Hi there! This is Dr. Anne, your host, and I’m thrilled to be bringing you this very timely and needed show that will help you put burnout out of business and transform the way you re-power yourself as an entrepreneur. It has been many months and maybe even a solid year or so, since I conceived and started planning out the COREPRENEUR podcast, got the right team of producers in place, figured out the software, and purchased all the equipment and learned to use it and then I paused. I’ve pondered what I would say on this inaugural anchor episode, when, there are so many stories I’d like to share with you.
Triumphant testimonials of my 7-figure hustle moments, as well as the guttural lows that come along with the risk especially inherent in launching out as a woman entrepreneur. The aim of this podcast to inspire you to lead from a place of your own transformative core power as an entrepreneur.
So, I decided to start with a question for you? Are you ready to be the kind of entrepreneur or entrepreneurial executive that is driven by something greater? And something bigger? Have you made the decision that no matter the weather forecast, you’ll weather the storm and keep your business or passion project afloat, until you see it bear fruit, because you know it needs to and because its purpose is bigger than you? It serves humanity. If you are, and if you said yes to those questions, you could be a Corepreneur, so lean in and listen. There are people who start businesses to make money and give back later. That’s perfectly fine, right, necessity is the mother of invention. But for the purpose of this podcast, a new breed of especially, but not exclusively, women entrepreneurs in this “too much, too fast, all the time world” that we live in, are starting businesses to save and heal the world. I actually believe that this is the very reason we need more successful entrepreneurs to join our ranks in 2020 and beyond. The world needs you, nurturing, ingenious, crafty, shrewd, brilliant, beautiful soul survivors, because a higher purpose or calling is driving you. There is a shift happening in the way we do business and how life is lived and presents itself. We need to move from the corporate 9-5 paradigm of chaos, overwhelm, resistance and exhaustion to a place of being and becoming centered, open, resilient, and energized.
There are finally pioneering women entrepreneurs out there succeeding like never before and making it look so easy. You could be tempted to look at them and compare yourself and proceed to dig your own grave with excuses of why you can’t execute on your idea. But, in reality, the women who are already achieving million dollar and billion-dollar status and success, are the rising stars truly making a major difference in the world and giving back in ways that could blow your mind. These women, and notice I’m not saying girls or chicks or badass babes, or any other diminutive phrases, these WOMEN, these powerful feminine forces of good, have weathered many seasons in life and business and have made it through and risen above, for a cause. So, what kept them going? Present tense. What keeps them going? Better yet, I’m going to empower you right now. Assuming you who are listening are COREPRENEURS, then as we peel back the layers of the onion, it’s usually the still small voice at your core that keeps you going and guides you along the way. And that driving Spirit, is free of worldview, religion, culture, location, and time. You know deep inside there is something or someone more that helps you get through every pain, hurt, knockdown and trial that has come your way. That still small loving voice, my friend, is the difference between the multitude of me-too, copycat, pop-up, “I have an idea!”, entrepreneurs and the “I have a dream”, COREPRENEURS. This show is for you, warriors, if you are ready to take your mountain, don your mantle and be encouraged and inspired to keep going for your moonshot. And anyway, why stop there, like, just because that’s the big new buzzword, when the entire universe is yours for the taking. Moonshot? Like, that was so 1969. But let’s face it, this is 2020. It’s a new day and the true dawning of a new era.
