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I filled out a survey today asking me why I attended the ICF-CT meeting last Friday. Good question. The speaker sounded knowledgeable. This particular meeting was in Norwalk vs. Cromwell, CT (a good hour plus ride for me). I wanted to see some acquaintances I hadn’t seen in awhile. And, having been tethered to my computer for the last several weeks organizing and finalizing my webinar modules, going out and networking was the biggest draw. I wasn’t disappointed.
Margaret Ruff has been enrolled in my webinar since November. She also attended the ICF-CT meeting on Friday. If “Bumping into Margaret Ruff” had been one of the multiple choice answers on the survey, I would have selected it. She excitedly expounded to me everything she had experienced in our few months of intensive classes. It gave me goosebumps to hear her enthusiasm and clarity.
Margaret, and her colleague Janis Bowersox, are offering a workshop next week called Immunity to Change. I have actually registered for the 3-day course in Cambridge to be given by the founders of that program this spring. But both Janis and Margaret have encouraged me to attend their 4-hour version to get my feet wet. They, too, learned it from the authors, and both agreed that attending their offering would enhance my experience in April.
There are two spaces still available on the morning of Friday, February 10 (9:30am – 1:30pm) if you’d like to be in our small group experience. The cost is $30. Please let me know if you’re interested, and I’ll pass on your information to Janis and Margaret.
Margaret, a Certified Immunity to Change™ Coach, envisions bringing this program to leaders worldwide. In her words my “webinar offered the structure, details, know how, and activities so that I could come away with the tools I needed for my business development plans.”
I’m thrilled that as a result of my classes, she’s bringing her enormous talent and expertise public. If you can’t make it next week, check out Margaret’s future offers.
My marketing director took me out to lunch yesterday for a planning session.
How cool does that sound?
I’ve been working with this woman-owned company for over a year now. They specialize in helping other women-owned businesses get the word out about their enterprise via social media, events, web development and other campaigns. I attribute her expertise with my growing revenues.
This was our second annual working lunch meeting, her treat. After a delicious soup and salad at Bloodroot (I got to pick the venue), she handed me an agenda with 10 items which she then reviewed point by point.
Each agenda item was something that we had talked about during the course of the year. I was amazed that she had captured them all and was helping me to re-visit them individually. Whenever I hear a great idea, I shoot it off to her via email. Taking them one by one a few weeks or months after the original inspiration affords me the opportunity to reconsider them in the stark light of day versus the excitement of the moment.
During our one hour meeting we covered everything we’ll be sure to do in 2012: promote my webinars, Remarkable Women’s Network events, launch my new website, build my lists, send direct mail campaigns and sponsor another client appreciation event–a highlight of 2011.
Would I have done these things on my own? Not likely.
The benefit to having a paid professional is participating in a best practice experience like this. Every business owner would benefit from an annual review, but how many actually take the time to sit down and make a plan?
I’m grateful to my marketing company for modeling this practice and helping me grow my business by partnering with her.
I met with a group of women business owners recently, where one participant whom I know and adore, shared a challenge about how crazy-busy she is. She felt frantic and incapable of prioritizing. The proverbial fires were all burning equally in her arena. Taking time to deal with one over here could cause a huge conflagration over there.
I could feel my stomach begin to get knotted up.
And then I realized that I didn’t have to fix this for her, nor do I believe she desired a solution. She wanted to vent, to be acknowledged, understood and appreciated. Don’t we all?
I asked her permission to share an observation, which she welcomed. “I’ve known you a good 20 years, Barbie (not her real name).”
She immediately interjected, “And I’ve been complaining about this issue all along, haven’t I?”
I nodded. “What I get about you is that this is how you thrive. You’ve been wildly successful in this competitive and male-dominated industry you’re in. You’ve always made your deadlines, and you actually seem to thrive on the chaos of it. Why not re-frame your attitude about the situation and enjoy the ride? Instead of beating yourself up for not being better organized, how about some new and different self-talk? Try saying, ‘I’m really good at dealing with a million balls in the air. I always pull off these presentations. All nighters are the price of admission in this field. And I love it!’”
I wasn’t sure what kind of reaction I would get from that piece of truth-telling and coaching, but Barbie’s face went from drawn to relieved. She felt heard and understood and didn’t have to change a thing about her work method, except her attitude about it.
