October 29, 2009 - New York Women in Communications
5 Questions For... Beth Schoenfeldt
 You read about her in CONNECT's fall issue; now, get the online exclusive on entrepreneur extraordinaire, Beth Schoenfeldt. As co-founder and chief encouragement officer of Collective-E,
a full-service agency for entrepreneurs, Beth spends every day making sure women succeed on their own terms. Read on for more about her experience with small businesses and big dreams.
Collective-E is an agency for entrepreneurs with a community twist. Is the focus on community stemming from the trendiness of social networking or is it actually meaningful?
Community is so important for entrepreneurs, especially for women, because women really build their businesses through connecting with others and through word of mouth. Most women entrepreneurs are also solo-preneurs and that can be really isolating. It’s nice to be in a
community where you can connect, get advice, give support, work together and have friends that understand what you’re going through. Really, women are doing this anyway; we just provide the platform to make it easier and more effective.
Collective-E is made up of so many entrepreneurs. What do you find most inspiring about the women you work with?
I love hearing the stories of women that had a dream or an idea and brought it to life. I love their passion, their drive, their persistence, their success. For example, I have one client, Stephanie Cion, founder of WELLalarm, who, when diagnosed with a chronic illness, realized that the
current medical alert wasn’t technologically advanced enough. So, she created her own company and now produces the most technologically advanced medical alert, that’s also really cool looking and has all these different uses. That to me is so inspiring—she has the best excuse to just sit
back and do nothing, but she’s not.
What’s most important about entrepreneurship in the communications industries?
As everyone in communications knows, the whole playing field has been leveled and the entire media landscape is constantly
changing and pretty much up for grabs in terms of monetizing and starting trends. That’s the most important aspect — the incredible democratization of power and technology. There’s a really low cost of entry and your potential is limitless. You can just start doing what you want to be doing at any time. Of course, this means the competition is high, but that’s the challenge and the fun—to stand out.
Okay, Beth, you’ve sold us on the excitement of entrepreneurship, but how risky is being on your own in a market still writhing with economic uncertainty?
These days, being in a corporate environment is just as risky as being on your own; the safe and secure corporate job is a myth. In a sense, everyone is an entrepreneur and it’s time to embrace that. Wouldn’t you rather have control over your own destiny and run your own show, rather than rely on somebody else to get ahead? For me, trusting some executive is actually a bigger risk than believing
in yourself.
What should aspiring entrepreneurs start doing now?
This might sound strange, but I think that entrepreneurs should be very focused on revenue. Surprisingly, people can get very distracted by things that are never going to really make them money, so they waste a lot of time and resources. You need to build your business with a revenue model and know how to generate the revenue as soon as possible. It’s very important, especially if you want an investor—they will never look at you if you don’t have a proven revenue model in place. The other thing that can get in the way of entrepreneurship is too much planning. It is good to have a plan, but you have to understand that building a business is an organic process so at some point you have to stop the planning and start doing.
Totally inspired to strike out on your own? Get started at collective-e.com. |
October 5, 2009 - New York Women in Communications
Entrepreneurism Now: A Good Moment
 Download the Fall Issue of Connect
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September 5, 2009 - New York Women in Communications
5 Questions For... Jennifer Steinman
 After years of helping other people make movies, director/producer/editor Jennifer Steinman made her own and created one of the year’s indie hits. Her documentary, “Motherland,”
recounts the experience of six American women who come to terms with the death of their children while caring for HIV/AIDS orphans in Africa. Read on to learn how Jennifer is using digital platforms to share this moving story with the world and make her filmmaking mark.
“Motherland” has won a number of film awards, including this year's Emerging Visions Audience Award at the South by Southwest Film Festival. Why do you think this film resonates with so many?
Ultimately, this film is a story about the universal experience of grief, which we have all either dealt with or must anticipate dealing with in our lifetimes. We all have questions about what it means to “heal” when you lose someone you love and about how we can find hope and
positive meaning after a tragedy. One of the most common reactions to the film is that it’s an immensely positive film, one that inspires hope, and that’s something everyone relates to.
On August 26, “Motherland” was released online through Gigantic Group’s Gigantic Digital Cinema distribution platform. How are sites like this changing the way the
world receives film? What does this mean for you as a filmmaker?
We are experiencing a defining moment in the distribution of independent film. Many of the "traditional" models are no longer an option for many of us or simply not that
attractive because of their limited reach. With Gigantic, people can watch the film on their
home computer in amazing quality for only $2.99. That’s the most powerful thing sites like Gigantic are doing for filmmakers—giving
us a way to really make our films available to a much bigger audience, and ultimately, allowing the message of the film to have a
much more widespread impact.
How are you branding your film in the digital space?
In terms of digital platforms, we are primarily using Facebook and our website to reach our audience. But the film has such a
sensitive subject matter, it’s difficult to get the messaging just right. My new favorite line I use to describe “Motherland” is: "An
honest and intimate look at the complexities of grief and healing, 'Motherland' is about resilience, triumph of the human spirit
and the power of unconditional love." I strive to get that message out to as many people as possible. I wish I could say I've
mastered it, but there are challenges—for example, how do you tweet about grief?
In addition to filmmaking, you run your own production company, Smush Media. Why did you want to start your own
company and how did you get it off the ground?
Smush Media is a collaboration with my longtime friend and creative partner Geralyn Pezanoski, the director of an amazing film
called "MINE: Taken by Katrina." We were both working in corporate film and video for many years, and we really wanted to find
a way to make films that mattered, in addition to just collecting a paycheck. We also knew so many other talented, creative people
who felt the same way, so we came up with Smush Media — bringing together all of these creative talents and "smushing" them
together into something that could really make a difference in the world. "Motherland" and "MINE" are our first two documentary
films; both premiered at South by Southwest this year and won the two Audience Awards, so I'm happy to say we're off to a good
start! We have a couple of new projects we are pitching now, so hopefully this is just the beginning for us.
In the past five years, only two women have directed top-10 highest grossing films: Catherine Hardwicke in 2008 for
"Twilight" and Vicky Jenson in 2004 for "Shark Tale." As an up-and-coming female director, how do you deal with the
inequality between men and women? What do you think can be done to change this?
I think the inequality in the film world is just mirroring the history of inequalities in the world at large, and as people work together to transform society we will continue to see every industry open up to women and other minorities in new and exciting ways. For me,
the only real secret is to just keep making films, and to strive to make them better and better every time. There are so many
organizations and support structures out there for women filmmakers now; we have to utilize our resources and keep trudging forward. Girls just can't afford to quit on their dreams—as a dear friend and fellow filmmaker always says, “Just MAKE THE MOVIE!”
For more on Jennifer’s movie, “Motherland,” visit Motherland-theFilm.org. |