To come up or stand out of the noise we must be visionaries, so let me tell you a quick story. I was sitting at my desk pecking away at a spreadsheet for a corporate biotech client. It was 2009 and I was orchestrating a global medical publications plan. My mind was focused on my task, and I was doing what I did in my career easily, and with excellence, when all of a sudden, it was like: BOOM. Wow. This download happened. This massive, instant, graphic idea ‘download’ that went beyond words. This image I received was an answer to a question that I had asked myself 2 years prior. I had let the question go, but in that instant, when I least expected it, the answer had finally arrived! It was a problem solved in a microsecond. I also knew that it carried the weighty potential, that if I chose to receive it, get up from my desk, draw it out and bring it to life, it would redirect the course of my life as an entrepreneur. I knew all this as I stood up, like in obedience to this idea, walked across my 1100 square foot office to my whiteboard (I’m very impetuous), and I drew it. It took about 10-15 minutes to perfect and extract all that I was seeing. That was just the visual of this framework which for years I just called the CCI Life-In-Balance Wheel, and I taught it as part of my Coach Training Program. There were volumes of words that came along with it in the form of meaning. As I finished, I sat down at the conference table right next to the whiteboard, and I looked up and said, “Wow, Thank you, God.” I sat in awe, thinking, I know that idea was divine, because I could not have thought of that solution on my own. Fast forward, and over the past decade plus, I’ve taught it, in many different forms, to thousands of people in over thirty countries, and not only have I seen it transform their lives, but I’ve watched it evolve and expand its use and practicality in my own life. I authored a textbook on it for others and in the process, I became its client zero and still am. It also keeps revealing itself and multiplying in amazing ways. Now THE CORELIFE METHOD includes 3 10-part Frameworks for Life, Business and Entrepreneurial Success. As my editorial team, agent and I seek the right formal publishing house this year, the names may change, but the frameworks and method will keep being attracted to the people that need them the most, which is just what they have done since that winter day almost 12 years ago. Professionally, in my Pharmaceutical career I’ve worked across 119 countries as a global executive leader. It’s as if this very moment has been designed all along and the intersection of the right time and me and you and the wheels, has finally arrived.
Maybe you will identify with this next story because it might paint a relatable picture of the path to entrepreneurship. When I left my international executive Big Pharma industry job, at a fortune 500 company, and started my own business back in 2004, I simultaneously found myself on an enhanced path of personal development that seemed to grow alongside the path of entrepreneurial calling. I was previously the Regional Head of a Medical Affairs Function with oversight to Latin America. As a corporate executive, I loved having a big team and tackling big projects, so I had always been into growth and leadership courses, but when I started my first company, I had this unquenchable thirst for it. I knew I was meant to be an entrepreneur, so I started to make conscious and deliberate choices to attend motivational events, take coaching and leadership courses and become a certified professional coach. I was joking at one point that I was so certified I was certifiable. I felt that this entrepreneurial edification was preparing me to be the person that needs to run the business I was entrusted with. I just did it subconsciously. It was a fun, energetic and frenetic few years. I love to travel, and I love people so, for example I flew to anything Tony Robbins had to offer and it shaped the way I built my first business. I have, to date, invested hundreds of thousands of dollars, that for me was just a valuable as my graduate tuition, plus time and travel, in shifting my mindset. I’ve walked on fire, jumped off trapezes, bungee jumped, have gone cliff diving, driven race cars (and still do). Regardless of my Mountain Dew Moments, I knew and still know my mission and continue to ask for the guidance and wisdom to walk out my true calling. Because it’s not about me.
And your calling? Yep. It’s not about you. But we deal with this reality in our digital society, we need to market what we offer ourselves, get ourselves seen and known, in person and on social media to order to get our message heard and to get anything done. But you know, I’ll be off social for months. I secretly love/hate it If you feel like me, great, we will do entire episodes on authentic purpose-driven, social media in business…I have an amazing guest lined up, that has high-profile expertise in this area.
