MENTORS Magazine
Issue 1
Steps To Leadership Nirvana DR. Steven Hymovitch
Why Your Brand Must Transform to Stay Relevant—And How To Do It Whitney Vosburgh
Boss Mom Interview with Dana Malstaff
How Millennials Can Achieve Financial Freedom Through Real Estate. Ryan Boykin
The Role of a Mentor Neil Ball
Boost Resilience, Beat Burnout! Beth Kennedy
DR. JOE VITALE OVERCOMING FEAR MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 1
2 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
MENTORS Magazine Edition 1
Publisher Neil Ball
Editor Sally Jones
Graphic Designer Tim Swan
Ad Designer Cover Photograph: Courtesy of Dr Joe Vitale You may NOT copy or use any of the articles in this magazine without permission from MENTORS Magazine. The articles in this magazine are teaching and instructing other people about how to develop personally, in business and other things the writers feel is beneficial to developing personally and in different areas of business. Other articles in our magazine are written by companies, authors, and businesses that have something of value to share and they promote their work to our readers. We also share other stories which we feel are valuable resources for people to learn from. MENTORS Magazine is not responsible for the content or claims of any advertising or editorial in this publication. All information is believed to be accurate but is not warranted. The reader should do their own due diligence on any information provided in editorial content and for any advertising claims before taking any further action. The reader is responsible for their own actions. Some of the links in the magazine may be affiliate links and we may receive a payment if you make a purchase using them. Copyright Disclaimer: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favour of fair use. If you would like the magazine to share a blogpost or website please contact editor@MentorsMagazine.com All Rights Reserved © 2019 MENTORS Magazine
Joseph Dawson
Writers and Contributors DR. Steven Hymovitch Steven Uster Ryan Boykin Christine Erickson David Neagle Dr Joe Vitale Mark C. Perna
Whitney Vosburgh Dana Malstaff Christopher and Darcy AlkusBarrow
Ximena Hartsock Beth Kennedy Neil Ball
Contact Information E-Mail: editor@MentorsMagazine.com Website: www.mentorsmagazine.com Facebook: @MentorsMagazine Twitter: @MentorsMagazine
MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 3
IN THIS ISSUE College Is Putting a New Generation at Risk
Cover Story
6 Overcoming Fear
By Dr Joe Vitale
16 The Role of a Mentor
By Neil Ball
32 4 Steps To Leadership Nirvana
By Mark C. Perna
58
By DR. Steven Hymovitch
Boost resilience, beat burnout!
38
By Beth Kennedy
Resonating with Every Generation on Your Team
By Christine Erickson
44
62 How to Break into Tech as a Woman of Color
20
How Millennials Can Achieve By Ximena Hartsock Financial Freedom Through Working Capital Management Real Estate What It Is & Why It's Important
By Ryan Boykin
By Steven Uster
48
24 Why Your Brand Must Transform to Stay Relevant— And How To Do It
By Whitney Vosburgh
15 Signs You Are a People Pleaser – and What to Do About It
66 Starting and Managing a Successful Business as a Married Couple
By Christopher and Darcy Alkus-Barrow
By David Neagle
54 Why Our Old Approach to
72 Interview with Dana Malstaff MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 5
Contributing Writers
DR. Steven Hymovitch
David Neagle
Christopher and Darcy AlkusBarrow
Mark C. Perna
Steven Uster
Cover Story
Ximena Hartsock
Dr Joe Vitale
Ryan Boykin
Beth Kennedy
Whitney Vosburgh
Neil Ball
Christine Erickson
Dana Malstaff 6 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
Cover Story
OVERCOMING FEAR Almost everyone is interested in overcoming fear – or should be. 6 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
Whether you want to speak in public, open a new business, talk to potential dates, do stand-up comedy, climb a mountain — or anything you haven’t done before — you’re bound to feel fear and want help in overcoming fear.
Well, how do you do it?
I didn’t even sing in the shower.
After recording six albums of songs, my Band of Legends politely nudged me to perform live.
Childhood memories of being humiliated when I tried to speak or sing stayed with me.
While I’ve spoken on stage numerous times over the decades, I never sang on stage.
But I refused to even touch singing.
Thinking about it brought up serious fears.
I overcame the speaking one.
It felt too vulnerable. I managed to do it in the studio for my six albums, by basically managing my adrenaline, but I couldn’t accept ever singing on stage live.
Even terror.
No way.
But I did it. I did it! A friend remembers me saying I would NEVER sing in public.
And it was a huge success.
I had to overcome panic attacks, anxiety ambushes, and near nervous breakdowns to overcome the fear of public speaking.
I was strong and confident, owned the stage, and led my Band of Legends into a triumphant performance.
But public singing?
It was an historic moment.
It was a personal breakthrough.
Forget it.
And it will live forever in my mind as a moment of greatness for me. MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 7
So, how did I go from terrified to terrific? I’ll share my own process, as it will illustrate the art of overcoming fear. I’m sure you can be inspired by this adventure. I of course did all the standard things that I teach, from practicing ho’oponopono (as I wrote about in my books, Zero Limits and AT Zero) to rehearsing in the studio and in my mind.
But two months before the show, I also —
1. I Got coaching. A basic rule of self-improvement is this
You can accomplish more if you have someone who believes in you more than you believe in yourself. : I first saw that insight in the home of Jerry and Esther Hicks, of Abraham fame, decades ago. Jerry (who has passed on and I greatly miss) told me he first heard it in an early television western. I don’t recall the name of 8 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
the show, but I do remember the impact the principle had on me. I started Miracles Coaching more than a decade ago for that reason – to give people someone who could believe in them. To help them overcome fear. To help them attract miracles. I’ve had a lot of people support me and coach me in performing:
Jen Sincero is a badass author of two NY Times bestselling books, You Are A Badass and the recent You Are A Badass at Making Money. I discovered her first book years ago, knew it would be a hit, and interviewed her. We stayed in touch. I had lunch with Jen when she came to Austin for a book signing. I knew she had been in a band at one point, so I told her my dilemma. She told me that I had already done the hard part of singing. “You sang for Melissa Etheridge,” she explained, referring to when I had a private songwriting lesson with the rock icon last November. “Singing one on one is harder than singing on stage, and you sang for an icon you idolize and adore.”
who is on my first album, Blue Healer. She was the first person I sang for. We met and she told me she always feels nervous before getting on stage. But she thinks of herself as a messenger, not a singer.
That reframe made the idea of singing easier. “I am a messenger,” she said. “I focus on the song’s message.” The last time I saw Melissa Etheridge, just for a moment after her show in San Antonio in June, she told me she loves my latest album, The Great Something.
That insight helped me drop the idea of being a singer and adopt the idea of being a messenger. It helped me relax a little.
She said to “Keep at it.”
I dedicated that album to her. There’s a song on it I wrote for her. Her encouragement helped me stay motivated. She once told me, “Feel the fear and do it anyway.” Meghan Sandau is a new friend. She has promoted big music events. She wanted to see me do a concert. She said she likes my music. Her belief in me helped make me more secure.
In fact, none of this would happen without her. Sarah McSweeney is a singer-songwriter MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 9
She set up the event for my Band of Legends to perform.
rehearse, listening to me confide my fears, and urging me to hang in there.
She held my hand and encouraged me.
Then there’s Patrick Stark in Canada. He’s a filmmaker making a movie about overcoming fear..
Meghan also suggested I do an energy clearing session with Nicole Pigeault of Los Angeles. I love energy work and do clearings for others, so I leaped at the chance to hire Nicole. Turned out to be one of the most powerful esoteric washes ever. The hour session helped me release fears and settle into confidence.
It’s called “One Life: No Regrets.” He interviewed me for it. He plans to sing on stage with the band U2. But it will be the first time he’ll sing on stage EVER. Imagine it. The first time you sing in public anywhere is on stage with U2 and thousands watching. Well, if Patrick can drum up that kind of courage, then so can I. Right?
I found preparing for the event mainly a battle with my mind. Most of my thinking was negative. It was all, What if it goes bad? But Mendhi Audlin came to visit. She teaches what if up thinking. But she wasn’t the only person to support me. Guitar Monk Mathew Dixon has been coaching me for years now. We’ve made numerous instrumental albums together, such as Invoking Divinity. He stayed in my corner, listening to me 10 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
She wrote the book What If it All Goes Right?
She coached me in other ways to think: what if it is a breeze? What if I love it?
It also helps to see people successful in one field try their hand in a completely different field. James Altucher tried stand-up-comedy. He’s a writer. He’s doing something out of his comfort zone.
My band of legends: me, Daniel Barrett, Glenn Fugunaga, Joe Vitale
But he’s willing to do it for the experience, and he’s sharing his learning curve to inspire others.
Mamet is a Pulitzer prize-winning playwright and screenwriter. I think he is a genius.
Though I haven’t met him, knowing he was stepping out beyond his fear fortified me to do it, too.
2.
I got educated.
To prepare for my show, I attended an online Masterclass with David Mamet, and another with Usher. Both were astoundingly good.
He said most people are too afraid to be bad to be good.
You have to be bad first to start being good. You have to start someplace. I reminded myself of this as I prepared for the live event. While I wanted to step out on stage and be “perfect,” Mamet reminded me that I will probably step out and be bad. But bad is where you start. You can’t get to MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 11
great without starting at bad. Usher said to prepare, to be confident, but to expect something to go wrong.
Don’t expect perfection. He told a story of a performance where he injured himself at the beginning of a twohour show and had to keep dancing and singing despite the pain. His insights and pointers were priceless in helping me create a mindset for success. And I bought a set of audios called The Relaxed Musician. It’s a 14day course in exploring limiting beliefs. It helped me realize I had a big belief that if I looked bad as a performer, it would hurt my reputation in other areas, such as an author or speaker.
But like most beliefs, it didn’t hold up. I could forget all my lyrics and totally wash out on stage and it wouldn’t even dent my image anywhere else. Most people forgive and forget. In fact, a miss on stage could give me a terrific story about how I bombed and lived. But I didn’t stop there. 12 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
I read a terrific book on how to deliver an unforgettable live performance. I liked the book so much, I read it twice. It was called, The Musician’s Guide to a Great Live Performance. It became my bible. I read it on planes, took it with me on my iPad, and shared it with singer-songwriter friends.
And I read a wonderful book on overcoming fear and panic, titled You 1, Anxiety 0. Author Jodi Aman helped take the mask off of fear so I could see what it really was: an illusion. I soaked up the wisdom in this book. It really helped me. I also read a 1950 book by Vernon Howard called Word Power. It was about how you talk to yourself, as well as to others, effects your behavior and your results. It’s not so much affirmations but self -talk. Pretending you are fearless by saying “I am a fearless performer” is a way to begin being a fearless performer.
And I read a recent book, called Succeed.
It explained that just visualizing success is a plan for failure unless you also visualize planning for setbacks.
With Meghan’s urging, I wrote out a script of how I wanted the show to go. I focused on my feelings, not anyone else’s, so I could focus on what I could control. The script was a type of Nevillizing (which I write about in my book, The Attractor Factor): feeling as if the event already happened the way I envisioned it.
In other words, thinking the show will go without a flaw is not realistic, as Usher pointed out. There is no such thing as perfection.
But visualizing success and understanding there is work to do to get there, can almost guarantee the result you want. That was a mind-spinning insight. I did more, too.
I didn’t visualize the show happening, I visualized that the show already happened. Big difference. I wrote the script from the point of view of the next day, after I performed on stage. I read and re-read it every day for a week before the show. And —
4. I got relaxed.
3. I got Nevillized.
I got massages, I got plenty of rest, I drank lots of water, and I went into a flotation tank at The Zero Gravity Institute for 90 minutes the day before the show. I was doing whatever I could to be at peak MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 13
form when I stepped on stage.
As a slogan I coined says, “It is what you accept.”
I’m the luckiest musician alive to have a band of this caliber: Drummer Joe Vitale (yes, same name as mine), bass man Glenn Fukunaga and lead guitarist Daniel Barrett.
I was taking care of my body and mind. I was getting ready for my moment.
5. I got faith. Faith doesn’t always mean something religious. Faith in yourself, faith in other people, faith in my practice and prep, faith in my Band of Legends – all of it gives a level of confidence that allows the best to surface. I accepted that the moment would be perfect, even in any imperfections.
It would be “perfectly imperfect.”
These incredible musicians encouraged me, supported me, and brought my songs to life. We raised the roof and tore down the walls. We shook the earth and wowed the crowd. Talk about overcoming fear!!! I gave everything I had in me, delivering my messages with energy, enthusiasm, electricity, and a sense of fearlessness and fun. At the end of our set, we got a standing ovation.
A standing ovation! I did it. And I loved it! I let go. I trusted.
And, after two months of preparing, what happened?
Now, what do you fear that is time for you to do? Isn’t today a good day to begin overcoming fear? Expect Miracles.
Ao Akua My Band of Legends and myself performed on July 21st at The Townsend in Austin. 14 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
Joe
Dr. Joe Vitale is a globally famous author, musician, marketing expert, movie, tv, and radio personality, and one of the top 50 inspirational speakers in the world. His many bestselling books include The Attractor Factor, Attract Money Now, and Zero Limits, and his latest releases are The Miracle: Six Steps to Enlightenment, and Anything is Possible, Seven Steps For Doing The Impossible. A popular expert on the law of attraction in many movies, including The Secret, Joe has appeared on all the top tv networks and in The New York Times and Newsweek! Also well-known as a healer, helping people clear their subconscious minds of limiting beliefs that prevent them from manifesting their desires, Dr. Joe Vitale is an authentic practitioner of modern Ho'oponopono, a certified Reiki healer, certified Chi Kung practitioner, certified clinical hypnotherapist, certified NLP practitioner, ordained minister, and holds a doctorate in metaphysical science. Creator of the Miracles CoachingÂŽ program that helps people achieve their dreams, this man, once homeless is today a bestselling author who believes in magic and miracles and has spent the last four decades learning how to master the powers that allow us to channel the pure creative energy of life without resistance. www.mrfire.com MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 15
The Role of a Mentor By Neil Ball Launching or running a business is exciting. You get to claim your independence. You can finally make the rules. But the details can bog you down. When you don’t have experience, you can get overwhelmed by questions about what to do to ensure success or how to make business decisions that are specific to your industry. Mentors have been through it and can give you their support and share their wisdom with you. Approximately 50 percent of small businesses don’t last five years. However, 70 percent 16 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
of small business owners make it past that hump when they work with advisors to build their leadership skills as they learn and grow. Those who want to be on the successful side of those statistics need to make sure that they create a solid relationship with some type of guide or teacher who helps them reach their full potential. Mentors need to understand their roles so that they provide valuable insight and create confident trailblazers that have the determination to run a thriving business.
