Dyana Valentine » Client Tell

Why Wait? 40 Days of OUR Bodies: Day 25

admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:26:29 +0000

Here is a guest post from my friend, Angela, who went from non-athlete to triathlete in three months! Celebrate how AMAZING she is and consider:

What do you really want to do? Name it here in the comments!

Here’s Angela’s story of NOT waiting and her first triathlon.

by Angela Johnson Peters

In June, a friend and colleague who is 62 years young reported how she had completed a triathlon with her daughter. For years, I’ve wanted to do something physically challenging to mark my advancing years as I turn the corner toward 50, e.g. climb Mt. Whitney, run a marathon like Oprah and P Diddy, or bike from San Francisco to Los Angeles. I thought, well if she can do it at 62, I should be able to do it at 50.

A few weeks after that, a friend’s husband, John mentioned he was training for a triathlon. Without thinking too hard about it, I said, I’d do it with him. I thought that certainly my chances of training on a regular basis would be enhanced by training with someone who lived around the corner from me. In April, I had already started a rigorous fitness regime of cardio classes, weight workouts and training sessions with a personal trainer to get fit and shed some pounds. I figured, “why wait to get in shape to do a triathlon? Instead, I’ll just add the triathlon training as a way to get into better shape!”

So, in mid-July I started training for the Hermosa Beach, Day at the Beach event. A 1/4 mile open water swim, 10 mile bike ride and 3 mile run. Mind out, it had been almost 14 years since I had done any competitive sports. I ran to stay in shape in the early to mid-90′s and the longest race I’d ever run was 10 miles (once). Lately, I had been working out consistently at the gym, including cardio machines, spin and kick-boxing classes, and with the assistance of a trainer getting stronger through strength and weight training. But still, I wasn’t quite sure if I was quite triathlon material.

After a month and a half I was improving and I got to the point where I could run the full four miles without stopping. Our swimming practice consisted of weekly workouts at the local school pool and most importantly weekly open water swims with the LA Tri Club down at Redondo Beach. After reading on the many triathelete websites, it was apparent that we needed to get into open water to practice. Swimming in the ocean is completely different than pool swimming. I wasn’t really worried about the biking part since I had been consistently doing spin classes.

What was most helpful was just setting times to train with John. Between running and swimming workouts, training with my fitness trainer on strength training, weights and core workouts; I started to see a real difference in my endurance. Best of all, I started shopping in my own closet and wearing outfits that months and years before were too tight.

As event day got closer, I alternated between wishing I had more days to train and wanting it to be over. The week before the race, we went down to Hermosa Beach for an open water swim. We got down to the beach, and I was speechless. The waves looked really, really high. The lifeguard said that on a scale between 1-10, the waves were at a 8 or 8.5. For the first time I was concerned, okay scared. John and I waded out into the water, but couldn’t get out far enough to actually swim. All I could do was “release it” and realize there wasn’t any point in worrying about it, since I had no control over the tides or how high the waves would be race day.

We arrived at Hermosa Beach, at 5:20 am Sunday morning to set up our event area. It was dark so we couldn’t see what the water looked like. Once the sun came out, we could see the ocean was like glass, barely a ripple.

It took me 11 minutes and forty seconds to finish the swim, 42 minutes and 48 seconds to finish the bike segment and 35 minutes 26 seconds to complete the run. My total time was 1 hour forty-seven minutes with transitions between events. The hardest part was the run, because it seemed a lot longer than 3 miles. But I just kept on going and telling myself that I wasn’t going to stop.

My goal was to finish in one piece without injury, complete the event in under two hours and have fun. I was able to do all three! Accomplishing this triathlon has been an amazing confidence builder. I can’t even think about quitting while in the midst of doing something difficult during a workout, because I know that it’s merely mind over matter.

Now I’m hooked. I love the feeling that I can push my body toward a challenge. I can’t wait til the next one. Now I’m setting a goal of completing three triathlons next season! If there’s anyone out there who thinks they can’t meet their fitness goals, I say, “You just have to try! It’s well worth the effort.”

