Posts Tagged "clients"

Fearlessness

Posted by LisaYoung in Big Ideas, Faith |

Sitting in a client meeting, something was said that made me cock my head like the dog in the old RCA Victor ads.

“I used to be like you.”

Of course, the thoughts that ran through my head were many. In what way was that meant? How is it my client was once like me? In what way?

I didn’t want to interrupt the train of thought, but that notion kept kicking at the back of my head.

So finally, as the conversation lulled, I brought my client back to the statement.

“What did you mean by ‘I used to be like you’?” I asked, in my best non-threatening tone of voice.

“Fearless.” was the reply. There was more to it than that, but that word really stuck in my head.

Me? Fearless?

Surely you jest. You certainly don’t know me very well.

So I put out a tweet. And one of my colleagues was quick to point out that she, too, thinks I’m fearless. Her definition, though, gave me a bit more peace. She said that I “feel the fear and do it anyway”, which to me, is not the same thing. But I understood where she was coming from.

Once again, definitions make a difference.

My comment back to her was that I am a “walking steamer trunk o’ fear”. And in that statement, a flurry of replies and DM’s made me feel as if some ancient mystery had been revealed.

When things are going well for me, my brain whirs with all the proactive “what if’s” that allow me to predict, plan and adapt my business to the changing landscape around me. When things aren’t going well, I’m looking for solutions to improve the situation, turn the tide in my business, and bring myself to a new level of excellence.

That’s a fancy way of saying my brain is always spinning with ideas – when things are going well or not. A lot of that activity is because I know that if I slow down for just a single second, fear will grip me, root me to the spot, and pull me into the earth like some bad horror flick.

I wake up in the morning full of doubts, worries, anxieties and fears. Most of them are drowned out by the other noises in my head or my extra long to-do list that I create just to distract my head. I get a lot accomplished, because I’m afraid to sit still. Afraid life will pass me by.

Afraid, afraid, afraid. It’s like a rope tightly wound around my neck.

Funny thing about saying a word over and over again – it starts to lose it’s meaning. The letters start to stand alone, and the sounds blur together.

I was raised with the notion that if you want something done, and done well, you’ve got to do it yourself. Delegation has been a huge obstacle for me. Afraid I wouldn’t get things out on time, afraid projects wouldn’t be done to my standards, etc. I decided to get help. Now, I have a great team of people (that’s growing) to support me as we grow this business.

Afraid, afraid, a-frayed.

I was told that if I wanted to make something happen in the world, I couldn’t sit idly by – I had to go out and take action on things. So I emailed, tweeted, and connected with people I thought would be good people to know. I was afraid they’d make fun of me, afraid they’d ignore me, if I just approached them blindly. So I hired them, worked with them, promoted them, and in return, they’ve become amazing people to know – and great resources for my own business.

Afraid, a-frayed, a-frayed.

I was told that I could be anything I wanted to be, if I truly wanted to make it happen. So I did what my Momma told me, and started shaping my life to my own standard. I was afraid it wouldn’t work out, that things would fall apart, and that my life would be a freaking huge disaster. It’s a work in progress, admittedly. Considering the alternative, I am pleased with my direction. Yes, I face setbacks, and things don’t always go the way I planned, but more often than not, they do – or something better appears. Something that I never even DREAMED for myself just steps into my field of view. And I see a new goal on the horizon that looks delicious and keeps me in hot pursuit. In fact, I’ve pretty much realized that with enough faith and tenacity, anything is possible.

A-frayed, a-frayed, a-frayed.

And when the rope’s all frayed, it isn’t very strong.

I’ve learned in the past year, that the biggest obstacle between where I want my life to be, and where I am presently, are the beliefs and values that I hold for myself. More to the point, it’s the beliefs and values I hold for myself that are out of alignment with -or disconnected from – the image of who I really want to be in the world.

And it’s fear that stands in the gap.

Fear is an emotional response that has it’s own rules of logic. When I figured that out, it became relatively easy (and difficult) to overcome some of those fears. It takes time, and lots of ammunition, but it’s possible.

That doesn’t make me fearless, unless you mean to say I have less fear now than I did before. There are still things I’m not ready to face in my life. Things I’m putting off for another day. I like to tackle the low-hanging fruit first. The funny thing is that just by tackling the low hanging fruit, I’ve made tremendous leaps in my business in the past two years.

