088: Nellie Akalp on Working Qualitatively vs Quantitatively

Nellie Akalp is a serial entrepreneur, small business expert, speaker and author. She is the founder and CEO of CorpNet.com – an online legal document filing service – where she helps entrepreneurs start, grow and maintain a business. Nellie shares her expert tips with readers at Forbes, Entrepreneur and Mashable and is a regular guest expert on the Fox Small Business Center. Nellie has presented a workshop at Small Biz Expo and sat down with members of Girls in Tech, General Assembly, and more, to inspire and motivate others to make their business dreams a reality.

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Playing Small Moment

Nellie started her first business straight out of law school and right at the start of the Internet. The business took right off, as there was not a lot of competition. In 2005, the company was sold for a large sum of cash. Nellie took time off to focus more on being a mom. After her non-compete clause ran out, she realized she was too young, bored and passionate to take early retirement. So, Nellie jumped back into the game and started CorpNet in 2009, at the height of the recession. She was bombarded by competition and felt out of place with the new social media world we were in. After Nellie’s quick success in the past, she suffered from a false sense of being able to do the same thing again. Nellie had to adapt to a new way of doing things, and rethink her approach.

The Wake Up Call

Nellie is very public about her panic attacks, even writing about them on The Huffington Post. A year ago she went to an Intuit convention and listened to Ariana Huffington speak publicly about her panic attack. Nellie realized she was not alone, and wanted to share her experiences.

Style of Leadership

Nellie is not your typical CEO. She expects a ton from her team, but she is very ‘all for one, one for all’. A great big company is a result of the sum of its parts.

What Are You Excited About?

CorpNet is updating their CRM software into a new, more engaging platform for their clients and employees.

Leadership Practice

Nellie has an open door policy where any of the employees can talk to her about what is going on. There should be a balance between keeping your clients and your employees happy. Nellie always makes sure her employees are thriving in a positive environment. She focuses on the positive rather than the negative.