Episode 2:
Who Are YOU As a Business Owner?
Know Yourself to Grow a Better Business

Episode 2 Show Notes

Episode summary introduction:​ ​ Having a deep knowledge of who you are, how you are naturally wired and understanding what your core values are, all are essential to obtaining success as a business owner.  Your best chance at having a thriving business is when you embrace your core strengths, work in your zone of genius and honor what matters most to you.

Pam Ivey talks about learning to understand productivity rhythm and unique skills so you don’t mimic other people and instead, create and run a business that works for you.  Jane Garee discusses how people are uniquely wired as visionaries or implementers and why both are necessary for a successful business.

Topics discussed in this episode:​ ​In today’s episode, you will hear about –

  • Why having a deep understanding of who you are can be the difference between success or struggle [timestamp]
  • Identifying your productivity rhythm and skills to maximize results [timestamp]
  • Are you more visionary or implementer and why both are necessary [timestamp]

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Pam Ivey: In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about knowing yourself to grow a better business, understanding who you are as a business owner. So let us ask you this. Who are you as a business owner? No, there’s no need to sit in a darkened room with incense chanting. Oh. You know, trying to get in touch with your inner self instead, keep it practical and start with the basics. Are you an early bird or a night owl? Do you naturally function better in the evenings or the mornings? I know for me like ipso, facto, I get my best ideas at midnight. What about you, Jane?

Jane Garee: Yeah, I’m definitely geared more towards being a night owl. These people who get up at five and six in the morning, I think they’re amazing. I’m really impressed by them. But if I’m up at five or six in the morning, it’s probably because I haven’t been to bed since the night before. So evenings are much more of a sweet spot for me. Well, one of my really close friends, she gets up between four and five in the morning. And I tell her, I am going to call her to say good night to her when she gets up, I’m on the same page with you there. But you know, something as simple as really recognizing and honoring your particular rhythms can be the difference between having a business that is starting to pick up momentum or is starting to grow from previous momentum and enjoying it and feeling like you’re just dragging yourself to make everything in your business, move forward with any kind of momentum.

So, for me, it took me years before I stopped beating myself up for not being one of the people who gets up at 6:00 AM and accomplishes more by 9:00 AM than than most people do all day. And I just always felt so terrible about it. And I would, I would say, well, maybe I’m not cut out to run a business and maybe I just can’t do it because maybe I’m inherently lazy because I really don’t like getting up until at least eight 30 sometimes honestly nine. But what I realized is one of the beauties of self-employment is I really can run my schedule and I really can work the hours that are best suited to me being productive and happy.

Pam: Exactly. You don’t have to conform to “norm”. So think about what your key skills are too. So be honest with yourself here. Are you strong in math? Maybe. Can you manipulate language? Are you good at persuasion? Do you function better? When everything around you is ordered and tidy or with everything at your fingertips, even if it’s a bit messy, do you make business decisions based on gut feelings? Now just know that none of these are right and wrong right or wrong, but really this self-knowledge will help you better understand urinate skills. So let’s talk about some other things that can help us better understand who we are and how we can best run our business. One of the things that Jane and I have been talking about lately is understanding if you are part to whole or whole to part. And I wonder Jane, if you could explain.

Jane: Yeah, absolutely. This was one of those key concepts that when I truly grasp it and began to implement it into not just my business, but my life, it created a whole lot of really positive change. So here’s the definition of hold apart in park, the whole, uh, hold apart person. So we’re saying whole w H O L E two park P a R T three words, whole two parts, a whole two parts person is someone who very quickly and easily is able to see the big vision of something. The picture, the 30,000 foot view, if you will, this is somebody who, if we use the analogy of a house, they’re able to say, Oh, I to see my little mini French cottage or my French shot toe, and it’s in a wooded area and it’s on a Lake and it’s X amount of stories and it’s in this kind of driveway and these kinds of colors and the whole entire picture is there the next piece though, to be able to make any vision a reality is you’ve got to break it down into manageable and implementable steps, and those would be the parts.