What’s your story of NOT waiting? Tell it here, in the comments, OR write a guest post!

Body Report:

I did my cardio intervals today as part of my 40 days of My Body (if you are new to this story, read the intro here) project, which is a quest in service to my business and my own path of finishing what I start. I am committed to exercising 6 days/week, keeping a food journal and being more aware of ways I use (and abuse) my body. Going public is extreme, yes, and it’s working! I’m working with a fantastic trainer, Sunny Riggs, to create a program I can sustain over time and she’s amazing. HIRE HER!

I am not alone on my quest. The roll call is at 29 people (including me)! Some are getting organized, others giving up fast food and some are simply breathing! Support them; check out their sites, give ‘em some good love:

Tanya Geisler–40 days of hatha yoga and radical self-care
Petra Korn–30 days on her body (supported with love by hubby Nick)
Tia Reddy–yoga and exercise.
Alisa Bonsignore–working out and food consciousness
Suzie Powanda–no fast food or beverages
Julie Rorrer–training for the Austin marathon in Spring
Emma Alvarez Gibson–some bit of exercise, every day
Joyce Black–21 days without caffeine/general detox; she’s on Day 19 and even the rice cakes and almond butter are tasting good to her!
Carabunga is rocking 40 days of hardcore productivity and rocking a blog about it. Today, her quote is, “Some days, you will want to be there for someone and you will have to sacrifice something in order to do that.”
Paula Trucks-Pape and her husband: 87 Days of exploring their passions.
Monica Kingsbury: 30 days of the Candida diet to deal with her sweet tooth
Jack and LisaMarie Rowell: 30 days of extreme health (alkaline diet)
Diane Sherry Case: 3 weeks of walking–she’s up to 20 minutes 4 days/week! (yoga if it rains)
Cindy Morefield: 21 Days of 30 mins/day of cardio exercise
Paula Estes: 30 Days of playing drums
Sheila Hart is IN: 21 Days of no sugar! Sheila is running a 5K this Saturday–give her a big GOOO, Sheila!
Amy Ahlers: 40 days limiting processed food.)
SouperJenny Team: 40 Day hits the ATL! So far, Meredith is giving up sweets and Jenny is giving up booze!! 7 folks have joined their group. Gooo, Team Body, Mind, Spirit! Watch their daily update video here. As of today, the WHOLE team is on target and rocking their challenge:

John from San Diego is giving up carbs and working out 3x/week (John, let me know if you want to work out on Saturday, I’ll be in San Diego–Dyana)
Sharon from Souper Jenny giving up all sugar except fruit
Merrideth giving up all sugar and exersising 4 times a week
Marcie will journal every day and cut down from 4 to 5 diet sodas a day to one per day
Tricia from Atlanta will drink a quart of her green juice concoction and exersise 5 to 7 times a week
Lucero Martinez a restaurant/bar owner will give up all alcohol!
Jenny giving up all alcohol and working out 5 times a week

Ashley White-Stern: 40 days of meditation and is up to 12 mins of meditation–she didn’t even notice her timer today!
M Arsenia Brown (aka: @donutdemon) joins with a commitment to 40 days of her body
Cat Sabonis-Chafee is in and will “move my ass” for 21 days of daily, considered exercise

All photos by Tosh Peters.

40 Days of My Body: Day 23, Everyday Greatness!

admin — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:33:26 +0000

Chris Brogan is talking some true-blue smack about the myth “Overnight Success” today. What does it take to demystify the idea of quick fixes, 10 lbs in 7 days, 3 steps to be the perfect person bull that we fantasize is possible/probably, if only for $97/month. We have to break into what we need to do TODAY in the world that is of service, is interesting and darn it, get that stuff DONE. For me–I had to reel in the bigger projects that were getting stuck because I had not built a foundation for those ideas to truly rock. I am stepping into everyday actions that are organically (how much more organic can you get than my BODY?) leading to my success. SO,

What can you do to integrate daily actions into your rig that will grow your natural greatness?

