How to Add Interchangeable Pockets to Your Clothes

In our Take 5 series, sponsored by Verizon, we ask women in business about unexpected challenges, their inspirations, recent wins, and how the free Verizon Small Business Digital Ready Program has helped propel their business forward. Here, we meet Therise Edwards, founder/CEO of Teshley Solutions, an education consultancy firm that helps students and families navigate the complexities of the education system K through 12.

What is an unexpected business challenge that you faced and how did you overcome it?

I wouldn't call myself a FAFSA (Free Application for Student Aid) expert, but I ended up having to know a lot more about it than I ever anticipated. FAFSA is what administers Pell Grants, which is what a lot of colleges base their financial aid on. I knew about the application changes, and some were excellent, but they made a series of critical errors and a lot of parents were scrambling. It was not my intent to have this as my area of focus; it just became a necessity.

What's a recent small win for your business?

Recent small wins are my collaborations. I formed partnerships with one organization that focuses on students with special needs. I hosted a webinar with the executive director of that organization. I formed a partnership with members from an insurance company on planning and paying for college. That was my first corporate sponsorship. And I've got a series of events coming out because others actually reached out to me. One of them I met through another networking platform, but I got to that platform from one of the sessions that I did with Verizon Small Business Digital Ready Program.

How did you start to collaborate with external partners?

Just changing my strategies and my approach, and just being more secure and more emphatic in making connections. It ends up being this continual cycle.

Is there a woman in business that you admire or that you look up to?

I have two. Leontyne Anglin, who runs a nonprofit called Beyond Expectations. She works with a small pool of students, but she just gives them enormous exposure and opportunity. She's brilliant with collaborating with individuals and businesses and really bringing the students what they need. And then the other on a bigger scale is Cate Luzio, founder and CEO of Luminary, who taught her Business Plan Bootcamp through the Verizon Small Business Digital Ready Program. She is just a dynamo. She is just so supportive of women entrepreneurs. She's awesome.

How did the Verizon Small Business Digital Ready Program help propel your business forward?

All of the collaborations and partnerships with the exception of one all came from joining the Verizon Small Business Digital Ready Program. I’ve taken all of the free classes and the one on projections and pricing, something every entrepreneur struggles with, was very helpful. There have been so many of them. Sometimes you're completely ignorant in a category so you take the class and it's like, okay, that's good to have. But then sometimes you sign up for it and it's like, oh, yeah, I did know 90 percent of that, but this other 10 percent is going to be very, very helpful.

Learn more about the free Verizon Small Business Digital Ready Program and Teshley Solutions.

Illustration by Daniela Jordan-Villaveces

In our Take 5 series, sponsored by Verizon, we ask women in business about unexpected challenges, their inspirations, recent wins, and how the free Verizon Small Business Digital Ready Program has helped propel their business forward. Here, we meet Rita Suzanne, a marketing strategist for health and wellness businesses who learned to network, connect with other entrepreneurs, and build her business online and IRL.

What's an unexpected business challenge that you've had to face and how did you overcome it?

The hardest thing for me was my sister passed away and I ended up taking custody of my nieces. I ended up being a single mom of four kids. This is the thing that transitioned my whole entire life. I stopped doing web design and started my podcast Mom Owned and Operated. I wanted to reconnect with other moms and figure out how they were able to run their businesses and raise a family and take care of themselves because I wasn't able to do all three at the same time. Through that journey, I realized that I really needed to connect with other people and how important it was for my business. It helped me to create that community that I was yearning for that I didn't realize that I needed.

What's a recent small win for your business?

For me, the win was just pivoting back to something that I actually wanted to do. Also, I’ve started to say no to things that I no longer want to do.

Who is a woman in business that you look up to and why?

I have always admired and looked up to Amy Porterfield [author of Two Weeks Notice]. I listened to her all the time when I was starting out. I think that she's amazing and I love her stuff. She just seems like a very genuine person.

Is there a resource that has made an impact on you as an entrepreneur?