So, in general, when people are more geared to see the whole of something, it can be a bit more challenging for them to break anything down into implementable actions, steps in some kind of sequential order that would actually complete what is needed to be completed to achieve the vision or the hole. So that’s a whole depart person. These are your visionaries. These are people who can describe to you in amazingly great detail, an idea, a concept. And when I say detail, the detail of the imagery, the detail, and the ability to evoke emotional responses, these are motivational type of speakers. Usually they inspire others to do things. That’s a whole apart person on the flip side, when you have a part that’s a whole personality, that’s more predominantly part to whole. You are very, very good at seeing what needs to happen now and then next and then next, and then next in order to get to the vision.

So, the strength for someone who is a part of whole person is these are your implementers. They can listen to an idea and go get out of my way. I know what needs to happen next. And they can come up with an entire action plan that is implementable, that they could actually show someone else how to do these are the, these people get the stuff done. So that is their strength. What can sometimes be challenging for them is they get so involved in the next step. Next step, next step, that they can lose sight of the end division, the end game. What are we actually headed towards? And are we going to achieve those results? So hold apart quick starts usually have the big picture can struggle to get anything completed, hard to hold people, masters at getting stuff done, but sometime it can get a little wonky or out of alignment with what the original vision was.

The reason why this is so important is when you understand how you predominantly operate, you can surround yourself and, or hire others to pick up the part that no pun intended to pick up the other, the opposite of who you are now. I want it. I want to say something really important about this Pam, because when I have explained this before or taught this really interesting, the people who are part of the whole tend to get a little defensive and say, well, I’m a visionary, but I am a visionary. And I say, of course, you’re a visionary. Of course you are. Otherwise you wouldn’t have a business. And the people who are more, more whole to part tend to get a little defensive and say, well, I do finish stuff I do implement. And I say, of course you do. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have a business. So all of us have an element of both in here. However, you need to be able to clearly identify what you are naturally geared to do and how you’re predominantly going to operate, because really all of us are more one than the other. So once you can identify that you can get the support that you need for the other part of it.

Pam: Exactly. I know I’m definitely that 30,000 foot view gal, a big picture gal. And I really have a hard time. I can do it, but I do have a hard time breaking it down into each step that needs to happen in order to create that big vision.

Jane: Right? I’m the exact same way. I see stuff all the time. I start stuff all the time and it can be really challenging for me to reach completion. Same thing. Yes, I can do it. And it was a real relief for me to realize I can do it and I can make myself do it. And when it’s really important to me and I’m, I want to do it. And I’m kind of in flow because there are some things that are in flow, then yes, I can do it. But for the most part, it would better serve me. And it would better serve my business. If I got the idea sketched out for somebody else to then start to implement example, Jane

Pam: And I in this podcast, because we’re such, you know, we’re both visionaries. We both see the big picture. We never would have gotten this off the ground without our teams.

Jane: So, yeah. And in fact, let’s spill a little dirty laundry here really for several months. And by several, I mean, nearly a year, we tossed idea after idea, right? You and I did, we’re going to do this. We’re going to do that. We’ll make it look this way. We’ll make it look that way. And we really weren’t getting anything off the ground. And then it was really at the moment that you said, you know what, why don’t we do podcasts? Because it’s more vision focused. It’s more kind of in the moment, if you will. And what if we hired people to do behind the scenes stuff. And then of course, that’s exactly what we did. And just everything kind of took on a life of its own. So that is the very real testament of identifying what your most geared to do, what you’re most likely to do and get the support that you need from the opposite strengths.

Pam: Yeah. Or you wouldn’t be listening to this right now.

Jane: Totally covered up with all our great ideas and say, meet next week. What else are we going to create?

Pam: We met religiously. We were really dedicated, but we weren’t getting anything, uh, seeing anything through to completion. And it’s so interesting because I learned that one of my heroes, Richard Branson of Virgin fame, he is a complete visionary. He’s the big idea guy, but he never could follow through. So that’s why he’s the one that comes up with the ideas. And he has what he calls, “finishers” come in and implement and see his vision through.