Serve as a Guide According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, a mentor is a “trusted counsellor or guide.” The secondary definition is “tutor, coach.” Most experts agree that someone in a mentoring position plays a different role than a coach would. Coaches typically help businesses set and meet goals. They focus on helping entrepreneurs, business owners and managers come up with the most efficient ways to achieve their objectives.
They are advisers. They are teachers. They are leaders, examples and guides. A mentor can help an individual create a map to steer through the stumbling blocks that come with starting, managing or running a business.
Create Structure When someone is launching a business, mentoring can help them create a business plan and structure the business. A colleague in this position can offer advice for setting up the foundation of the company.
A good coach doesn’t tell someone what to The relationship usually goes on for a longdo. Instead, coaches help draw out term period. Mentoring advisers continue to someone’s inherent wisdom through structured They are advisers. They are work with individuals when they have questasks, exercises and questeachers. They are leaders, tions about the intritions. For this reason, a cacies of the business, business coach doesn’t examples and guides. including understandneed experience in an ing the cost structure, setting up marketing individual’s industry to help them develop strategies, making hiring decisions and allothe skills that are necessary for a productive, cating resources. efficient business. A mentor, on the other hand, usually has direct experience in the same field as the mentee. Those in mentorship positions help entrepreneurs and business owners learn how to work industriously, make assessments and set priorities. But their guidance doesn’t stop there. They have been through the same challenges that their mentees are undergoing. They can explain how they navigated certain obstacles so that their protégés can identify their options and understand what works without having to experiment themselves.
When difficult decisions have to be made, people in mentorship positions can help their mentees look at the pros and cons of the available options. In many cases, the mentor has been through a similar situation. Mentoring can offer specific advice from a personal perspective when the business owner otherwise has access to only general recommendations.
Give Advice and Feedback A relationship of this kind gives individuals a chance to get advice and feedback when they need it. Mentees can look to their advisers to provide an objective outlook. MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 17
The counsellors don’t have a stake in the decisions that are made. Therefore, they can provide a devil’s advocate perspective and debate problems without worrying about offending anyone.
Be Accessible A mentor doesn’t have to be instantly accessible. However, advisers do need to be approachable enough that the mentee feels comfortable looking to them for support. During mentoring, the mentee must be trained on the best way to contact their adviser when they need assistance. They should set up a protocol that involves understanding when to share important information, how to contact the mentor and what to expect in return. Mentees should be instructed to reach out to their guides before circumstances become actual problems. When business owners and managers turn to mentoring to evaluate potential issues before they happen, they learn how to manage their situations to ensure success instead of simply putting out fires.
Provide Accountability Mentoring can help someone reach their business goals. People in this leadership position provide accountability and keep their mentees on track. Mentoring helps people take responsibility for their actions. People in the leadership role can often serve as a direct example of what can be achieved when mentees accept ownership for their decisions. To create accountability, mentors must set 18 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
specific, realistic expectations. This establishes clear boundaries and provides direction for the relationship, enhancing the potential for positive results.
Help With Networking Having an adviser gives mentees a chance to build their networking opportunities. A colleague on the giving end of this relationship has been through it all before. They’ve usually created a network for themselves. They can help mentees access this network to boost their own potential. An adviser is an insider who is on the outside of the mentee’s social and professional circle. This relationship can help someone make contacts that they wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to.
Offer Motivation and Support Part of the mentorship role is to provide support and encouragement. These advisers should demonstrate that they are counting on the mentee to act a certain way. As a role model, a counsellor is inherently motivating. These individuals have usually been successful doing what the mentee strives to accomplish. They can enhance the motivation factor by working with the mentee to access intrinsic motivation. When mentees consistently access the fundamental rewards that come from certain behaviours or a particular level of performance, they maintain their desire to reach their goals. All mentoring relationships are unique. To make the most out of this ongoing associa-
tion, the adviser must be respectful, honest and non-judgmental. The best connections are built on trust. Both of you should know
what you want out of the relationship and give as much as you receive.
Neil Ball has been a serial entrepreneur for over 25 years with businesses in sectors such as Printing, Consumer Electronics, Distribution, Removals, Storage, Mail Order, Property Investing, Publishing and more. He has had his share of failures and successes on his entrepreneurial journey. The most successful of his businesses sold approximately £300 million or $500 million of products via retail, mail order and ecommerce and was one of the largest independent consumer electronics companies in the UK.
In recent years Neil’s passion for entrepreneurship and helping other entrepreneurs has led him to becoming a podcaster on his daily podcast The Entrepreneur Way where he interviews entrepreneurs and business owners on their entrepreneurial journey and their secrets of success. He is also a business coach and helps a small number of one on one clients in his coaching business..
When he isn’t working on his business or helping others your will find him spending time with beautiful wife Lorna and his 4 adult kids.
To connect or learn more go to: www.neilball.com
Twitter: @NeilDBall
Linkedin: @NeilDBall
MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 19
When you look at a healthy company, one of the first things you’ll notice is its access to working capital. The second thing you might notice is how the company manages that 20 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
capital. Working capital is frequently defined as the difference between your company’s assets and your liabilities. That means you’re talking about money that your business has on-hand, unpaid invoices, and any inventory compared to your accounts payable and money your business owes. It looks simple. But how do each of these different elements
come together to form the basis of working capital management?
pay in the short term. A lot of companies often try to delay accounts payable as long as they can to maximize how much positive cash flow they have available.
It’s important that you have a fundamental understanding of what makes up working capital. Working capital management usually has three key features. Each of these features is equally important in determining the financial health of your business.
One way companies do this is by applying “net” payment terms — such as net-30, net60, and so on. These net terms can be beneficial for large businesses, but they’ve also made a ripple effect through all kinds of industries where small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are put in tough spots.
1. Accounts Receivable
3. Assets and Inventory
First, look at your accounts receivable. This is the money due to your company. Any services or goods you’ve already provided for which you’re expecting payment can be considered as accounts receivable. Your accounts receivable also include any overdue invoices you’ve sent to clients or customers that they’ve agreed to pay, but haven’t gotten around to yet.
You also need to make sure you keep track of every asset belonging to your company. Any inventory of everything your company currently has on hand is thought of as a positive asset. This is assuming that any inventory you have on hand is going to be sold and converted into capital.
Most importantly, your accounts receivable represent your incoming cash flow. Goods or services for which you’ve already invoiced can be collateral you can borrow money against. Knowing that you have incoming cash flow on the books can be a big deal when it comes to getting your money. 2. Accounts Payable When you have determined your accounts receivable, you can check out your accounts payable. Your accounts payable are any bills (or other money) that your company has to
How a business manages its inventory can indicate the overall operational efficiency of your business. It’s important that you have enough inventory on hand to fulfill any potential orders, but not so much that you have an inordinate amount of working capital tied up in your inventory. How your business handles these three components is the cornerstone of working capital management. Now that you know what working capital management is, it’s crucial for you to understand why it’s so important.
MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 21
Working capital management is vital to the success of your business and how your business is viewed by others. The ability to properly manage working capital also relates to the growth of your business. This is in addition to its overall operational viability. Managing your working capital is about more than keeping cash on hand and having a financially solvent company. It’s about how you’re using that money and if you have the business acumen necessary to capitalize on your assets. Reliable working capital management means ensuring that your business maintains a positive cash flow. This cash needs to satisfy any short-term operating on top of any other bills.
health of your company. A ratio of less than 1.0 may indicate that your company cannot to meet its short term debts and might be dealing with liquidity issues. This is also a sign of a business experiencing cash flow gaps. If your working capital ratio is too high, it could mean you don’t know how to take advantage of an opportunity. If your working capital ratio is higher than 2.0, it may reflect that you don’t know how to make the best use of your assets to invest back into the business and continue to grow your company while increasing revenue.
The “goldilocks” zone of where you want your working capital ratio to lie tends to fall in between 1.5 and 2.0. This tells people that your business is financially solvent with plenty of cash on hand, but is still taking proactive steps as it pursues future growth.
The amount of working capital you have compared to your existing obligations defines your working capital ratio. The formula for your working capital ratio is that you take existing assets and divide them by your liabilities.
We’ve shown how you can define working capital management. You also need to understand why properly managing your working capital is important. What can SMBs do to create more working capital in a world where it seems like everyone is trying to delay payments for as they can?
This ratio is key to determining the financial
We already discussed it, but existing invoices
22 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
are a key component of accounts receivable. We also mentioned how you can rely on these invoices as a form of collateral in securing additional working capital. This is where invoice financing and invoice factoring can come in handy.
While net-terms can be convenient for large businesses looking to manage their working capital, they can quickly become unfair to the small and medium-sized businesses relying on these payments to keep their businesses afloat. Invoice financing provides a much-needed lifeline for SMBs looking to get a firm grasp on their working capital management and allow for the cash flow they need to keep debt obligations paid and everything else running smoothly. Alternative lending is gaining traction among small businesses thanks to its more relaxed qualifications, convenience, and fast access to a capital. When SMBs can have up to 100% of their outstanding invoices advanced
to them in as little as 24 hours, it’s not hard to see why. As long as a business has documented, outstanding invoices, it can reach out through online invoice financing to secure the working capital it needs to continue to operate at a high standard.
It’s hard to talk about working capital management without having the cash flow to manage in the first place. Thanks to alternative lending services like online invoice financing, businesses are no longer held hostage by one-side net payment terms that only serve to benefit large companies. Through access to more working capital on a faster timeline thanks to invoice financing and invoice factoring, SMBs are able to proactively manage this capital to further grow their business. Rather than wait for months on end to be paid for services rendered or goods you’ve already produced, a business can receive the money its owed on time and focus on running their business, rather than tracking down customers for payment.
Steven Uster is the Co-Founder & CEO of FundThrough, an invoice funding service that helps business owners eliminate "the wait" associated with payment terms by giving them the power and flexibility to get their invoices paid when they want, with one click, and in as little as 24 hours. Prior to FundThrough, Steven was an investment banker in New York at UBS and Centerview Partners. Steven has an MBA from The Wharton School and a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours from McGill University, where he was a Loran Scholar. Instagram: @FundThrough_ Twitter: @FundThrough Facebook: @fundthrough MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 23
Why Your Brand Must Transform to Stay Relevant—And How To Do It —————————————————————————————————
BY WHITNEY VOSBURGH ————————————————————————————————
Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from “WORK THE FUTURE! TODAY 2019 POCKET PAL: A faster path to purpose, passion and profit,” available on Amazon. For the past 20 years, we’ve worked with a wide range of companies and organizations all over the world, including a number of Fortune 20 companies. We’ve noticed a growing sense of dissatisfaction, and the desire of both leaders and employees at all levels to find greater meaning and impact in their work. As we begin 2019, this widespread hunger for a new sense of fulfillment in our work and the need for transformation to meet the challenges that constant change bring is more prevalent than ever. With this in mind, we offer a step-by-step path to filling this void with a new sense of shared purpose and value. The purpose of transformation Old into new: In 2019, we need to transition more than ever from the Old Story of Profit First to the New Story of Purpose, which is made possible by a three-part path, which we call Working The Future! Today: 24 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
1. Purpose: Why?—your destiny.
2. Place: Who?—your destination. 3. Practice: How?—your journey. To pull all this together with a clear view of the path forward, we explore foundational thoughts on perennially popular corporate topics: collaboration, innovation, and transformation—all of which are about creating a better today and tomorrow. The Old Story of Profit First is dying, and there is nothing to replace it. What we des-
perately need and yearn for is a New Story of Purpose First. The old triple bottom line of profit, people, planet—in that order—has taken many of us far, but no longer. We need a new triple bottom line of planet, people, profit. Why? With no planet and no people, there can be no profit. Companies must become prophets of the new, so they can continue to earn new profits. In order for companies to accumulate wealth, they must not only share the wealth but also ultimately recognize the role of all parties in the cocreation of that wealth—commonwealth. Transformation nation: Sadly, so many people have neither meaningful work nor life, which is made dramatically evident by the rapid rise in our suicide rates, opioid addictions, debilitating stress levels, and lack of civic engagement across almost all demographics—the United States of Alienation. Collaboration into sharing: People do not truly collaborate unless they know their best interests have been fully embraced. That is called shared purpose. Innovation does not happen in a vacuum—it is part of an interconnected chain of simultaneous events, factors, and influences such as shared purpose, vision, and leadership, as well as inspiration, imagination, and invention; all of that leads to shared value creation. What combines shared purpose and co-
creation of a future desired state is community, and from both the corporate and stakeholder points of view the ultimate fruit of these unions is called commonwealth, wealth for all, not just for the one percent. Within the corporation, that commonwealth is called culture—all that you do and don’t do relative to others in the minds, hearts, and wallets of your brand community of stakeholders and the places you do business. The purpose-profit connection: In the New Story, which is the future of work, there is a direct connection between purpose and profit. All healthy businesses are founded with a core purpose and values, as well as a vision, mission, and value proposition. Purpose has to come before profit, not only at the inception of a business, but all through the business lifecycle. Increasingly, the more stakeholders have an ever-renewing brand, a new sense of positive purpose and value, the more profitable and sustainable a business will be. Customer experience and content are made from these threads.
Transformation is not a standalone concept. It is like a valued brand: an active, shared, MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 25
positive, and aligned purposeful culture, which is built on a foundation of strong, emotional, transformative experiences such as a sustaining story of origin—why we exist and whom we serve—to serve as a collective and sustaining north star. A healthy, vibrant sustainable culture has three legs: Each leg is supported by its brand community of stakeholders. The stronger the community, the stronger and smoother support for the three legs of the culture. Incremental innovation is possible without a purposeful culture. However, continual transformation is only possible in a purposeful culture, and without continual transformation, businesses and organizations will not be sustainable. They will be tomorrow’s corporate road kill, squashed by relentless competition, change, and transformation.
The power of transformation Work The Future, Today: Collaboration, innovation, transformation: There are two basic processes that bring the future to you and your organization: innovation and transformation. Too much has been written about innovation and too precious little on transformation. And neither is truly possible without collaboration, which is the social glue holding and bonding them together. Collaboration, at a conceptual level, in26 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
volves: Awareness: We become part of a working entity with a shared purpose. Motivation: We drive to gain consensus in problem-solving or development. Self-synchronization: We decide as individuals when things need to happen. Participation: We participate in collaboration and we expect others to participate. Mediation: We negotiate, collaborate, and find a middle point. Reciprocity: We share and we expect sharing in return through reciprocity. Reflection: We think and consider alternatives. Engagement: We proactively engage rather than wait and see. Innovation is the harnessing of creative thought and action to a useful end for a short-term goal, which is meant to—at best—keep you where you are today, instead of slipping back. Transformation is: Future value creation for a shared long-term goal. A shared act of imagination translated into a treasured future. The art of scientifically bringing creativity continuously to life. Applied creativity that makes a long-term difference.