When I emailed her this morning to ask her permission to share the incident, this was her reply:
You certainly may blog about it!! I can’t tell you how great it was to hear your words!!
On my drive from Tucson, where the retreat was held en route to the airport in Phoenix, I saw a spectacular rainbow–in Arizona! Over the desert. Not what you’d expect. That pretty much sums up my fabulous experience at Miraval with 100+ MORE readers plus the magazine’s editorial staff and publisher. To say it exceeded my expectations would be an understatement.
The facility is magnificent–a resort built at the base of the Santa Catalina Mountains–with lavish accommodations and multiple athletic, spa and spiritual offerings to please any patron. But the true value of my experience began during the Meet the Editors welcome the first evening there. I sat in the front row and was immediately extended a warm welcome by the woman seated to my right, Natalie Caine. 
Within two minutes it was clear that I was in the right place. I’m going to speak at Rancho La Puerta next month, and Natalie had just returned from her own speaking engagement there. Now, really. What are the chances of that serendipitous alignment of stars?! We became fast friends and had breakfast together daily.
The highlight of Day 2 was participating in the Equine Experience where I was well instructed on how to groom a horse including getting him to lift his hooves for me to clean. After that I was taught how to have my horse go from a walk to a trot and change directions in the ring simply by directing my energy core towards his and setting my intention. I’ve got the pictures to prove that I was able to accomplish this amazing feat. Amazing to me, anyway.
Throughout these experiences and meals I kept meeting remarkable women from all over the US. Conversations were spontaneous and quickly intimate, which I loved.
When I got back to the ‘main campus’ after the horse experience, one of the women I’d met in that group spotted a jeweler, Marybeth Johnson, she’d previously encountered who was exhibiting her work in the Miraval shop.
I was immediately drawn not only to the beauty and spirituality of this woman’s pieces, but also to her gentle and loving energy. We had a couple of wonderful conversations, as I had already walked the path she was currently on and could lend some thoughts and advice for her journey. She was a receptive audience, and we became fast friends.
My original intention for going to this long weekend event was to meet Barbara Bigford whom I’d written about after she’d been featured in MORE. Her story is truly inspirational, and what I admired most about Barbara, who shared her story at lunch on Friday–”From Idea to Barcode”– is her willingness to go to any lengths for her business in a low-key, tenacious and graceful way. She shared her wild success, but also her steep learning curve and mistakes made along the way. Employed as a dental hygienist before becoming a business mogul, you can imagine how inspiring her story was.
The day after her talk, Barbara and I met up for a morning walk and talk about retirement co-sponsored by MORE and Wells Fargo. We hiked the grounds of the resort, then assembled by a bonfire 
to hear about financial planning and share our concerns with the Deputy Editor of MORE whose focus is personal finance and work–Jennifer Braunschweiger.
I could go on… It was filling, inspiring, nurturing, fun and important. Join me next year!
I’m thrilled to report that my first free webinar last week attracted over 50 participants and that every space available for my upcoming program sold.
In my own business and the businesses of my colleagues, and what I see in the world at large, we must keep trying out different offerings and seeing what works.
We’re throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks. Boiling that water. Dropping in the pasta. Tossing it at the wall. Noticing what happens, then rinsing and repeating. This is the new normal.
When money was more plentiful, there were resources to try everything. But now, everyone is more conservative, so businesses are out there looking for the sweet spot for their audience.
Groupon is an example. A woman in the business-building course I took last spring offered her services at a fraction of their cost using that method. She got dozens of takers to try out her feng shui talents. Whether or not they ‘stuck’ as real clients at full fee was yet to be seen.
My son told me that Bonobos, a retail clothing site he loves, offers deals on twitter for limited time periods.
My sponsors for last week’s lunch talk experimented in their contract with me so that the risk was divided up amongst all of us. It paid off, and we all walked away satisfied. This is an era of experimentation, re-creation and re-defining success.
I’m still offering 1:1 coaching, Mastermind Groups, my Remarkable Women’s Network events and speaking engagements. Using the metaphor of the slot machine, these are coming up with two dollar signs and a cherry. The results of my first webinar offer created the ding-ding-ding jackpot I’d been striving for. I’ll continue to have the other pieces of my business model, but my attention will be on expanding the webinar classes in the near future.