Jane: Yes, yes. Finishers, I think are just angels on earth. They actually, without them, nothing would get done. And it, to be fair if finishers didn’t have a vision to break down into parts so they could implement, then nothing would get done. So that’s really why both types of people are necessary. And why, regardless of which one you are, you’re going to need the other piece. So I’ve got a very dear friend who is a heart to hole. He is amazing. It’s amazing what he can come up with. He creates gorgeous architecture and sets and arts, and it’s unbelievable what he can actually create and what he will get finished. And then sometimes it’s just a little bit challenging because it will be, but we were going ahead here with this. This was the original vision. Oh yeah. I got to go back and look at that again and tighten it up. So we’re all needed and we’re all necessary.

Pam: And that’s not to say that one is better than the other either. I really want to stress that. Absolutely not. We have a mutual friend who we both really admire and she’s super successful doing nearly some figures if she hasn’t hit it yet, she is definitely an implementation check. Yeah. Yeah. So there is no right or wrong, really take that away from this. But understanding what strength you have, which side do you tend to, will really help you to get a partner or admin support, maybe a virtual assistant or a team to help you where you’re not as strong. That’s all. Yep. You got it. Cool. You know, another thing that’s really, really important in understanding who you are to grow your, to really make that business sustainable is understanding your default stress. And this is something you and I, again, figured out while we’ve been working on flourish over all these months.

Jane: Yeah. This is also telling you about the value of getting into business with somebody you trust somebody you genuinely enjoy as a person and the ability for both people to have these grownup conversations when things are going well, or there’s a different definition from each person about what should be happening or what has already happened. So absolutely. So the whole understanding your default stress. So you want to share with them what yours is. Yeah.

Pam: My avoidance mechanism as we call it as well, the understanding or default stress is definitely, I get busy if I can get into busy-ness. I feel like I’m getting somewhere, even though oftentimes it’s taking me nowhere, I’ll tell you, I love to research. Oh my God. But those rabbit holes, I could be there all day. I blink and it’s dinner time and I haven’t got anything.

Jane: Yeah. I remember when we were going through this because mine is the other one, which is planning. Your default stress is usually they’re going to be get busy doing or get busy planning and mine’s planning. So I was having a ball over here with my different highlighters and my multi-colored pens and color coordinated, everything and mapping it all out. But really that is an avoidance mechanism of doing anything, just like getting busy for the sake of busy. So that you’re feeling a sense of accomplishment is an avoidance mechanism for needing the strategy in place. First. It definitely created an interesting situation where I’m thinking, but I’m really busy planning. I think you were thinking, correct me if I’m wrong, I’m really busy doing. And the reality was there just nothing was kind of happening. Although both of us felt like we were working on something. Exactly.

Pam: And then we both came to each other. Like, I feel like I’m working harder than you.

Jane: That was the grownup conversation though. Really? We didn’t certainly didn’t say it in those words, but we did have that conversation and that that’s how we figured out, Oh my God, I get into busy work and you get into planning. So, I thought that was, I mean, that was a big light bulb moment for me.

Huge for me too, because the person that gets busy doing, they’re naturally going to feel, which I know is what you felt. You shared it with me is I’m working harder than you. And really you could make an argument that in fact you were cause you were doing work. And I really wasn’t doing work per se. It was more the strategy, but that was moving us forward. Your work wasn’t really moving us forward. And neither really was all my strategizing because there was no implementation. So it’s this delicate dance for some of you, you’re probably thinking, yeah, I get busy into taking action and I start doing, and then it kind of all blows up. Cause I’m not really sure where I’m headed or I changed my mind. And then for those of you who get busy with the strategy and planning, you think, wow, I spent a lot of time coming up with a lot of plans that never see the delight today.

