Each newsletter, we introduce you to a founder or two within our community. With these interviews, we dive in a little deeper with a fellow business owner within our circles, get to know her origin story, founder’s journey and all that has come with it!
In this fall edition, we’re excited to feature two powerhouse entrepreneurs who have built businesses around supporting and lifting up other women (and many of us here!) through financial clarity, vision, connection and community. Our kind of women!
We kick off with Anne C. Bishop, a core member of our TLC Steering Committee and Founder of Profit For Wellbeing. Drawing on more than 25 years as an entrepreneur, Anne helps women understand the numbers behind their businesses, sharpen their vision and build toward sustainable growth and scale, while keeping purpose and wellbeing firmly in the equation.
How many years have you had your business?
I’ve had the Profit for Wellbeing business since 2024. My goal is to support women business owners in designing pricing and owners’ pay that you can trust for the long term. This requires going against the grain with some business tactics, and it 100% works. I work with service provider-based businesses to grow their profits and offers for maximum client results with less of your time and for more money.
What is your founding story/inspiration?
My founding story is that I kept many Sonoma County Women working through Covid-19 lockdowns and served my almost 90% female clientele by leaning into recurring revenue. I was extremely proud to keep my employees working and my clients happy through the pandemic.
Is this the direction you planned?
I believe my 10-year-old self planned for me to be a business consultant, but before that, I became a Pilates teacher in 2001 and ran a Pilates studio in Petaluma, CA, for 20 years. And I have very clear memories of wanting to wear big shoulder pads and go to work in some large building. I suppose I was imagining I was working in business.
That corporate path wasn’t for me. In my early 20’s I began struggling with chronic pain, and Pilates was one of the only things that relieved it. Right within Sonoma County I found an amazing Pilates mentor and became a teacher at 21 years old. In 2003 I opened my Pilates studio in Downtown Petaluma. What I loved so much about my business is that it allowed me to do so many unexpected things. I leveraged my business to travel extensively and run Pilates Teacher Trainings. Later I leveraged my experience as a small business owner and Pilates educator to go to Harvard University for my Master’s Degree. And some of my clients right in Petaluma wrote my letters of recommendation.
After running my studio business for 20 years, I was ready to move, and I sold it in 2022. I launched a large online business during COVID, supporting many health and wellness studios in going online, leaning into my education from Harvard.
What is the most rewarding thing about being an entrepreneur?
I love following my passions and turning my ideas into profits while transforming lives. I love the freedom I have to use my creativity to continue to solve problems for my clients.
What has been the most challenging?
It can feel lonely sometimes. I started running a business at the age of 23, long before I had children. Later, I became a step-mom to a tween, and when I was in my mid-thirties, I had two children 18 months apart. I really had to learn how to run my businesses and stay inspired while also being a caretaker. It was a lot. I am now deeply involved in supporting my parents’ health, who also live in Sonoma County. So I am feeling the sandwich of caretaking, both young and old, and growing a business.
What is one piece of advice you would give to someone wanting to start a business?
Learn sales. As much as women don’t generally love sales, as the leader of your business, it’s your job to drive revenue. So stretch yourself.
Bonus: What has being part of this TLC community meant to you?
I’ve loved connecting with other women entrepreneurs within Sonoma County and not feeling like I have to travel down into the Bay Area or elsewhere to find other women with big ideas and big hearts.
An important addition! I am on a mission to help ambitious women who want to make legacy-level income right here in Sonoma County. I want women-led businesses to do so well in Sonoma County that the nation or even the world takes notice and wonders why women-led businesses in the North Bay are so profitable and impactful. This is a great community to share that ambition with!
Also in this edition: Five Questions with Heather Nelson-Tapia.
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