…will be a future Nobel Peace Prize winner! Yes! At my Come As You’ll Be event I will be host to the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize recipient. Currently, she is a client of mine whose passion is leading mission trips to third world countries. She’s been to Haiti several times since the devastating earthquake there and has helped serve the population in need of medical attention. That’s what she does on her vacation.
For work she arranges home health care providers for the ill and elderly. She’s in her 10th year of running this successful business. When we were discussing her goals for the next few years, she mentioned how much she’d like to increase her level of service in the world. She plans to run at least two mission trips per year organizing a crew of doctors and nurses to bring with her on these ventures.
She’ll be attending my event next week, but was coming up empty on what amazing thing could happen in five years that would be fun to dress up as or use as a prop. I suggested that she was deserving of major recognition. Her business is financially successful. Money is not her primary motivator. When I broached the subject of the Nobel Prize, she burst out laughing, but there was also an audible gasp at the possibility.
What would make you laugh and gasp at the same time when you think about your future? Is it an award or other form of recognition? A publication? A degree? An amazing client? My final Remarkable Women’s Network event of 2011 is your opportunity to dream big and Come As You’ll Be.
Want to meet a future Nobel Prize winner, or come as one? There are 5 spaces left. Join us!
I’ve got three great offerings coming up this fall, and I’m really excited to share them here first.
My final Remarkable Women’s Network event for 2011 is Wednesday, October 5 from 5:30-7:30pm at Troy Fine Art in Southport, CT. The focus that evening is Come As You’ll Be. At past goal-setting retreats I’ve run, this themed party concept was the Saturday night highlight of the weekend. Guests are asked to dress, speak and think five years out.
What success would you love to live into for Fall, 2016? Dress up as the best-selling author, award-winning designer, fabulously wealthy business owner, etc. The paparazzi will be on hand to capture the moment. You’ll meet 30 other remarkably successful women and find out how they achieved their goals. I promise, it will be the most fun you’ve had in months.
I’m also rolling out a new concept in Mastermind Groups at a special lunch event on Friday, October 14 in the Club Room at 597 Westport Avenue, Norwalk. You’ll not only meet two dozen other women who want to grow their businesses, but you’ll have the opportunity to get feedback, motivation and inspired accountability.
What do I mean by inspired accountability? When I hear a woman business owner commit to taking a huge step forward on her own behalf, I get inspired. When I hear a dozen women stake their claim and set a date by which they will research, call, announce or commit to the next growth adventure in their businesses, I’m blown away. That’s what October 14th will be about. Stay tuned for the details via my newsletter, but save the date for my kick-off lunch event.
My third offer coming up this fall is a brand new webinar series on how to become a Soul Proprietor. I’m really excited to be making my own offer after studying with a group all summer on the best way to create and present a program like this. I’ll be starting with a free webinar in a month so you can try out the medium and see if you like it. What I love about this opportunity is that over the years I’ve heard from so many of you outside the tri-state area–like the Pacific Northwest, Singapore and Moldavia. I’d love to get YOU on the line for these sessions. Watch for the details!
I hope I’ll see you this fall at my Remarkable Women’s Network event Wednesday, October 5, my Mastermind Groups lunch launch on Friday, October 14 and/or on my upcoming late October free webinar class.
It amazes me how my energy shifts from Labor Day Monday to back-to-work/school Tuesday. The last week of August and the days before the holiday weekend crawl. And then BOOM! It’s business as usual, as though nothing has ever been other than business as usual.
I’ve been contemplating where to put my focus this fall. Two Mastermind Groups that were on the calendar are now off. I have a few 1:1 client spots open. My next Remarkable Women’s Network event is filling nicely, and I’m grateful for that. I have several speaking engagements lined up which I look forward to.
But my focus is going to be on something different.
I received an email newsletter from Ken Nelson who asked: Do you Google all of your deepest questions? I laughed out loud, then read a terrific piece which quotes him regarding mindfulness in this age of technology:
The mindfulness tools Ken teaches at Kripalu can be used in any circumstance, time, and place. “Whether you’re driving, in front of a computer, or on the phone, you can practice being present, and cultivate a capacity for conscious witnessing,” he says. “It’s about allowing sensations, thoughts, and feelings to arise inside of awareness, and noticing that everything is a movement inside of awareness.”
