Every Entreprenista Needs a Community with Tiffany Dufu of The Cru

New York
Photo by Elizabeth Lippman
©09-13-2019
Portraits of Tiffany Dufu

Tiffany Dufu is the Founder and CEO of The Cru, an organization of women helping each other thrive. Listed among Entrepreneur’s 100 Powerful Women and Fast Company’s League of Extraordinary Women, Tiffany is fiercely committed to empowering women and girls. In addition to raising roughly $20 million for the advancement of women, she has helped found a girls’ middle school, headed a national womens’ leadership organization, and served as the Chief Leadership Officer at Levo, a social good tech startup that elevates women in the workforce. At The Cru, Tiffany helps a diverse group of mid-level and senior professionals find their inspiration, accountability partners, and community.

Tiffany joins us today to discuss how The Cru is empowering Entreprenistas by helping them find their support network. She explains how she and her team are harnessing the ingenuity and creativity of women and girls for the benefit of everyone. She divulges why she’s obsessed with understanding what matters most to women. Tiffany also highlights how the power of positive affirmation can fuel your life’s work and shares the lessons she learned from positioning herself as a thought leader.

“Your Entreprenista journey is never a solo journey; it’s a team sport.” – Tiffany Dufu

This week’s takeaways from Entreprenista:

  • Tiffany’s background and her journey to founding The Cru
  • How to turn an idea and mission into a business
  • How Tiffany’s personal experiences shaped her life’s purpose to empower women and children
  • The power of positive affirmations and naming the voices in our heads
  • Identifying the profile of someone who can guide you through the fundraising process
  • How Tiffany is building her team at The Cru
  • Best practices for remotely managing a team
  • How Tiffany conducts Zoom interviews and the questions she asks job applicants
  • The biggest challenges Tiffany met in launching The Cru
  • The lessons she learned from going through the fundraising process
  • The role of storytelling in the fundraising process
  • How to evaluate a support group’s efficacy

Resources Mentioned:

Our Favorite Quotes:

  • “If you want something you’ve never had before, you’ll have to do something you’ve never done before.” – Tiffany Dufu
  • “It’s the consistency of your message, the source of your message, and your commitment to your message that allow people to recognize your authenticity.” – Tiffany Dufu
  • “Start with what matters to you. The source of your purpose and power is what will allow you to withstand all the challenges that come with entrepreneurship.” – Tiffany Dufu

Connect with Tiffany Dufu:

Help More Female Entrepreneurs & Leaders Through the IFundWomen Campaign

We are thrilled to announce that our iFundWomen campaign is now live! We have supported so many women through Entreprenista, and we’re excited to share this opportunity with you to support our campaign and continue to help women business owners and leaders. 

Our funding goal is $100,000 – which means that every dollar counts. The best part? We’ve created incredible rewards that will help you as part of our campaign! 

When you pledge to the iFundWomen Campaign, you’ll receive:

  • An exclusive Entreprenista League Membership rate
  • Dedicated Instagram and website features to promote you and your business
  • Interviews on the Entreprenista podcast and our new podcast that’s launching in 2022 – Startups In Stilettos
  • One-on-one sessions with Stephanie or Courtney
  • …and so much more

Visit iFundWomen.com/Projects/Entreprenista to contribute any amount you feel comfortable with. 

Seriously. Every dollar, every share, and every mention on social media to your network counts and is beyond appreciated. Thank you for supporting us and women everywhere.

Today’s episode is brought to you by: ANISA Beauty Brushes

ANISA Beauty understands that what touches your skin matters. ANISA designs each brush through cruelty-free, vegan and sustainably responsible practices to elevate your skincare and makeup routines from hands-on to hands-free. The innovative design of these skin care and makeup brushes offer versatile application and fiber flexibility to achieve a great look – each and every time. 

Head over to ANISABeauty.com and use the code Entreprenista50 at checkout to unlock the power of self-expression today. 

Entreprenista has also teamed up with ANISA Beauty for an exciting giveaway! Enter to win the entire ANISA beauty collection and an Entreprenista League one-year membership! Visit Entreprenista.com/ANISABeauty to enter by December 15. 

Good luck!

If you’re looking to take your business to the next level:

Join our Entreprenista League community of women founders! You’ll have access to a private community of like-minded Entreprenistas who are making an impact in business every day, special discounts on business products and solutions, exclusive content, private events, the opportunity to have your story featured on our website and social channels, and MORE!

Whether you’re looking to scale your existing business and want to make the right connections, or you’re thinking about finally taking the leap to launch your business, we’re here to give you access to a community of women who will celebrate your every step, and with whom you can share the candid reality of building a business from scratch.

Join the Entreprenista League today at entreprenista.com/join. We can’t wait to welcome you, support you, and be part of your business journey!

Become An Entreprenista!

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of The Entreprenista Podcast – the most fun business meeting for female founders, by female founders. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the show and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.

Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Radio | GooglePlay

Be sure to share your favorite episodes across social media to help us reach more amazing female founders, like you.
Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn and for more exclusive content, tips, and insight, join the Entreprenistas Facebook group and visit the SocialFly website.

Share it!

