Welcome to invest in yourself, the digital entrepreneur podcast. Join the podcast mogul Phil Better as he interviews successful entrepreneurs that make their living in the digital world. Now let's join your host Phil Benner as your special guest today on Invest in Yourself, the digital entrepreneur podcast.

Welcome back to another episode of Invest in Yourself, the digital entrepreneur podcast. I'm, of course, your host with the most feel better, the podcast, Mokul. And on today's episode, get ready to dive into world into the world of ecommerce mastery with a true expert. Our guest has not only navigated the cons complex landscape of online selling, but also has dedicated her career to helping others thrive in this dynamic space. Our guest is the co founder of Riverbend Consulting, a powerhouse with over 85 employees devoted to solving the toughest challenges of for ecommerce sellers. With decades of personal experience as an Amazon seller, our guest brings unparalleled insight and expertise to the table. But her impact extends far beyond the realm of business. A passionate advocate for philanthropy, our guest volunteers for for a Wish With Wings, granting wishes to little Texans faces life threatening conditions.

Additionally, she serves on the board of directors for Haley's Heroes, a cause close to her heart that founds- funds vital medical research for children battling cancer and other critical injuries. So join me in welcoming an amazing guest who went from journalism student to ecommerce mogul and learn how she's making a difference in both the business world and lives of those in need. Well, welcome Leslie. Leslie, thank you so much for being here.

Hello, Phil. Thank you so much. And wow, that was some introduction. Thank

you. You're very welcome. As many of my audience knows, I love the nineties and hip hop and specifically the hype person, hype man majority of the time. And on a podcast, I believe my job as a host is to hype up my guest so that they feel that they have to go 100 for my audience like most rappers used to do in the day. So, Leslie, are you ready?

I'm ready to go.

Alright. So without further ado, the first question is why did you become a digital entrepreneur? You were a journalism student, as we mentioned at the end. I I caught that little laugh. Didn't think I noticed that. I caught that. Why did you go from journalism to ecommerce mogul? Like, why did you jump into the world of, digital entrepreneur entrepreneurialism?

So I'm pretty old school, Phil, and my why for everything in my life has been my kids. I used to be a reporter, and y'all, the schedule for people who are reporters, it is so bad. The hours are terrible. The just the amount of time at work and then the commute and all the things, and I knew I wanted to have a family. So I jumped into entrepreneurship, started my own little mini agency that was just me, and did that for many, many years before jumping eventually into ecommerce and then owning my own ecommerce agency.

I love that. So it was for family. Family was your why. You wanted that freedom for time, freedom for income, freedom from travel, to travel when you wanted. You wanted just family freedom, which is just pretty much finance and time. So when you decided to go from, hey, journalism is fun. I like reporting news, because EA informed us to, okay, I'm gonna have to now make a living doing an agency work. What was that agency doing at the beginning? Like, who did you serve? What was that about?

So I have the journalism degree. I also have an MBA, and had some grown up MBA kinda jobs in there as well, doing old school. You talk about the nineties, so this is like old school throwback to the nineties, business consulting. Like, when it you know, like, working at a regional accounting firm kind of business consulting, and I actually really enjoyed it. It was all problem solving and working with clients who really wanted help. Like, they came and they wanted to pay for a solution. They weren't just trying to get free advice. They they wanted to sit down and say, customize this for me.