What is your low-hanging fear? What’s one of the seemingly small fears that seizes you up from time to time? What can you do to take the emotion out of that fear and slowly chip away at it until you have a belief that matches the person you want to be in the world?

Take that step. However small or insignificant it may seem. Take it.

Along the highway, there’s a tree growing out of a rock out in the arid Intermountain West – where the old railway lines used to run. The story I was told goes like this:

A train engineer was chugging along and saw this sapling sprout in the rock. Each time he passed the rock he would water the sapling. Eventually, other engineers would shower water on the rock as they passed. Over time, that sapling sent out deep roots, split the rock enough that it could survive, and now, a full grown, albeit twisted and weatherbeaten, tree grows out of this boulder.

The tree is either your fear or your faith. The rock is either your faith or your fear. It all depends on your perception.

Old Skeletons Die Hard

Posted by LisaYoung in Faith |

Saturday, I was blessed to spend some time with some amazing folks at a cocktail networking party that doubled as a business launch party for my clients, Rhonda & Juliet, over at Young and Stephens Design. Several of my other clients were there, and a great time was had by all. If you’re ever in the market for full spectrum event planning services (weddings, interior design, fashion shows, you name it), these women have it covered. They’re true Renaissance Moms as well – more on that in another post.

Today’s post, however, deals with what happened AFTER the party. In true form, several of us went out after the networking party to a local club for some dancing, karaoke (how could I refuse?) and general social revelry. The night went swimmingly until he walked in.

A few years back, I was working as a financial advisor, when the company made some changes. One of the changes included shutting down our office. As advisors, we had to choose to leave the company or to strike out on our own as independent advisors. In order to be independents we had to align with a broker. It just so happened that one of the other advisors in the office had his broker credentials, so we were able to align as part of his team.

Then my paycheck bounced. Not once, but twice. This joker made good on he first check, but he bounced everyone’s check the second time around.

Got me once, shame on you. Got me twice? Shame on me. Some of the other advisors were “got” several times before they could align with a new broker, or quit the business completely.

We tried hnting this guy down using legal channels, old addresses. He was slippery enough that the State Wage and Hour Division couldn’t locate him. Thousands of dollars in payroll were left unpaid. Several of my colleagues ended up tapping family savings to survive until they could align with a new broker or find a different job.

I was not one of the lucky ones. I think you can figure out that I was doing all I could, living paycheck to paycheck at that time. I was a single mom then, with no man to fall back on, negligible family support and doing everything I could think of to make ends meet. Plus, I had just graduated college, so I had a healthy student loan debt to deal with along with my mortgage, car payment, etc.

There was no savings. There was only me. And we nearly lost everything.

I had bounced so many checks my bank closed my account. He never did make good on any of it. He couldn’t be found. Instead, I ended up meeting a very nice guy who helped me take my mind off that problem and focus on moving forward. I eventually found a new job, and that very nice guy moved in with me, eventually married me, and bought my house from me so we wouldn’t lose it.

Yeah, there’s a story there, too, but not for today.

So in the intervening years, I’ve kind of forgotten about this joker that destroyed me financially. I really didn’t have that much to lose in the first place, so it was even more shocking to me that I was feeling all this rage when I saw him across a crowded bar room.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that this is the very bar where He dropped over $500 in drinks on pretty girls the day my paycheck bounced. I didn’t go to this bar much because of that, but I figured, hey, my friends are going, and that’s ancient history, right?

And in walks this skeleton from my past.

OH! The rage. My dancing got quite violent at one point. Fists, stomping, and whatnot. He was within striking distance a couple of times because I had a couple of very beautiful friends with me that night who are also great dancers. You could tell that this sad, sorry, old man really wanted to be a part of the happening youngsters. That’s funny to me because I just turned 35 and here’s this old dude still trying to mix with the ‘young ladies’.

One of my friends pointed out during the evening that he was actually kind of pathetic and his behavior that night warranted more sympathy than I was willing to give.

He very obviously didn’t realize who I was – it must be the blonde hair. It wasn’t until the DJ said something to me (we were friends from high school) that I think he made some kind of connection and vanished from the place.

So when the night was over, I was driving home alone with this gut twisting feeling inside me. Trying to figure out what the heck I was supposed to do with this.

