For this interview I was fortunate enough to visit with internet marketing guru and entrepreneur, Ponn Sabra. She is also the driving force behind EmpowerWomenNow.com. I think that you'll agree that Ponn Sabra has a fascinating background as an entrepreneur and an interesting story to tell.
Here's what Ponn Sabra has to say:
Work From Home Momma: How many years have you worked from home?
Ponn Sabra: For my individual business, I started working from home in 2001. When I was employed I worked extensively with my husband's home-based business since 1997. I was raised by my home-based mompreneur since I was in kindergarten.
Work From Home Momma: What made you decide to start a home business?
Ponn Sabra: Entrepreneurialism is in my blood. 
Honestly, I went to school for pre-med and public health administration and never thought I'd be a small business owner. I spent three years of being on-call 24-7, traveling across the nation, etc. By the time my first daughter was six months old I felt compelled to leave it all so I could have the freedom and joy of raising our three girls as my mother conveniently did for my siblings and me. However, I'm fortunate to be able to able to travel nationally and internationally with my husband's business, educate our girls, and have the leisure to make money with something that comes very easy for me: sharing my personal and professional empowerment as a home-based woman entrepreneur.
Work From Home Momma: Why did you choose empowering women entrepreneurs as your business?
Ponn Sabra: Two years prior to my life-changing car accident, a publisher asked me to write my unique networking tips and professional experiences as a motivational book for women. Like many successful (profitable) mom entrepreneurs I put everyone else ahead of myself for the perceived benefit of "helping others." Humbled by the overwhelming support from my family, friends, colleagues, clients during one of the most difficult times of my life, did I truly understand the meaning of self-love and self-actualization; which meant putting my own health, safety and sanity first above any other person. While I had all my "professional success stories" to share in a book-form already vivid in my head, the spiritual personal empowerment journey was all new to me. This became the premise of my book, my new-life and new mission to educate women entrepreneurs destined for similar self-defeat first as a woman and second as a business owner.
Work From Home Momma: Do you think women entrepreneurs have unique challenges and needs compared to men? If so, can you describe some of them?
Ponn Sabra: Women entrepreneurs are far behind the eight ball in terms of funding, investments and in profitability compared to men. Having written exclusively for women, I have a huge male following because they appreciate the experiences that I share from a woman's perspective. Unfortunately, (and I've written about it extensively with case studies) women do not have the business confidence that allows us to reach our business goals as quickly and as easily as our male counterparts. Women also have a guilty-nature; shame and the self-defeatist attitude that holds us back. We are apt to feel sorry for ourselves, make more excuses for not moving forward, and do not jump back into the "game" of business because we take failure personally instead of learning from our mistakes and moving on. Additionally, women are more stubborn than men by not heeding business warnings given by our business advisors, mentors or teachers. By feeling we have to do it alone, woman prefer to learn through hard-knocks themselves before they start following proven systems because women feel they can figure out a cheaper way, and in reality we become disadvantaged by our wasted time, money and efforts.
While I share some truly depressing and hard realities above, I'm known to give step-by-step tutorials, how-to guidelines, tips, tools and resources from an ever-optimistic non-defeatest empowered attitude. I feel destined to defeat the odds against my own disability, maintain my lifestyle choice to homeschool my girls, and still find time to have a profitable business. So, if I can do it so can any home-based entrepreneur!
Work From Home Momma: I read all about your accident and was inspired by the bravery with which you faced it. Was that your biggest challenge, or is there another?
Ponn Sabra: Thanks Laura, I'm humbled by your words.
My car accident in 2004 was only the beginning of my darkest life challenges. After eight months of full-time (four days a week) physical and vestibular (vertigo, post concussive syndrome and dizziness) therapy, I found out that I have an extremely rare brain disorder. A year later, I faced partial paralysis of my hands and feet causing me not to write or type for 11 months. This was truly horrible for me since I've been journaling since I was nine years old. But, January 2007 I decided to pick up a pen and start typing. Aware that I could not run my business with an 11-month absence, I immediately starting investing in my virtual international staff members and building critical joint venture partnerships. Fortunately, although I had major fainting and blacking-out episodes this summer forcing me to the hospital and causing me to be offline for approximately two months, I saw my highest residual profitability in August of 2007.
Also, after five years of raising our girls alone without family, we finally moved back to the Northeast (CT) to be closer to family to help with my disability just last month (September 2007).
Work From Home Momma: What is unique about your Empower Women Now program compared to other programs designed for entrepreneurs?
Ponn Sabra: I built my presence online by mastering the art and craft of Internet Branding from an entrepreneur's perspective. Within eight short months of coming online, I became an amazon.com best-selling author on my debut book's release date. Key campaign partners include high-profile internet marketers such as Ali Brown (EzineQueen.com), Lorrie Morgan Ferrero (Red-Hot-Copy.com), NY Times Best-seller Loral Langemeier (The Millionaire Maker, LiveOutLoud.com), and Alice Seba (InternetMarketingSweetie.com).
Even though I was offline, I never lost money by my internet marketing efforts/business. I broke even the first year and made a profit the second (even though I was offline 11 months), and continue to profit now with 11 virtual international team members. Therefore, when we say our goal at EmpowerWomenNow.com is to give your business the online visibility and profitability it deserves - we do!
While personal branding is critical to the sustainability of a small business owner, at EmpowerWomenNow.com we take your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) and help target your market (niche) online so you capture the most ideal clients, readers or customers.
Work From Home Momma: Where do you see your business going in the next year?
Ponn Sabra: I want to train my staff so they can do 95% (okay 80%) of all my work, so I can just write freely for my books, columns, website, blog, etc. without the pressure of optimizing and marketing every word I write.
I'm proficient in internet branding and marketing the written word - but it's extremely time-consuming and takes away from the joy and pleasure of writing freely. Therefore, I want to spend a good portion of my time to training my staff (and others) to take over my personal Internet Branding consultations and freelance assignments - because capitalizing on one's intellectual property (one's written words) online is where the money has always been and has only begun to get the traction and attention it deserves. A small business owner must know her USP and niche market for the highest profitability.
Work From Home Momma: Where do you see your business going in the next five years?
Ponn Sabra: I plan to spear-head all my time to my non-profit organizations:
- international women entrepreneurs online business services in which all women entrepreneurs regardless of location and budget can duplicate my efforts with an open-source internet branding/marketing platform
- disabled entrepreneurs online business enterprise
Work From Home Momma: Is there anything else about your business that you'd like to tell the readers of Work From Home Momma?
Ponn Sabra: You can do it! Just don't waste time, money and energy on trying to "figure things out yourself." Follow systems that work, follow a mentor, consultant or coach, build your system, have faith and prosper!
If you ever need any empowerment, sign-up for my free Empower Me Now Tips eNewsletter at EmpowerWomenNow.com and cash-in on the many free gifts, tools, tips and resources shared at our resource center, EmpowerWomenNow.Com.
Do you have more than two years experience in a home business? Would you like to share your story on Work From Home Momma? Contact me at Laura [at symbol] workfromhomemomma.com.
An excellent interview Laura. Ponn is an inspiration, and shares some great tips.
I was especially interested in what Ponn had to say about the things that hold women back. Ponn is great at empowering women.
Posted by: Yvonne Russell | October 19, 2007 3:34 AM | Permalink to Comment