Today we’d like to introduce you to Dana Malstaff.
Dana, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I left my job at the end of 2012 to start my own consulting business and found out six weeks later that I was pregnant with my first child. I found myself trying to figure out how to be an entrepreneur and be a mom at the same time. I felt extremely isolated and alone so we moved back to San Diego (we were in Columbus, OH at the time) to be closer to my family.
For the next year, I ran a basic consulting business but never had anything that was growing fast. In Feb of 2015, while pregnant with my second child, I decided I was going to write a book. I was a journalism major and writing a book was always on my bucket list. I ended up writing Boss Mom: The Ultimate Guide to Raising a Business and Nurturing Your Family like a Pro. The whole book was about how alone we feel as moms who yearn to build something and feel guilty that wanting more might mean we aren’t good parents.
When it published on Amazon it hit #1 new release and I was flooded with feedback that this was what a lot of moms had been looking for. We started the Boss Mom Podcast and opened up the Boss Moms Facebook Group and started to build a community. We hit 10k in the first year, 20k in the second year and now have over 45k members (grown organically) and Local Boss Mom Meetups in over 80 cities. The podcast has over a million downloads, I have published three books that all hit #1 new release, we have over 25k students in various programs that teach them how to grow an online business and we are about to launch our YouTube channel in January.
We believe that there are so many moms that stay home with their children and at some point want to use their beautiful brains to create something wonderful, but they don’t want to sacrifice their time with their family with a full-time career. Boss Mom gives them that in-between option to grow a business that only takes up part of their time. Ultimately we tell our Boss Moms that our kids want to be just like us, so let’s show them what we are made of.
Has it been a smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road at all, I don’t think it ever is for any entrepreneur. I have had amazing growth and it happened pretty fast. That said I have gone through having two babies, a divorce, and the passing of my father while running my business and that was hard. Scaling has been challenging to find the right team and to learn to let go and delegate. We have had programs that were a great success and ones that flopped and lost me money and time. But we always make tweaks and bounce back. I see this as the road of a business owner, these are normal hurdles to go through and I like to meet them head-on because I always know I am resilient enough to the business moving forward.
Please tell us about your business.
I keynote on the topic of building a thriving online community and understanding how to build loyalty online. Our Facebook group now gets 100 new members a day organically. We have over 70% of the group that actively engages each month and we are known for being one of the most positive, supportive, and engaged communities.
As a business strategy coach, I am known for positioning your brand to become an authority and influencer in your niche. I have clients all over the world and we have helped many women reach the seven-figure mark with their business.
I am most proud of the fact that at Boss Mom we create a sense of belonging that helps our community know they are not alone, that they are valued and important, and that they can create and grow anything they want. Too many women feel alone, and while we have a lot of business building programs well, the true goal is to help women find their identity again after leaving a career and having children so that their children have a confident role model to follow.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
My mom and step-dad are native San Diegans. They actually dated in high school and then got back together many years later and moved back to San Diego. I have lived here on and off throughout my life. My brother was stationed on Coronado while in the Navy.
I have been back in San Diego for five years now and I don’t think I could ever leave. The trees and plants are one of the things that I love the most. Everywhere you look it feels full and alive. The fresh ocean air makes it hard to not enjoy life. I remember living in other cities where everyone seemed angry and honked all the time, but everyone here seems like they aren’t in a hurry. I love the diversity of restaurants, homes, people, and cultures. I have fallen in love with it here and I am happy to call it home.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.boss-mom.com
- Phone: 9094372836
- Email: dana@boss-mom.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/danamalstaff
- Facebook: www.boss-mom.com/Facebook
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/danamalstaff
Image Credit:
Annie Vovan – the image with me and my Climb Your Own Ladder Book
Nicole Anderson – One of me in the white shirt laughing
Suggest a story: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