Irreversible, substantive, creates new identity, and contains a shift in purpose. A shared activity where people come together to cocreate the future today and create something of lasting and sustaining value. Creating your brand new story: It might be said that true and sustainable transformation is about creating an ever-renewing story encapsulated in a living, breathing brand and culture that is kept together by shared purpose and value. The three ingredients of a sustainable culture— sustained by shared purpose—in the new world of work are: 1. Brand Purpose (WHY: promise, passion, and perception) 2. Brand Participation (WHO + HOW: partnership, participation, and process) 3. Brand Performance (WHAT + WHEN + WHERE: planet, people, and profits) What’s your New Story? Purpose, leadership, and place let you pull the future toward you. You surround it, you dance with it, and you make it real and share it with others. The outlines of the New Story narrative are emerging from the fog of the past. It’s more
about harmony instead of control; it’s more feminine than masculine; it’s more about stewardship than exploitation; it’s more about co-creation than about what’s already built. And it’s more about living in the present with an eye to the future than not being present and looking toward the past. We conclude with a playbook to get you started on your pathway to purpose, possibility, and plenty. The path to sustainable profits and overall sustainability is through shared, aligned positive purpose.
The path of transformation “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure that you seek.” — Joseph Campbell
Finding your true north: The way to make your way along the path of emotional transformation toward purpose parallels the classic story of the hero’s journey. It is a path of what Carl Jung called individualization or becoming oneself. Or, in an organizational setting, finding your purpose—your true north. The process by which this occurs is MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 27
called differentiation and has as a goal of the development of the individual or organizational personality, the discovery, and acceptance of one’s true purpose. The path is often summarized as having seven distinct, but overlapping, stages. The brand new path to purpose: Now, we are at a point in our journey where we need to look at just how we’re supposed to be able to make this transition to purposeful and sustainable transformation. Use this seven-step path to guide you and your organization through this transition. Below you’ll find the steps in the order you’ll take them. For each step, you’ll see the 28 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
name of the state associated with that step, the quality you should be experiencing during that particular stage of transition, and the activity you’ll associate with that step.
7 Steps: The purpose path Step 1. Initiation: Recognizing the Real World Socialization: Looking from outside to inside. Brand focus: Your focus is on your brand. Brand development (activity): Awareness that something is missing and time is passing. You move to get something you need. You begin seeking answers to nagging ques-
tions, such as “What is our core purpose?”
in brand new ways, building off the old into long-term sustainability.
Step 2. Involvement: Call to Adventure
Step 5. Inspiration: Road of Trials Brand action: Struggle: Looking from inside to outside. Brand focus: Your focus is your brand in the marketplace. Brand development (activity): Looking at parts of ourselves we don’t want to look at. Introspection: “Is it us or has the world changed without us?”
Brand action: Sensing: Opening up to cocreation. Brand focus: Your focus is on collaboration with your brand community. Brand development (activity): Actively cocreating brand value and perception. Firmly committed to a pathway of purposeful change.
Step 3. Inquiry: Meeting the Mentor Step 6. Innovation: Seizing the Prize Brand action: Service: Moving from inside to outside. Brand focus: Your focus is on your brand community. Brand development (activity): Sharing what we know in order to build future capability with our stakeholders and the communities where we do business. Sharing provides a bridge from what was to the New Story. Step 4. Improvement: Crossing the Threshold Brand action: Showtime: Going from old playbook to new. Brand focus: Your focus is on brand activation. Brand development (activity): Creativity is expressed through innovative culture. You experience the “flow” state and begin to act
Brand action: Stewardship: Walking your talk. Brand focus: Your focus is on brand leadership. Brand development (activity): Realizing and acting upon new marketplace demands such as authenticity, transparency, responsibility, and engagement. Step 7. Iteration: Return with the Treasure Brand action: Simplification: Knowing shift happens. Brand focus: Your focus is on your brand future. Brand development (activity): Oh, shift! Developing a firm grasp of the obvious: Purpose = profits. Change, complexity, and competition are relentless and ruthless. MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 29
Call to Action for a Brand New World Humans change at the speed of snails, but everything around us changes quickly and all the time, with ever greater velocity, impact, and complexity. We all need a flexible new
framework. We call this contextual reimagination. If you want to grow or keep growing your brand, you need to keep it new and stay focused on your shared purpose and value, while embracing change and possibility, and driven by continuous renewal through collaboration, innovation, and transformation.
WHITNEY VOSBURGH is co-author of the two WORK THE FUTURE! TODAY books, and co-founder of the company of the same name, which is a social venture offering vision, leadership and solutions for maximizing personal, organizational, and societal potential. He is also co-founder of Brand New Purpose LLC, a brand transformation consultancy that creates purposebuilt, value-driven opportunities for leaders and organizations of all sizes. As an interim Fortune 20 Chief Marketing Officer, Whitney has guided over $20 billion in value creation. His expertise has been featured in four books on the Future of Work, including a bestseller by Dan Pink. Whitney’s work is featured in numerous media outlets including ABC, BBC, Conscious Company, Newsweek, Time, US News & World Report, Venture, and The Wall Street Journal. As an author, speaker and workshop leader, Whitney always asks, “Why?” — and then creates actionable clarity by turning complexity into simplicity. His purpose is to elevate people, organizations, and communities to a brand new sense of purpose, possibility, and plenty. Whitney focuses on inspiring and leading short-term innovations and long-term transformations, so we can share our gifts and passions with the world to make a lasting difference. Whitney graduated with a M.A. in Religious Leadership for Social Change from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, and with a B.F.A. in Communication Design from Parsons School of Design in New York. He has a world of experience — having lived, studied, and worked all over Europe, Asia, and America — and brings this all together both in his work, writing, speaking and art. www.workthefuture.today 30 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
LinkedIn: @WhitneyVosburgh Twitter: brandguru
MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 91
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4 Steps To Leadership Nirvana BY DR. STEVEN HYMOVITCH I don’t believe leaders are born; I be-
the way up these levels, not skipping
lieve that they are self-made. Sure, there are
any steps along the way.
times when, by sheer seniority, somebody
Boss
gets bumped up into a position where they might suddenly be running the shop, have a
Step As I just mentioned, a man or wom-
bunch of employees under them; ‘leading’ in
an can, and often do, become boss,
1
a manner of speaking. But one must grow in-
only by being promoted. But if you have
to being a leader, and to do this, one must
even a smidgen of awareness, you will quick-
climb the rungs of an imaginary ladder, learn-
ly realize how little real power and influence
ing, losing their footing even well before one
you have, even though you are the boss. At
gets to leadership nirvana if they ever get
this level, I dare say you’ll have to work to
there at all.
gain the trust and respect of people, earn the
Some people don’t ascend to the metaphorical leader penthouse, while others are
‘right to lead,’ whether you are a principal of a school, or just promoted to head dentist.
quite content on reaching and staying at a
Teetering on this first rung, one relies
specific rung. Only you know the kind leader
on rules, regulations, politics, and organiza-
you will turn out to be. But to be a person
tional charts to control people; don’t get a big
who influences others in the most positive of
head here, you are not much more than a glo-
ways, and uses the full force of his or her
rified manager. Sure, this is the first step, but
awareness and abilities, you need to climb all
being a boss doesn’t mean you are a leader. MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 33
Friend
them. Showing someone mutual respect and caring feeds the need we all have, boss and
Step
2
This next-level up the leader-
employee both, for connection.
ship food chain is the first step to
real leadership, although lots of people view this as a step back and avoid it, much to their detriment. Employees give their leader per-
Delivery man or woman Step
What a leader makes happen, the
3
results from his or her actions, the
mission, allowance, a welcome to lead them,
implementation of a plan or vision, are sure
only if a leader has earned their respect, car-
to leave a profound impact on a team. This is
ing, and nurtured friendships. Although plen-
the shut-up or put-up level; a leader can’t
ty of bosses, leaders think that cultivating
fake their results as a delivery man or wom-
fear or creating an antagonist relationship
an.
with their people is what pushes them to success, you’ll attract more bees (and buzzing happy bees) with honey; friendship being the sweetest honey of all.
The staff I hired as I grew my practice saw that I was on an upwardly- mobile trajectory. Sure, I was often knuckled under by enormous stress, but I like to think my drive
When a leader is a friend to his staff,
was infectious, that the people who worked
workers, students even, he finds people fol-
for me wanted to be part of the growth of
lowing him or her because of affection and
what came to be ten dental offices. My peo-
respect as opposed to them kowtowing for
ple looked to me as the answer-man, the
fear of losing their jobs or favor. The leader
leader, because they saw how serious I was
working at this level isn’t protecting their po-
in making things brighter, better, and bigger.
sition; he or she is getting to know their peo-
Even if a leader shoots and misses at this
ple and figuring out how to get along with
stage, the team will be much more forgiving
34 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
because, at least, they saw that the leader was
Woman and Mentor and retaining the best of
trying; putting an effort out there to make
what you learn along the way brings one to
things better for everyone.
the penthouse suite of leadership. This is
Mentor
what we saw with Steve Jobs, Martin Luther
Step
4
King; Gandhi. These leaders stood heads and Quaker leader C.W. Perry said:
shoulders above so many others and were
“Leadership is accepting people where they
able to bring all that they learned through the
are then taking them somewhere.”
four steps transcending their workplace, their
I enjoy watching people grow, devel-
class, even their political and cultural struc-
op their skills, cultivate their talents. I want
ture—what was expected from them for mere
to see people excel, become the best worker
productivity—making everyone they came in
they can be, even become leaders themselves
contact with that much better. The leaders
(on a selfish level, the more folks you culti-
who make it to this stage can change the cul-
vate into leaders, the more pressure you can
ture, influence technology for the betterment
take off your shoulders.) I won’t say getting
of us all, lead revolutions, become historical
to this level is easy. I had to take myself from
figures as much as envied CEO’s.
working in my business and work more on it,
I ran through levels one and four with
which included, tweaking and cultivating my
a few paragraphs for each, but it takes years
people. But when a leader gets to the last
to exercise your muscles for this climb, to
step, mentoring, typically he or she is less
not get knocked back a few rungs on occa-
concerned with production output and deliv-
sion, to maintain a level long enough to
ery and more their people’s productivity.
make the necessary strides needed to jump to
Stepping up the ladder of these four
the next.
steps, from Boss, Friend, Delivery Man/ MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 35
Dr. Steven Hymovitch, also known as “Dr. H”, is the proud co-founder of The Scottsdale Leadership and Coaching Center. He is a Certified Executive Coach
from Royal Roads University and a Level 1 and Level 2 TalentSmart Emotional Intelligence certified trainer and currently coaches’ executives, upper management, and doctors within the healthcare industry as well as faculty groups within dental colleges. In his words, “I coach as it really gives me the satisfaction of knowing that I can unleash the inner potential of driven and motivated professionals and entrepreneurs.” The focus of Dr. H’s coaching and speaking topics is leadership in the healthcare world. Additionally, as a professionally trained endodontist (Root Canal Specialist), Dr. H is the founder and CEO of Valley Endodontics and Oral Surgery. He continues to run 10 successful endodontic and oral surgery practices throughout Arizona since 1996. Valley Endodontics and Oral Surgery is the largest Endodontic/Oral Surgery practice in the Southwestern United States. Dr. H was born and raised in Montreal, Canada. He received his DDS degree from McGill University, his Endodontic Certification from Tufts University in Boston, and an MBA from Arizona State University. Dr. H
served as an officer in the Canadian Armed Forces for 15 years and was meritoriously awarded the Canadian Forces Decoration (CD) medal in 1993 after attaining the rank of Captain. Dr. H sponsoring the 2019 Summer Health Institute at ASU’s College of Health Solutions. The summer before their senior year of high school, participants stay for a week on the ASU Downtown Phoenix Campus, where they enjoy an immersive college experience while learning about various health career options. Now approaching its sixth year, the Summer Health Institute has demonstrated its ability to inspire promising, college-bound high school seniors from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds to pursue careers in health and health care. His sponsorship provides 24 students the opportunity to participate in this one-of-a -kind learning opportunity, regardless of their financial situation. Dr. H is married to Julie, and is the proud father of three girls and two boys. In his personal time, Dr. H is very involved with his two sons travel hockey team. His oldest son David was the first American forward drafted in the WHL Bantam Draft in 2018 by the Calgary Hitmen, and was drafted in the USHL 2019 draft by the Sioux City Musketeers.
Business Website: Scottsdale Leadership and Coaching Center www.scottsdalecenterofleadership.com Dr. Steven Hymovitch on Linkedin www.linkedin.com/in/steve-hymovitch-dds-mba-cec-786399a
36 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 37
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BY CHRISTINE ERICKSON Take a look around your office (or for the start-up/gig economy, the coffee shop). It’s a melting pot of generations -- from Baby Boomers, age 54-72 to the first Gen
need to figure out how to get people in a 50-year age span to connect.
First and foremost, stop
down.
Regardless of what phase of entrepreneurship you are in, it's critical for all of us to learn how to connect across generations. It's what fuels innovation and drives business. Here is how we -- and our clients -- successfully approach that multigenerational intersection.
MINDFUL MEETINGS
Z’ers who just graduated college), and everyone in between (Millennials and Gen X).
Forget trying to figure out the office thermostat -- we
compartmentalizing each audience. Believe it or not, many of these generations’ needs and preferences do overlap. Some Baby Boomers love Twitter. Some Millennials will put their phones
Healthy team members are happy team members no matter what age they are. Today, wellness is expected, and it’s changing business dynamics. One tip: Find new ways to weave physical and mental fitness into your employee’s day or at your business events. One thing these generations have in MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 39
common: most prefer to stay active, eat well, and feel rested.
FYI, fitness doesn’t mean a long, grueling marathon or cross-training session. Touchpoints for mental and physical wellness can be everywhere -- inspirational speakers to get the brain moving differently or even offering dietaccommodating menus and snacks.
Morning yoga not for you? No problem. What about providing mental motivation? Gamification challenges that feed problem-solving skills are multi-generation friendly.
Don’t forget those “no-tech” spaces and activities where everyone puts away their phones and instead interacts face-to-face, or simply… remains still. We sometimes forget that everyone processes infor40 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
mation differently. Some need more time than others. When you ‘gift’ decom-
“Engage your team on a personal and professional level by opening up networking events.” pression time, people get inspired and recharge and you will see successful results.
BRIDGE THE COLLABORATION GAP Across all generations, we’re still learning how to best utilize face-to-face connections and technology. In fact, I’m not sure anyone has mastered this yet. Finding that perfect balance of technology and personal interaction is… well, hard.
