I had the pleasure of interviewing Gemma Toner, Founder & CEO of TONE Networks

Can you tell our readers about your background?

I worked as a senior executive in the cable industry for more than 20 years. After I retired from the corporate environment, I wanted to find a way to make a social impact the same way I had been positively impacted by executive coaching and mentoring I had received throughout my career. I created TONE Networks in 2017, a digital executive coaching platform for women, delivering real advice from credentialed experts through short videos and virtual events. This acts as a one-stop, personalized resource for self-care, and helps busy women grow personally and professionally. There’s guaranteed content applicable to women from any walk of life, with more than 1,000 videos from experienced experts and monthly live-streamed events

What inspired you to start your business? 

Throughout my time in Corporate America, I noticed that there was a gap when it came to women getting access to leadership development, and executive coaching. There is no shortage of talented women out there with incredible potential, although the resources to help them develop and grow that talent was scarce. I realized that not everyone gets access to what they need to reach their full potential and I wanted to do something about it. 

I spoke at a women’s leadership conference about “career pivots,” and there was a lot of fear in the room. These women were no different than me, yet were having trouble making pivots in their careers. This prompted me to reflect on how I was able to make career pivots; I realized that my past sponsors, executive coach, mentors, and other people who were willing to help me along played a large role in my success. From this reflection, I discovered that the key to influencing positive change in women’s career trajectories is to democratize that access. Tone Networks is a scalable solution to bridge the gap in the era of online community and technology.

Where is your business based? 

We’re based in New York City, although we work with companies and women all across the country.

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took? 

I’m a very data-minded person, so conducting research and finding data supporting the need for a solution like Tone Networks was the first thing on my list. Any type of plan, opinion, stance, or argument is always strongest when backed up by data. Our market research uncovered demand for a community for women helping women, supporting the idea that there was no better time than now to launch a solution like Tone. And this data has shown a return on the other side too, as we’ve been able to have such a great impact in such a short timeframe: 89% of women who have engaged with Tone have seen a positive impact in their personal and professional development.

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?

Undoubtedly, the driving force behind Tone has been the incredible team that helps to create our tailored content. In total, 21 experts from the executive coaching network that Tone members rely on for customized advice and guidance through common shared topics. With such a wide range of expertise, including leadership, life crisis rebuilding, sleep, money, organization, relationship building, stress management, and nutrition, our Tone coaches related to a wide and varied super-network of talented women who could benefit from Tone membership. Our partners are a big part of our growth and awareness through expansion and referring to other like-minded companies.

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?

The biggest challenge with starting a brand is always the first few steps-- continuing momentum with only a few building blocks is difficult, although imperative to success. One of my mentors said to me you will never have enough time, money, or resources. Plain but truthful words! Building a business and a product from scratch, you not only need vision and know-how but a fearless, passionate team.

Beginning this business has pulled knowledge from everything I have ever done in my career: Tech, product development, marketing, production, distribution, finance, and analytics. Having a strong network of friends and colleagues has been mission critical for us as we gained traction.  Since starting Tone, I have also experienced incredible generosity from the people I have recently met who share the same goal of advancing women, which is also a valuable lesson I have learned. Many of the people helping, supporting, mentoring, and coaching have been beyond my usual suspects; people who I didn’t expect to step up, yet have been the ones to help me build this. This is an important lesson for all entrepreneurs: you haven’t yet met all the people who will help you in your next endeavor.

How do you stay focused? 

I make sure to keep our mission at the forefront and ensure every action follows in service of that. In times of stress and distraction, I try to remember that our content is essential to many women who are continuing their growth and development on their own time and that stagnation is the enemy of progress. 

How do you differentiate your business from the competition?

At Tone, we’re focused on bringing this to women of all levels and increasing the accessibility of personal and professional development resources for everyone. We’re not a “one-size-fits-all” solution that will only impact a small percentage of women in the corporate world. Women from all fields, work environments, and experience levels can benefit from our platform.

Our leadership platform is unique for a few reasons:

1. Time: As a one-stop resource for self-care, Tone's content is personalized and can be consumed in minutes. Tone offers a “less is more” bite-sized content approach that’s in sharp contrast to other online content publishers that want to take away time instead of giving it back. We give working women soundbites with substance: little bites of advice that make a big difference in making her day a better one.