I am blown away by the support for my 40 days of My Body (if you are new to this story, read the intro here) project, which is a quest in service to my business and my own path of finishing what I start. I am committed to exercising 6 days/week, keeping a food journal and being more aware of ways I use (and abuse) my body. Going public is extreme, yes, and it’s working! I’m working with a fantastic trainer, Sunny Riggs, to create a program I can sustain over time and she’s amazing. HIRE HER!

Tanya Geisler–40 days of hatha yoga and radical self-care
Petra Korn–30 days on her body (supported with love by hubby Nick)
Tia Reddy–yoga and exercise.
Alisa Bonsignore–working out and food consciousness–she talks honestly about a day gone wrong and being nice to yourself about it here.
Suzie Powanda–no fast food or beverages (this weekend she drove in then OUT of a fastfood driveway–goooo, Suzie!)
Julie Rorrer–training for the Austin marathon in Spring
Emma Alvarez Gibson–some bit of exercise, every day
Joyce Black–21 days without caffeine/general detox
Carabunga is rocking 40 days of hardcore productivity and rocking a blog about it
Paula Trucks-Pape and her husband: 87 Days of exploring their passions.
Monica Kingsbury: 30 days of the Candida diet to deal with her sweet tooth
Jack and LisaMarie Rowell: 30 days of extreme health (alkaline diet)
Diane Sherry Case: 3 weeks of walking–she’s up to 20 minutes 4 days/week!
Cindy Morefield: 21 Days of 30 mins/day of cardio exercise
Paula Estes: 30 Days of playing drums
Sheila Hart is IN: 21 Days of no sugar!
Amy Ahlers: 40 days limiting processed food.)
SouperJenny Team: 40 Day hits the ATL! So far, Meredith is giving up sweets and Jenny is giving up booze!! 7 folks have joined their group. Gooo, Team Body, Mind, Spirit! Check out their Day 1 video here.

John from San Diego is giving up carbs and working out 3x/week (John, let me know if you want to work out on Saturday, I’ll be in San Diego–Dyana)
Sharon from Souper Jenny giving up all sugar except fruit
Merrideth giving up all sugar and exersising 4 times a week
Marcie will journal every day and cut down from 4 to 5 diet sodas a day to one per day
Tricia from Atlanta will drink a quart of her green juice concoction and exersise 5 to 7 times a day
Lucero Martinez a restaurant/bar owner will give up all alcohol!
Jenny giving up all alcohol and working out 5 times a week

Ashley White-Stern: 40 days of meditation
M Arsenia Brown (aka: @donutdemon) joins with a commitment to 40 days of her body
Cat Sabonis-Chafee is in and will “move my ass” for 21 days of daily, considered exercise

40 Days of My Body: Day 20, Souper Inspired

admin — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:49:06 +0000

Accountability, Commitment and Self-Care are CONTAGIOUS!! Check out their invitation video. If you are in Atlanta, go have lunch with them and if you aren’t local to them, pick up the soup diva’s book!

I’m rocking my 40 day challenge (today is a cardio intervals day for me) and am totally inspired by the folks rocking the challenge with me. Team Souper Jenny is IN and they are inviting their community to rock it, Body Mind and Spirit with them.

Are you ready to join in? What will you commit to doing for YOU today?

The 40 days of My Body quest in service to my business and my own path of finishing what I start. I am committed to exercising 6 days/week, keeping a food journal and being more aware of ways I use (and abuse) my body. Going public is extreme, yes, and it’s working!