Companies and entrepreneurs coming close to the perfect digital/face-to-face time balance incorporate
the existing, most-used tech teams want and need. People are engaged when collaboration is simple – so use intuitive options that are easy to implement and are user-friendly.
To take it one step further, consider cloud-based solutions that unify these tools and applications. Then incorporate collaboration sessions so all generations can quickly and easily contribute -- while transferring knowledge in real-time. Some examples here include using collaborative whiteboards, employee engagement apps, and social media walls.
We sometimes forget that the goal of technology is to keep everyone engaged, not distracted. So, in the end, just keep it simple.
OPEN NETWORK(ING)
Professional networking and accessibility to all team members (company found-
ers and below) is key to any successful business. Your team wants to grow their network and enhance their skills so they can keep reaching towards their ultimate career goals.
Engage your team on a personal and professional level by opening up networking events. We live in an age when information and knowledge are at everyone’s fingertips. Because of that, work hierarchies can disengage and deter ‘lower level’ employees from engaging with the ‘top brass’.
Networking IS a motivator. People like hearing others’ career stories and meeting and connecting with other professionals. Some examples to open networking --
a)
b)
giving audiences the opportunity to interact with a keynote speaker or leader following a presentation. Creation of small-
session presentations and breakouts and... c)
Create ‘wow’ content and experiences to get people talking, connecting and get inspired.
MAKE A POSITIVE IMPACT From environmental sustainability to human rights – every generation wants to contribute to the world around them. They want to “Members of all generations have the desire and capacity to grow as individuals.” share their resources (knowledge, experience, ideas, and passions) in moving their ideals forward. Social responsibility is a key component of this belief. People want mind-share and heart-share.
Start by clearly defining your business’s goals for positive impact – what are the val-
ues, principles, and ethics you want to highlight? Then, survey your team. Learn what they want. Then curate your community give-back accordingly.
Next, look at your providers. Are you working with suppliers who prioritize fair wages and safe environments? Are you sourcing meeting properties that are working to reduce their carbon footprint? What are your own office’s alternatives to plastics? Whatever your business’ impact, own it. Ensure your team is well aware of the contributions and strides they too are contributing to by simply participating in your program or event.
PRIORITIZE SELFACTUALIZATION Members of all generations have the desire and capacity to grow as individuals.
Everyday business meetings and events are uniquely poMENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 41
sitioned to fulfill those needs. These opportunities provide people with learning and discovery, a change of perspective, and building a strong sense of team community.
The pièce de résistance when it comes to selfactualization opportunities for your team is to provide transformational experiences -- authentic experiences that incorporate resonating content. FYI, this isn’t free 42 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
and does take some coordinating -- but you get the highest value from them. Shift your resources to help your team members focus on new feelings of euphoria, joy, and wonder surrounding their job. If your surprise and delights tend to be goods or ‘swag’, make them more meaningful. Or, rather than a physical takeaway, consider creating an a-ha moment that supports the realization or fulfillment of one's talents and potentialities.
The goal of self-actualization moments in the workspace should not be to entertain but to make a lasting impression.
INVOLVE EVERYONE No matter how you look at it, age is simply a number. Everyone wants to be invited to the conversation. Everyone wants to be inspired and make positive change. Ultimately, employees want
to be part of an environment that genuinely connects them to other people, the community, and the world.
Invite all generations to participate in your research, surveys and organization’s
board meetings and events. Ask them to idea-share or crowd-source, so their topics get heard.
There is never a one-size-fits -all approach to designing the perfect team member experience. But, we are
closer to finding impactful solutions when aim for the middle of the Venn (or in this case, Gen[eration]) diagram. Identifying the center of your workforce generational diagram is key to understanding how everyone can relate and succeed together.
In an industry dominated by forward-thinking women, Christine Erickson stands out with her phenomenal leadership skills and proven ability to pilot a creative brand. As Senior Vice President, U.S. Event Solutions at BCD Meetings & Events, she heads a team of 75 event specialists with expertise in planning, procurement, creative design, business development and operations – all serving customers globally. Annually, her team produces 300+ events across the globe, stemming from the U.S. market, with a portfolio of incentive programs, product launches, national and global sales meetings as well as high profile marquee events conducted by organizations. Erickson’s passion to help clients improve their businesses through creative and innovative events has been honed over 27 years in the hospitality, travel and performance improvement industries. Her diverse background lends itself to progressing within the fast-evolving meetings and events industry. She began her career in planning operations, traveling the globe 260 days a year as a senior trip director executing programs. Moving into business development and sales, she worked closely with Fortune 100 customers in multiple verticals, understanding what is necessary for a business to be successful and how those needs can be supported with various expertise and services. In 2019, she was recognized by the Meeting Magazine in their "Top Influential Women in the Meetings Industry". BCD Meetings & Events: www.bcdme.com Twitter: @bcdme
Facebook Page: @bcdmeetingsandevents LinkedIn Page: @bcdme MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 43
By Ryan Boykin
Contrary to the narrative promulgated by social that millennials don’t save, studies show that they are cashsavvy – and they’re saving more and buying less than previous generations. In fact, this group represents 44 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
the bulk of adherents of the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement, wherein people try to save at least half their income to achieve financial freedom, and in some cases, early retirement.
According to Liz Thames, author of “Meet the Frugalwoods: Achieving Financial Independence Through Simple Living” and a prominent advocate of the FIRE movement, the concept hinges on
three main elements:
home to get into the game. Government loans exist for the very purpose of helping first-time buyers become
done your homework on location and you’re reasona• Expenses bly sure of your ability to • Income find renters, this is an excel• Time lent option. Not only will you “just by collecting more in rent than your The piece that eliminate one of might be missyour largest monthly mortgage payment. Rental properties ing from this picmonthly exprovide steady passive income each month.” ture is Investing. penses by To build a solid getting other financial foundapeople to pay tion for all of your financial homeowners. In fact, you for it, but you’ll also build goals, such as retiring at a can often buy a house with equity in the process. relatively young age, living just a three percent down comfortably, providing for payment. So, if you’ve fallen Invest In A Rental Property yourself or your family and in love with a house, townPerhaps you’re already a not being married to your home or condo and you homeowner. You’re not job, you should understand have reason to be confident looking to move and maybe that investing your savings is of the neighborhood’s futhat savings nest egg of just as important as the acture, don’t let a smalleryours is a little bigger. This is tion of saving. than-ideal cash savings keep an ideal time to begin inyou away from buying. vesting in a rental property One of the best ways to in order to increase the secbuild steady wealth is to inond of those three FIRE eleLive For Free By Taking In vest in real estate, and you ments: income. Tenants don’t have to be inherently Millennials in this financial To help ensure your monthly wealthy or hold an MBA to situation should look into income exceeds your total get started. Through conpurchasing a townhouse, monthly expenses, consider servative spending, smart single family home, duplex doing what many early ininvestment and prudent savor fourplex (a building dividvestors do after college ing, millennials can use real ed into four apartments). By graduation: buy a home and estate as a pathway to finanrenting out each of the rent out a few of the bedcial independence. Below units, you’ll again be coverrooms. Your rental income are four ways to use real esing your mortgage plus could cover most, if not all, tate to start growing your building equity in the propof the cost of your monthly future nest egg: erty. mortgage, meaning you can essentially live rent-free in However, because you’re Be A Borrower your own home. You don’t have to put a 20 now renting out entire units percent down payment on a rather than just rooms, your Again, as long as you’ve MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 45
asking price can be a good deal higher. If the location is right, you could be making money each month – just by collecting more in rent than your monthly mortgage payment. Rental properties provide steady passive income each month. Partner Up Maybe you’re focused on that third element of the FIRE movement – time – because even a three percent down payment for a
month, a property that’s in your name building equity and, of course, additional monthly income.
Good Ethics Lead to Good Results While these four methods can help you achieve your financial goals through real estate investment and ultimately give you the freedom to retire early or pursue other interests, I learned many years ago that the way in which you do business is as important as the results you achieve. I reached a turning point in business when a mentor, the founder and CEO of WhiteWave Foods, shared his life and company core values with me: good for me, good for you, good for everything. I embraced those values for myself and my company and quickly realized that if I am not doing something that fits those parameters, then I and my team members should not be doing it at all.
piece of property wouldn’t be fiscally responsible. To decrease the number of years it will take to realize a consistently higher income than expense, you could share a real estate purchase with a financially likeminded partner(s). By partnering, you will reap all of the benefits of your combined down payment savings. This can lead to fewer upfront fees and no private mortgage insurance (PMI). It also means you can divide landlord responsibilities once you start renting, while still gaining the benefits of a paid mortgage every 46 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
This ethos has become the guiding light I have applied to all of my work, relationships and activities in the world. It has been deeply gratifying to see these values take hold in my business and personal life and to know that I am doing much more than transacting a deal when helping Millennials with wealthenhancing real estate investments. I’ve been mentored well and now it’s my turn to share some wisdom: As you work toward achieving financial freedom, always seek positive results for everyone and everything. Good ethics lead to good results.
Ryan Boykin has over 15 years of experience as an entrepreneur. His first endeavor in 2004 was Scout Cleaning & Maintenance, an environmentally conscious cleaning service, and the next year, he co-founded U.S. Capital, a private equity holding company that sold to Northport Investments in 2008. This sale opened the door for the co-founding of DP Assets, LLC, a real estate asset holding company for institutional investment, which would eventually purchase the investment firm, Atlas Real Estate Group, in 2013. Ryan is also co-founder of a wellness-based social club, Archipelago, and a marketplace technology, venUse. Today, Atlas Real Estate Group has several divisions: investment, which helps people achieve their personal path to financial independence; property management, including residential and commercial properties; a full-service buy/sell brokerage; and in the Denver area, Atlas represents Zillow Offers in all its transactions. Ryan is an expert in real estate investment, having purchased over 4,000 units of investment real estate in the last 10 years. Ryan is also a regular contributor of articles and commentary about the real estate market and has commented or been featured in Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, US News and World Report, RealtyTimes.com, The Denver Post, Colorado Real Estate Journal, Investopedia, and other local and national publications. Ryan was a Denver Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree in 2017 and is a graduate of the University of Denver. He’s generously contributed to the Denver community for many years, having served on non-profit boards focused on education and the environment. Atlas Real Estate Group was honored with the Top Company Award in Real Estate by ColoradoBiz Magazine in 2018, the Best of Colorado Business Choice Award for Best Property Management for three consecutive years, 2017, 2018 and 2019, and Best Places to Work, 1st place, medium size company, by Denver Business Journal in 2019. The Group’s internal real estate holdings are over $50 million, having bought and sold more than 4,000 properties on behalf of individuals and institutional investors totaling over $750 million worth of transactions. The group manages over 2,800 units of residential investment real estate for its clients.
Business Website: www.realatlas.com
Twitter: @AtlasRealEstate
LinkedIn Page: @atlas-real-estate-group Instagram: @atlasrealestategroup MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 47
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A “people pleaser” is one of the nicest and most helpful individuals you can meet. They never say “no”, can always be counted on for a quick favor and get the job done.
be wrong, emotionally immature with low self-esteem and oftentimes addicted to approval. It causes us to accept things in our lives that
Here are 15 signs you are a toxic people pleaser – and what you can do about it.
Being a people pleaser doesn’t sound half bad right?
Yet, the truth is that it can be an extremely unhealthy pattern of behavior and one that runs deep into our subconscious. By constantly looking for affirmation for others, you aren’t always doing what is best for you.
People pleasers come in all shapes and sizes. They can be highly impressionable, have an intense need to not
to a degree, there are some where these types of behaviors are taken to a toxic level – and that is where things can go awry.
15. You are impressionable.
Image from clipartimage.com
are completely out of balance, including attracting the wrong types of people and staying in bad relationships -- both personal or professional – way too long.
While almost everyone exhibits people-pleasing traits
How impressionable are you? Do you think for yourself, or do you always ask the opinions of others? Do you believe everything that is told to you, or do you investigate the truth for yourself, and then make an educated decision?
People-pleasers have a tenMENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 49
dency to be very impressionable, because they really don't trust themselves. And with so many people on social media, we see this even more. People compare themselves to others, think they are less than others and then start questioning themselves. There's something wrong with me, they think.
14. You isolate yourself.
One of the things that people-pleasers do is that they have this intense need not to be wrong. They will avoid an argument at all costs. So, they will isolate and move away from confrontation. Self-isolation is also a way of self-protection, and saying, “Don't see me. I really don't want anybody to observe my flaws.”
13. You are immature.
When we're talking about people pleasers, these peo50 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
ple often get stuck in the emotional intelligence of a child, meaning they seek out the appreciation, attention, and the protection of other people.
12. You are excessively altruistic or philanthropic.
You are constantly giving away things in order to buy a person's love or respect. And no, I am not talking about birthday gifts, Christmas presents or a token of appreciation to your employer. Rather, I am talking about consistently giving in order to get appreciation and attention back.
11. You are addicted to approval.
This is when you will do anything, including compromising your own beliefs, morals or values, for the sake of approval. I think what makes this toxic is when we're not getting that approval from
other individuals, it's painful -- it physically, emotionally and mentally hurts. You go into self-blame mode: What did I do? Why was I wrong? Does this person not like me? And then it turns into a kind of obsessive behavior: How am I going to win back the approval of this person?
10. You have low selfesteem.
Low self-esteem, or low selfworth, is when we have a very stunted image of ourselves. I understand that there are situations in our lives we can’t control -- terrible upbringing, unhealthy relationships, to name a few -- that can impact our confidence. But I believe the root of this really comes from fear. It comes from adopting, adapting and protecting yourself within a dysfunctional unit where a person will not let you express your own individuality. For instance, If you're a gregarious person, but you're family consistently shames you
for being "too much,” you will shut down your true personality to be who others are telling you to be. You shut down your ability to communicate in a way that you need to communicate. Your ideas, feelings and accomplishments are not validated by other people, and it causes a loss of self. Therefore, you seek that self in someone else and piggyback on their accomplishments, emotions and happiness.
9. You rationalize away any wrong-doing.
You're constantly making excuses for poor behavior, either your own or someone close to you (i.e. family members, spouse). You rationalize it away, focusing on the one thing being done right versus the 10 things you are doing wrong.
8. You are emotionally dependent or codependent.
Emotionally dependent is when you are dependent on another person, because you are afraid to own your
their life, as we all have issues. It's when you’re with somebody who refuses to take responsibility for the issue and don't do anything about it, because you're afraid to leave.
7. You lack proper boundaries.
own feelings. So, if you can't be happy without somebody else being happy, if you have to walk around on eggshells in your own home, then you're a people-pleaser.
While some may think not having any boundaries increases intimacy, I call BS on that theory. By having boundaries, you are saying, “Here's who I am, here's what I stand for, and I want to be with somebody that has the same kind of value system I do.”
