Izabel Stapleton

I attribute my success to taking action and learning by doing. The best way to learn is by acting, so you have to start before you're ready. Waiting to be ready is just a trap concept - there's no way you can be ready until you're actually doing something and learning from it. I think especially women are so conditioned to self-sabotage ourselves and believe that we're not good enough, you know, years of suppressing has led us to think this way. But if you really look at all the companies being run by women, those are the most efficient companies out there - they're people-driven and culture-driven, they support everyone in a meaningful way, and they're really smart. My training as an emergency medicine nurse taught me to put all the patterns together and read people, which became my biggest strength in business. I'm passionate about helping people and giving back in a meaningful way, whether that's solving our clients' problems by putting the right people in the right seats, or creating our AI software to help neurodivergent people like my husband and me communicate better. I really believe feedback is giving employees the opportunity to do the right thing, so we take the time to be consistent with it. That structure and feedback loop is what sets us apart.

The best advice I've received has come from my mentors, and to be very honest, they've all been women. It all started with my mom - she was my first mentor and guide, and definitely got me to where I am. I think there's a secret in really gaining from these women's perspectives, because men don't experience the same things. Even in the same spaces, we're in spaces built for men, so they have an unspoken advantage in every room already. Getting women's perspectives has really been the way I've been able to learn the best and the quickest. Women who have succeeded in these male-dominated spaces understand the unique challenges we face and can guide us through them in ways that men simply can't, because they haven't lived that experience.

Don't be intimidated by what you don't know. The best way to learn is by acting, so start before you're ready. Waiting to be ready is just a trap concept - there's no one who is ready until you're doing something, and then you're learning from it, and then you learn, right? How are you going to be ready without acting on it? I think especially women, we're so conditioned to self-sabotage ourselves and believe that we're not good enough, you know, years of suppressing has led us to think this way. But we're still breaking through, and if you really look at all the companies that are being run by women, those are the most efficient companies out there. They're people-driven and culture-driven, they support everyone in a meaningful way, and they're really smart. I wish more women were out there and not afraid and just taking the chances. Don't wait for perfection - just start, learn, and grow from the experience.

The biggest opportunity right now is in outsourcing and AI - that's where the future is. We're working on creating partnerships with business coaches and different groups who have their own network of clients so we can become a referred partner. One of our big partners is an AI coach creating a really cool platform, and we're running both tracks together to give our clients the best solutions. The challenge we've experienced is that the American workforce at entry level is different - you can find amazing people in America, but you're going to have to pay six figures up because the cost of living here is super expensive. That's why outsourcing is such a powerful solution, allowing businesses to continue to grow efficiently with a lot less overhead. For our AI software, the challenge is getting to a strong prototype so we can attract investors, but everyone we've talked to is really excited about it because it's something that doesn't exist. Once we can put it into words and show a real prototype, I don't think it's going to be too hard to get investors to help us take it to the next level.

The most important value to me is helping people in a meaningful way. Everything I like to do is to give back to people, whether that's through my nursing background or my businesses now. I really believe that one bad person can derail everyone - one bad attitude, one bad hire can really hold everyone back, and we've felt that many times over. That's why I'm so passionate about putting the right people in the right seats and creating solutions that decrease people's time investment and overhead while setting them up for success. I believe feedback is giving that employee the opportunity to do the right thing, so we really take the time to be consistent with it. I also value action over perfection - you have to start before you're ready because that's how you learn and grow. And I deeply value the perspective and guidance of women, especially in business, because companies run by women are the most efficient - they're people-driven, culture-driven, and they support everyone in a meaningful way. My work is closely tied to my personal life, especially with the AI software we're building to help neurodivergent people like my husband and me communicate better. That project is very personal and represents my commitment to creating impactful solutions that improve lives.