The roll call is at 20 people (including me)! Some are getting organized, others giving up fast food and some are simply breathing! Support them; check out their sites, give ‘em some good love:

Tanya Geisler–40 days of hatha yoga and radical self-care
Petra Korn–30 days on her body (supported with love by hubby Nick)
Tia Reddy–yoga and exercise.
Alisa Bonsignore–working out and food consciousness
Suzie Powanda–no fast food or beverages
Julie Rorrer–training for the Austin marathon in Spring
Emma Alvarez Gibson–some bit of exercise, every day
Joyce Black–21 days without caffeine/general detox; she’s on Day 8 and still rocking!
Carabunga is rocking 40 days of hardcore productivity and rocking a blog about it.
Paula Trucks-Pape and her husband: 87 Days of exploring their passions
Monica Kingsbury: 30 days of the Candida diet to deal with her sweet tooth
Jack and LisaMarie Rowell: 30 days of extreme health (alkaline diet)
Diane Sherry Case: 3 weeks of walking
Cindy Morefield: 21 Days of 30 mins/day of cardio exercise
Paula Estes: 30 Days of playing drums
Sheila Hart is IN: 21 Days of no sugar!
Amy Ahlers: 40 days limiting processed food.)
SouperJenny Team: 40 Day hits the ATL! So far, Meredith is giving up sweets and Jenny is giving up booze!! Gooo, Team Body, Mind, Spirit!

40 Days of My Body: Day 12, Celebrating YOU!

admin — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:48 +0000

I’m on a quest to spend 40 days working on my body. I am committed to exercising, keeping a food journal and being more aware of ways I use (and abuse) my body. We often worry about what we are not doing or what isn’t going well. I wonder: how do you celebrate what IS working?

Do you list your wins? Do regular gratitude lists? Have you ever thought to write down all of the compliments you get in one day (thanks to Samantha Bennett for this one)? I want to know–tell everyone in the comments below.

I am not alone in my quest. The roll call is growing! Here are the folks taking on challenges of their own, ranging from 21-40 days. Some are getting organized, others giving up fast food and some are simply breathing!
Tanya Geisler–40 days of hatha yoga
Petra Korn–on her body
Tia Reddy–yoga and exercise.
Alisa Bonsignore–working out and food conscious.
Suzie Powanda–no fast food or beverages.
Julie Rorrer–training for the Austin marathon in Spring.
xeo1314
Emma Alvarez Gibson–some bit of exercise, every day.

Anyone else ready to join in?

What are you doing for YOU today?

This video super dark (in exposure), but the goodness is there:).

Twitterview with HOW Magazine: 9/3/09, 1130a, Pacific

admin — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 05:04:58 +0000

For all you twitterfiends–and design-o-philes:
drop on by www.twitter.com and play in the stream with me and Bryn Mooth, Editor in Chief of the brilliant HOW Magazine.

Bring a topic, be a voyeur, chikky check us out! We’ll be talking about next week’s inHOWse Conference, among other juicy things.

Tweet you there.
UPDATE, 9/3, 1240pm: check out the summary on the HOW Blog.

Pitch Perfect: How-To

admin — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:04:13 +0000

WOW! I was on a terrific show on blogtalkradio today! Colleen Rice Nelson has a show dedicated to supporting self-employed folks and she invited me to give a Pitch Perfect workshop today. Three wonderful volunteers, Walt, Melissa and Heather made the process fantastically interactive–we got so into it, we even had and after-show where other folks called in for one-on-one help! Download the show, listen in, subscribe to Colleen’s show if you want more great resources (if I do say so myself). If you are really game-on, then try out my handy-dandy worksheet.

I have tried blurb workshops, elevator speech how-tos online and found one that really works! Colleen Wainwright (yes, I have several Colleens in my life–and they are all keepers!) and I worked together and what came out of that process is Colleen’s great system for talking about a business or project. It boils down to three prompts:
Are you this person?
With this problem?
I can help, here’s how:

My adaptation of Colleen’s questions are:

What is one challenge your clients struggle with?
Describe one characteristic that makes you right for them?
What’s one product you offer or specific method you use to help them?

