Kristen Hadeed Is Live On Squarespace
We are so excited about this reveal for Kristen Hadeed: business owner, speaker, and author! Kristen was ready for a completely Custom Website on Squarespace, and she really wanted her brand to match her personality: bright, bold and colorful.
From choosing the bright color palette to the bold textures, to pairing the design with Kristen’s images, the whole look came together cohesively for a unique home on the web for Kristen.
KRISTEN HADEED
Check out our Q-and-A with Kristen about what she’s learned as a business owner below.
“I learned that the best thing you can do as a leader when you mess up is say it out loud, admit it and invite people in to help you. ”
GOLIVE: WHERE DID YOUR PASSION FOR THE INDUSTRY OR CRAFT START?
Kristen: It was never my intention to start a company. In 2007, I was a lost college student at the University of Florida and I thought I wanted to work on Wall Street after I graduated. I needed to make money while in school, so I started cleaning houses as a little side hustle. Next thing I knew, I was cleaning houses every day. The turning point happened right before my senior year when I was offered a contract to clean hundreds of empty college apartments and I hired a team to help me do it. That's when I formally started my company, Student Maid, and here we are more than a decade later!
Leading a company in a very challenging industry with hardly any business experience has taught me a lot. I learned how to create an environment where people really want to be, I've learned what it takes to be a great leader and how to develop leaders around you, and most importantly, I've learned that nothing can ever be perfect. We screw up as leaders and we screw up in business, and that's okay! The goal is to be human, not perfect. I decided that in addition to leading my company, I wanted to teach others what I've learned from my journey. I've written a book (Permission to Screw Up) and I spend a majority of my time now speaking to leaders and organizations all over the world.
GOLIVE: DID YOUR EDUCATION HELP PREPARE YOU FOR THE INDUSTRY OR FOR STARTING YOUR OWN BUSINESS? OR ARE YOU SELF-TAUGHT?
Kristen: I was a finance major, so that certainly helped in my business. However, most of my learning happens outside of the classroom. I think something magical happens when you apply what you've read in a textbook to something real. You learn by doing (and you learn even more by messing up!). I also am obsessed with reading. I even took a speed reading class so I could get through as many books as possible in one sitting. I read all kinds of books--books about leadership, business, psychology, coaching, memoirs of famous people--I think you can learn so much from the experiences and stories of others.
GOLIVE: WHAT’S THE HARDEST LESSON YOU’VE LEARNED IN YOUR BUSINESS?
Kristen: My first leadership disaster resulted in 45 people quitting on me on the spot (and I only had a team of 60 at the time, so that was 75% of my team!). I was a bad leader, but it wasn't my intention to be. I just didn't know how to lead. I learned that the best thing you can do as a leader when you mess up is say it out loud, admit it and invite people in to help you. I got my team back because I admitted weakness and I didn't allow my ego to get in the way. I think they saw me as a human being, and for that reason they gave me another chance.
GOLIVE: WHAT DO YOU WISH SOMEONE WOULD HAVE TOLD YOU WHEN YOU STARTED OUT?
Kristen: It's okay to screw up. The more you screw up, the more you learn! It isn't a failure if you take something away from it and do it differently next time. Failure is when you make the same mistake twice because you didn't learn anything from it the first time around.
GOLIVE: WHAT WAS THE MOMENT YOU AHD WHEN YOU SAID, “I SHOULD DO THIS,” AND START WORKING FOR YOURSELF?
Kristen: The moment when 45 people walked out on me changed the whole trajectory of my life. It was the moment I became obsessed with learning how to be a better leader and with learning how to build a company where people really wanted to be. It was that experience that caused me to turn down a "dream job" in finance when I graduated and stick with my company full time.
GOLIVE: WHAT THINGS HAVE YOU GAINED / DO YOU HOPE TO GAIN IN YOUR LIFE FROM FOLLOWING THIS DREAM?
Kristen: There's a line I read in a book that I always think about. It's, "Don't die with your music inside of you." I really feel like it's my music to help people find their s. I want to look back on my life and know that I helped bring out the best in people, that I encouraged them to be themselves, that I encouraged them to have the courage to try and get it wrong, and that I somehow helped them find their music so they can get it out.
GOLIVE: WHY DID YOU ULTIMATELY DECIDE TO WORK WITH GOLIVE?
Kristen: I love that GoLive is female owned. I love supporting other women! But also, GoLive does GREAT work. When I was looking on the site with my team, we fell in love with so many of the designs and knew it was the right choice. We chose custom because I really wanted something that felt authentic to me and I couldn't have imagined a better experience. We will definitely be working with this dream team again!
See Kristen Hadeed Live On Squarespace
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