The process he teaches involves five steps that are at the heart of the Kripalu methodology: breathe, relax, feel, watch, allow. “Our capacity to experience awareness can grow any time we notice that everything is moving: The breath is moving and changing, thoughts and feelings are moving and changing,” he says. “But awareness itself doesn’t change. When you notice in the foreground that everything is changing, and you begin to identify less with that foreground and more with the background, you can see yourself inside of an ocean of awareness. And you can bring a natural capacity for kindness and compassion into your relationship with whatever’s happening in the foreground.”
Yesterday I had a session with my coach, Michele, then read a shamanic newsletter she sent me this morning. Both of these newsletters, Ken’s and the one Michele sent, and my conversation with her led me to my own inner wisdom and the answer to the question I ask as the subject of this blog–What are you majoring in this semester?
I’m going to major in ALLOWING this semester. If you don’t know what I mean by that, you probably haven’t even read this far into the posting. I can’t put it any better than this paragraph from the second newsletter I read:
This is more of a “being” month than a “doing” month. Certainly you may have energy to put into tasks and projects but the motivation and support for their accomplishment comes from a place of being rather than a place of doing and effort. Because of the unpredictability of the times, things may manifest in very unusual ways if you allow them to. This requires putting your fixed ideas about how it should be done aside so that something new can emerge. It is a good month to revisit all of your intentions and determine whether you have enough flexibility to allow a new way of manifesting.
For me, the summer is a quiet time. The phone doesn’t ring as much, the speaking invitations become fewer and far between and my regular networking events are on hiatus until the fall.
Over the years, I have come to enjoy and treasure this quiet time.
I re-evaluate the business goals I set for myself in January, tackle projects that have yet to be completed and spend time on my own professional development.
As part of my own goal to become more comfortable with social media, I am holding my second social media contest. One of my social media followers/fans will be given an opportunity to coach with me this summer – for FREE!
- If you are a Facebook Fan, post one business goal that you plan to achieve this summer on my wall.
- And if you are on Twitter, Tweet your goal! Just be sure to mention me (@JanePollak) and use the hash tag #GetSocialwithJanePollak in your Tweet.
This month’s contest will open at Noon on Monday, June 20 and will close at Midnight on Friday, June 24.
Everyone who responds will be entered into a drawing to receive a FREE, 30-minute coaching session (conducted via phone) this summer.
I will announce the winner on Monday, June 27 at Noon, via Facebook and Twitter. I can’t wait to read your summer goals – I’m sure they will inspire and motivate me!
When we first met many years ago, Kim’s children were small and in school, but even then she held a vision in her heart, and it was huge. There were a lot of nay-sayers in her midst (“You could never do that here!” types), but Kim began building her community right where she was. At first she invited women into her home for spirited dinners and discussions. She led groups on tours to her native New Zealand and taught yoga postures to tots.
Back then she and I mapped out a plan, talked about real estate availability and always kept in mind Kim’s bigger picture contribution to Fairfield County–creating a place where people can gather and have fun. She continued to develop her vision step-by-step and opened up a seasonal kayaking shop in downtown Rowayton a few years later.
I watched Kim’s progress via e-newsletters, signs about town and at networking events. Last year she made the commitment to open a year-round kayaking, SUP (stand up paddle board) and surf shop in Westport. No small feat! Kim’s vision carried her through as she dealt with bankers, marketing and PR companies, graphic designers, merchandisers, store managers, guides for her tours, website developers and social media strategists.
She confronted challenge after challenge from financial and business planning, zoning regulations and keeping up employee morale during this long, dark winter. Throughout, Kim made sure she took time to care for herself, the golden goose, so that as the leader of this enterprise, she was continuously coming from a place of great strength and courage, which she did.
Last night was the party for friends and family. I’m honored to be standing in the Westport DownUnder Kayaking store next to Kim in this photo where she’s also surrounded by her sister and daughter. It takes a team of good men and women, and Kim has carefully selected with whom to surround herself. She has an extraordinary staff and devoted followers.
I plan to go kayaking at DownUnder over the holiday weekend because fun is definitely on my agenda. Hope to see you there, Mates.