So, revising what’s your default stress. If you’re a true solo Pinera and you don’t have a team yet, or you don’t have a business partner, it’s going to be easier to course correct. As long as you become very vigilant about making sure you’re noticing if you’re in your default stress, if you already have a team, then you’re going to need to have a conversation about this is what I need. And then certainly if you have a business partner you’re going to have to have those grown up conversations, come to Jesus. I think you really have to look at it now. Hopefully, you know, some people are going, Oh my God. Yeah, I do busy work or I do planning. What are you avoiding? What are you using? This stuff that you’re doing, the planning or the busy work to procrastinate from. So what did it feel like for you, Pam, when you were busy doing it now in hindsight, what do you think you were trying to avoid and why? Oh, good question. Thank you to this round of ‘stump your business partner’.

Pam: There was a little bit of a fear of failure in there. If I’m really being honest, I was fearful that we weren’t going to get enough of an audience around. We took a big how to launch your program course together. And I don’t know, I was really nervous about it. So I wonder if that’s what I was kind of avoiding. Yeah. Yeah. I know for me, mine usually stems back to, it’s not going to be good enough. The work isn’t going to be good enough, which ultimately same thing, because we were wanting to be really transparent with everything it turns into. I’m not good enough. So when I’m defaulting to let me create the plan, let me create the strategy and it’s code for. Cause I don’t want to do the work is that if the work is finished and they have to get put out there and if it gets out there and people can look at it and judge me, which is to, Ooh, it’s not good enough. Therefore I’m not good enough. Well that

Jane: Again it’s a topic for a whole other episode. That’s inner game and we’re totally going to be covering that in great detail in upcoming episodes. For sure. That’s going to be some good stuff there. That’s for sure. You know, something else that you should look about, you know, understanding who you are is really understanding what lights you up and then what drains you to, yeah, that’s a really big deal. And again, we’ve, we’ve mentioned a few unintentional key phrases today, but grown up having the grownup conversations, sometimes the grownup conversation is with yourself, understanding who you are and the delicate dance of lots of stuff, the delicate dance of the conversations you have with yourself, the delicate dance of the conversation that you have with others and the delicate dance of these are things that light me up and yay for me. I get to do them and these tend to drain me. But in fact, they have to be done. The delicate dance in there is really being able to sit down and say, these are the things that only I can do truly, truly only I can do. I don’t love it, but it’s going to have to be done as opposed to, Hey, these things are easily outsourced because there’s no reason why somebody else couldn’t do this. So because it drains me, I’m going to send that to somebody else to complete for me,

Pam: Another way to look at that is this lights me up. So I’m going to continue to do it. And this drains me or does not light me up. So, I’m not going to do it anymore. And I have a great example because I just love teaching and it lights me up when I get submissions for my students in some of my courses, because I manually Mark and comment and everything. When I see those light bulbs go off in their submissions, it totally lights me up. You know, it gives me the juice that makes my day, but coaching one on one I’ve discovered and really doing some looking inward. I discovered it is not my favorite thing to do because I feel like I’m being sucked dry. Now, you and I chatted about that and really it’s who I was selecting in my one-on-one coaching clients, because many of them that I was working with were not great at implementing. They would come in, listen to me, you know, talk through our coaching. I would say, try this, do this. Let me know how it goes. And the next time we met, they’d say, Oh no, I didn’t do that. That’s when you really feel like your brain’s being sucked dry. So I could either get rid of one-on-one clients, which actually for the most part I have done, but I probably will get back into it. And when I do, I’m going to make much better choices about who I work with and my vetting process.

Jane: Yeah. That’s so key too. And I know that we’re going to spend some time talking about that on future episodes is the importance of being very, very clear on who your ideal client is and how you want to work in a way that fills you up. Because without that, there’s the real risk of people hiring you. And they’re wonderful people if they’re not your ideal client. And then it does create not the most harmonious relationship or a harmonious relationship, but one that doesn’t really get results. And you really want the combination of both a harmonious relationship where they love you and you love them and they’re getting results.

