In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re proud to shine a spotlight on the female entrepreneurs who have come through (or are currently participating in) reSET’s Impact Accelerator program. Dawn Leaks and Natasha Zena created Lioness Magazine as women’s answer to Entrepreneur, Fast Company, Inc., and other business magazines that tend to focus on male entrepreneurs, skipping over some of the unique struggles and successes of woman-owned businesses.

Meet Dawn Leaks and Natasha Zena of Lioness Magazine

Dawn Leaks is the CEO and Co-Founder and Natasha is the Publisher and Co-Founder of Lioness Magazine, the premier media outlet for female entrepreneurs. Lioness gives women the latest news, tools, and resources to launch and scale startups.

reSET: What are some challenges you’ve faced and overcome as a female business owner?
Dawn & Natasha: In many ways our timing was early with Lioness, no one was talking about female entrepreneurs and everyone was confused about why we were needed. We were constantly asked why what we were doing mattered. But we persisted and now the timing is right and we’re well positioned to take advantage of it.

reSET: How did participating in the reSET Impact Accelerator program help you and your business?
Dawn & Natasha: We learned so much in the ReSET accelerator. We were able to drastically improve our pitch and how we were communicating our message to customers and investors.

reSET: Who are some of your female role models?
Dawn & Natasha: There are several women entrepreneurs we respect and admire. Designer Tory Burch, Former Constant Contact CEO Gail Goodman, and Katrina Lake, the first woman to take an Internet company public in 2017. Entrepreneurs who are disrupting and making great noise for female founders are Felicia Hatcher, Founder of Black Tech Week and Arie Horie, Founder of Women’s Startup Lab.

reSET: What’s one piece of advice you have for fellow female entrepreneurs?
Dawn & Natasha: Trust your instincts and balance them with all of the advice you’re getting. It’s important to be coachable but don’t let advice from “experts” take you off mission or completely change your value proposition. Companies like Air BnB and DropBox would not exist today if they listened to all of the people telling them it wouldn’t work.

reSET: Anything else we should know?
Dawn & Natasha: Visit getlioness.news for the latest and greatest on female entrepreneurs!
Editor’s Note: Lioness Magazine’s 2019 Resource Guide for Female Entrepreneurs is a must-bookmark for any lady boss! It lists accelerator and incubator programs, angel investors and venture capitalists, competitions and grants, confidence-boosting resources, free courses and guides, marketing resources, and so much more.