Trust, Truth, and Tenacity: Alicia Thompson’s Entrepreneurial Evolution

What’s the magic word to describe entrepreneurship? Journey — according to Alicia Thompson, Founder and President of Signature Leadership, LLC.

After thirty years in public relations and corporate communications, Thompson realized a common theme. People, including the executives at the companies she supported, often came to her for advice and counsel. A light bulb went off, and she started the path to become a full-time leadership coach and entrepreneur.

Six years ago, Thompson founded Signature Leadership, LLC. Last year, she completed her coaching certification training through Emory's Executive Education program and is now pursuing her certification through the International Coaching Federation (ICF). Through one-on-one executive coaching, small group coaching, and leadership development programs, her company helps leaders uncover their potential and coaches them to lead with purpose, authenticity, and direction. She’s also one of FemFoundry’s Program Experts (Leadership) and part of the FemFoundry Collective, a curated group of vetted professional service businesses supporting female business owners and founders.

Read our interview to hear from Thompson as she shares the motivations behind founding her company, the skills that have fueled her success, and candid insights and actionable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs embarking on their journey.

What led you to start your company and your entrepreneurial journey?

I started Signature Leadership because I was passionate about helping others navigate their careers. We work too many hours and for too many years to be unhappy. I want to help people find that balance between happiness and working with purpose. One of the statements I always say is, ‘Let my hindsight be your foresight.’ I want to leverage my 30-plus years in corporate America to help other people coming up in the industry avoid the same missteps. I know we say making mistakes and failing is wonderful, but you will have your failures. Learn from my mistakes and don't make them. It's about helping people have great careers where they're happy, enjoy their work, and impact the world. That's my big thing.

What knowledge and skills did you gain working in the corporate world that have helped you in your own entrepreneurial venture?

So the first thing I'd say is being a good listener. Being able to listen to people, absorb what they're saying, and then respond versus listening to respond is a game changer. Some people are talking just to hear themselves talk. They haven't heard what was being said. So listening, I'd say, is the first skill set. Second, I would say is actually being able to communicate effectively, to be able to present your ideas in a way that people can understand and process. Being able to be a clear communicator. And the other thing is authenticity. When I'm coaching clients, you have to build a sense of trust with your clients. If they have any hint that you are not the person across the table or across the screen from them, they won't be transparent. They won't open up. And our coaching doesn't deliver any results. It doesn't make an impact. It doesn't shift their mindset or their point of view or their thinking. 

What do you like best about being an entrepreneur? What are some of the most rewarding aspects?

Managing my own time is one of the things that I enjoy the most. No longer do I have back to back to back to back meetings with no breaks. I schedule my breaks. But I also like being in charge of my destiny and not having to rely on someone else to determine what my future is going to look like. It's all in my hands, and I can invest as much time and energy into it as I want to. That flexibility that I get managing my time also allows me to manage how much time I invest in my business as well. My mother just moved to Atlanta a year ago. She's 78. I can go have lunch with her. But then I can come back and block off the afternoon and have clients. And working with my clients is so rewarding. It just makes me feel happy when I see them have a breakthrough or they have an experience at work that we've been navigating, and they text me or call me and say, we talked about this last week. I talked to my boss about it. She said exactly what you said she'd say. We're off to the races and we're good.

What do you not like about being an entrepreneur? What are some of the negative aspects?

I went into public relations because I'm not great at math, so the financial elements are not enjoyable. I finally hired a bookkeeper, but this math, invoicing, reconciling statements, and all that stuff was just a pain in the rear. But with that time thing that I talked about earlier being a benefit, there's also a downside to that because if you mismanage your time, you can get into a very sticky wicket, right? You could say, I don't have any sessions this morning. I can just do this and do that. Then I get the end of the day and I go, what did I do today? Nothing. Well, that's not good because when you do something, you make a living, which helps support your household. If you did nothing today and you have five days of that, how's that gonna turn out?

Have there been any major challenges you’ve faced on your entrepreneurial journey? If so, how did you overcome them?

