Esther: Welcome back to The BusinessMakers Overtime Show, heard here and online at TheBusinessMakers.com. I'm Esther Steinfeld, and we are back with our special guest of the day. Her name is Alexis Wolfer. She is the founder and CEO - she's the editor-in-chief, actually, of a great new online magazine called The Beauty Bean. Alexis, welcome to the show.

Alexis: Thanks for having me.

Esther: Yeah, absolutely. So tell us, what is The Beauty Bean?

Alexis: The Beauty Bean is a brand new online health, beauty and wellness women's lifestyle magazine that is unique in the sense that it completely pulls out the weight loss focus of many other women's lifestyle publications. So we don't have any articles on weight loss or diets or calories or anything like that, and we also don't promote any body altering airbrushing.

Esther: Oh, wow.

Alexis: So we're all about trying to promote better body image and prevent eating disorders - very subtly, but still giving women a place to get their glamorous beauty and fashion fix.

Esther: That's actually a really unique idea considering the market that you're in. How did you come up with this idea? Was there like an "aha" moment?

Alexis: There were quite a few "aha" moments, actually. I have my master's in women's studies from Columbia and I wrote my thesis on women's magazines and their influence on body image and eating disorders. And at the time I was working part-time in the fashion magazine world, and I was a little girl who wanted to grow up and be the editor of Vogue.

Esther: Of course.

Alexis: And trying to marry those interests and just figure out how I could be so passionate about women's rights and women's body image, but also love the fashion world and want to be in that. And, you know, I had this idea to start an online magazine. I loved the immediacy of online publications, and that - you know, right now it's Fashion Week and I can have an article up right now whereas the other publications are working on three month's leads, which makes it a lot less immediate. And so I had that idea of being able to start this online magazine that married my interests, had the immediacy of the internet, and sort of where it all started.

Esther: That's great. So how long did it take you from start to finish?

Alexis: You know, I first had the idea when I was in graduate school a few years ago, and I knew that I had this idea of wanting to do something in the online realm, but I had very little experience in it. And so when I finished graduate school I started writing for some online publications and learning a little bit about the HTML and the blogs and all of that stuff, which I really didn't know very much about. I guess it's kind of grew from there and it's been about a year that I've been working on it almost full time, and we launched on January 1st. We've only been around for about six weeks now.

Esther: But you guys already have had some really interesting content that is very unique to your magazine, and I'll give you an example. When I showed your magazine to my co-host, Katie, she was instantly in love because one of the things on your home page was a raw food recipe, and that is just right up her alley. So what other kinds of topics do you guys cover?

Alexis: There are five categories on the site which all have very nice, pretty names. One is beautify, one's pamper, sweat, nourish, and lust. And so beautify covers new cosmetics and makeup products and things of that nature. Pamper covers spas and salons. Sweat is all fitness content, but like I mentioned before, it's really about being fit and healthy, not about losing weight. Nourish is all about health and wellness, and it includes a lot of nutrition content, and like you said, some raw recipes. And lust is sort of our fashion and technology and accessory catch-all.

Esther: Gotchya. So tell me now about the hard parts, because this is not an easy business to be in. We want to know the hard stuff.

Alexis: You know what? I found it extremely challenging. I'm young - I'm only 25, and I've found it to be really challenging to find mentors who both respect the fact that I'm young and ambitious and that I know what I want to do, but also get where I'm coming from. And there aren't - I don't have very many peers who are starting their own businesses and doing things like this, so that's been a little bit of a challenge. And it's slowly worked itself out, but it's certainly required my asking a whole lot of favors and picking up the phone and asking a lot of people for help and, you know, kind of flushing my pride a little bit down the toilet and being able to pick up and make those phone calls and say, "Hey, you know, I could really use a favor."

Esther: Yeah.

Alexis: Lots of hard work - I made a commitment to myself when I first decided to have this that - when I was working in the fashion industry I was invited to a ton of events, and I made commitment that I would go to every event that I was invited to, and that I would go and I would talk about The Beauty Bean and, you know, my social calendar was filled with work commitments. And, you know, my dad said to me, "When you're starting a new business sleep is a luxury you just don't have," and -

Esther: Said like an entrepreneur.

Alexis: Absolutely. I guess also just the figuring out - when you start your own business and really having to tackle everything and figure out everything from the web stuff to the PR and the marketing to the content, and finding writers and trying to do it all, and on that same note, trying to figure out what I need to outsource and letting go of some control. And I think most new business owners and entrepreneurs would say that one of the most difficult challenges is being able to give up that sense of control, 'cause you want to hold on so tightly 'cause it's your baby, so to speak. And I found that to be really challenging. And I guess also just being able to put my trust in other people. You know, I don't have a ton of HTML and web experience, and being able to really find people that I can trust and who are capable of doing that and I can outsource that a little bit - that's been really helpful as well.