Codependent is when you're with somebody that has an issue, you tolerate that issue and don’t set a boundary for yourself.
If you don't have boundaries, you are a doormat for the world – and anybody can do anything and you’re not going to stop them.
Almost everybody has been in situations like these in
6. You are an over-doer.
Image from clipartimage.com
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You are the person that has to have everything right all the time. This comes from more of an internal judgment, than an external judgment. A lot of people have a dad or a mom, a priest, a teacher, a coach or somebody in their head that is constantly on them about not being good enough., So everything always has to be perfect. And, if it's not in their head, it's somebody in their life; it's like there's no room for mistakes there.
5. You have a loss of control.
If, unfortunately, you were raised thinking you were not good enough, you may seek out attention to get approval from others. You may continually make drama in your life -- something is always going wrong. You are constantly looking for some kind of sympathy from other people.
4. You are unable to say “no.”
“No” is a complete sentence, and it needs no further explanation. However, the word no can be one of the most difficult things for people to say to other people. So, you will lie, cheat, make excuses in order to not have to look somebody else in the eye and just say, “no.”
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When you say no and then give a huge explanation, if unwarranted, that's a sign of low self-esteem. You just need to say no and move on.
3. You have the desire to be loved.
The desire to be loved really comes from a sense of not loving yourself. When we don't love ourselves then we have a big issue, because we want that feeling of love. And if we don't have the feeling of love, then we have the threat of abandonment. So, if we can't generate the love ourselves, we're going to seek it in someone else; and when we're seeking it in someone else, we have a tendency to look over things that we probably shouldn't be looking over.
2. You are naïve.
It's our responsibility to stay abreast of what's going on in the world, and not walk around uninformed. You can't be informed about everything, but when you walk around with somebody that is just totally naïve about everything in their life, they're hiding. There's a safety component to that: The less I know, the less fear that I have to be in.
1. You trust.
When you don't trust yourself, you have to trust others to a point that it is not healthy. So, when you don't trust yourself, you will give power of things in their life that are very important over to somebody else. That could be finances, health, problems in your personal life, business, issues with their children or whatever. It's a stay-blissfullyignorant-type thing. So, we have to work on trusting ourselves, and the way that we do that is a very simple exercise that I teach people.
As I said before, these traits, at extreme levels, can be a sign that you are a people pleaser.
So, what can you do? It starts by picking things that you're going to commit to and keep your word. Start with small things that you know that you'll keep your word with, and then add more, bigger things as you go. This helps develop a trust muscle. You develop that integrity with yourself about keeping your word, and as you continue to do that, not only do you trust yourself more, but you build more self-confidence.
As that begins to happen, the other traits begin to start correcting themselves, helping you live a happier, healthier and more secure self.
David Neagle is the founder of the multimillion-dollar global coaching company Life Is Now, Inc, helping thousands of entrepreneurs, experts and self-employed professionals gain the confidence and find the right mindset to increase their revenue, turning their endeavors into seven- and eight-figure ventures. Being in the coaching and mentorship industry for more than 20 years, his clients include many well-known people, including New York Times #1 best-selling author Jen Sincero. Because of the results his clients have achieved, along with his dedication, David’s coaching has expanded to more than 30 countries, and his business expertise has been featured in Inc., CNBC.com, Business Insider, Farnoosh Torabi's "So Money" Podcast, HLN, and much more. He is also the bestselling author of The Millions Within, a book focusing on intention, focus and awareness to build your dream business and life. www.davidneagle.com
Facebook: @DavidNeagle
Facebook Page: @DavidNeagleCommunity
Twitter: @DavidNeagle
Linkedin: @TheDavidNeagle Instagram: @David_P_Neagle MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 53
Why Our Old Approach to College Is Putting a New Generation at Risk BY MARK C. PERNA Society has done a huge disservice to young people by relying on outdated educational and workforce-training models developed 50 years ago. Our one-size-fits-all approach that promotes college as the single path to a profitable, high-skilled profession is putting both the economy and an entire generation at 54 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
risk. We face a national crisis of rising college costs, decreasing degree-requiring jobs and employer frustration with the younger generations in the workplace. Meanwhile, we’re pushing young people to obtain college degrees while simulta-
neously ignoring the importance of also acquiring valuable work skills. As a result, only 1 in 5 students feel prepared for today’s job market. We’re saddling them with enormous college debt for degrees that may not pay off. Today’s emphasis should no
longer be just about getting young people ready for college. It should be about preparing them for careers for which college is one of many available options. College is a great postsecondary option -if their career path requires it. Too many young people today go just to go, and too often, because of lack of forethought, they choose a field of study where there either are no jobs available or they aren’t adequately trained for a profession. What young people don’t often know -- because no one tells them before they venture into the workforce -- is there are great, living-wage careers to pursue that don’t require them to go to college. Many of today’s high-paying, highskilled careers require a specialized industry credential or certification, not a college degree. The disconnect between sending young people off to study for degrees without regard for whether it trains them for a profession has resulted in dramatic skills gap in today’s workforce. Employers are starving for people with hands-on skills and experiences that come from certifications, apprenticeships, licen-
sures and career training programs. A recent study showed that by 2025, the United States will be short 11 million qualified workers to support the economy. Manufacturers around the country, for example, are in desperate need of precision machinists. But attracting the younger generation to the work is remarkably difficult because of the stigma that only lowerperforming students choose this kind of career. Still, the field offers immediate employment, high wages and advanced opportunities. Far from the old stereotype of a deadend factory job, work in this field now ranges from a robot operator to a machine builder to a computer automated manufacturing engineer. Students in both middle and high schools need to be made aware of the plethora of career avenues available and their respective training and salary prospects. Intentional career planning early on will allow them to choose advanced education purposefully and give them a better chance of reaching their goal.
Prioritizing early career exploration also:
1. Gives young people a sense of direction. Once they’re made aware that their interests can translate into exciting career opportunities, they can begin exploring the appropriate academic pre-requisites and early training opportunities that will catapult them into a promising future. 2. Answers the “why” behind their high school educations. “Because I said so” is not enough of a reason for Gen Y and Zers who want to know the “why” behind all what’s asked of them. Opening their eyes to the path needed for pursuing a chosen career can spark enthusiasm to perform at a higher level. They’ll understand the relevance of their education to the life and career they want to achieve. 3. Invites more experiential learning. When teachers, coaches and counselors know what careers their students want to pursue, they can connect the coursework toward the attainment of their students’ dreams. Assignments, field trips, guest MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 55
speakers, service projects and more can allow students to explore their interests and prepare for their various career paths. 4. Allows them to acquire skills and industry knowledge that can empower young entrepreneurs. Internships, apprenticeships and other hands -on opportunities are just a few of the ways young people can begin to excel in their fields of interest. Studies
show that students who are exposed to career options early on in their educational journey graduate high school in great numbers (93% over the national average of 80%). Career and technical education programs give students a distinct competitive edge. 5. Positions them to know their objectives before investing time and mon-
ey. Most young people have been taught to first pick a college to attend, then pick a major, and when they finally graduate, then decide what job they want to do. But reversing the order would help direct them along the way and save them from having to figure out life with that enormous financial clock ticking.
Mark C. Perna is the author of the award-winning bestseller Answering Why: Unleashing Passion, Purpose, and Performance in Younger Generations that Publishers Weekly calls “perceptive…reasonable and thought-provoking.” Mark is the founder and CEO of TFS and has over 20 years of experience in coaching educational organizations and businesses on today’s unique intergenerational workforce and the hiring, training and retention of the newest generations. www.tfsresults.com/ Twitter @MarkPerna 56 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
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By Beth Kennedy
Boost resilience beat burnout! 58 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
Several years ago, the company for which I was providing career consulting was purchased by another company. The merger resulted in an unusual circumstance for me— coaching fifteen leaders in the same organization as they transitioned to a different culture and new systems. I observed over the next twelve months that the resilient leaders were able to acknowledge the uncertainty and stress, then continue to develop their careers in the direction they wanted. Other individuals, lacking resilience, focused on the doom and gloom of the merger, which became a barrier to finding new roles, whether inside or outside the company. I identified five common strategies that these resilient people possessed as part of their career toolbox. I was amazed at how these strategies eased my own business transition. Within one month of leaving the organization where I had spent fifteen years, I had a major new training client and fifteen new leadershipcoaching clients. I now have an opportunity to coach leaders in diverse companies, schools, nonprofits, and small start-ups, as well as entrepreneurs and individuals all over the globe and I continue to focus on the five strategies with my clients: well-being, self-awareness, brand, connection and innovation. Well-being is key to being productive and
focused, which is essential for entrepreneurs. Do you make your well-being a priority? Do you exercise regularly? Do you give your body the fuel it needs to perform? Are you getting the amount of sleep you need to be at your best? Do you know your stressors and have strategies for dealing with them? Are you deeply connected to something outside yourself such as art, music, literature, nature, or religion? Try one of these Well-being boosters: Start your day with a morning intention. Think about what you would like your day to look like and how you want to feel. Some examples include: calm and confident; refreshed and focused; and relaxed and happy. Notice how you feel throughout the day and whether your stress level increases or stays the same. Being aware of your stress triggers can prevent you from reacting to them in unproductive ways. Take a break from career and life pressures by going on a retreat or getaway by yourself or with friends. This can be a great way to gain clarity and restore your energy. Self-awareness includes purpose, mindset, and personality type. Articulate your purpose—it’s the starting point for developing a clear focus for your business. And, as an entrepreneur, knowing your purpose will fuel you when circumstances are challenging. Be aware of your mindset—it’s essential to reMENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 59
silience and you have the ability to change it. A useful tool for recalibrating your mindset is mindfulness, which makes you aware of when you are focusing only on what’s wrong in your situation or engaging in negative selftalk. Knowing your personality style and how it affects how you deal with people and situations gives you the tools to be flexible in
pact you make with your customers. Together, attributes and impact will create the reputation that gets you recommended to others and makes individuals want to learn more about your expertise. I have taken my brand very seriously since I began my business 25 years ago. I make sure I attend industry conferences, and always focus
your interactions with people whose styles are different from yours.
on ways I can offer more value to my clients. When you do this, you will be seen as an expert and become a thought leader in your industry.
Some ways to boost your self-awareness: What can you do this week to focus on a value you would like to integrate more into your life? Do you often feel that you “have” to do something? Ask yourself, “What would realistically happen if I didn’t do this? What do I want to do? Is there room for negotiation?” The point is not to ignore commitments but to make sure you don’t overwhelm yourself. Be aware that when you become seriously stressed, it can amplify the more negative aspects of your personality type. When that happens, remind yourself to pause and employ your stress-management strategies.
Brand isn’t just about the attributes that describe you—for example, strategic, detailoriented, collaborative—it’s about the im60 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
To boost your brand: Every Friday, ask yourself, “What impact did I make in my business this week?” Make sure your brand is clearly reflected on your LinkedIn profile with a professional headshot and a summary statement that reflects your attributes and your impact. Connection is about cultivating relationships and building a support system of people you can trust. It is not about gathering as many business cards and LinkedIn connections as possible, but about creating and nourishing trusting relationships. As an entrepreneur, you cannot underestimate the importance of connecting with others. Every month, meet with someone who can inspire you or motivate you. Alternatively, find an organization you can develop a community with; you
don’t want to isolate yourself. To foster connection: Schedule time with friends and colleagues who support and energize you, and limit your time with toxic people. When meeting with colleagues, notice whether they drain your energy or give you energy. With friends, notice whether you feel renewed and refreshed or dragged down and negative after spending time with them. Think of connection as a business competency and make a monthly connection plan. Be sure to include face-to-face opportunities; connecting online is sometimes the only option, but by meeting with colleagues in person, you can develop trust.
Innovation isn’t just for companies; it applies to individuals too and I believe is key to resilience. Innovation keeps us growing, flexible and thinking creatively, all of which are essential to surviving and thriving in today’s environment. As an entrepreneur, don’t ne-
glect your personal innovation. Having an absorbing hobby or volunteering for an organization in which you believe can recharge you and provide energy for your business. The key to successful innovation is to create the vision, then figure out what goals you need to accomplish to make the vision a reality. It’s important to ask yourself if the goals are personally meaningful to you, to make sure they are worth your time and effort. To get started on innovation: Professional and personal innovation can include reading books, listening to podcasts and watching videos. What is a resource you have wanted to explore, and when will you make time for it? Creativity and play are important for innovation. What are you doing this week that is creative or playful? Focus on your resilience and enjoy the journey of entrepreneurship!
MEET BETH KENNEDY Beth Kennedy, MS, LMFT, brings more than twenty years of experience to her role as a leadership and executive coach, resiliency-training expert and speaker. She is the author of Career ReCharge: Five Strategies to Boost Resilience and Beat Burnout. For more about Beth Kennedy, please visit her website at: www.bethkennedy.com
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-By Dr. Ximena Hartsock, co-founder and President of Phone2Action The tech industry undeniably is tough environment for women. Today, women are underrepresented in both technical and leadership roles at Silicon Valley’s best-known companies. Women founders brought in just 2.2 percent of venture capital dollars in 2018, while mixed malefemale leadership teams brought in 12 percent. Women of color have it even harder. Since 2009, black women have brought in just 0.0006% of VC funding, and Latinx women just 0.32% according to ProjectDiane2018. As a co-founder of Phone2Action and a Hispanic woman with an accent, I know what it’s like to face these odds. I wish my identity weren’t a disadvantage, but it is, so I swallow my pride and focus on our mission. If that means having my white male cofounder do VC pitches without me, I’ll do what it takes. No set of tips that will guarantee success, 62 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
respect or whatever you’re after. In retrospect though, I believe that certain choices can made a difference for me, and they might help you too. Work for strong women My first boss managed a Department of Education grant for the W ashington D.C. public schools. She was unapologetic, firm and honest. I didn’t think of her as a mentor, but I now realize that observing her leadership shaped my career. My boss noticed who responded well to challenges and gave those people opportunities. I saw firsthand how hard work led to advancement. While that sounds naïve, most work environments teach the opposite message — that politics trump merit. I grew up in Chile where family connections determined your prospects and zip code is destiny. I watched how the politics played out, so I left for the land of opportunity, the United States. Even
MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 63
here, too many women build their careers under mediocre bosses. Don’t settle for that. If you want to start a company or break into a top tech firm, work for strong women and men. They won’t tell you how to shape your career (no one can). However, they will model effective behaviors, take you under their wing (if you work for it) and condition you to equate opportunity with persistence. Take feedback without emotion As a woman of color in a hyper-sensitive social environment, you better learn to separate your emotions from critique. If you respond to feedback with anger, offense or dismissiveness, you will stop receiving feedback, and you won’t grow. When I was assistant principal at a D.C. public school, I had a situation with a teacher. She forgot to fill out a field trip form, so I completed one for her. The principal had already reprimanded the teacher. I told the principal that was unfair. The teacher had 45 kids and one girl in a wheelchair. She was stressed and forgot the form. The principal, another strong woman, said, “She didn’t follow the process, and you need to learn to follow the process too.” I wanted to make an exception, but I realized that as a leader, breaking the rules is destructive. I had to model our rules (or change them). Otherwise, important processes would break down. The critique was 64 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
invaluable. Feedback means that someone cares enough to stop you from repeating your mistakes. Critique from tough bosses prepared me for the harsh feedback I would get when launching Phone2Action. If you’re not receiving critical feedback, ask for it — and keep a lid on your emotions. Learn to negotiate When you start a tech company or take on a role with power, you will go into challenging meetings with people who ask tough questions. One way to prepare for those moments now is to improve how you negotiate wages and promotions. Women chronically undersell themselves. At Phone2Action, I once offered a candidate a salary, and she asked for less because she wanted room for growth. No man would do that. I insisted that she take the higher salary. If you are frustrated because you feel overworked, underpaid or overlooked, here’s a suggestion for you. At your next performance review, negotiate a raise. Before the meeting, decide what percent increase in compensation you want and bring data showing why you’re that valuable. “I would like a five percent raise and here’s why…” is great practice for tech entrepreneurship and leadership. If you can negotiate a raise, you can negotiate investments, partnerships, sales deals and much more.
