting today:
❖ Support your fierce fellow businesswomen – women need and deserve more positive, successful role-models.
❖ Stay true to your passion when facing self-doubt.
Now that you’ve been inspired by our MogulMoxie® Maven – it’s your time. What are you going to do differently in your own life or business? We want to hear about it!