Esther: Those are such great points, because so many people have your exact same challenges. And I think another thing that's important to note is that they don't end up getting their businesses off the ground. It takes a lot of commitment, and it sounds like you're really doing some incredible things. I'm excited to see what happens in the future, so -

Alexis: Thank you.

Esther: What about promotion? How do you go about promoting your business now?

Alexis: Well, I first started - really up until about a week and a half ago everything's been completely organic and I've spent a tremendous amount of time on Twitter and Facebook and just plugging The Beauty Bean as much as possible and talking to anybody and everybody who will talk to me about it. And like I said, going to every event that I'm invited to, and when I'm at events, asking people if they'd meet me for coffee the next day and asking them to write about The Beauty Bean or to tell their friends. In the last week and a half I just hired a PR firm that's been helping me as well.

Esther: Okay.

Alexis: I've also joined this online community called Collective E, and it's an online community for women entrepreneurs, and I've found that to be a really helpful networking tool, as well as a great place to promote The Beauty Bean and get ideas and feedback. And I've found that to be a really great, affordable marketing tool, and they offer webinars and things like that, so that's been really helpful as well.

Esther: What about women in the workplace? Do you find that beauty affects women's ability to land those kind of big promotions or big jobs that they're going after?

Alexis: It's really interesting that you ask that, because like I was saying that my interests were sort of divided until I founded The Beauty Bean, I think that in corporate America, absolutely. But I think that in the industry in which I work right now, it's really women-driven, and I've found that to be a really interesting dynamic to be a part of. And, you know, sometimes women bosses are no easier to break through than male bosses, and I think its' changing. I think that you look at statistics of women entering colleges and graduate schools right now, and the numbers are tipping. But it's still challenging, and still the burden lies on women with regard to childbearing and certainly can affect a professional career.

Esther: Yeah, that's actually a very good point, and actually it kind of leads me to you, because being a professional woman yourself, I want to know a little bit more about Alexis, the entrepreneur. So when you were growing up, did you always have these visions of being in business for yourself?

Alexis: You know what? I grew up - I have three significantly older brothers, and I have a father who is a wonderful entrepreneur and started a finance business. And all my brothers went to college and studied business and finance and went right into the family business, and I knew from a very young age that I wasn't gonna follow in those footsteps. And I think my family always sort of saw me as the alternative free spirit, and I was a women's studies major, and when I graduated from college I went to Tanzania in Africa and I worked for a women's empowerment group for a while, and got my master's in women's studies. And I certainly didn't know that this is what I was gonna be doing, but I knew that I'd be doing something a little bit off the beaten path. And I guess that this was just my way of marrying everything that I was interested in. It brought together my love of health and beauty and fitness and wellness, along with my passion for women's rights and promoting a better body image and preventing eating disorders, which I think a tremendous amount of women are affected by. And this was just my calling, so to speak.

Esther: That's amazing that you found it at such a young age, too. I mean, I hope that other entrepreneurs out there who are in your position will also find their calling like that. It's phenomenal to hear that coming from someone so young. I can really appreciate it being 26 myself. That's great.

Alexis: Thank you, and I do think that it's really wonderful, and I do see a lot more young people - women in particular - in my industry, but I do see a lot of young people taking that leap right now. And I think part of it is probably precipitated by a troubling economy and people out of work and deciding to take that risk, and you're young and you have that opportunity and you don't have as many responsibilities or a family or things like that, and now seems just like the time to do it.

Esther: Absolutely, I am with you 100 percent. And I have one last question for you. So if you could give some advice to other young women who are kind of dreaming of starting their own businesses, what would you say to them?

Alexis: My biggest advice and the lesson that I've learned the most in starting The Beauty Bean is not to be scared to ask for help, and not to be scared to ask for a favor, and to know that the entrepreneurial world is all about paying it forward. And I think that every once in a while it's a little bit tough to pick up that phone and make that call and ask for somebody who you think is so busy and so important and is doing things well beyond what you're doing, and to ask them to meet you for coffee or something like that, but they were in your position, too, at one point, and they needed favors and help to get where they were. And I think that if I could offer young women any piece of advice, it would be not to be scared. And the worst thing that somebody can say to you is, "No, I'm sorry, I can't help you," or, "I can't meet for coffee," or, "That's beyond what I'm capable of doing," and that's okay.

Esther: Absolutely, and thank you so much for being here. This has been great hearing from someone so young and so inspired to do something wonderful like this. And tell us where we can find The Beauty Bean.

Alexis: You can find The Beauty Bean at TheBeautyBean.com.

Esther: Definitely check it out. It's an awesome website. There's all kinds of information there for women of all ages. I highly recommend it, so check it out. And Alexis, thank you for being here. We really appreciate it.

Alexis: Thank you.

Esther: You are listening to The BusinessMakers Overtime Show, heard here and online at TheBusinessMakers.com.