We had the good fortune of connecting with Emily Cassel and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Emily, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I have become a woman over the past decade of building and leadind my own business who has reframed risk massively — I know think and operate as if it’s riskier to stay exactly where I am than to try something new, to make an investment, or to do something I could learn from (which really is everything — even if and when it doesn’t go as planned or predicted).
Taking the initial risk to start my business at 22 almost right out of college was a huge risk — but the bigger risk would’ve been staying longer in the job I had at the time that I’d outgrown and knew was temporary.
It’s always a bigger risk to fight against the natural inner knowing that it’s time to grow, evolve, expand – the real challenge is learning to trust your wings once you make that decision to go all-in on something, and not hesitate or doubt yourself.
I’m always telling myself and my clients that if we can shorten the gap between knowing what we must do next and actually doing it, getting into action, and implementing it, the better off we will be and the easier it feels to do it.
It’s far harder, riskier, and more uncomfortable to stay exactly where and how you are, to never evolve, to never be willing to break patterns and cycles that no longer serve us.
Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
WMNûp is a global community platform and business and leadership coaching, consulting, and mentorship agency for visionary female founders seeking innovative and intentional solutions for exponential business growth. Our process and approach to business and leadership development is regenerative, emergent, and evolutionary. We value building transformational over transactional experiences, relationships, and support for women entrepreneurs, and creating opportunities and spaces of depth and devotion that facilitate cross-pollination among industries and different types of businesses, where women are truly carving out categories of one with their work that specifically highlights their unique zone of genius, voice, and vision. We support mission-driven and multidimensional trailblazing women entrepreneurs to feel deeply resourced and regulated through the power of a sisterhood and community where they feel truly seen, heard, and supported for being all of who they are here to be, and that can hold them as they rapidly grow themselves and their visions amidst the inevitabilities of evolution they’ll face along the way.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would definitely spend a day at Kiawah’s Beachwalker Park, follow it with a bike ride around the trails at Kiawah Island, grab some local produce at Rosebank farm, then head to Linette’s for dinner at sunset, seated outside on the screened porch with a view of the marsh The Dunlin at Kiawah River! Another day, I’d definitely hit the shops over on Sullivan’s Island like A Maker’s Post and Goldbug (both female owned!), grab dinner at The Obstinate Daughter, and walk on the beach. There are truly so many incredible restaurant options around the area, but a few of my favorites are a classic yet elevated southern meal in a cozy downtown vibe at Anson Restaurant or Bar 167 for a more seafood forward experience and more coastal aesthetic.
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Maddie Hunt, founder of her. VA + OBM Agency, and her team, have been instrumental in the behind-the-scenes support for everything we’re building at WMNûp and I couldn’t do it without them!
Website: https://www.wmnup.co
Instagram: www.instagram.com/wmnup & www.instagram.com/emilycasselofficial
Image Credits
WorkPlay Branding