I listen to a lot of audio books. One of my favorites that has been huge for me is You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero. I was told when I first started my business, by a friend who was a business coach, that I have a mindset problem. Ten years ago, I had no idea even what “mindset” was. Sincero’s book helped me to see what she meant by “mindset” and helped me adjust that mindset and fix some of the things that I didn't realize were broken.

How has the Verizon Small Business Digital Ready Program helped propel your business forward?

There are a lot of things that I have loved about it. There are local networking and training opportunities, and that has been great, and the online training is very valuable. It's a great resource. I find that marketing needs a three-tiered approach, meaning you need to network it locally, socially, and then also have a very comprehensive online approach to your marketing. One of the Verizon Small Business trainings that I took was all about taking advantage of your local resources. I found that to be extremely valuable because often people think they need to just focus on social media. I don't think that people focus enough on their local community.

Learn more about the free Verizon Small Business Digital Ready Program and Rita Suzanne.

Illustration by Daniela Jordan-Villaveces

Thanks to Challengers and The Watchers, 2024 has definitely been a year of shocking movies (and shockingly good movies), and that trend is going to continue thanks to Verity & Colleen Hoover. While It Ends With Us might be the most popular Colleen Hoover book, Verity is arguably the craziest, and The Hollywood Reporter just confirmed that a movie is officially in development! And the best news yet? The film will be led by Anne Hathaway. I was so excited when I found out, I literally just send "WHAT" over and over in our work group chat.

While we wait for more Verity movie news, browse the Colleen Hoover merch you can wear to opening night ;).

Keep reading for the latest news on Colleen Hoover's Verity movie, starring Anne Hathaway!

Who's in the Verity cast?

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Verity Movie Cast

On November 20, we got our first piece of Verity movie news: Anne Hathaway will star as Verity in the movie! Considering It Ends With Us stars beloved actors like Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, and Jenny Slate, I'm not surprised Verity is led by such a powerhouse.

Popular fancasts for Verity include You's Victoria Pedretti or The White Lotus' Alexandra Diddario as Lowen and Shia LaBeouf or Theo James as Jeremy. Without a doubt, the cast of Verity needs to be warm and welcoming at first glance, but also have an unexpected edge that reveals itself as we move through the story.

One Reddit user points out that the characters need to offer "just toxicity but also feigned innocence," and each of these actors do exactly that, which makes them incredible picks for the movie.

When is the Verity movie coming out?

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Verity Movie Release Date

We don't have an official release date for the movie quite yet. Colleen Hoover self-published Verity in 2018, and in 2021, the book was acquired by Grand Central Publishing. It sold more than one million copies in 2023, and has more than 340 thousand Amazon ratings and over two million Goodreads ratings. Talk about a hit!

What is Verity about?

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Verity Plot

In Verity by Colleen Hoover, Lowen Ashleigh is a writer struggling to make ends meet. That is, until she's offered the job of a lifetime by Jeremy, husband to the ultimate it-girl author, Verity Crawford. The thriller writer is no longer able to finish the remaining books in her series, and Jeremy wants Lowen to pick up where she left off. While Lowen is over the moon to step in (both into the job and their huge family estate), a secret manuscript and family secrets lead Lowen to realize Verity's hiding a lot more than she's letting on. B+C editor Haley Sprankle says this is one of the craziest books she's ever read, and I know this is definitely going to be one of the craziest movies we've seen!

Is there a movie about the book Verity?

Amazon

Yes, a movie based on Colleen Hoover's Verity is officially on the way! The movie's in development at Amazon MGM Studios (the studio behind Florence Pugh's A Good Person and Zendaya's Challengers). Hillary Seitz is currently writing the script for the film, and Eat the Cat's Nick Antosca and Alex Hedlund are producing.

What movie is similar to the book Verity?

Lionsgate

If you love thriller books like Verity, then I'd recommend checking out other relationship-centric thrillers like Gone Girl, Rebecca, and A Simple Favor. For period drama fans, I cannot recommend Will Poulter and Lucy Boynton's Why Didn't They Ask Evans enough!

Follow us on TikTok and YouTube for the latest entertainment updates, and check back here for new info on Verity & Colleen Hoover's other books! Read up on the latest Regretting You Movie News while you're at it!

This post has been updated.