Starting Your Own Business?

On September 21, 2022, I was honored to be on a panel for Second Act Women at Denver Start Up Week called From Corporate to CEO of Your Own Business. The objective of the discussion was to share insights, and lessons learned to help new entrepreneurs avoid missteps.  Our goal was to provide insights for setting up a new business for success and to inspire women to go the distance in their business even when they feel like giving up. Here are my responses. I hope they are a resource to you!

Why did you decide to leave Corporate America and startup? 

• The pandemic made me consider other options since no one was attending trade shows in person. After 20+ years of sales experience in Corporate America and 11+ years in the trade show industry, I decided to leave. Since I had great results working with a life coach, nutrition coach, spiritual coach, and professional coach I decided to take a leap of faith at age 47 and get certified by the International Coaching Federation as a Leadership Coach.

What have been your biggest hurdles to scaling your business?

• Learning how to maximize my time, prioritize activities and focus on what I can control. Not everything has to fall into the urgent and important priority bucket just because it's your business. I learned how to plan and be accountable for business development activities by putting them on my calendar just like I did in the corporate world. I had to automate client templates, learn a new website program called Kajabi, and build a passive income stream.  I am not quite at delegating tasks but I have learned how to process what I consider to be "good enough" efforts so I don’t let my perfectionism stall progress.  

Tell us about a time when you questioned your abilities or doubted your skills. How did you handle that inner critic? 

• It doesn’t matter how "together" someone appears on the outside we all doubt our abilities from time to time. As Dr. Shirzad says we all have saboteurs. I have learned how to quiet that inner critic by 1^st giving her a name. I call her Judge Judy. Second, I understand her MO. She’s trying to be helpful and keep me from failure or disappointment. Judge Judy has a friend I call Little Miss Perfect. I have learned to acknowledge them when they arise and to be strategic in my next steps by asking myself the following questions:
  • What resources can I tap into?
  • What skills do I need to feel more confident?
  • What action would someone who is successful in this role take?
• The inner critic doesn't serve you. You just have to be clear-headed and laser-focused to move forward 1 small step at a time. Don't be afraid of making mistakes it's how you learn!

Share your favorite resources (book, blog, site) that you think would be great for this audience.

• One of my favorite books is The 12 Week Year by Brian Moran which gives you the tools you need to create a strategic plan to be laser-focused on your goals. The book's premise is that if you focus for 12 weeks on the Key Performance Indicators and your genius zone you will increase your execution rate. This is such a great tool that I give away this book to my clients when they want to work on increasing productivity.

• James Clear the New York Times Best-Selling Author of Atomic Habits has many free resources on social media. 

This opportunity came about because my friend Tracy invited me to check out the networking group called Second Act Women during the pandemic. I was so impressed I joined and became very active in the group. It's important not to be a bystander and meet as many people as you can! Join a Leads group as SHE Leads. Those contacts eventually become your heroes and opportunities will come your way.

As my mentor coach once said "information is cheap" anyone can find the information they need online for free. If you are looking to go beyond information and execute your desired goals with a certified Leadership Coach let's chat!

All the best,

Ivette Flower - The High Achievers Coach