Over the past seven years I have met some incredible people through having the business. I have met these inspiring people at trade shows, seminars where I spoke, or through other interesting people. I have learned to surround myself with people in different industries that know much more than I do in these other areas. It goes both ways, I enjoy mentoring other women and helping them through the parts where I stumbled.
I met Kimberly Wilson, Creative Director of Tranquil Space Yoga in DC, at a Women Business Owners workshop. I was speaking on a panel about "Big marketing strategies for small budgets" - I don't know about the big marketing strategies, but I sure had the "small budget" down. I noticed her walk in because she was dressed very chic and I just had a feeling that we would be friends. She came up to me at the end to tell me that she loved my story and we exchanged information. We got together the next week - eager to meet for lunch and share ideas.
At that lunch, I told her that I had been a part of a group for women business owners, but that I felt it was just for local networking (which I didn't really need) and that it seemed like their main goal was to participate in the ice-breaker at the luncheons so they could win a door prize. No real connections. I was looking for something deeper, a fusion of brainstorming and problem-solving, topped off with a little bit of emotional support and camaraderie. We decided to make our own group - pull in 2 or 3 other women in the same position and meet monthly. It was great right from the start - we would come to the group with a specific problem or idea we wanted to get feedback on and there we would find unbiased opinions, outside-the-box solutions and suggested resources. We talked about our personal long-term goals and at each meeting we would pinpoint five smaller goals for the next month that would get us closer to those long-term goals. There is a certain amount of accountability that comes with having to check in with someone. I knew that when I got to that meeting, I had to answer to my board.
Kimberly actually went a step further and created her own "Advisory Board" which I thought was brilliant. Five other business gurus (not sure how I got past the cut) meeting quarterly to help her with her business. I can only speak for myself, but I think I get as much out of her "board meetings" as she does - it's a real learning opportunity.
Kimberly is continually a source of inspiration for me. And with her new book, Hip Tranquil Chick, due out in November, it seems like nothing is out of her reach.
**To make your head spin, check out her bio on tranquilspace.com, and to hear me and Kimberly chat about being a "hip tranquil chick" in business, check out the Dec 19th podcast on hiptranquilchick.com/blog
Do you have your own "advisory board" - a support group, however informal, that you can bounce ideas off of?
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2 comments:
That was so much fun to hear your voice! Wow, Kimberly sounds like an amazing women - I wish I could be in her yoga classes!
Oh, and I loved Blink, but I haven't read Tipping Point yet. I just ordered it from the library.
As far as an "advisory board" goes - my husband is fabulous in that role. I love that he's so good at looking at problems based on facts alone. We make a good balance - I get wrapped up in the emotion and excitement, and he considers the hard facts. Together we make great decisions, I think.
Cindy -
I thought Tipping Point was even better than Blink - I thought it was fascinating. Let me know what you think.
As for Kimberly and her yoga classes - the amazing thing about the way she built her business is that you don't have to be in DC to prosper from what she teaches. Her branching out with the book and the clothing line and CD's, etc. makes it easy for anyone to be a part of Tranquil Space - brilliant business model.
Sounds like you have a great partner - always good when one balances the other.
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