Her Story
About Charlene
My core industry is optical and optometry, where I've worked for 30 years. I spent 20 years in business development, sourcing, and logistics before resigning to start my own company developing marketplaces for industries and communities. These marketplaces help local businesses, dropshippers, and entrepreneurs connect their products to communities, redefining what 'local' means - whether proximity-based in neighborhoods or through social groups like Facebook groups. We've made it industry agnostic, breaking it down into five neighborhoods including paid business, creative development, and entertainment. My expertise is visualizing emerging technology and building it. Today, I mostly talk to businesses I work with and help them strategize around digital transformation and becoming AI-native, ensuring products are properly catalogued. In optical specifically, we're working on two million campaigns - one helping eyewear become more accessible online through virtual try-ons, and another piecing together sports and performance vision. I didn't attend college, but my 20-year career pushed me to develop a professional skill set. Working with people with MBAs, doing presentations, being a keynote speaker forced me to study business basics and learn how to present myself professionally. I didn't let imposter syndrome lead me to believe I shouldn't be in those rooms - I learned to talk the talk before I could walk the walk, and now you could never tell I never had that professional background.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Charlene
01What do you attribute your success to?
God, number one. I always find God and make sure that whatever I'm doing is aligned with my purpose and my goals. I'm willing to let something go when it's not working, willing to not only accept failure but to inspect failure and learn from it, and to not be afraid of it. I realize that we have to fail to win - there's no way to win without it. We call it luck for a reason, like, it's not a natural thing. What's natural is progression, learning from your mistakes, and applying those lessons to future wins.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say visualize yourself in your ideal role, not in business, but in life. The biggest advice I have is to remember that in everything, whether it's in business or in life, there's a purpose engine and a profit engine that drives you, that drives your legacy. You've got to make sure that both are equally balanced. You can't be so focused on a purpose that you don't find the revenue to get there, and you can't be so focused on the money that it's hollow, because people don't really respond to that. Really being mindful 24-7 and staying present in that core is just a great principle of life. It's really helped me to get through my most difficult moments. Whenever I feel friction, I take a step back and say, okay, am I leaning into my core? Am I staying centered? The answer's always no. Finding where the friction is, you can immediately address it. If you just always stay mindful of your balance and be mindful of friction and stop and assess, you can always self-correct.
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