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After a full day of assisting a coach training program I hopped the subway to my hotel, made a quick wardrobe change and took another subway to NYU where I was hosting a table for Women In Communications (WICI) at their Night of the Coaches. This was a brilliantly conceived event where coaches were showcased to members and guests of WICI.
The format was roundtable discussions (10 altogether) facilitated by coaches on subjects ranging from Crafting a Rock Star Pitch for Cover Letter and Interviews, to Negotiating in a Tough Economy and Building Your Freelance Career (my table). There were 10 women at each table, plus the coach and about 45 minutes to tackle the subject. I shared several tools and strategies for building a freelance business and opened the discussion to those in attendance.
“Show, don’t tell” has become a favorite phrase for me. I can talk till I’m blue in the face about the value of coaching and get continuous blank stares. But, last night, when I paused the group as one participant lit about about copy editing, they all witnessed what happens when you are truly in your passion. This woman had asked about getting started doing freelance writing work. When I asked a question about what she liked about writing, she said, “I love helping my friends write essays for applications and making sure they’re letter-perfect [I'm paraphrasing.].” I suggested that she trust that pleasure and hang out her shingle, for now, in that capacity. “Trust that doing that will lead you to your next opportunity.”
At my very first craft show, exhibiting my decorated eggs, a woman from Bloomingdale’s approached me–because I was there–and invited me to conduct a demonstration and workshop at the store. When you show up with your passion and make yourself available to opportunity, it comes knocking. Your job is to take action.
Two magnificent women business owners were featured at EWN’s Grand Networking Event on Monday night, and I was lucky enough to be among the 150+ women who got to hear them.
Carolyn, best known as Donald Trump’s right-hand woman from The Apprentice, spoke during the private cocktail hour. She’s launching her own entrepreneurial enterprise and shared her revelation as to how challenging it is to be in business for yourself, even with her background and credentials.
Of course she also shared juicy tidbits about working with The Donald, but was gracious enough to pretend (wink-wink) that it was the first time anyone had asked that question. No surprises. Just that she likes her Blackberry much more now that she’s her own boss.
Kelly Flatley is the founder and creator of Bear Naked, the granola company that was sold to Kellogg 18 months ago for $23+ million dollars. Kelly is 30. Her story is inspiring, generous and humble. I love what she stands for and what she’s created. She spoke between courses and had the roomful of women business owners enthralled with the simplicity of her message and key points.
What were my take-aways from the night?
- Carolyn saying entrepeneurship was HARD. It is, and it’s nice to hear someone with celebrity status acknowledging that.
- Kelly talked about picking the culture you want to create. She said she wanted to greet people at her company with high five’s rather than handshakes. It reminds me that my culture embraces authenticity and passion, not seven figures and stress.
- Being with the energy of all these great women carries me for days.
- I’m in good company.
I’d love to hear what other attendees thought.
My first offering of Transformation through Transition ended Monday with successes and hugs. Six women began the process a month ago by sharing where they were in their lives/businesses with almost-strangers. Two women who already knew each other had the seed of an idea to work together. Others were looking for direction, wanting to slow down or speed up and/or gain clarity on what was next.
They established support systems, set goals and took major actions like setting up appointments to look at property overseas and setting dates for workshops.
Accountability works! By the second session the energy level in our conference room could have lifted the entire building. I wanted to share the some of the final thoughts that were expressed in appreciation to the group and the process:
- “It was doing, not stewing.”
- “This process helps me to remember that it’s up to me.”
- “I felt nurtured. Your ideas matter. Moving forward is better. It makes me happy to be on this earth.”
- “I needed to hear it was okay to not be doing; to stop doing and just be.”
I’ve just listed a new set of dates for late spring, early summer transitioners. If there’s something you want to get a leg up on, join one of our sessions and don’t stew. Stir the pot instead.
A frequently asked question among my clients is, “I set a goal to:
- Earn $10,000 per month
- Get 5 new clients
- Start a new business
But I only:
- Earned $2500 this month
- Met 30 people, two of whom are prospects
- Enrolled in the WBDC Fast Track program
“Did I fail?”
Even as I write this I can see you shaking your head along with me. No! Success is a journey. What I do with my clients is get them into the pond they want to swim in. Where would you have been without that committed goal? What turned up as a result of moving towards your desired income? How are you feeling, energetically, on this path?
I’ll never forget hearing Mark Victor Hansen at a National Speakers Association talk back in 1997, way before Chicken Soup for the Soul was a household name. He told us that he and Jack Canfield set a goal to sell one million books. But that year they only sold 800,000. Was that a failure? Same concept, bigger numbers.
Anything you do on behalf of your goal is a success. You can see that Hansen was clearly on target for achieving his goal. Sometimes all you need to do is push the end date out a little further. Like the parent having a young child swim towards him/her. “Come on,” she says stepping back a foot. “Just a little further.”
The better question is, are you in the water and moving forward?
My fabulous Monday Transformation through Transition group met this week. I gave two participants, who are considering going into business together, the assignment to form a Partnership Alliance.
This is a tool I learned from my organization/relationship coaching course. It’s a powerful agreement between partners that encourages discussion about how they want to operate as a relationship–something business owners rarely talk about. It’s usually all about the business, yet the partnership’s health and well-being is vital to the business’ success.