Posted in
Tags

Leave a Comment





Entreprenista Julia DeNey on Elavating Sensory-Friendly Clothing through Sense-ational You

Hi Julia! Please share a brief introduction about yourself and your business: I attended Cornell University, where I majored in Fashion Design. In my junior year, I began an independent study on clothing for autistic children after volunteering at a local special education preschool led to many parents and therapists asking if I knew the…

5 Reasons to Apply for the E100 Awards

As a founder, you know the late nights, early mornings, and countless sacrifices it takes to make your vision a reality. Through it all, you’ve persisted — and now you have an incredible company to show for it. But sometimes, recognition can be hard to find as a founder. Awards and “top entrepreneur” lists are…

Find Your Passion and Make it Profitable with Kara Venus

  “Just just do it, get your LLC created, get your website created, do all the pieces.” – Kara Venus  In today’s episode of Startups in Stilettos, Carlyn flies solo while sitting down with Kara Venus, an author and the owner of Stella’s Way Marketing, a full-service small business consulting firm that helps small travel businesses launch…

Getting Investors to Fall in Love with Your Business with Katie Shea

““You’re not trying to convert the skeptics, you’re looking for the believers.” – Katie Shea Raising capital can feel like the ultimate courtship process and Katie Shea has all the tea on making your business the belle of the ball every fundraising season. Before having an investment portfolio valued at over 6 Billion USD, Katie…

Build A Reputation and Watch Your Business Grow with Whitney Lee

“ You don’t just step out into the business world and say, I’m the best. I’m the smartest, I’m the nicest, I’m a good person, and everyone believes you overnight. No, you have to prove yourself, you have to consistently put in the work to show your true colors. And over time you build that…

Finding Solutions for Diversity and Inclusion in the Beauty Industry with Maude Okrah

“We’re terrified of making a mistake, because of public reputation. And what we recognized is that, with all these conversations happening in silos, we had to bring everyone together. We had to break down the silos and try and figure out a solution that worked.”  – Maude Okrah If you or someone you know has ever…

Founder of La Pausa Consulting, Adair Vilella, on Building a Business Tailored to Your Unique Needs

Hi Adair! Please share a brief introduction about yourself and your business: I am a business sales consultant that helps women owned businesses double their revenue through sales and data visualization! I will work with you to dive into the foundation of your business and develop customized consulting solutions tailored to your unique needs, enabling…

Co-Founder of The Fertility Resort, Bryant Liggett, on The Career She’s Always Dreamed Of

Hi Bryant! Please share a brief introduction about yourself and your business: Hello, friends! My name is Bryant Liggett and I’m the Co-Founder of The Fertility Resort. Born from the ashes of years of infertility and loss, I created The Fertility Resort in hopes of eliminating “I didn’t know what I didn’t know” from the…

It’s All About the Lens with Dionne Ellison: Founder of Vuliwear

Hello Dionne! Please share a brief introduction about yourself and your business: My name is Dionne Ellison, and I am the Founder/Creator of Vuliwear. Vuliwear is an exclusive line of luxury eyewear inspired by nature that exposes hidden beauty unseen with the naked eye; specifically the awesome colors and patterns of insect eyes. Each custom…

Creative Problems Require Creative Solutions with Libra Riley

“If you’ve created something, get it out there, get it prototyped. Get it patented if it makes sense to patent because not every product needs to have a patent, but just get going on something.”  – Libra Riley  In today’s episode, we are joined by Libra Riley, the Founder and CEO of SWOOP™ Hanger, a patented…

Building a Bad Bitch Empire with Lisa Carmen Wang

“A woman steps into HER FULL POWER not when she is finally given permission to do so, but when she realizes she never needed it in the first place.” – Lisa Carmen Wang If the world is going to label you a bitch, you might as well be a bad bitch according to Lisa Carmen Wang. …

Sonia Narvaez on Launching Operation QQL to Provide Exceptional Support to Her Clients

Hi Sonia! Please share a brief introduction about yourself and your business: Hello! I am the owner and Operations Strategist at Operation QOL, a BIPOC- and women-owned and operated business that supports altruistic entrepreneurs on their path to greater impact and a higher quality of life. My approach is to assimilate with an organization as…

Grants You Need to Apply to For Your Business!

The FedEx® Entrepreneur Fund Who can apply? Entrepreneurs who have a connection to the military and/or entrepreneurs with disabilities. What you could receive: $10,000 Deadline: October 6, 2023 15th Anniversary Entrepreneurship Who can apply? Any entrepreneur who submits an engaging pitch of up to 1,000 words highlighting your business and how it would benefit from…

How to Plan for the Unpredictable with Emily Cisek

“You want to do everything you want to be everything to everyone. You want to be the perfect founder, but the perfect founder doesn’t exist you need to be authentic and true to yourself and the type of leader you are.” – Emily Cisek Named the 2021 Women Who Mean Business Honoree by the Houston Business…

Courtney Boyer on Starting a Biz of Her Own to Elevate the Dialogue Around Women’s Health and Sexuality

Hi Courtney! Please share a brief introduction about yourself and your business: Hello! I am a relationship and sexuality expert. I was trained as a mental health and sex therapist, life coach, and Reiki Practitioner. Recently, I published the book, “Not Tonight, Honey: Why Women Actually Don’t Want Sex and What We Can Do About…