On a recent Rundown, Ramon spoke with Alexandra Bernard-Simmons, the CEO of Think Like A Boss, an award-winning women empowerment organization. 

Alexandra quickly delved into the importance of a more holistic approach to one’s career. It’s not solely about business acumen. Instead, growth, success, and turning your dream into a reality requires being the CEO of your life. 

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The Complexities Of Being Your Own Boss

Being a boss and making your dreams come true requires looking inward. 

Alexandra explains how your business might not be failing because of any professional shortcomings. For instance, your career-related issues could stem from troubles at home.

Look no further than Alexandra’s past career as an example of how money and acumen don’t mean everything. She was once earning six figures in the tech world. Yet, she felt “her soul was dying.”

The money Alexandra made in tech–stuck in a cubical–gave her security, but it couldn’t make her happy. Her place (and her dream) existed on the dancing stage. After all, she’s a creative–her passions lie in acting, dancing, and choreography.

Using Your Current Nine-To-Five To Invest In Your Dream

Alexandra points out how she built her dream while working her nine-to-five. She used the money she made in a cubical to fund her business. She’d work all day and then do shows at Madison Square Garden at night.

Often, this is how one must invest in themselves to make their dream come true. Alexandra went from making around $190,000 to earning $30,000–but she had the funds to take that risk. 

Dreams can only be reality if you treat them like they’re real. That means funneling the money you earn from your day job into an exit strategy. A dream must manifest from a plan and belief in that plan–intentionality is crucial.

In Alexandra’s case, by the age of 24, she was a mother, a homeowner, a business owner, and touring with Busta Rimes as a dancer. Her commitment to her dream paid off–she was feeding her soul.

Those lessons then translated to the success of Think Like A Boss.

Dreams Don’t Come True Overnight

“It failed the first year,” Alexandra says about her dance school. “I had to rebuild it and turn it into something else that appealed to the masses, not just for my love of dance and hip hop.” Soon after, she started finding success with the school and making her dreams come true.

Think Like A Boss events were much the same. “I just had 30 people at that first event,” Alexadra recounts.” But it grew to four to 500 people at each event.”

The first Think Like A Boss Event occurred at Alexandra’s alma mater, St. Peter’s University. Now, “Boss Tribe is in London. We have Boss Tribe in Toronto and Montreal because I try to speak a little French, y’all,” Alexandra notes.

Growth, self-belief, and focus are all themes here. Dreams aren’t solely about the dreams themselves. Alexandra cites her discipline, motivation, financial aptitude, and spirituality as driving forces in manifesting her big-picture vision. 

Feeding Your Soul To Achieve Your Goals

Through Think Like A Boss, Alexandra dedicates herself to helping clients overcome their wounds. “When you are sad, it’s hard to get motivated to get to your next level,” she states. “We clear out the soul to understand that you deserve to follow your dreams.”

She’s used to pushback, though. “You don’t know my journey. You had success early” is a common argument against any insights Alexandra can provide. 

Yet, there’s more to Alexandra’s story. “What you were looking at was a child that had to plan everyone out because no one was there to help her,” she says, explaining her ability to get a lucrative role at such a young age. 

Alexandra also had many other trials and tribulations. For instance, she was raising an infant son as a college student. She even once had to fight off a molester–a testament to her tenacity.

The finished product doesn’t reflect the whole story. No matter someone’s circumstances and traumas, Alexandra can relate to and help them. She “has the receipts to prove it.” Alexandra’s advice is real-world tested–a far cry from the detached academic advice others offer.

Busting Through Doors

One of Alexandra’s most cherished milestones is going from 1,000 followers to 50,000 followers on her social media. Even more crucial to her was that she was becoming recognized for her work before entering the room. 

These things don’t happen by accident. “I bust through doors,” Alexandra says with vigor. 

That willingness to charge forward, burst through doors, and make things happen has landed Alexandra in her heralded position. It’s how she became an international brand and cultivated a London-based Boss Tribe. It’s why she teaches at Montclair State University and has premium business clients–for a substantial rate–while staying true to her roots and making her services financially accessible to those who need them most.

Chances are, the growth isn’t going to stop. “Take the visions as far as your dream,” Alexandra asserts. “You have to believe it on a cellular level first.”