Pam: Yeah. That leads to referrals and recommendations.

Jane: That’s for sure. All

Pam: Right. Here’s another one. What are your superpowers?

Jane: I love talking about other people’s super powers. So I would say, what am I super powers is identifying the superpowers of other people. I love that, but that’s my super power. Then your super power is your technology. I mean your technology prowess is pretty amazing. And I think also have a super power of being able to take an idea and actually move it forward with specific steps. Wow. So, and there’s many, many more, but I think one of the best things any of us can do is identify our key two to three super powers and just move everything through there. We’ll filter it all through there. If you don’t know, or you’re uncertain of what your super powers are, ask other people, what do you think I do best? What do you think I’m exceptionally good at doing? What do you think I’m exceptionally out of your way to ask that question, but ask that question and it’s not coming from a place of ego. It’s actually coming from a place of genuine curiosity because you need to know what your superpowers are. The reason you need to know is it’s going to set you apart from people who are seemingly doing the same thing.

Pam: Exactly. We were going to talk about this. That’s why I hesitated, but are we going to talk about this? I don’t know, understanding how other people perceive you and that’s actually what we were just talking about, asking them. When you think of me in a business context, what are the first three to five words that come to mind? That’s kind of interesting. Because you know, that’s something you can even do on Facebook. And I think I have done that on Facebook.

Jane: Yeah, because what’s interesting is we always see ourselves in a certain way as a certain type of person. And of course the more work in self-development that you’ve done. And I would definitely say the more able you are to take your ego out of it, let me see the truth of who I am. Not just who I think I am, but who I think I am to be, it will help you get closer to the reality of who you are. Nothing. However will get you closer to the reality of who other people think you are then asking them and really fortunate. And I say this with all sincerity, if you’re really fortunate, you will have at least three to five people in your life that you can go and you can say, Hey, what are some of my not so charming characteristic traits? Where do you see that?

I call it the rough edges. You know, where do you see that? I might be able to Polish off some rough edges. And if you have people in your life who are willing to tell you the truth, it is a gift. It’s a complete gift. And I say three to five, because if you ask me to five people and they genuinely are telling you the truth and they know you well, they’ve had a history with you. They don’t have anything to gain by putting you down. They love you. You know, they love you. They have your best interest in heart. You would be very surprised because your answers are going to be very consistent across the board.

Pam: That interesting. You kind of have to have a bit of a tough shell for that one, but I think it’s so worth it. Take it as research, not as criticism.

Jane: Talking about research and instead of a tough shell, I just got this image of a boiled egg, the hard-boiled egg. But when you click it with the spin, you whack it with the spin at the spoon, bounce off. But if you have a soft shell, you whack it with a spoon and it goes in to the egg. And that’s really what this is. So when you have a soft shell and the ability to receive input, especially when you ask for it, I’m not talking about unsolicited criticism, but now, and you’ve got people in your life that you can you trust. And you ask that question, that information is so incredibly valuable and it only really goes one of two ways, which is the good news. You get the information back about where you could Polish off your rough edges and you can then begin the process of doing that polishing off your rough edges, or you get that information back and you think, how can I flip this or massage this a little bit?

So, it actually becomes a strength. So for example, somebody might say to me, not that I’ve ever heard this before, but I tend to be very, very blunt, very forthright. And when I was younger, it was much more blunt and forthright, shall we say? So I had heard that many, many times. And what I really took very much to heart was how do I keep that trait? Because that’s not necessarily a bad trait, but how do I Polish off that rough edge? How do I become maybe more diplomatic in the language that I’m using? How do I deliver a hard message with a softer tone or is I like to teach my sales clients? You go all Dr. Phil on people in a Mr. Rogers tone. I love that your analogies are just awesome. One of my superpowers powers. So really being able to see yourself, not as UCU from the inside out, but how other people see you from the outside in extraordinarily beneficial, it will help you brand. It will help you be known for, and if you can work it so that it serves you and then by extension serves other people, then it’s good because none of us are, we made a mistake, right? We just have different areas of massaging or policy that need to happen. We’re human right now.