I recommended several of my class colleagues to these two women. They’re all terrific choices, so I was curious who they would decide on.
“We chose the one who had a website.”
Goes to show you that marketing + competence trumps all.
After a Compo Beach walk Sunday morning with a coaching colleague who was struggling to define her perfect client, I saw this florescent tag sale sign en route home. It immediately grabbed my attention.
It was bold, it said what it was offering and pointed where to turn. (The arrow beneath the words is hard to see in this image, but it’s there.)
I’m not in the market for tag-saling, but noticed the offer anyway. It stood out, even if it wasn’t professionally done. The route was clear. Looking for metaphors as I often do, I took it as a sign (ha ha) illustrating what my friend needed: crystal clarity–two words stating “what”, an attention-getting device–the florescent color, and a call to action–the arrow.
Then I thought about how I go about getting attention. Tonight is a perfect example. I’ll be speaking at Trinity Episcopal Church in Southport addressing a combination of their Men’s and Transitions Groups. As the keynote speaker I will stand alone for all attendees to see. I’ll make sure my message is clear and will have a directon to offer those looking for my brand of service.
I’m curious how you’re florescing…
I walked the EWN Expo Monday night and felt the supercharged energy of the room as I strolled from vendor to vendor. The hotel meeting area was populated by women I’ve known, coached and socialized with, but this night was different. Here they were with their businesses on display and it was stunningly vibrant.
Pictured above is Catherine Avery who heard my 21 Results Driven Strategies talk for ASID (aka Things I’d Wished I’d Known When I Started My Business) last spring and subsequently enrolled in my Mastermind Group. There she stood with her freshly minted portfolio, website and marketing materials showing her design work off to its best advantage. Catherine is the perfect blend of talent, motivation and action. She looked beautiful that night, professional and calm.
I know the days and weeks it takes to create the pulled-together look Catherine presented. It’s getting the photographer lined up only after you’ve already created the breath-taking room design down to the last detail of perfection. It’s coming up with the budget, scheduling around your client’s hectic life to come in and disrupt their serenity for a day to create your marketing materials. Not to mention lining up Grandma and Grandpa to watch your 4-year old while you run out to buy the final tassel for the drawer pull. (Substitute your own punch list and you get the picture.)
All of that! Then, on Monday night, Catherine was the total pro, relaxed and eager to share her business expertise. So were all of the other magnificent women who had their work on display. Something happens when you visibly quantify your expertise for the world to see. The business owner gets transformed in the process and it’s magical.
I’ve worked with Arlyn over the course of a few different Mastermind Groups and have seen an evolution and unfolding of her imagination and skills that reinforces why I do this work. I’m not sure if everyone has the 20-20 vision to see the artist inside the corporate headhunter, but I am blessed with that talent.
Fortunately, Arlyn gave me the opportunity to challenge her creativity. I’ll never forget her surprised, awed and excited reaction to an early homework assignment: Come to our next session with 100 swatches of knitting patterns you’ve created. It unleashed her inner artist, took away any judgment about her work since volume was the desired outcome, and put her into action mode, something she’d been resisting. You know, that analysis paralysis thing.
Arlyn was wearing this same cool knitted scarf as seen above and in the video (click on her name to see Arlyn live) when I remember her telling me she was having growing pains in her business. She wondered when they would end. “When you stop growing,” I reassured her.
Oftentimes, my favorite client stories are about converts.
Such is the case with Sue O’Halloran who attended one of my Mastermind Group series last spring. Sue has a huge vision for helping women toward preventive health care. This undertaking involves an enormous demographic, could potentially serve women around the world and will involve partnering with hospitals, corporations and possibly governments. Big thinkers like Sue don’t always savor the mundane elements of these big equations.
But I knew in my heart that in order for Sue to begin selling this concept to hospitals and corporations she’d need to demo a pilot program and watch sample audiences try out her materials. At my party in January she referred to the friendly battle of resistance (hers) and persistence (mine) we went through before she committed to do the workshop. Click here to view Sue’s willingness to take this step in the process.
I can’t tell you how tickled I was to receive Sue’s beautiful invitation this week to attend her first public “Here’s to Life” Workshop being offered at Noelle: Spa for Beauty and Wellness (my favorite!)–a perfect partner for this program. Check it out and sign up. (Scroll down for Sue’s event.)
Remember this look? Different than my current one as reflected on this page.
Three years ago I began the process of re-branding my business from Jane, The Artist/Jane, The Speaker to my current platform: Leading Remarkable Women to Uncommon Success.
Shortly after I finalized the branding process with Dick Bruso of Heard Above the Noise in Colorado, I began the trademarking process. In order to protect my new tagline I hired a company in White Plains called Trademarks To Go. Last week I received the official document, via TTG, from the US Patent and Trademark Office informing me that I’ve been accepted.
It’s not quite the thrill that getting into college was… but more a sense of ahhhhh. I don’t have to worry about that piece anymore. This means that I have trademarked the right to use that collection of words–leading remarkable women to uncommon success–for my workshops, website, educational materials and other products I create and that nobody else can.
I’ll admit that when we first came up with the descriptor I had to keep looking at my business card during my 30-second self-intro to remember what I was claiming. Now, however, I have grown into that woman. I love the look on prospect’s faces when I say what I do.
Like Trademarks To Go, you know what you’re going to get when you work with me–your own definition of success.