Anyway, women entrepreneurs, like me, and maybe like you, who really survive and thrive are forged out of a different type of metal. And we need to bond together and create a conversation about the not-so-fun stuff so that we can collectively find the solutions to the problems that rattle us to the core. A majority of first year businesses fail. And the greater portion of that majority are women owned. For now, let’s just consider, why? Do you want to fail? No! of course you don’t! Do you have a big giant dream or vision for your life? Of course, you do! I believe everyone does. Dreams are equal opportunity! In my opinion, at least today, there are two types of people, and we can always subsection if we want, but to simplify: Those who publicly admit they have a big dream, because they have this idea, dream, or vision they can’t shake and acted on it! And then there are those that dismiss those ideas. The difference to me is simple: entrepreneurs vs employees. Leaders vs followers. And that’s a good thing. We need both or nothing would ever get done. Of those entrepreneurs, 90% fail or let themselves settle into something smaller and more comfortable. It takes a special kind of person, (I tell myself lovingly), to stay the course, be persistent and move forward, knowing eventually, even if Rocky falls in the ring, he’ll start over, he’ll train, get back up and win. Now let’s imagine she. She will fall. You will fall. We all do. I have. I got back up. Over and over. And now can say I rank in the top 2% of women entrepreneurs who didn’t give up and made it past the awe inspiring, million-dollar mark in annual revenues. And even if that sounds impressive, to recreate your own salary, pay staff, budget your overhead, and make even a little gross profit, is a lot of work. And I’ve had as many not-so-core centric moments. The getting up is even more important than the winning during those times.
Here’s an example.
2009, you will note, came after 2008. In 2008, we lived in Florida, the bubble burst, the crash happened, and I lost everything in my business. In fact, we, my husband and I, lost EVERYTHING we owned, our house, our car, our apartment, and were forced into a cross country relocation, for a 4-letter word: jobs. At one super low point, I had even lost the name of my business, my domain names, and 9 websites were crashed by malware. My domain names expired and were purchased by someone else. In that same time period, I lost my dog, my mother-in-law, then my oldest cat. I moved from friends and support systems. People I had once paid as my team that I thought were loyal, pretty much abandoned me. I went through a major personal health crisis and began the irreversible process of early menopause, and infertility. During that time, I kept it all inside. I decided to bloom where I was planted and kept going. In fact that phrase just kept showing up in my life like a beacon. These are the kinds of stories of resilience that my guests and I will reveal more of in upcoming episodes.
Nothing is wasted. Every hurt, every trauma, every setback becomes fuel for your story.
All becomes preparation. Can you relate??? The initial zeal you feel as an entrepreneur will be tested. Ideas come back and diving guidance is available to you if you want that guidance. And every guest I interview will resonate with this story in some way and share their own overcoming moments to encourage you. They have all made the leap from corporate to freedom, and the roads have not usually been paved with gold.
So let me ask you? Will you keep up with your dreams and visions as they morph and grow and die and resurrect? Do you want to be wildly successful because success to you means getting your message out to the world? Are you ready for the exponential speed at which this world is about to change? Because I am telling you, it’s about to change big time and I’m not being weird or woo woo, I’m talking artificial intelligence, robotics, singularity, blockchain, and all these other elements that we’ll discuss on this show which are happening now. The lessons I teach and the pioneers I interview are going to get real with you. And you won’t want to miss an episode. You are no longer alone. We are here. #COREPRENEURS. The movement has begun of women rising up into a new level of calling.
This message is increasingly relevant now more than ever. It’s an idea whose time has come and as TED says, an ‘idea worth spreading’. And, it’s for you, the one with a dream in your heart and an idea that must be released.
So my last bit of advice, besides subscribing on iTunes, listening to every episode, and leaving a comment to make your voice heard, is to shake off the desert dust from your hard time in the wilderness and move forward. It’s your time.
If you know you were meant to be an entrepreneur. Crafted. Created. Destined to co-create, maybe. I don’t know. But I do know this: entrepreneurship is invigorating and soul crushing all at once. But it’s the only game I want to play and the only lane I want to swim in.
I’ll end like I began, with a question to you: Are you going to die with the unreleased music behind your lips? Or will you decide to hum it out, write it down, and play around on the keyboard until the melody mimics the one that permeates your soul? Join us now and decide it will because you are a Corepreneur. She or he who will not stumble any longer because those who have gone before you are here to guide and partner and cheer you on through every success. YOU who are centered, open, resilient, and energized.
This is your new platform.
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