Pam: And that automatically people usually answer with empire. So, I better say what I’m going to say. You really need to look deep within yourself and really figure out what type of business you want. Do you want an empire? Not everybody wants an empire and that’s totally okay. Like, do you want to make seven figures, eight figures or more? That’s totally good if you do, but not everybody wants to. And it’s okay. Some people they’ll shrink when asked what kind of business they want to build, because they feel like they have to say, they want to build a million dollar business, but you don’t, there’s empires, there’s boutique. So, a smaller business or a solopreneur business where it’s just you, right? What are you this business for? What is your end goal? Right?

Jane: That’s so key. And again, we’re talking about the importance of really understanding who you are on a very deep level. And I know from 25 years of sitting in a seat, having strategy calls or sales sessions or whatever you want to call them, there is a reluctance for most people to tell themselves the truth and really all of this that we’re talking about today, I would say that’s kind of the overarching theme is to tell yourself the truth about who you are about what you want. The hardest conversation any of us will ever have is actually a very deep truth telling session with ourselves. We’re masters at glossy and things over or denying them or suppressing what we really want or what we really feel. Tell yourself the truth. I’ve talked to plenty of people who really just want a boutique business. They want to make pick an income number.

It doesn’t really matter if $50,000 a hundred, 120, 150, 250, you know, a boutique business because their priorities are to do work that they love to do work that serves and to work that affords them a level of financial security or being comfortable. And yet, oftentimes when I talk to these people, I can hear the guilt and kind of the embarrassment of the shame and their voice for not saying, well, I want a $10 million business. It’s sad to me really. And I’ve been guilty of this, myself, me too, the number of what kind of business, the money number, the money amount, it’s a bit arbitrary. Anyway. Then the reason why it’s arbitrary is none of the money matters. If you’re not doing something that you enjoy, that you feel is on purpose and that you know, is serving people for the greater good, in a way that not only lights them up, but lights you up. So

Pam: It allows you to create the life and the lifestyle that you want. I think that’s a really important consideration. What kind of lifestyle do I want if you’re going to be running a million dollar business, do you really think you’re working that four hour workweek? No way. So if you don’t mind working 80 hours a month or a week, pardon me, maybe a million dollar businesses for you. But even if you have a team you’re not on the beach working, isn’t that something, you know, you and I talked about is everybody really believes that people do work that four hour workweek and sit on the beach, doing it.

Jane: Yeah, over the past many, several years. And of course, the Four-Hour Work Week is Tim Ferriss and not to dog him, but by the time the Four-Hour Work Week came out, he already worked his booty off working way more than four hours a week to get to the point where he could write the book that would then create a lifestyle where he could do four-hour work weeks. And I guarantee you, and he’s still not working any four hours per week. So, there is a fallacy, and it creates this, this pressure. That’s really unfortunate to make more money in less time with less effort. And that’s a good thing. In theory, if you can make more money in less with less effort, 100% go for it, get what you needed to get in place to make that happen. But anyone who has really achieved any kind of measurable success, whether it’s in money or currency or impact on lives, they’ll tell you it’s a lot of hard work.

It may be a labor of love, but it is a lot of work. So just be very clear. What do you want from your business? What do you want to receive from your business? How do you want to serve others in your business? And then what kind of lifestyle do you want Pam, you and I met actually through traveling and your company, adventurous life. We go on these four week Johns across the glow where we go and we stay in one city for four weeks. And then you and I tend to come in early and leave late. So we’re usually like six or seven weeks in one location. But you just, even that, you know, we were working, we weren’t on vacation for six to seven weeks. We created a business and a lifestyle. So we could go sit in Lisbon and do our work that we needed to do. And then go take breaks or head off to the great barrier reef like we did last year in Australia for a weekend. But yeah, make no mistake. We were, we were working it, wasn’t just splashy. Ooh, here we are. We’re able to take a couple months off and hang out in Australia. So just be intentional and be honest about what you really want.

