WOMEN IN BUSINESS
Kathryn McHenry
BizOrlando.com
I
magine your best life. Picture this vision
intently within your mind. Now ask your-
self if the daily decisions you're making
are progressively moving you towards re-
alizing your end game. In the age of social
media and instant gratification, it's easy to
get taken off course.
After graduating from the University of
Florida in Editing Journalism, I was offered
an opportunity straight out of college as
a digital online journalist. Yet I realized
quickly, this schedule didn't allow for a
balanced life. As I continued on my corpo-
rate path, time and time again I found that
while I loved my work, sacrifices of time
vs. money took a toll on my personal life,
health and overall well-being.
ENTER THE
BIZORLANDO.COM CONCEPT
In 2011, I started rebuilding my vision as
a one-stop shop structure based on es-
sential facets of life. All of the pieces of
the puzzle started coming together once
I got back in touch with my creative side.
In addition to focusing on freelance edit-
ing and writing, art classes reignited my
creative flow and the intrinsic therapy art
brings to one's life: releasing emotions;
delving into the subconscious; and sheer
satisfaction of creating.
24
IBA Success Magazine
n
VOL 5, Issue 2
One thing led to another and BizOrlando.com
guided the transformation of my artistic
career. But success also meant pound-
ing the pavement and putting in the leg
work: 100+ vendor events in 2 years, fol-
lowed by several years of countless retail
hours for my new concept SOS Art Gallery
(SOS = Studio Orlando Services) further
building my vision. Along the way, family,
friends and community relations ignited
my purpose and further defined the mis-
sion behind BizOrlando.com.
GET GROUNDED: Finding Direction
in a World of Distractions
The most important building block of a
successful business is a strong foundation.
What do each of the sources that come to
mind as the integral roots of strength have
in common? A common guiding principle
"Nothing
will work
unless you do."
– Maya Angelou
Since graduation from college, I have
thrived on building entrepreneurial ven-
tures (or my side hustle, if you will). My
first successful endeavor, KNM Creative
Services, spanned several years—bridging
a gap between creatives (who just wanted
to create) and connecting their services
with a client base. My business concept
excelled in a strong economy. But when
the 2008 recession hit Orlando hard, I
returned to the drawing board to build a
more sustainable business model.