2. Access: With more than 1,000 videos from experienced experts, there is guaranteed content for women from any walk of life. Additionally, Tone experts are real people who women can relate to: they’re real women who “get it,” because they’ve been there too. Through the platform, women can discover new experts and expertise that otherwise may be hard to find or afford - like a nutritionist, procrastination expert, or executive coach. We’re also addressing women in early to mid-stage careers, who typically haven’t had this type of dedicated career coaching. In this market, we’ve found a surprising lack of scalable leadership development designed for these women, despite it being a huge addressable group.

3. Customization: When women join Tone, they take a short survey on topics that matter to them (like Advancing Your Career, Life and Work Balance, or Money). We tailor personalized messaging based on their responses and send them highly relevant content every few days via email, which is typically 3-5 minute strategic “How to” videos. Each video delivers concise, practical messages and includes Tone Takeaways, a quick recap of the videos to help members absorb what they learned.

4. External: Sometimes women have issues or questions they need guidance on, but don’t want to bring up with formal company HR reps, managers, or colleagues. Since we’re independent, we provide content directly from experts who can provide actionable advice on sensitive topics like dealing with difficult personalities at work, negotiating salaries, and unconscious bias in the workplace.

5. Community: Women come together here to learn and to support one another; the community is incredibly important to us. The outcome of this is that they don’t feel so alone, and at the same time have made time to invest in themselves.

And our results speak for themselves! A member survey found that 50% of Tone users say they are more engaged at work, more likely to stay at their current employer, and are more satisfied with their job, while 50% report that Tone has helped them better handle stress. 70% also believe that by offering Tone, their company is committed to helping women succeed.

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?

A big driver is our regular one-hour live streaming videos called Tone Live and Tone Talks, where experts share practical steps to help women manage specific areas of their lives. These are free and open to anyone and everyone to join, so we’re opening access to a wider range of women than ever before.

Additionally, we partner with great companies that are dedicated to women’s advancement within their organizations. Our community is inclusive of thousands of women – from banking to boutique shops, to major Fortune 500 companies like Coca-Cola, AMC Networks, and Atlanta Braves and JetBlue. 

10). What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?

 Keep going. When you reach a hurdle, it isn’t a liberty to stop the momentum. This is just another opportunity to learn and challenge yourself with problem-solving. Also, ask for help when you need it! Success is often a group effort, so be sure to lean on your mentors, supporters, and peers when you need an extra hand in tackling a challenge.

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

I’m really loving the app “Calm,” because, like everyone else, I feel stressed out sometimes, and this app is a great guide through meditation.

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

 I’m a news junkie, so I’m always turning to the many (many!) news apps on my phone and Google, of course. 

 Who is your business role model? Why?

My business role models are Chuck Dolan and Oprah Winfrey: Both are self-made visionaries and steadfast risk-takers who are incredibly generous and reinvest in what they believe in.

What is your beauty routine? What are some of your favorite products?

I have a pretty simple routine, although I love LUSH’s Big shampoo, and I splurge on Sisley moisturizer and La Mer eye cream.

How do you balance work and life? (please provide social handles with this question)

My biggest hurdle here, albeit the most important one, its boundaries. I aim to get to work and leave at the same time each day, and not let work stress follow me home. It’s impossible to completely shut out the demands of the business after work hours or on weekends, although I aim to have a few dedicated hours of screen-free time with my family and friends to help maintain that balance.

What’s your favorite way to decompress?

Self-care is one of the most important practices we can all use more of; a lot of us take care of everyone else before ourselves, although keeping mental and physical health in check is mission-critical. My favorite ways to prioritize self-care and decompress from the anxieties and stresses of everyday life are exercising and practicing mindfulness. By this, I mean to pay attention to how the content we’re consuming and conscious behaviors affect our mood. If watching certain videos and reading articles from a particular source trigger a stress response, I stay away from them. Taking a walk, doing an at-home workout or a good yoga flow are among my favorite ways to decompress through exercise.

What do you have planned for the next six months?

We’re always growing and expanding with new projects; in the short term, we’re continuing to grow our pool of experts and research areas. As we’re constantly discovering new info and data around what type of expertise and guidance women want access to, we’re continually looking for new ways to apply technological solutions to our member experience and content. Throughout the spring and summer, we’re looking to do even more Tone Talks and Tone Live events with our amazing experts to bring the content to a larger audience.

How can our readers connect with you?

Visit the website to check out some of the videos customized for different areas of learning: https://www.tonenetworks.com/. We’re also offering a free 30-day membership right now so everyone can try out Tone for a month!

Social links:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonenetworks/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ToneNetworks

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tone-networks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tonenetworks/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCarjWAb1SWrzKtoeNimOVJA/videos