Guest Interview: Sonja Rasula - How Risking Her Entire 401K Retirement Savings Paid Off and What That Journey Looked Like

Oh, this is a good one! I got the pleasure to sit with Sonja Rasula and talk about how she took out her 401k retirement to create a business that didn’t make sense to almost all of the people around her! Sonja shares her unfiltered, bold, and hilarious stories, advice, and tough love on this episode in hopes of inspiring you to say EFF IT; I’m going to do it anyway!
We discussed:

• What sparked The Unique Markets
• The truth about entrepreneurship and what people think
• How The Unique Assembly will help millions of women in building and growing their businesses without all the noise
• How to get through the tough days
• Community & so much more!

About Sonja Rasula:
In 2008 Sonja Rasula self-funded Unique Markets by risking her entire 401k retirement savings and never looked back. Since then, she’s become one of just 2% of women-owned businesses in the US to hit $1 million a year, is proud to be the only AAPI-owned national market owner in the country, and has been credited for fueling and leading the 'shop small' revolution for over 13 years. Her large-scale, modern, pop-up markets showcase hundreds of small businesses and emerging designers, attract celebs to families to TikTok influencers, and have taken place in over ten cities around the US.
Sonja was named '1 of 30 Women Entrepreneurs Changing the World' by fashion mogul Eileen Fisher, and Los Angeles Magazine awarded her one of the coveted ‘LA's Most Inspiring Women’ awards.
RECAP OF HOW SHE DID IT ANYWAY
“I had ZERO event or production experience before starting the markets. I had NO financing or investors (I risked and took out my entire 401k, $50k to start the biz). I'm a woman and a woman-of-color. Because I had moved back to LA just a couple years before, I had NO COMMUNITY, no mentors, no large group of friends/peers to pull from and get help from. AND to top it off I have a disability, a disease called narcolepsy. If I can do it, ANYONE CAN! :)” - Sonja
Rapid fire questions:

• What is one truth that you have recently come to terms with?
• What has been the most exciting improvement you've seen in yourself recently?
• What has the past 15 years of business taught you about yourself — good and bad?
• Which one of your mistakes taught you the most?

Connect with Sonja on IG: @sonjarasula
Follow: @uniquemarkets
2 Free Months inside The Unique Assembly: https://unique-markets.mn.co
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