Women-Owned Business Series: Jac from Honeybees Group

Welcome back to our Women-Owned Business Series! Today we’re highlighting Jac from Honeybees Group, a sales training company dedicated to helping female founders grow their businesses through confident, founder-led sales. With over 20 years of experience in sales and business development, she saw a gap in the market—so many talented women starting businesses without the sales skills they needed to thrive. See more about her business below!

Tell us about your business & why you started it:

After 20 years in sales and business development at both large corporations and VC-backed startups, I launched Honeybees Group to support female founders growing their businesses through founder-led sales training. Women have natural gifts that make us great sellers, but we need skills and confidence to do it in a way that feels good and is effective. Through our sales training program and podcast, Girls Make Bank, we provide training, support, and community to make women better sellers.

Why do you feel a connection to your work?

I’ve met hundreds of women who have become “accidental entrepreneurs”—they” are excellent at what they do but lack the sales skills and confidence to reach their full potential in business. It’s my mission to help women make more money in their business by providing sales training to help close more business—while making it feel good. Sales doesn’t have to be icky.

As a business owner, community is everything. In what ways do you serve your community, and how has your community served you??

I’m always humbled when people show up in my business to support me. I recently launched a podcast and the reception and feedback is truly an honor. In turn, it fuels me to want to serve even more women to grow their businesses.

What advice would you give to young women who want to start a small business?

Really learn about the fundamental numbers of your business (revenue, expenses, conversion rates, COGS), focus on profitability as soon as you start, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Build your informal board of directors.

What women inspire you and why?

My mom—she raised 5 kids while putting her own dreams on hold to make sure we had everything we needed. She’s always believed in our abilities to accomplish anything we set our minds to. I admire all of the women who have stepped away from the corporate world to build a business to serve their careers and families. Entrepreneurship is a difficult road, and it takes guts and grit to walk away from a salary to do something on your own.

What do you think are the most significant challenges for women business owners or women in leadership positions?

Women continue to leave the corporate workforce in droves. While we’ve made many strides, we are still (STILL) underpaid compared to men, don’t receive the promotions and board seats that we deserve, and working mothers are not set up for success in corporate roles. So many women are becoming accidental entrepreneurs—they are starting businesses and building products that solve a need they have to fit work into their lives and solve problems we have. I love to see it! But it’s a sign of a larger cultural issue in work.

Please plug any promotions, events, or recent milestones you have!

She Sells Society is a year-long sales training program for women service providers. We are very marketing aware—we post on social, we grow our email lists, and we do all the things. But when it comes to selling, we feel unsure, like imposters, and generally icky. Women are naturally gifted to be great at selling, but we need the skills and framework to do it in a way that feels good to us. She Sells Society is a 4-week sales training program with 11-month support to make sure you are implementing everything to grow your business and client base.

At Honeybees Group, it’s all about helping women build thriving businesses with confidence. Ready to transform the way you sell? Check out Honeybees Group and start closing more deals today!