USING PASSION TO FUEL YOUR BUSINESS

BY KAREN PUTZ

Whether you’re in your first year of business or your 20th, there’s one thing that can fuel your business: Passion.

This often-misunderstood energy is usually associated with a love of a specific activity or hobby-turnedinto-a-job.

Passion is frequently described as the “fire in the belly” or “something that you love to do.”

As a life coach who specializes in helping people tap into the energy of passion, I steer people away from the idea of “figuring out what to do with life” and instead, teach them how to unwrap the gift of passion from within.

In the process of writing my book, Unwrapping Your Passion, Creating the Life You Truly Want, I interviewed over 200 people about the topic of passion. The best definition of passion, from Jackie St. Onge, turned out to be the simplest:

“Passion is your joy. It is the essence of who you are. Passion is like water–turn on the tap and it flows.”

We can easily recognize joy in our lives. It may be a bit harder to recognize it in our business, especially when we feel like things are out of our control or when we face barriers or challenges. There are so many parts to a business that it can be difficult to connect joy to endless tasks like updating a CRM or continual sales calls.

“I feel like I have to keep my business and my hobbies separate,” an entrepreneur friend told me. I’m not really passionate about my business, but it brings in the money for the hobbies I’m passionate about.”

In the process of working with my entrepreneurial friend, we identified her top five areas of life in which she was living with passion. My friend began to incorporate the joy from her hobbies into her business. She posted pictures with her horse and wove in afternoons with her children at swim lessons. Her sales began to slowly increase and within eight months, she had doubled her clients.

She also found herself enjoying her business even more. Her passion was contagious and her clients were attracted to her new level of energy. Passion is an energy that you can incorporate into all areas of your life. Passion is not a “career path that you pick,” or “a hobby that you enjoy”; it’s actually a way of living life. When you approach passion in this manner, you can then bring this vibrant energy into your daily routine.

Here are some ways you can fuel your business with passion:

1. Identify the parts of your business that you ENJOY. Amplify those parts of your business in your daily routine.

2. Delegate or release the parts of your business that bring the least joyful rate of return on your time or your profit line.

3. Make space for FUN in your business. Do something different, shake up a routine, try something new.

4. Incorporate the practice of gratitude into your business by focusing on what is going well.

5. Create a Passion Quest around your business–anything from mini-challenges to larger-than-life experiences. A Passion Quest has a beginning and an end–and can be measured or documented.

6. Bring your personal passion and joy INTO your business–let your customers and clients see the passionate side of you.

People are naturally attracted to people who are doing business with passion and care–versus a business that is going through the motions and cuts corners. Infuse passion into your business and watch the changes that happen!

Karen Putz is known as “The Passion Mentor.” She helps midlifers create more joy, adventure, and fun so they can enjoy the second half of life. Grab the 22 Lessons to Live YOUR Passion at www.yourpassionschool.com

“Passion is an energy that you can incorporate into all areas of your life. Passion is not a “career path that you pick,” or “a hobby that you enjoy”; it’s actually a way of living life.’

Tell us a little bit about Rayna Brooks. Where did you grow up? Where did you go to school? What type of education do you have?

I’m born and raised in Rochester, NY. I attended public school all my life and graduated from Wilson Magnet High school in 2005. After leaving school I wanted to be a juvenile probation officer to help out troubled youth, but that quickly changed. I went to MCC for a year, then I started working corporate jobs. The last company I worked for was Rochester Gas and Electric. I left the company after 5 years and moved to Charlotte, North Carolina only to move back to Rochester after 90 Days. When I came back it was now or never and that’s when I enrolled at the Continental School of Beauty to pursue my esthetics license. I also attended Shear Ego for my waxing license.

What made you decide to start a mobile spa for your business?

When I attended Continental School Of Beauty I noticed at the job fairs that minority women were only getting jobs at Sephora and Ulta. We did not meet the “standard look” of the big-name spas so we were slighted in my opinion. One day I was sitting at home relaxing and God gave me the vision to start a Mobile Spa. I wrote down my plans consulted with my teachers on what I needed and I started my business while still attending continental in 2013.

What does the word “hustle” mean to you?

Hustle is a positive word to me some people like to say you shouldn’t still be hustling when you’re in your career but I disagree. The art of hustling is what got you into the position that you are in today. The same hunger you have for your business in the first 10 years is the same hunger you should have in 20 years. Yes, your position should change, your finances should increase and you may have placed my dad’s teapot would go off and I knew shortly after that he was out the door to run his own business. My dad owns a company called Brooks Brothers Painting he has been in business for 30 years. I watched him never stop working until he got his business to where it is today. My mother worked for the county and still does lol but even though she was a 9-5 woman she always worked two jobs on top of handling my father’s official duties for his business. So basically my mom worked three jobs and raised a family. I didn’t need to look outside for work ethic because it was in my face every day. The fact that they didn’t give me rides to work when I was a teenager made me get on the bus which built up a different beast and independence in me because they made it clear it was MY JOB so it was MY responsibility to get to and from work. Some may think that’s harsh but teaching your children work ethic early will follow them for the rest of their lives. certain people in different positions so that your business can perform on a higher level. But that hunger for more will never leave you. It has to be in you, not on you.

Who are some of the people that helped inspire you, especially in your business journey?

My household was a big inspiration to me. I knew when it was 5 am because

Did you always want to be an entrepreneur? What did you do before opening the mobile spa?

Being an entrepreneur was always in the back of my mind, but not always the ultimate goal. Coming from high school I wanted to be a juvenile probation officer because I was a little troubled coming up so I wanted to be that relatable probation officer that truly helped them get on the right track because I know what it feels like to have to beat the odds. I then