Unfortunately, I hear about women who show up to meetings with excuses. “I am bad at math,” they say, to pardon themselves from knowing the numbers. Not acceptable. If you want to be taken seriously, take yourself seriously and learn. Whatever function or title you have, know your numbers and know what outcome you’re after.
No expectations
If you’re a minority woman, you’re not the conventional image of a tech leader. No one sees you coming. No one expects you to
launch a company, become a CEO or show up in the news. A generation of entrepreneurs spent billions of dollars on first-world problems and nickknacks for the wealthy. Now, it’s your turn to step up. You’re the cohort that will tackle the systemic challenges of healthcare, education, food security, energy, and civic life. But it’s not going to be easy. Put yourself through the gauntlet by seeking strong leaders, harsh feedback, and tense negotiations. No advice will save you unless you’ve trained yourself to handle adversity.
Meet Dr. Ximena Hartsock Ximena Hartsock is co-founder and president of Phone2Action, a digital advocacy platform that connects citizens to lawmakers. Prior to Phone2Action, Hartsock managed membership and outreach for a national advocacy organization. She has held numerous leadership positions in Washington, D.C., and in 2009 was appointed to the executive cabinet of D.C. Mayor Fenty. She has a doctorate in policy from George Washington University. www.phone2action.com
Twitter: @ximenahartsock
Facebook: @Phone2Action Twitter : @Phone2Action
LinkedIn: @dr-ximena-hartsock-95088828 LinkedIn Page: @phone2action-inc
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We run a successful real estate business and are approaching our 10th anniversary of having created the firm.
We are Christopher Barrow and Darcy AlkusBarrow and our company is Foundation Homes Property Management. We are locat-
That’s the short story. As with many entrepreneurs, there is much more to tell: lessons learned along the way, difficulties overcome and advice we have for others in the same position. Happily, we can report that at the end of the day, the rewards of success far outweigh the problems that we encountered. Not that it has always seemed that way. 66 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
In building our business, we faced the normal hurdles of a married couple working together ed in Marin County California, a bucolic area of Northern California just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. Our area is
blessed with great weather, outstanding recreational diversity and excellent schools. And, as you might expect, residential home prices that are among the most expensive in the nation. With a background in real estate, we bootstrapped Foundation, starting in 2010, creating a real estate firm that identified and has become successful in a specific niche of the industry. Foundation currently manages more than $150 million (U.S.) of residential long term, single family home property. Most of our rentals exceed $4000 per month with a mean/average price of about $6500, some renting as high as $20,000/month. In building our business, we faced the normal hurdles of a married couple working together: that of never being able to turn off work. We chose to embrace the circumstance because we recognized that being together 24x7 can also be extremely valuable in a startup. Inspiration can strike at any moment, and your business partner is always there to bounce ideas off. (Noteworthy to add: our 70-hour start-up workweeks were pre-children!)
Early in our business career, we faced a major health crisis, not once but twice, even though we were in our 20’s at the time. Christopher was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer, underwent “successful” surgery and then - when the cancer resurfaced faced another bout and underwent another
surgery. All the while we were developing our careers and learning by working in the field. As much as we wanted to spend fulltime on our clients, we faced the reality of Christopher’s illness. (Which didn’t stop him from negotiating deals when going through chemo!) People ask us how we did it. We answer, “There was no other choice.” While our “crisis” was health related, there is no end to circumstances that you might have to overcome when starting a business. Our advice is MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 67
to take stock of what is going right in your life and/or business, celebrate your small wins versus what you don’t have, identify your next target and…. plow ahead. Hurdles come with the territory. Success comes with staying in momentum. While Christopher’s family had a heritage in real estate, we knew that there is no genetic guarantee of success. Christopher’s grandfather was a San Francisco real estate developer in the 1960s and even wrote a book about how to negotiate a real estate deal. The
book includes tactics like, “Only negotiate on an empty stomach, so the blood stays in your head, not your stomach.” A catchy sentence, but not exactly a successful strategy these days. Along the way, there were skeptics who thought that the long term residential, single family home rental business was not a standalone in real estate. (“Why don’t you just sell real estate?” colleagues would ask.) But when we looked around the San Francis68 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
co/North Bay area, we saw that property was expensive, new building regulations stringent and available land limited. With increasing state and local regulation, selfmanaging rental properties in California was and continues to be more complicated and riskier every year. We noted that the majority of our clients, while affluent and often greatly successful in their own field of business, were not experienced landlords and would regularly get them into unintentional legal trouble while managing their tenants. Unfortunately, ignorance of the law is no ex-
cuse in a courtroom –as a result, we saw our clients regularly needing more help from us, so we saw the need for detail-oriented property management. We also believed that we measure success by both financial and softer measures. If our clients and our staffed thrived, then what we were doing would be successful.
Our sense of the traditional real estate business was that it was mostly transactional in the eyes of the established firms and that
We also faced a world in which potential staff had to be educated about how they could be financially successful in a business where large commissions were not the order of the day. We had to build a model, develop a process and demonstrate its viability.
rentals were almost always a veritable second-class system. Real estate firms want to list and to sell property, agents want to realize commission and, as a result, very little time was directed to building a community of clients or to providing anything more than short term guidance. We saw real estate agents chasing the $3 million sales not servicing the rentals they took on well, so we knew there was an opportunity to take rental listings and service them with intention and attention to detail. In other words, we looked at rentals as a fertile area for a new approach that could be carved out with minimal relevant competition from established firms. They, by and large, didn’t want the business that we were going after and did not have the interest or energy required to develop it into a successful endeavor.
Because we had no legacy infrastructure, we set out to build both a unique business and one that took advantage of demographics, technology and online based communications and marketing. And one that fit our vision. In building Foundation, we divided the tasks. Christopher has concentrated on clients, sales and new business as well as industry leadership opportunities. I run marketing, administration, staffing and have developed a quarterly survey now in its fourth year that uniquely tracks the high-end residential rental market. If you access our website today (www.foundationhomes.com), you will see a mix of information about our properties, educational information about residential home regulations, easy to understand guidelines that help potential clients as they decided whether renting their property is right for them and a healthy dose of social interMENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 69
action and community building opportunities for clients.
We are also extremely community oriented. Next year, we’re launching our nonprofit, LifeBoost Charity Fund. Christopher is active in various cancer support and nonprofit organizations and Darcy serves on the board of the Marin Foster Care Association and writes for a local non-profit mother’s magazine, The Crier. We’re often asked for advice to married couples looking to start and to successfully manage a business together. Here are “dos” and some are “don’ts.” • Understand there will be hurdles in and out of the business; don’t focus on what is going wrong in your life. • Do define areas for each spouse to develop and to be the “expert” to facilitate autonomy and reduce overlap. • Don’t think that you can separate your business and private lives. Leverage the communications opportunities rather than fight them. • Do, however, set time limits and working hours. • Measure success by how well your clients and staff are achieving their goals by working with you. • Don’t be afraid to reject conventional wisdom. • When confronted with hurdles of 70 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
any sort, embrace them, learn from them and move beyond them; you learn a little from success, but you learn much more from stumbling and overcoming. We are an entrepreneurial couple. We love our business. We love our family. We love our community. The success of our business ten years on is a testament to how embracing what you face in life and in business can be the foundation of your success. It’s why we’re here and why we and our clients thrive.
Darcy Alkus-Barrow and her husband Christopher are the co-founders and co-managing partners of Foundation Homes Property Management, which is located in Kentfield, Calif., USA. The firm, founded in 2010, manages more than $150 million (U.S.) of single family home long term rentals in the San Francisco Bay Area. www.foundationhomes.com
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Founder & Owner of Boss Mom Interview by Neil Ball
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Neil: Can tell us more about your business and personal life? Dana Malstaff: Yes absolutely, so I am a Mom, first off and I am an entrepreneur. So I have my own business, I have had for three years now. And my journey to becoming a mom and my journey to becoming entrepreneur, sort of happens simultaneously. That was not planned, but that is sort of how you know, things happen. And it brought me down this path of feeling really guilty that I wanted to create and make a business and nurture a business in this world. But I also wanted to create and nurture a family as well, and how was I going to divide that time? and every time I wanted to nurture my business, it made me feel as though I was giving away part of my heart that I should have reserved, you know all of for my son. So, I began to figure out how to try and get past this guilt and that’s how I came up with the Boss Mom Book. To help women get past this guilt they feel that to really, really accept and give themselves permission, that they have this passion inside them, and this nature to create in this world, and that by creating a business, it is just another kind of baby, and by doing what we love, we are then able to show our children what a life well lived looks like. And that, that in turn helps us to raise a generation that has the mind-set, where it
is important to do things that we are passionate about. And that you can actually grow a business and support your family, by doing those kinds of things. And that is sort of how I have built my boss mom tribe. And within it that is how I actually help people execute creating a business that thrives is through the content and business strategy which really is all about this idea that we create content all day long. We create products and services and things that we want to go out and sell, but very often we don’t sit and think about the long game, we don't think about the strategy, we don't build a business plan. We don't think about how all our family goals fit into our business goals and vice versa, so I help mom entrepreneurs to pull that all together. And really make sure that what they are creating in their business helps serve them in a way that really maximises the return on them reaching the goals that they want to reach in life and I execute that in my own business as well. And that is sort of where I help people and I think a lot too with content strategy that all boils down to also helping them figure out how do you build your tribe? How do you create content that drives people to your email lists and then also to buy your services and do all those things. So it’s everything that is encompassed in creating a strategy for your business that helps it grow. MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 73
Neil: Do you have any examples of how you have helped somebody that? Dana Malstaff: Oh yeah sure. So, a lot of what I do with clients is I have clients where I actually just help them build their business. So, we will maybe say ok, I have got somebody who is doing blogging. Well how do you become intentional with exactly what you are blogging about to help you grow your business? So, we work through… So how are you going to actually monetize your business? Is it through affiliate marketing or is it through actual products you create? and what will that look like? And as we start to build that out. Then how are we going in and creating content in your blog that drives people in that direction?
So those are some instances of clients that I have helped, I have also done actual launches where we say you are creating a course, and if we look at your course, then how are we… and I call it stacking. But a lot of other people might call it splintering or things like that, but how are we pulling out from that? the content of your course, to help create webinar content that drives people that help create opt-in content that helps create blog content, that when people are being pulled in to you, they are understanding your message, they are loving what they are hearing about you and they are going from loving that, to nurturing them through the cycle, of bringing them all the way to the purchase decision of your 74 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
actual larger content. So how does that all fit together? And then from a larger strategy standpoint, you know I work with clients a lot and talk with… I was just on a panel actually for a membership site, talking about this idea that everything you create should multi task for you. So how do you make sure that you are creating blogs that drive people to different parts of your business and then creating blogs that you can multi task that content to maybe put in membership site, or go into more detail, but use that content in other places, so those are some examples of just things that I have done, and helped people with from a content strategy standpoint. Neil: How do you actually make money from what you do? Dana Malstaff: So, I have three actually I have four main ways that I bring in income that I think is pretty well synced with how a lot of people bring in income these days. So, I have coaching, one-on-one coaching clients, so I max out at five, but I usually keep them at three. So, the beginning of the year I usually take five, because people are wanting to get their year going. But I generally keep three clients, one-on-one throughout the year. I have a group coaching programme and that is called the Decision Map Academy, which is all about a sixmonth programme to help you create your
business plan, create your vision boards, help grow your business and build your business. So, you are really confident in what you are creating, and making decisions to help that business thrive, become easier. And then I have an evergreen course called the 'finding your course programme,' which helps teach people how to build their course, and that runs throughout the year and I do Facebook ads and different nurturing things to help grow that participant base. And then I have affiliate marketing, so people that I partner with, or smaller courses that I have on other platforms, that help promote larger courses that I get a cut of that profit. Things like that, so those become the four main areas that I pull in revenue. Neil: Can you tell us about your book? Dana Malstaff: Ooh yes, I could talk all day about my book. Ha that’s an easy one. Yeh so it’s Boss Mom, it’s the ultimate guide to raising a business and nurturing your family, like a pro. And it is meant to be a resource guide, you know you could read it all at once, but it’s meant to kind of go through the stages of when you begin to think about starting your business and your family, all the way to the toddler years. And there will be more boss mom books to come out in the works of making it a fun series.
