Hi! It’s Doone, your hype girl in business. This week I'd love to get your two-cents on our newsletter (I've popped it into a poll when you scroll to the bottom!). And if you're feeling extra generous - hit reply to this email and drop into my inbox with your thoughts ✨

Let’s get into it 👇

5 Secrets to Winning Grant Money 🤫

Aasiyah Abdulsalam has had a big year. A year that has so far amounted to $95,000 in funding for her business, The Renatural, through successful grant applications. Naturally, we were curious as to the how. Here are her *secret* tips for winning more grant money:

1. Never Rush 🏃🏽‍♀️ Never rush through an application, otherwise there’s just no point. Treat every grant like it’s your first - take your time - do it right, or don’t bother applying at all

2. Choose Wisely ⏰ Take a (proper) look at the eligibility criteria and don’t waste your time applying to things that aren’t relevant to you and your business. Sometimes grant websites will also give you a FAQ page with judge tips which can be supppper useful

3. Content Bank 💫 Some applications can take days - have a content bank handy with your go-to answers to FAQs, useful links, and a pre-recorded YouTube introduction of you and your brand (it’ll save you SO much time)

4. Personalise 🦎 Don’t let the content bank make you complacent, always adapt your answers based on who is offering the grant and adjust your language to reflect what they stand for (a simple copy & paste won’t do!)

5. It's OK to be Picky ⛏️The best grants to apply for are usually the ones that value your time, weigh up whether what they are asking for makes sense for you from a time perspective

Access our LIVE grant doc (updated weekly) →

How to make $50K in monthly rev(without spending a dime on ads!) 💸

Every once in a while we record an episode that is so jam-packed with transparent, honest advice that I just can't wait to hop on here and share all those learnings with you. This was one of those episodes. Monica Grohne is a Small Business owner to watch. Organic, scrappy & passionate: let's dive into exactly how this inspirational founder makes $50K in monthly revenue without spending a dime on ads.

1/ She did the thing we (all know) we should be doing 👀

Yes, I'm looking at you! Starting a business in 2023 is synonymous with putting yourself out there and documenting the journey online. As daunting as that may seem. It's all too easy to push your Instagram introduction reel to the bottom of your to-do list for the third week in a row, but let me give you a little insight into what can happen when you just bite the bullet. Back in January, Monica had a modest following of 3,000 folks. But fast forward to today, and that number has skyrocketed to 181,000 - all without spending a penny. That is 181,000 people she now regularly exposes her Marea products to.

So... What's the secret to Monica's success? She didn't have the budget for a fancy celebrity sponsorship, so she became the celebrity herself. She put herself out there, and people loved it. And hey, if Monica can do it, so can you. Let's get documenting, people!

2/ She talks to her customers (and actually talks to her customers) 💬

There is talking to your customers and then there is talking to your customers. You want to be honing in on the second. Everyone who has had 3 orders with Marea gets an email with a Calendly invite for a 15-minute conversation with the founder to really talk things through. Monica asks them everything she can possibly think of.

✨Bonus Tip✨ Check out Katelyn Bourgoin's Clarity Call Cheatsheets for some inspo on how to run effective customer calls

3/ She (physically) goes where the consumer is 👩

Health coaches, dieticians, OB offices, doctor's offices... Wherever you might find women struggling with PMS symptoms, you will find Marea. That's the tea.

The most important thing Monica wants you to remember is that you don’t have to do it how everyone else is doing it. You can be building a brand in 2023 without ads. You can do it your way too.

Listen to Monica on the podcast →

• The Doone Roisin Business Innovation Award went to AI innovator Harriet Farlow

• Female CEOs finally outnumber those named John

• Have you seen August on your Target shelves?

• Hydration brand Cure raises $5.6M Series A

• Tower28 launched their 2023 Clean Beauty Summer School

• Clue starts up a crowdfund campaign, wanna join?

• Maxine Minter launches a $5M fund

• Erewhon NYC pop-up is now open for brand sponsorships

• TBH Skincare has merged with Boost Lab with $5M funding

• Harry Styles releases his new "Pleasing" collection

• Vesey Ventures closes on $78M debut fund

• Thrive Causemetics launches skin-care brand Bigger Than Beauty

• Coty launches employee-focused metaverse space Coty Campus

• Bed Bath & Beyond plans to liquidate

• FullBeauty Brand is acquiring Eloquii from Walmart

Clean Beauty Summer School... 🥥🌴🌺🍍🌸 🌊🥥

Clean Beauty Summer School is a twelve-week, professional-development initiative for small clean beauty, BIPOC-owned businesses hosted by Amy Liu, founder and CEO of Tower 28 Beauty; and it's something you absolutely want to be a part of.

Along with 1-1 mentorship opportunities and guaranteed buyer meetings with the likes of Sephora, you'll be in with the chance to pitch for $35,000 in cash grants!

This week's lineup...

This week's recommendations...

Remote 🌎

• The better body care company known for its deodorant, Curie, is on the lookout for a Content & Community Manager. Find out more here.

NYC 🇺🇸

• The Renatural, the creator of The WIG FIX®, is hiring a Supply Chain Manager to lead negotiations on supply. Apply here.

Sydney ☀️

• The coolest brand on social media, TBH Skincare, is looking for a Social Media Content Manager to take the helm on content. More here.

Seattle 🏙

• DRY Soda Co, showing the world not all soda's are created equal, is hiring a Director of Sales for the west coast. Something for you?

Come and say hi at @femalestartupclub to see the before and after of Christina Kao's story!