Female founder and Cincinnati native, Robin Hunsucker, was 6 years into running her first business before she thought about the need for any business training. And now, one year after taking Genesis Entrepreneurship Training, she’s a female founder launching her second business!

Live ‘N Learn, Robin’s first company, launched in 2013 when she was in her mid-20s. She discovered a passion for Spain when she stayed abroad in high school, and the experience changed her life. After living in Spain and eventually teaching, Robin realized there was a lack of authentic, good programming out there for students who wanted to travel and connect with people in other countries.

Robin started Live ‘N Learn in order to offer programs where they bring Americans to Spain and Spaniards here to the States. These students are then able to experience a unique opportunity of connecting with locals in that area. Each group has anywhere from 30-40 students that are paired with local host families who also have kids the same age and gender, ultimately creating lifelong connections between families along with the ability to learn a new language.

 

Robin’s newest venture, Key Wines, was born from her love of Spain and its culture after living abroad for 5 years. She started to drink ‘vino’ (wine, in Spanish) and enjoyed learning about all of the different Spanish wineries. This interest became a passion that Robin has just recently launched into a business, importing wine from Spain.

“I saw a hole in our city. All of the Spanish wine here locally comes from huge companies with millions of bottles. I’m able to work directly with small family wineries who have sustainable farming. We then deliver these wines direct to consumers and restaurants.”

Robin’s love for Spain spun out these two incredible businesses.

 

Fast forward six years after launching Live ‘N Learn, Robin signed up for OCEAN’s small business training, now known as Genesis Entrepreneurship Training. She had been to most of the OCEAN Conferences in the past and had heard about the training. She didn’t have formal business training and her father is a successful entrepreneur, so she thought maybe she could do it on her own. She figured, “I already have a business. I don’t need to make a business plan.”

But Robin realized if she was going to grow her business, she needed some training. She signed up and was surprised how informative and useful the content was right from the start.

“I really wanted to practice my elevator pitch, but I got even more out of the training than I expected. Now that Genesis is digital, it’s perfect for someone like me who had to miss the in-person training a few times with my travel schedule.” She also added, “It’s never too late to acquire knowledge. I took the time to interview my customers, and now I have a new perspective that really helps me understand them better.”

 

The one throughline Robin received and benefitted the most from OCEAN Conference and Genesis was the community. This helped mer launch her second business as a female founder. She says she made unexpected connections with other entrepreneurs through the Genesis training. If you click here, you can view some of the other Genesis alumni stories!

“Everyone in the cohort works hard. To be able to talk to someone that gets you, that was really helpful. The input from other people and the great mentors I met along the way have created some long-standing bonds.”

Robin’s advice to someone thinking about Genesis?

“Do it! It took me so long to start because I thought, ‘How can I possibly fit something else into my schedule.?’ But now you can take this training anywhere! Genesis will give you tools that are easy to apply and practical for your business no matter what stage you are in your entrepreneurial career. Plus, the community aspect is a wonderful bonus.”

Learn more about Robin’s businesses, Live ‘N Learn, www.livenlearn.com and Key Wines, www.keywines.com. Robin is just one of many female founder launching her second business and you can be one of them too!

 

If you’re interested in joining us or want to learn more about Genesis Entrepreneurship Training, visit OceanPrograms.com/Genesis