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In 2015, Fearless Females Forum will be a monthly showcase for inspiring women who found the courage to meet their calling, solve a problem, or take a road less travelled. Cheers and gratitude to Traci Johnstone for being the first Fearless Female to share her story!

Tarnish to Triumph

You’re stuck in a toxic relationship, under-educated because of poor decisions you made in your teens. You’re over-weight, unhappy and terribly out of the professional loop having been a stay-at-home Mom for several years.

Now imagine freeing yourself from that poisonous marriage, going back to school and getting that diploma. Next comes a fantastic job you love; it pays well. Simultaneously, you lose 150 pounds and keep it off for 5 years.

What would you do to celebrate?

Grab your best girlfriend? Take a trip south? Head to the beach in a bikini and take a whole heap of pictures to share with your family and friends online? Fearlessness! Empowerment! Joy! That’s exactly what Traci Johnstone felt and that’s exactly what she did.

Uh-oh. It’s not all rainbows and butterflies though…

Traci had also shared those pictures with prospective employers. And with people she didn’t necessarily intend to see her bikini-clad joy. People able to tag, edit, manipulate, and repost what she shared in almost any way they wanted. She had shared, literally and unintentionally, with the world. In the end, it cost her a job.

It sunk in that she’d tarnished her online reputation when Traci began looking for a new job and the phone didn’t ring. An entrepreneurial dreamer and doer, Traci turned her painful online lesson into an award-winning company: eOLIO .

eOLIO derives from the word e-portfolio . eOLIO is an online service that provides a suite of tools and solutions for individuals to control and enhance their online brand. Traci and her team make it easy for people to create professionally branded e-portfolios and for recruiters to locate, pre-screen, and acquire talent.

Just three years old, eOLIO holds 6 trademarks in five countries. In September, the Globe and Mail recognized eOLIO as one of Canada’s Top Ten Most Remarkable Small Businesses of 2014.

“We’ve done this on a shoestring budget and limited debt,” Traci says. Like many successful entrepreneurs, Traci took an idea she sketched on a napkin, rolled up her sleeves and created her vision. She’s done the lion’s share of the work herself, along with her new life and business partner, Bobby Johnstone .

Her next fearless step? Raising a round of capital for eOLIO to take its logical leap forward—reaching many more users—in 2015.

Fearless Females Forum: 5 Cs with * Traci Johnstone

“If you want something, go get it.”

1. What’s the most courageous decision you’ve made?

I think I’ve made a few courageous decisions in my life but the one that started them all was deciding to believe in myself. When I was brave enough to make the changes I needed in my life, a world of possibilities awakened.

2. What choices are most important to you?

We’re faced with choices every day that end up shaping our tomorrows … I think ultimately, the choice that’s most important to me was choosing to be happy even when it isn’t always perfect. Being able to find gratitude has been a beautiful thing; I think when we change how we think about things and make that conscious choice to look on the bright side – anything can happen.

3. What fears have you conquered?

Fear can be crippling, can’t it? I think probably some of the biggest fears I’ve been able to conquer are the fear of failure, public speaking, and large, hectic crowds. Getting over these fears has proved vital in my personal growth. We always have two options: push past it and move forward OR stay still in safety.

4. What conversation made the most impact on you?

There have been a few conversations that have a huge impact on me, but the conversation that comes to mind is the moment in the driveway when my husband looked at me and said “You can do this.” A few months later, eOLIO was born.

5. What do you want women to get clear about?

If you want something, go get it. If you dream about something, believe that you can achieve it. Stop listening to the negative committee in your head. Stop complaining. Comparing isn’t cool. Love each other. Find the silver lining and when you can’t—keep looking.

*Click Traci’s name to view her amazing personal branding story video!

Traci encourages you to #ThinkBeforeYouPost and tell YOUR story more powerful than others could possibly tell it using eOLIO. She’s offering you one year of MyeOLIO.com free! Use promo promo code: 07072014.

With gratitude to Traci and all you Fearless Females out there!

P.S. If you’d like to be featured, or know a woman who should be, email me for details at Jone@incourageleading.com .

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