I didn’t want to feel this way. I certainly didn’t want to have malice towards anyone – even an idiot ex-boss.

Okay, well maybe a LITTLE bit of malice… for a few minutes anyway.

But ultimately, that’s not going to serve me. This was bringing up old skeletons that I thought were dealt with. Buried and gone.

I tried telling myself that I was in a much better place now. That if I hadn’t nearly lost everything, I wouldn’t have gotten back into Direct Sales full time, I wouldn’t have started coaching, I wouldn’t be launching this new brand. That I’d probably still be a financial advisor, working 60+ hours a week trying to explain to my clients why they lost half of their portfolio in the stock market crash.

But that still didn’t do the trick.

I sat in my car and prayed. I asked God to help me forgive this guy. I asked to be released from the yucky stuff I was feeling and let me be free from my past. I knew I was in a better place and feeling this stuff just didn’t serve my stronger, better future.

And then it happened – the realization of why I was still carrying this thing around with me.

Sing it with me now: “Hello Mr. Fear”

Fear of Loss can be overcome by diversification

I was fearing that someone would have the power to ruin me. Fearing that I didn’t really control my own life – my income, my business, my success. Fearing that someone else I would trust to provide for me would back out. Fearing that my paycheck would bounce again.

It wasn’t this guy that was making me feel this way. It was the events surrounding my relationship with this guy that was making me feel this way.

And I started to cry. What a catharsis! Finally free ! A long-hidden skeleton that I didn’t realize even existed had leaped out of my closet and I ground it to dust.  It took some effort, but there’s no resurrecting that one!

The realization that no one person has their hand on my checkbook is liberating. I work with many wonderful clients and no one client is my meal ticket. I don’t depend so heavily upon one person that if they’re not happy I won’t have an income. I’ve diversified my life and my business in such a way that skeletons like that will not be an issue EVER again.

As a business owner, I’ve watched what putting all your eggs in one basket (client) can do. In Flint, we’ve relied so heavily on GM that now half this city is a ghost town since GM pulled out. There are some efforts to diversify, but Flint’s already taking the easy way out by embracing the motion picture industry. And what will happen when they pull out of Flint in a few years after the tax incentives run dry?

I’m not saying juggle multiple businesses in multiple industries (unless that’s your skill). I’m saying diversify your client portfolio so that you’re working with a variety of clients that match your perfect fit customer profile. Don’t waste time working with losers you don’t enjoy, but don’t pin your livelihood on one client that could ruin you if they ever go elsewhere for your product or services.

You’ll save yourself from having to battle this skeleton over and over again in your own business.

I am The Coolest Girl on The Planet

Posted by LisaYoung in Big Ideas |

It’s official. You can call all the kids from my high school days and tell them that I’m cooler than they are. And Google will back me up on it!

I checked Google today, and I am officially the Coolest Girl on the Planet. This is a title I’ve been striving for on and off for a few months.

I’m not gloating or braggin’ here. This is all about using Google’s own search algorithms to help you attain the top spot with your chosen keyword phrase.

In this case, I’ve done a little “web site optimizing” to help Google figure out just how cool I am.

All this started with a male ego contest a few years back. Dozens of Internet Marketers took up the challenge to become “the coolest guy on the planet” and well, I’m not a guy.

But I thought the phrase “coolest woman on the planet” didn’t roll of the tongue as nicely, so I went with “girl” instead. Besides, I can think of many women far cooler than I am, and this was just an experiment anyway. Plus, I figured, “guy” and “girl” were more equivalent than “guy” and “woman”. Although I suppose I could have gone with “gal”.

But I digress.

So when you do a Google search, you’ll find me. It’s kind of nifty. Almost cool.

And I really didn’t do that much work. Here are the things I did to boost my name into the top slot on Google:

I started using the keyword phrase as my name in all my blogger.com blog posts.
I positioned a link at the bottom of the home page of my site for my Direct Sales coaching program site, as well as other websites I’ve worked on. I also changed my byline credit on the website design for a local Dinner Theater website to read: “This site designed and maintained by the coolest girl on the planet“.

All those text links pointed right back to my home page.

I didn’t work on this non-stop for days, weeks, or even months. Basically, just when I remembered to do it.

And now, I can actually brag about being the coolest girl on the planet.
I think Mom would be proud – or at least shaking her head in disbelief.