Voice Notes is an occasional special feature. We take you inside the online brand presence of a business owner we think you should know — through a dozen evocative sentence-starters.

Abby (Chief Voice Bureau Officer) says:

I love a smart woman behind a good magazine. Jane Pratt, Ishita Gupta, Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan, and today’s feature guest, Stephanie Pollock. Stephanie is the founder and publisher of Going Pro Magazine, the focus of which is to “demystify success” for entrepreneurial women. (I say a hearty amen! to that.) In this most recent (at the time of publication) third edition of Going Pro, Steph gives readers a rare glimpse behind the scenes of 14 successful female-owned businesses (including her own and mine), and asked all participants to really bring the realness. As Steph regroups her own biz to focus on entrepreneurial leadership, I thought it was a great time to share with Voice Bureau readers a portrait of the woman who says that “Greatness is claimed, not born.”

Please meet Stephanie! —

Stephanie Pollock, Entrepreneurial Leadership Coach

Stephanie blogs at StephaniePollock.com about digital entrepreneurship, going pro, and claiming greatness. She’s the founder and publisher of Going Pro Magazine, a free digital magazine inviting women to make history with their businesses.
→   Find Stephanie on: Twitter; Facebook; Google+

MY TOP 3-5 VOICE VALUES ARE:

#1 Power & Enthusiasm, #2 Depth, #3 Innovation & Helpfulness

 (Note: Discover your own Voice Values when you subscribe to The Voice Bureau’s Insider Stuff e-letter. Look for the sign-up box in the upper righthand corner of the site.)

I do the work I do because:

I believe that entrepreneurship is one of the most powerful expressions of leadership and personal growth. And I believe that women have greatness inside them that’s just itching to get out. I want to help them to stop hovering around their potential and actively claim it!

The iPhone app I wouldn’t want to live without is:

It’s a toss-up between the Apple Podcast app and Audible. I go to bed every single night to either a podcast or an audiobook (and then have to remember where I left off the next night after falling asleep partway through).

If I could invite three people to dinner to give me their take on my work in the world, I’d invite:

Todd Henry, Sarah J. Bray, Brené Brown

The truest branding advice I’ve ever heard is:

Be yourself. It’s deceptively simple and often incredibly hard to own. But once you do — everything feels way easier.

The next big business challenge for me is:

Shifting my conversation at StephaniePollock.com away from mostly business strategy/tactics into a conversation about entrepreneurial leadership. And writing my book.

If my clients only hold onto one piece of advice from me, I hope it’s:

There’s always a CHOICE. Always. And you should consider them all — plus a few wild-card what-ifs, for good measure. But remember: the only cure for analysis-paralysis is simply to choose. Make the choice that carries you closer to PRO.

If I couldn’t do the work I’m doing now, I’d be:

Hmm . . . how to pick? (I am very multi-passionate.) A chef or a singer or a pro soccer player or a radio host on CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). As a kid I wanted to be a forest firefighter, but I’m over that one.

I can never get enough:

Coffee (an Americano). Magazines. Canada. Wine. Caprese salad. Books. Adventures with my kids. Date nights (because they happen so infrequently these days). Blogs. James Taylor. The West Wing & Gilmore Girls. The smell of basil. Conversations with smart women. My daughter’s giggle and my son’s hugs. The ocean.

The one ‘essential’ I could totally live without is:

Chocolate. Okay, maybe this isn’t an essential, although my husband would argue that point. But if I never had another piece of chocolate, I’d be just fine.

One color I wish was in my visual brand but isn’t (yet) is:

Gold. The next iteration of my visual brand will have gold and way more white.

My lifestyle, in three words:

Casual. Kid-friendly. Creative.

My favorite question to ask people is:

What would it look like if you could have it exactly the way you wanted it?

In the comments, I’d love for you to:

Answer Stephanie’s favorite question: what would it — your business, your brand, your experience of leadership — look like if you could have it exactly the way you wanted it?