Pam: Think that’s excellent. You know, self-awareness really helps us to identify our gaps, which helps us figure out what kind of things we need to work on, whether that be through a coach or with training or reading, research, whatever it is.

Jane: Yeah. The word alignment gets tossed around a lot in the coaching industry. And I think that’s a very good thing. And I think that it would be beneficial for all of us to continue to remind ourselves what is the definition of alignment and what does that really mean for me personally, I believe that we’re any of us start experiencing strife or dissatisfaction or even tension. It spills out into other areas of our life as a business owner is when we’re not in alignment and what’s causing the out of alignment. It goes back to, you’re just not telling yourself the truth. So you and I were talking right before we jumped on this podcast episode because I screwed up times and dates on my calendar. And I said, you know what? This is what I get for saying yes to something last week that in my gut, I really thought I should have said no to it didn’t hurt anybody.

It was a business decision. It was wine. It all worked out. So it wasn’t some colossal mistake. However, it was just out of alignment enough to where I was more stressed than I usually am. Last week, I was making mistakes with calendaring and timing that obviously showed up today when you and I were trying to connect. And overall, I would say my sense of wellbeing last night or last week, not as peaceful as it normally is. I went to bed every night, really kind of jacked up and frustrated, you know? And I thought, what is my problem? And if I were to go back and look at it with the benefit of hindsight from this week, it was out of alignment. I said, yes, to something that I really thought I should say no to. So it’s just simple, things like that. Yeah, absolutely. Once you know yourself properly, you really get to know your strength and you really get to understand your weaknesses.

It’s a no brainer to really start exploiting your strengths more, right? Yeah. Exploit your strengths. Absolutely. There’s nothing wrong with doing that. And then the things that you don’t do so well or that you’re not naturally inclined to do with ease, get support around it, hire people, get volunteers. Sometimes it’s just the emotional support for somebody to say, you know what? You’re not that great at it. And that’s why you’re stressed out, but that’s okay. Let’s see how we can solve this problem. A deep, deep sense of understanding of who you are, of what makes you tick of what lights you up, what sucks you drive. The more you really understand who you are as a person, not just as a business owner, the better your business will be. The stronger your business will be. And the more people you will actually be able to serve and create an impact for, because it’s always going to start with that inside job of who you are.

Pam: Wow. Beautifully said, woman. So, this is what we want you to do this week. Really start exploring your strengths, start thinking about what your weaknesses are and also see how you can cut back on work that doesn’t really directly make use of your special talents and skills that you’re discovering, you know, in those strengths and weaknesses. For instance, if you’re a natural salesperson, Jane, get someone else to do the administration. If you can give yourself as much time as possible to concentrate on where you really thrive in, in your revenue producing activities in your business. And for those of you who are maybe struggling with the purity of language, strength and weakness, but sometimes weakness can be a trigger for people. Think of it more in terms of what do I not do as well as other things, what do I struggle to do? What do I usually find challenging?

Jane: So, if that helps you to put it into those terms, then use those terms. If you’re kind of cut and dry in the language as a bother you, then yeah. Then say, what are my strengths and what are my weaknesses? So whatever language you need to give yourself permission to go into that place and tell yourself the truth and be really, really honest, then we encourage you to use that. Awesome. Well, that wraps up our second episode of the flourish and grow to CEO podcast. If you enjoy this podcast, please do share it. Take a picture of our cover art and posted on your favorite social media platform. Write it, review it with us.

Jane: We’ll see you on the next episode, everyone.

About Flourish + Grow to CEO

What does it take to build a successful business? That’s the question we want to answer for women business owners, so we can flourish and grow together from solopreneur to strategic CEO. Flourish and Grow to CEO is hosted by small business management certified, Pam Ivey and sales strategist, Jane Garee, who share their experiences in business ownership, sales and marketing to help women entrepreneurs scale their business and flourish confidently into the CEO role.

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