This October we followed the National Women’s Business Council initiative and celebrated National Women’s Small Business Month honoring women’s entrepreneurship. As such, I wanted to highlight the story and business insights of Paula Swain, Co-Founder of Washington Speakers Bureau.

Washington Speakers Bureau was founded in 1980 by Paula, her husband Bernie Swain and their friend Harry Rhoads. By way of background, I’d like to quote this great story from Bernie’s book What Made Me Who I Am*:

“Our friend Harry Rhoads had sent us an article from Fortune magazine, entitled ‘Speech is Golden on the Lecture Circuit,’ about the Harry Walker Agency in New York, then the world’s largest lecture agency. In the article, Henry Kissinger was quoted as asking Walker why he should sign with his company instead of with one of his competitors. Walker’s response: ‘We don’t have any competitors.’

Harry taped a note to the page. It read: ‘No competitors?’ Paula took the note as an invitation and a challenge. I [Bernie] thought she was kidding. Weeks later, Paula’s simple but passionate argument—that every life, even ours, needs a great if totally unpredictable and crazy adventure—prevailed and I gave in. With no experience or real plan (but with a one-year-old baby), we quit our jobs, ended our careers, and started a lecture agency with Harry.

Our first office was, quite literally, a closet…”

[*By the way, if you want to come see Bernie Swain speak about his story and share other stories of the world leaders that he represented, come join us: he’ll be at the Business Library on November 7, 2017 at 6 pm as part of the CEO Series.]

Paula and I sat down for coffee and had a wonderful chat. Here’s a summary of our lovely conversation.

What motivated you to start your business? Tell us more about your story.

It all boils down to believing in yourself. Bernie and I were both working for universities. They are wonderful institutions but the bureaucracy can be very frustrating to get things done. Bernie always had good ideas and at the university it was hard for him to implement them.

My dad was an entrepreneur and I saw him work hard, overcome hurdles and reap the satisfaction of owning your own business. I saw the same drive in Bernie.

When Harry brought the article Bernie dismissed it, but I wanted him to do it. I felt he’d never be happy unless he were in charge of himself and his success. He was the kind of guy for whom there is no job too small, he’d sweep the floors if necessary—he’d do whatever needed to get done, no matter what.

So I convinced him to go into it. He is the big picture guy and I enjoy getting into the details.

It was very hard at the beginning; we had lots of rejections. But you have to believe in yourself and in your idea, and be fully convinced that what you are trying to start is worth your sacrifice and worth the rejections that you are going to experience.

That being said, you also need to make sure you know your strengths and weaknesses, and then look for a mentor or partner to fill that gap.

And when you get rejected, be adaptable and be respectful of that “no.” However, ask for the reason of the rejection, it’s the best feedback. Don’t grill them, but just say, “May I ask you a couple of questions?” And once they agree you could ask something like: “Is it a ‘no, never’ or is it just bad timing of my offer and, if so, can I make it at a later/better time? When would that be?” or “Is there something I can do to make it a yes?” or “Is it not the right product/service? What would make it the right one?”

What was the most rewarding part of your business? What was one of your proudest achievements?

Personally, I loved being able to provide jobs. Creating a viable company for the speakers and also for the employees was very rewarding, and getting health insurance was a big milestone and something of which I’m proud.

When we started the company we had one baby. Our second baby came when we did not have health insurance—we call him our “installment baby”—because we paid the Doctor in installments for his birth since we couldn’t afford to pay all at once. Then in 1982 we gave ourselves health insurance as our Christmas gift, and six moths later our daughter was born prematurely… those bills would have broken us.

The responsibility of being able to provide work for other people as well as for ourselves felt real.

We had to evaluate carefully where our money would go, and we decided to spend it on creating the best marketing brochure ever. Back then there was no Internet, so we had to portray ourselves in the best light possible, and the brochure did the job, it was the highest quality and the best one (content wise) there was for our industry.

Today it’s easier to promote a company with social media, but even then, you must have a professional image, and posts need to look professional too. You need to make the best possible impression. My advice is to look for mentorship in this area if you are an entrepreneur and this is not your strong suit. If you don’t have much money, do some bartering and exchange some of your skills for those in the areas that you need.

How is it to work with your husband? How did you divide up the tasks?

We’re both people who respect each other’s ideas. When there was a disagreement we’d talk it out at home. But there were times when we had to postpone our talk since we wanted to be with our children. Also, we both recognize each other’s strengths and weaknesses. It wasn’t all roses and champagne all the time, but it worked.

Did you ever see yourself as an entrepreneur at the beginning? Do you see yourself any other way today?

I always wanted to work for myself since I had the example of my father, who was an entrepreneur. But I also saw that more in Bernie than in myself. I wanted to be a part of the start of the business, but also wanted to be home with the children; and I was lucky enough to work from home. So I was also the CEO of my house.

It wasn’t easy, the truth is that it took five years to be able to sleep at night and to breathe easily, but I cannot imagine myself any other way.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received businesswise? How have you applied it?

My father never really gave advice, but he supported our entrepreneurship. He said “Go ahead!” I guess the best advice was his example. Here’s a story:

My father had started a business with a partner. This was in the 1950s, and employees were paid in cash back then, which was stashed away in a safe in his office. One day my father came home very upset because his business partner had taken all the money and run away with the secretary. My father felt an enormous responsibility for all the employees, for my mom and the four of his children, plus the wife and two kids that the partner had left behind. It was a very hard, uncertain time, but he made it work. He just focused on making it work.  

And Bernie is that type of person too, who just focuses on making things work. So I never doubted he had in him what it took to succeed.

What’s next for you?

We sold the business in 2002 and I retired. My kids were off to college and I wanted a new adventure. Bernie retired too but did not finish with his commitments until 2006, so we started traveling then.

Today we have newborn grandchild, thr first one, and Bernie and I are crazy about him and spend as much time as we can with him.

I donate my time to the Nantucket Boys and Girls Club and to other boards in Florida and New York City; and I’m also involved in Impact 100 which is a fantastic organization founded by Wendy Steele.

And this being a blog post for the Library, you have to tell us: what is one of your favorite business books?

When we represented Lou Holtz, we identified with his "Do the Right Thing" personal and business philosophy [“I follow three rules: Do the right thing, do the best you can, and always show people you care. You’ve got to make a sincere attempt to have the right goals to begin with, then go after them with appropriate effort, and remember that you can’t really achieve anything great without the help of others.” – Lou Holtz]. But, In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters was something that I enjoyed reading and also identified with on both a business and personal level.

Do you have a parting piece of advice for our readers?

Oh, so many!

First and foremost, do the right thing, you must have a deep, inner goal that propels you to work every day on your business, not just for the money’s sake.

And always very prudent on how you spend money, because terrible things can happen if you spend it recklessly.

* * * * * * * * * *

Thank you so much, Paula, for sharing with us all your wonderful life and story of entrepreneurship! You are a true role model for women and we’re grateful for your time and advice.

We wish you and Bernie much, much joy as grandparents and happy travels!