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My guest today is Andrea Owen who is a two-time author! She is also a life coach and mentor to women. The most exciting part about her is she’s a former roller derby player!
[01:14] The Accidental Entrepreneur
Andrea considers herself an accidental entrepreneur. She didn’t like to sell at all. She always wanted to be a life coach though. She thought it would be easy after going to school that clients would find her.
Most professionals have a common misconception that trades are a business. They’re a product. The same as life coaching is a skill. Andrea’s background is fitness so she didn’t have any knowledge of business. Nor the conversations that needed to happen. She started blogging as a way to tell her story. She began to gain traction and network with people through her blog.
She organically built a community which is where her business started. While her message is like others it was her presentation and honesty that brought people in. She identified what her audience liked about her and capitalized on it. Positive self-talk is very important. We spend a lot of time beating ourselves up instead of focusing on what we’ve done right. Allow yourself and your mindset to be positive. Acknowledge your accomplishments on a regular basis instead of your failures.
[08:35] Identifying Negative Behaviors
Being a life coach is something Andrea feels like she should do. Sharing her life with people isn’t difficult. Having hard conversations with friends and family was the most difficult. Having relationships with people is difficult. It’s a muscle and skill you need to work on to get good at. Sharing her story helped organically built her community. She doesn’t talk about things too personal. She shares enough to create a connection with her audience. She’s built her business on vulnerability and her story.
In 2011 Andrea became sober and decided to write her first book. She blogged about her process of writing and was approached to publish her book. The second book is How to Stop Feeling Like Shit and the title came from talking about behaviors. Most bad behaviors are out of habit because we’re either trying to achieve a lifestyle or image. Most of us though get to a point in our lives where we can’t hold it up anymore.
When Andrea would talk about these behaviors to her clients she would tell them their worse for you. Her book is very solution based. She provides the regular bad behaviors so we can be more aware of when we’re doing these. It’ll go a long way towards making yourself into the person you want to be.
[14:14] The Upper Limit Problem
A lot of entrepreneurs experience the upper limit problem. We all have a set point of success and happiness then once we need to exceed that we self-sabotage ourselves. Stepping outside of your comfort zone is something that we subconsciously and consciously don’t want to do. It’s a risk to move into a new space or business. It’s not easy giving up security. It’s important to recognize when you step outside of your comfort zone. Acknowledge and commend yourself for this. It makes it easier to continue to do so. Also, it’s important to also have a clear focus and path towards your goal. It’s so easy to get distracted on your journey so, having a clear thought out path will make it much easier.
Once you are aware of your behaviors you can learn what your values are. You can visualize what your values are and how you can live those through your business and clients. Learn what your “why” is. Dive deep into why you have these behaviors and why you react or handle it a certain way. Provide yourself the perspective you need to continue your improvement and growth.
[20:51] Identifying What’s Right for You
In 2017, Andrea has had issues selling seats to live events. After the 2016 election, people were scared. Especially to spend money on a high-ticket seat. People were holding on to their money much tighter than normal. An online program and a live event are two completely different business models. Andrea was in competition with a lot of people. She began to be less interested in the live event business model and more towards the online model. The amount of effort put into the live events didn’t provide enough ROI to continue. Because other people have done live events and been successful, doesn’t mean you will be. There are a variety of factors to consider and it may not be right for your journey.
[24:57] Andrea’s 2018 Bucket List Item
Two really awesome summer vacations are Andrea’s bucket list items for 2018.
Episode Outline
[01:14] The Accidental Entrepreneur
[08:35] Identifying Negative Behaviors
[14:14] The Upper Limit Problem
[20:51] Identifying What’s Right for You
[24:57] Andrea’s 2018 Bucket List Item
Follow Andrea
Follow Andrea Owen @AndreaOwen