I think one of the biggest things I had to overcome was a sense of fear. Because I think when you think of becoming an entrepreneur and you realize it's just you, there's no team behind you, there's no backup. And so just taking that leap of faith was one of the biggest hurdles. The second thing that was a challenge for me was, I think we all say, “I'm going to do it when, if, et cetera.” It's never a perfect time to do it. You just have to do it. And so to get out of my way, stop listening to the doubt, and do it.

If you could go back in time, is there anything that you would have done differently?

When I started my company five, maybe six years ago now, I started it because I had been laid off and I didn't know what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to coach, but I was like, that's further down the road. But since you've got this time off, go ahead and start your company. I wish I had leaned into it then. I wish I hadn't wasted six whole years of traction that I could have had. And I think what was holding me back then was that fear factor of who are you? Do you have the credibility? Are people going to want to hire you? You've got all these years of experience, but are you a coach? Are you really a coach? That imposter syndrome effect. And so I wish I had, when the thought originally popped into my mind, I wish I had done the homework to get my coaching certification back then and just took the leap and started the business.

What do you believe are some of the key characteristics a person needs to have to be a successful entrepreneur?

You have to be self-driven. You don't have a meeting that your boss put on your calendar making you do anything. You have to be very self-driven. You have to be tenacious. You can't accept no. The first no you get, you can't just go with that. You’ve got to navigate around it or find another solution. I think you have to be humble. You have to be humble because you're going to have some successful moments, some high highs, but you're going to also have some low lows. And you have to be humble enough to ask for support, ask for help, ask for compassion. Because only then can you rebound. And you have to be resilient. Because you'll get the wind knocked out of your sails, but you have to get back up and get back on the horse.

What do you do to relax and deal with stress to avoid burnout?

I try mindfulness, and I try to make sure that I'm taking time every day to get centered and remind myself about the wonderful things around my life that surround me and celebrate those. I spend as much time as possible with my friends and family. And I have this game on my phone called Zen Color, and it's where you can tap it and it fills in the color. I can do those for hours, and it just takes my brain away from anything that I've got going on, and I have something beautiful at the end of it. I create this beautiful piece. My mom will say I didn't get your pictures today, and I'm like I only did two. I've got two more to do before I can send them to you!

What’s a piece of advice you’d give to fellow female entrepreneurs?

I have a very favorite quote that keeps me going every day, and it's “Go where your heart feels happy, not where it is heavy and hurt.” Every day you should do something you love. My mom always says we all come with an expiration date. We don't know when it is, but we all have one. So why would you waste the time that you have before your expiration date comes up doing something that makes you unhappy. For women especially, we are so busy doing for everyone else, we don't do for ourselves or we take the back seat. I would encourage women to put themselves in the front seat more often.

Are there any female entrepreneurs who have inspired you?

Everyone should have Sarah Blakely on their list. She started with this idea for Spanx. She had the concept. She drove all over North Carolina looking for hosiery manufacturers to make them for her. She finally found one. She initially sold them out of her kitchen. She packaged them in her kitchen and shipped them out. And look where she is now. Talk about being tenacious, driven, and humble. She's one of the most humble, friendliest people you would ever meet, even still today. Sarah Blakely is probably at the top of my list of people who are just awe-inspiring.

Why did you decide to get involved with FemFoundry? Why is it important for female entrepreneurs? 

As a female business owner and founder, I wanted a community of like-minded business leaders with whom to engage, learn from, and share experiences. Entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey. FemFoundry creates the community, sense of belonging, and support that entrepreneurs need to thrive and grow.

Is there anything else you would like to share about your entrepreneurship journey?

Entrepreneurship is a journey. It's not a destination. And that is one of the things I had to remind myself when I started this business, that I wasn't going to just form an LLC and open the doors and the clients would come, and then I'd be able to call myself successful and be done with it. It's a journey. It takes effort and energy every single day. The journey can be magical, fun, and all the things and feelings you can have about anything that happens in your life. But at the end of the day, if you can look back on the journey and say that I followed my heart and enjoyed the ride, that's all good.