But the main point of it, is that it correlates how we look at our business, and how we look at our family, and how they are both children that we nurture, and raise, and how we can learn from each other so there are chapters like, 'is your business teething?' and 'is your baby and business as cute as you think?' and you know and that kind of thing. And so, it teaches you to look at your business in a way that helps you really understand that you are truly raising a business. You are not just running a business, you are raising a business. And at some point, that business is going to begin to take on a life of it’s own and personality of it’s own, and you need to recognise and look at that, and be able to learn from that, instead of fighting that. Because that is how you are going to allow your company to grow into something healthy and beautiful, that contributes out into the world, and the same thing with your children. It also walks you through getting away from the guilt of how do you deal with overwhelm? How do we manage our business when we have kids and you get pregnant or you have kids and everybody gets sick for a week. You know, how do you build a business that can sustain itself when you have other priorities in your life that are really important like family. And it just walks through that, and it becomes a support system, for the women that are in the Boss Mom community to read that and know MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 75
that they are not alone. That it’s hard to raise a family and have a business, I think it’s hard for men as well, as a woman, I think I come from a place of knowing what it’s like as woman, and so that has sort of become my tribe, but I think being a parent and an entrepreneur in any capacity is tough. We on a daily basis face priorities and what's important to us, and what we are going to accomplish and why we are accomplishing it, and you know you say the phrase for posterity a lot because we are doing things for our children and for the next generation, and so that is challenging and it helps provide the support to help women go out and create businesses that are amazing, and help raise the next generation that is going to create businesses that are amazing. Neil: What do you enjoy most about what you do? Dana Malstaff: Well I am all about creating. My family growing up, we called ourselves the McGiver family because we just love to build. You know, my dad builds and restores vintage cars, my brother is a sculptor. You know, my mom does illustrations and my step-dad is a writer and so I come from a family of creators, and so that is what I do every single day is I figure out how can I create beautiful but useful things in this world that will help people run their business and raise their family. And how can I do that, that makes their lives easier. So, 76 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
shorten that learning curve for them. Teach them well, also while motivating them. And so every day I wake up and I have something on my plate that allows me to create and that really drives me and excites me. Neil: What drives you to do what you do? Dana Malstaff: I think this is different than when I was in corporate America, I think this is the difference between someone paying you and you creating a business where you are in charge of everything you make. It’s that I have control over what my future looks like, you know I have the ability to say, this is what I want and I need to make this much more or I need to work with these kinds of people and I can make it so, and I think that is a beautiful driver in business is that I have that control, it’s also super scary that I have that control. Because that also means that I have to 100% own my failures. But then I can easily pick myself up and go, I mean the two words that I talk about that I never say anymore after having started my own business, is I never say politics and I never say red tape. Because I can be as agile and flexible as I want to be in my business, and I can pivot and I can tweak as much as I need to in my business. To get me to what I want, and that is beautiful and I think the most important thing that I help my clients with and I am really conscious about in my business is I have to know what I want. And as soon as I know what I want, then it’s a driv-
ing force to me to do whatever I need to be able to do to get that. Neil: How do you relax when you are not working in your business? Dana Malstaff: Mmmm, not working, what is that like? ha ha ha you know there’s a lot of things, one is my mornings are my kid playtime. Sometimes I think taking care of my kids is super stressful or super challenging. But the mornings is my time, we play. I make sure that I am consciously remembering that playing is fun. Because I think oh I gotta get the kids things together and I gotta prep for a meeting I'm doing, or an interview I am gonna be on, and I have gotta do all these things. But in the morning, we get up and it’s just what they want to do. You want me to get into your little spaceship or sit in your pantry and play with our cars, and pretend they are flying, yes. That’s what I wanna do and I love that, and I get to be a part of their life in a way that is really interactive. And is really about creating adventures together and that is extremely relaxing and rewarding for me. Neil: Do you have any role models who are entrepreneurs? Dana Malstaff: Oh gosh, I have so many role models. I was just talking about this today, that I wrote a blog on linked in some maybe year or two ago, that was about the, I think it was the 11 different types of mentors that I had talked about. And there are
different times in our lives when you have them, and there is you know, your cheerleader mentors which are the people that you love that are your family and those kinds of people. And those are the ones that help support you when feel down, you know, they help tell you that no matter what you are amazing and they just love everything about you. They also don't understand the business world that you live in. They may not be in your space, they are obviously not your ideal client, so you take their love but you weigh their advice because sometimes their advice is going to be born out of love, but not out of experience. But then, what I am finding right now, is most prominent in my space is what I call proximity mentors and those are the people that are not necessarily further along in their business than me, they are kind of where I am. And we are I would say colleagues versus someone being at a different advancement than me. So, they were in proximity to each other in terms of our business, but we have different things that we are better at. So, I may have written a book, but somebody else may have started a membership site that is really successful. Or somebody else might have done this group coaching, and we learn from each other by proximity.
So one that I was on a call with today and helping her with her membership site, is Jacqueline Malone, and she has the All Up MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 77
in Your Lady business podcast and she has the Chasing Dreams and Littles incubator, which is her membership site. And I am learning so much from her, about what she is doing and how she is running her business that is so helpful in my business, even though we are on the same track. You know we are able to teach each other because it is just the proximity of saying, 'here is what I have learned, and here is what I have succeeded and failed at.' and taking notes from each other, so she is one I love. Heather Crabtree, who has the savvy business owners Facebook group which is wildly popular. And she just launched a savvy business conference which is great. And so, there are these women that are in my space, that are just super motivating and really wonderful to see how they are growing their business. And that is where I have been looking too lately. Neil: How important do you think it is to have a mentor or a coach? Dana Malstaff: Oh I think it’s vital, so I think there are three things you have to have to grow a business. I talk about three tools you need, and people go, 'oh good, what software is it?' and I go no no no, the three tools you need to start your business and grow your business, is you need a coach, you need a mastermind group, and you need a community. And so, my current coach is Dawn Mars, she is from Mars Marketing. She also is the co-host of the ‘Social 78 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
Media Happy Hour’ podcast. And she is amazing, and she fills a need for me which is I need to get better at what you would call the nurturing system which is once I have people in my community, how do I nurture that relationship? And that is something where I get so excited about getting people into my community that I don't have an expertise in the nurturing part. That I am sort of new to that. So, she has been really helping me hone in on that, and has just been an amazing coach, so and I always have a coach, and I always make sure the coach fills the need that I have. You know when I talk to coaches, if I want to get one, then I will talk to five or six or however many it takes to feel like not only do they get me in my brand and understand what I want to accomplish. But that they also feel the need for me, so that I don't need somebody to motivate me or hold me accountable, I am very good at that. I need somebody that is going to help me go to the next level. So, I find a coach that is at that next level. So, Dawn fills that for me, she is amazing. And then a mastermind group, you can either do paid or not paid. I have actually yet to pay for a mastermind group, I have been lucky enough to be invited to some really amazing ones. And the best way I have found to get a mastermind group is by through in-person events so I will go to for instant. Hal Rod is one of my favourite, he is a friend of mine,
he wrote the miracle morning, and he does his event here in San Diego. So, every year, I go to that and almost every year I find an amazing group of people and we start a mastermind group. And from there, I got my book coach to help me write my book last year. I have gotton multiple different clients that we have referred to each other. We have helped each other grow our businesses, we have been on each other’s podcasts. So, find a mastermind group, that works for you because that helps you understand ideas, come up, brainstorm things but also be held accountable. And in your community, I have a Facebook community, multiple Facebook communities that I engage in. That I have sort of found my tribe. And I reach out to them to help validate the ideas for what I am going to do in my business. So, what I am going to name things, what I am going to do next, when I am going to launch things. All that kind of stuff so that it helps me make sure that I have a finger on the pulse of what my ideal client actually needs. So have a coach, have a mastermind group, and have a community. Neil: What difficulties you had to overcome when you started your business? Dana Malstaff: Oh yes, so I don't know if anyone will resonate with this, so I have a feeling it’s possible though. When I was in corporate America, so I had big ideas about what I was going to do and be and I finally got into a spot, I was at a director position.
And I was making six figures. So that was one of my goals, you know I wanted to be in a management role, and I wanted to be making six figures. So, I got to that point and I was with a smaller sort of patient advocacy company, and I helped build behaviour modification coursework. So, diabetes management, tobacco cessation, that kind of thing. I loved programme development and helping people to create change and action in their life’s. Well this organisation kind of went into new management and you could see, so I think it’s good to always be realistic about the lay of the land, is I could see that they were sort of moving the people in management out to replace them with the people that this new management knew, you know so I was associated with the old management. You want people in that you know, I totally knew, could see that that was happening and I recognised to not get mad about it. Because that is what I would do, you know, I would want to make sure that there are people that fit what I am doing and get rid of the people that are not so that I can run the business the way I want to. So I basically said, I am going to be proactive, I went to the chief marketing officer and I said, 'look I kind of see what is going on, I have a team that I love, I would like to put together a 90 day package of me sort of transitioning out before you bring anybody else new in.' And they said they loved it, MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 79
they loved my approach to it and everything like that. So, I had an idea 90 days to find a new job. And I basically went out, and I told my husband there is one other company I want to work for. And if I don't get the job, then I think I should start my own business, because I think now is a good time, we had a bunch of money saved up, we both had good incomes. We could financially handle it. He said ok, great. So I applied for this job and they called me and it was between me and one other guy and they said, 'you know Dana, we love you, we would love to work with you but this guy just had this other experience that you don't have, so we are going to give the job to him but we really love to find a way to work with you.' and that is when it clicked in my mind, 'oh my gosh, if I own my own business, and I was just a consultant, to businesses or a coach, I could do that, you could hire me for a project. You don't have to hire me as a whole, a person that you pay and give benefit’s to.' And so in my mind, it was just the perfect thing to shift my mind-set. To be able to go, 'wow being a consultant and having my own business could be amazingly successful and rewarding if people really want to work with me?' but it’s not, to go in and work with one company and so that was the beginning to starting my own business and shifting that mind-set about how I was going to grow my business. 80 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
So, I took what my friend at The Art of Epic Wellness, Nicole Keating who I have been on her podcast and love what she is doing, she is another proximity mentor that I have. That she says turning poison into medicine which is I could have taken the idea that I needed to leave my job, that you know that I was kind of being a little bit pushed out and those kind of things and let it get me and let it be negative in my life. But I decided to use it as something that would be a positive force in my life, and it helped me jettison me into starting my own business and to what I am today, which is working with people I love, doing what I love and growing my business in a way that works for me and my family.
Neil: I just love that phrase, 'turning poison into medicine' Dana Malstaff: I know isn't it awesome, she calls it up levelling and unburdening which I love. I use that in my life now, like if I am going to do something in my business, how can I up level it? and what am I putting in my life that is not useful, that’s not beneficial. Who am I putting in my life, that’s not useful and not beneficial? and then when I recognise that, how can I unburden myself of those negativities and it has really helped me make sure that I am only surrounding myself with people who get me and love me, and only surrounding myself with things that are helping me bring my purpose to life.
Neil: Did you have any doubts that delayed you starting your business?
Dana Malstaff: Well I got pregnant. Not necessarily a doubt, but I would call it a little bit of something that totally throws a wrench in things. In a sense that I had never had a baby and I never had a business and I was in a scenario of trying to figure out how to give birth to both. Which is just a whole crap load of challenges, all in itself, so I often wonder if my business would have really become super successful before, but then this is what I love about recognising how the universe, you know bends itself for you. Is that, we had my son, and I was sort of, I had a business but it was kind of you know, kind of working, I had some clients, but you know nothing crazy. I was trying to figure out exactly what my purpose was and what I was doing, and I am originally from San Diego, and we were living in Columbus, Ohio. I had my son and we would go and work at the coffee shop, and I would see like a mom with her little kid and then her mom, so like the grandma there, and it just made me cry, like 'oh my gosh, my family is out in San Diego and I am really close to them.' So I told my husband, I want to move back to San Diego, and of course for him, we are like in the dead of winter in Columbus, and he is like, 'I'll quit my job tomorrow, I'm done and done' like that was an easy sell. But we got here and it turns out, it was the best thing we could have ev-
er done because San Diego is a bustling community of entrepreneurs, especially in the online service industry. There's tons of like all the really million people follower people like Jon Lee Dumas who does 'Entrepreneur on Fire' I am now friends with him, I am having lunch with Kate Erickson on Friday. You know I am going to his book launch, I am friends with Hal. Like I am getting introduced to all these people that are really well known, in our industry because of my proximity, because of me living here. And so, it turned out that my business was able to really significantly grow, because we moved here. And we would not have moved here if I had not had children, so while I think of the challenges it was to have a son and try and start a business at the same time. I recognised that the universe presented itself in a way, that by having a son, it prompted us to move in a place where my business could really thrive. So, it all kind of fit’s together. Neil: What mistakes did you make that slowed your journey? Dana Malstaff: Well I make mistakes every day. I continue to make mistakes every day. I like to think that mistakes don't slow my journey. Of course, we would all love it if we could make a mistake, move past it and have some epiphany, I think ultimately, a lot of our mistakes are a series of mistakes that build up to the success. But I do think that there are two big mistakes, I think that I MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 81
made and a lot of people make, and one is that I thought I could do everything by myself. I thought I needed to do everything by myself. And that is a huge mistake. You are not an island, business is not products and services, business is people. And the only way to grow your business is to recognise that you need people. You need people to support you. You need people to help bring expertise in areas, that you are not an expert in. You need people to love you and promote you, and you need people to buy into what you are doing. So, you know, you have to get past the idea that everything has to be made by you, done by you, originate from you. Like there is just as much as you can become successful from curating as you can from creating. So, to keep that in mind, is really important. And then I think the other thing too is that, as an entrepreneur, we have the sort of wonderfulness of being able to assess and pivot when we need to. And I think one of my biggest mistakes is when I started out, I did not do what I do now. I did more of a mindful communication coaching, it felt really in line with what I was doing in corporate America. But it really was something that I was interested in. But it didn't, there is this Venn diagram that you need to, maybe I should send you the image so that you can have it in your show notes. But there is this place what you are amazing at, what comes easy to you. And 82 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
then you have got the box of what you are actually, what you want to do, what makes your heart sing. And then the third one is what people actually need. And you have to find that little spot in the middle where you are doing what comes easy to you, what you really love, that people need. And I think in the beginning, I was doing what I really loved, but I was not necessarily pulling it into what I am really good at. And I was not positive of how to place it in a way that people really need. And what I discovered is when I started in a place of what am I really good at. What comes easy to me and that is, strategy, content, creation, this idea of creating content which I did in corporate America, and being a mom and being an entrepreneur and when I pulled all those together, I figured that what I am good at in terms of helping people with strategy. Then I recognise that part of that strategy is being mindful and communicating to your community, so you understand what they need. Filled that part of what I love. And then being able to go out and build a community of boss moms, and understand really what they need and I was able to hone in on that centre part. And I think my mistake was waiting too long to recognise that I needed to pivot, that you need to be agile as a business. And if it is not working, you assess why and you immediately make changes because entrepreneurialism is all about trial and error, but it
does not work unless you recognise the error and quickly move past it. It’s called the 'trial and error' because trials are meant to be a short period of time. It’s not meant to be over the length of your business. You know like that would like 'business and error'. So, trial and error means the second you recognise it’s not working. You figure out how to tweak it or pivot so that it can work. And I think the mistake is holding on too long, and we reach this opportunity cost where it’s like you are gambling at some point, you may have put money in but if you don't stop, you are going to continue to lose.
couch and feel like open and supported? Would you want them to feel like it’s edgy and new and they need to immediately take action? You know, what is it that you want them to feel? And that is the essence of culture, is that you were creating an environment, an emotional environment, that creates a certain type of reaction and interaction and so, even if you are owning a business that is brick and mortar that has people that come to work every day, or you are in an online business where you are in social media, and you are building a community there.
Neil: Do you think culture is important from the beginning in a business?
Your culture is your brand, it’s the feel and the look and the things that you do, do you want to create a place where people feel like that can get up from their desk and play and have fun because you know, that they are actually able to get their work done better when that happens. Or are you in a place where it says 'hey you have to be here 9-5 and this is what you have to do.' You know, are you in an online community that says, 'hey I want you to be open and supportive because we don't judge here', or do you want a place that says 'we are all about just action' if you are not going to give tips and practical information, then this is not the place for you. So, the culture that you create, ultimately decides who will gravitate towards you. And if you are not really conscious about your culture, and the
Dana Malstaff: Oh absolutely, I think culture is everything. I think that we… well I will tell you this, in the solopreneur world and in entrepreneur world culture is your brand. I was just talking about this today that one exercise that I really love when I help people to create their brand, because I work a lot with creative entrepreneurs and they love Pinterest and their boards and things. Is that we actually visualise a home as your business, and if you were going to invite people over, how would you want them to feel? Would you want them to feel cosy? Would you want them to feel at home like they could just get in the fridge if they wanted and pop up their feet on the
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kind of branding that you want for your business, whether it’s a big business or just you. Then you are going to start attracting people that are not the right people, and there is nothing worse in your business than having team members or clients that are bad fit’s. It’s bad for your soul, because they won't value you, they will nickel and dime you. They won't be happy, they will eventually leave. And you will have spent time and effort and love and sweat and tears on people that don't truly get you and are not willing to pay you and it can ultimately end up being the demise of your business. So yes, culture is everything. Neil: Knowing what you know now, is there anything that if you had known it when you started out, would have helped you to shortcut the learning curve? Dana Malstaff: Yeh I think one of the biggest things, besides getting people to support you which is big. You know, getting a team of people even if you cannot afford it to get into that. I think one of the things that would have really helped shorten my learning curve and build my community faster, is so much more collaboration. Now there is a big part of my business where there are other boss moms like Jacqueline Malone, who is in the Chasing Dreams and Littles. She does something similar to me, she actually has a community that is very similar to mine. They have a little bit differences but her and I collaborate a lot, we 84 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
promote each other a lot, so you know doing that sort of affiliate marketing, even if there is not necessarily a pay part of that affiliate marketing but you are promoting each other. That’s huge for my business and I know other people's businesses is that, that growing trending phrase that collaboration over competition, is so true like find your tribe, find people who also serve your tribe in different ways and find ways to collaborate with them, because they will help get you visibility, they will help get you out there, they will help you grow your business, and those are vital, so I think definitely the collaborations are the place to be now. Neil: How much does gut feeling influence your decision in your business? Dana Malstaff: Gosh you know, I would say, it is at least half. I think I used to have it be a 100% I would just go with my gut and what felt good. And what I found, in really growing my business and creating a good strategy for my business, is that I use my gut to help me create my strategy, and then I don't have to worry about it not feeling or settling well because everything I decide in my business, I bounce it off of my business plan and my vision board, I create a business plan vision board, which is part of what my group coaching does. So that I can easily, visually look up at every decision I make, and make sure it really resonates with everything I want to accomplish this
year in my business and my purpose and my ideal client. So, I don't have to really use my gut as much, because I used my gut to create a plan that I know is in line. And there are just sometimes when I get those people asking me to do things, where I am not able to see my vision board and I go 'god I don't know if that like fit’s right' and then I am able to just come home and easily just gage that and go now I know why.' I know why because it is really not going to guide me here. Or it’s going to use my time over here that is not going to be really helpful in a way that I want to accomplish this year, so hopefully that answers that. Neil: Yeh well it’s your personal opinion, isn't it, but I was reading something the other day about this and scientists now have discovered that it is more than about just your brain, there is actually something real about gut feeling. I'm not going to try and explain it anymore but it was something that Daniel Goldman talked about, on LinkedIn the other day and it’s really interesting getting to understand all of that. Neil: How do you try to keep up with change? Dana Malstaff: Yes, it’s happening, change is happening every single day. I think in our businesses and I am not the first one to say this but if you are riding the wave of things you have done in the past, without recog-
nising how you will need to alter according to the way things are changing, especially now, as technology and the millennials are becoming, the people are becoming the purchasers now, you will fall behind. So, change is absolutely a huge reality in business and I was saying the other day that it is funny, when you do research to write a book, they tell you to look at what is out in the market. You know, is it a saturated topic, you know, all those kinds of things. But you only have to look five years. Anything that was written more than five years ago becomes irrelevant. So, if you wrote a book that is on an almost exact topic of something that was written six years ago, and you are looking to get it published, they would not pull that old book in as a reason to say no. It’s no longer relevant, and I love that, that totally puts into perspective when you are thinking about your business, is thinking about how do I stay relevant? And I think that is the big thing with change, is how do I stay relevant in my kids’ lives? How do I stay relevant in keeping myself healthy and the tools I have to do that and the beautiful part about change is that it actually creates opportunity for you. Because if you stay stagnant, then you are missing out on potential things that could make your life easier, that could help you grow. Like for instance, I was trying to use a particular project management tool, and I was MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 85
trying and trying it, and just was not working for me, but I really wanted to create a place where I could manage everything in my business and my team. And then Trello came out, I am a massive fan of Trello which is a free project management tool, I basically live in Trello now, I call it my workwife. And it’s a new tool, it’s a complete change, it took a little time for me to get used to it, but once I got used to it, it has changed the way I run my business. I am actually able to take on more clients, if I would like to do more everyday because I have this system and I have created this. But I have to accept that I needed to change. I had to accept that I needed to try something new, and there are possibly things out there that might fit better with me. I was on another example of this, I was on a panel today talking with a Q & A. And someone said, 'I used to build websites and now I want to move into coaching, but the people that I talk to keep asking me to build their websites, you know what do I do?' and I said, there is this awkward transition that you are not going to be able to get past, where you are going to have to say no, to the things from before, so you could say yes to the things of tomorrow. And I think that is truly important, when you are talking about change, you have to accept that in order to embrace change, there are things that you are going to have to start saying no to, that you used to accept, and 86 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
things that you are going to have to start saying yes to that you may be did not even realise were there. But when you recognise that, that is ok, that saying no to the wrong things means that you have space to say yes to the right things is what is going to help you guide you through the change in an easier transition and ultimately grow your business. Neil: What is your favourite book on entrepreneurialism, business, personal development, leadership or motivation? and can you tell us why you have chosen it? Dana Malstaff: Yes so actually you mentioned Daniel Goldman, and I believe he wrote 'emotional intelligence' yes, one of my favourite books. I also read focus which he wrote, huge fan of him. So, I would absolutely, 'emotional intelligence' is, get to know that. Just that topic in general and he is very well known in that. So that would be a huge one. A book I am reading right now, that I am in love with and it’s 'Big Magic' by Elizabeth Gilbert. And I think she is awesome, and I love the way she approaches the idea of creativity, so that’s great and one that I think totally, like. My husband has mentioned like, 'I don't get it, this makes no sense for business' but ‘The Five Love Languages’ is an amazing book because you think it is for like romantic relationships, it’s by Gary Chapman. But it’s not, it’s about every relationship and it’s
basically this idea, that there are five ways that we feel loved and that means that we feel valued because when we feel valued, that is when we feel love. And you were talking about culture, culture is all about helping people to feel loved and valued and that you care. And when they feel that way, they trust you, and when they trust you, they pay you. You know it’s this nice cycle, but it starts with understanding how they needed to be loved and valued. This book gives you five ways that we feel love, and it actually has an assessment you can take that you can see how you feel love. Like, what does that look like for you? And so, what is great is that you can start using the questions in there, to look at your target audience, and see how would they answer this question, and it helps you build tools that are more useful for them, helps you communicate to them and provide them with things that are meaningful. So, for instance, you might have a group of people that really, that they love to receive gifts. So I have a community where my clients like valentine’s day, I am making valentines gifts for all of my clients because my clientele will really feel valued in that way. You know, maybe you have someone who wants to be verbally celebrated and that is kind of how they feel valued and you are doing that with your clients. And so I think this book seems like it’s not for business but I am telling you, five love languages read it and just totally get to know it be-
cause it will help every relationship in your life. Neil: What one thing would you do with your business if you knew that you could not fail? Dana Malstaff: I think it’s funny, I think I have that mentality every day. There is no failing, there is only learning. I think that sounds like a Yoda phrase. But I think that if I knew I could not fail, like almost as if I knew that everything was just going to happen the way I hadn't thought it would happen, which is of course never how it actually works out, but I think that I would have an empire, you know, ha ha ha. Neil: Why not ha ha ha.
Dana Malstaff: Why not you know, I have an empire and I have a raving community of massive amounts of boss moms around the world that are you know starting business and doing there sort of side hustles and growing things in a way that is amazing, and I would have a family situation where my husband is and this is what I am building my business towards anyway, where my husband is able to quit his job so that he can really start to figure out what his true passion and purpose is, like he gave me the space to do, and create an environment or have an environment where we can go for a month and go and spend it on a ranch with my family while also making money in my business. I would have a non-for-profit business that helps create resources for MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 87
moms that want to start a business but cannot afford to get day care or child care or business coaching and give them those resources so that they can have that space to grow a business, because we have so many beautiful minds that may be don't have the resources to do that, so yes it would be an empire that would be supportive and useful, while also helping me live the lifestyle that I would love to live. And yes, that is what I would love to do. Neil: I think maybe you have to have a movement to create an empire and I think you have already got that haven't you? Dana Malstaff: Well we are starting, yes we are starting. We are well on our way, I am. One of my favourite people is Melissa Cassera and she talks about what she calls the swirl effect, which is basically she helped you write copy that infuses your personality and your business. But she talks about this idea of a movement, and she talks about the idea of pulling people on this journey and everything with you. And she talks about sharing your content and everything, and I love the way she inspires me always to create a movement that is powerful and get people excited about it, and so I feel like we are getting there. It will take time, but everything takes time.
Neil: What skill if you were excellent at it, would help you the most to double your business? 88 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
Dana Malstaff: I think automation is something that I am working on a lot. This year is‌ once you figure out, you know it is hard to automate, when you are still figuring things out, but now that I have got a good established business. So I say that when I had my son I was building my business and when I had my daughter I was growing a business. And so, when you are at that point when you are ready to grow, it is all about the automation. So, part of the coach that I have now and what she is really helping me do is create that automation so that a lot of things run on their own and a lot of the way that I approach different things in my business, become really systematic. And by doing that, it frees up my mental capacity to be creative in the really impactful and powerful areas that will then exponentially allow me to grow my business to the next level. Neil: In five years from now, if a well know business publication was publishing an article on your business after talking to your customers and suppliers, what would you like it to say? Dana Malstaff: well I would love it to say Dana Malstaff, the Boss Mom movement sensation with her multiple boss mom bestselling series, we could not catch her to interview her because she is off spending Christmas in Paris with her family. But she will be doing her 'always booked boss mom retreat' in San Diego in the winter and is out in her community, because of the busi-
ness she has built is able to go and have time to go and contribute back to her community both virtual and in person, and help to raise and nurture her children, and spend time with them while also help manage a community that helps women and mom entrepreneurs thrive. Something like that. Neil: What is your favourite quote and how have you applied it? Dana Malstaff: There is a quote, it is a book and it is called 'The Law of Divine Compensation' by Marianne Williamson, really great book and she has a line in here that I just love and it basically talks about, lets see, say ‘the greatest gift we give ourselves is often our willingness to change our minds.’ And that is one of the things I say I love about being an entrepreneur, is that we have that ability. We have that ability to pivot and to shift and when we give ourselves permission to do that, we allow our self to seize opportunities that can truly help us and our businesses grow. And I think that is beautiful thing. Neil: Do you have any favourite online resources that you can share with us that would be useful to other entrepreneurs? Dana Malstaff: Yeh so if you are a creative entrepreneur, I think that the Savvy Business Group, Facebook group is a great place to be. Obviously, the boss mom Facebook group, if you are a mom entrepreneur is a great place to be. I also like, I said, Melissa
Cassera is awesome, her all the resources she provides and in her email list as well she is always giving away amazing work books and things in her emails. Awesome for you to help write your copy, for your business, which I think is something that I think a lot of entrepreneurs including myself, even as a journalism major, are very lacking in, there is an art to that. So, I think she's a must that you want to go and figure that out, her online research does cost a little money, it’s called the swirl effect, it is a workbook that I love and go back to, time and time again that really helps you hone in on that message. So, I think those are to start, just some really great places to go and find some good content.
Neil: What is your best advice to other entrepreneurs? Dana Malstaff: I would say that to make everything that you do in your business a conscious effort, that to make everything that you are creating, and everything that you are doing on a day to day basis, that you are gaging in that gets a sounding board to make sure that it is actually guiding you where you want to go, which means you have to think about where you want to go. And as you have not thought about that yet, then you are potentially just creating a bunch of things that might not get you anywhere, so that strategy up front, may seem like it is in that important but not urgent quadrant, that we often neglect. But by doMENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1 | 89
ing that little bit of work you can absolutely help to create a business that will thrive and where you are not exerting yourselves in areas that you are not able to maximise its benefit. Neil: Is there anything else that you would like to add about your business? Dana Malstaff: If you resonate with me, if you find that you are falling in love with me, as a tribe should with somebody that they enjoy hanging out with, then go to the boss mom website and learn more and let’s connect and lets engage. I think that is always the first step. And the most important step is to just find your tribe. And then I think ultimately, even if I am not a good fit
for you and being part of my community is out go and find your community. There is nothing more rewarding than finding your tribe they will support you, they will encourage you, they will help you take action in your business which is what an entrepreneur does, is take action, and ultimately help you bring your purpose to life which is all we could ever hope for people that are looking to build something. Neil: Dana you have shared some absolutely great tips and advice with us today, thank you for giving us so much insightful information, it has just been mind blowing quite honestly. So thank you very much, Dana Malstaff: Oh thank you for having me, I love to talk, so this is easy.
Dana Malstaff is a mother, business and content strategist, coach, speaker, writer, podcaster, brainstorm facilitator, and a blind spot reducer. Dana is the author of Boss Mom the ultimate guide to raising a business and nurturing your family like a pro. And the founder of the boss mom movement. She serves boss moms who yearn for more time and less guilt when it comes to building their business, and starting or raising their family, by providing the tools they need, to get more out of their content and business, without sacrificing their family goals. When she is not creating new content, or building new strategy tools, for creative entrepreneurs. She can be found chasing her son on the beach, rubbing cheeks with her new daughter, or thinking of the next fun new family adventure. www.boss-mom.com 90 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
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