Fill in the blanks for yourself, your business or your product and you have the beginnings of a great pitch. Once you have answered the questions, then comes the creative part. Write a two-sentence summary of the answers and this is your draft pitch. Play around with it!

After I used Colleen’s process, I developed several pitches. BUT it didn’t stop there—I still really struggled with delivering my pitches and, for a while, nothing felt right. SO, I looked into WHAT REALLY WORKED for me, and in my style. I came up with these 6 principles for a Perfect Pitch as an add-on to Colleen’s excellent strategy:

Remember: if you focus on even ONE of the Perfect Pitch Principles, you WILL make progress!

1. Start where you are: be nice to yourself! It takes time to break into your pitch—look at it like a new pair of shoes. Wear your pitch around the house a bit before you take it on the road.

2. Lighten up! If you aren’t having fun doing what you’re doing—how can others hire you? A pitch doesn’t have to be deep or serious—it just has to be clear and easy to understand. Use other folks’ or your clients’ comments to spice it up.

3. Test it: practice your pitch with strangers or really candid friends and colleagues—select folks who ARE NOT your prospective clients—you won’t be as pressured to perfection AND they will be honest with you! If you ask friends, be sure to ask the ones who WILL tell you your butt looks fat in those jeans!

4. Focus on the OTHER: by starting with what problem you are here on earth to solve, it becomes about your potential clients, not about YOU. Remember, others are buying your product or service to help themselves.

5. Pitch & Pause: practice saying your pitch, quickly, if it’s your introduction, cut it down to 10 seconds or LESS, then WAIT. Allow the person you are talking to ask questions and react (remember: it’s about THEM!)

6. Commit to your pitch for a month: nothing is permanent, you have the pitch process now—it’s yours, you can always try a new one. Allow your pitch to settle in. Take notes on people’s responses. Did more people get confused by it than those who got what you were saying?

What’s your perfect pitch? Put it in the comments and get some feedback!

Client Tell: Brownie Blockade, Part 4

admin — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:55:34 +0000

Client Tell is a guest-post series from clients who have worked with me and want to share their process. The first series is a 5-part story from Alison Turner, Brownie Boss of Signature Bites, a small-batch, handmade and all natural gourmet brownie company. Let us know what you think of her story–and her brownies!

Brownies Blazing Forward
By Alison Turner

I think it’s safe to say I’ve broken through the brownie blockade – helped by Dyana!
There was a tipping point during the past few weeks, and Dyana’s unwavering enthusiasm was like a good luck charm on my shoulder. Knowing that I would report back to her on my progress was a small, but instrumental action point to keep me moving forward. Plus, the every-growing “to do” list kept my controlling nature in check and allowed my practical personality to just get it done!
I had sent Dyana a link to my website for review before I published. Her feedback was detailed and helped me adjust a few things before launching it upon the world. I wasn’t able to incorporate all of her recommendations, largely because the template I used to build the site wasn’t flexible enough to do all the things Dyana, and even myself, wanted it to do. It’s an “informational” site – a first iteration. It will evolve and improve in functionality (allowing online purchasing and payments) and style (more photos and more pages). However, with finances low I need to grow volume before investing in a designer to program a better site.

Once the website launched, I confess I procrastinated on sending out an email blast to my already built list of friends and contacts. Yet again I placed a brick wall, a STOP sign, in front of my own potential success. Why? I was back to those thoughts that I might not be able to do this.

“Did you ever attempt something at work and fail,” a friend from my Business Buddies group asked during one or our weekly meetings.

“No,” I had replied.

“Then what’s the problem? If you figured out how to do something in that environment, then why not with your business?” she added.
She was right. A few days later, I sent out my email blast announcing the launch of my website and ability to start taking orders. I received half a dozen by the end of the day, not to mention countless emails expressing support, delight and congratulations for taking the plunge. It was uplifting and I stopped to give myself a pat on the back. If Dyana had been there, I’m sure she would have given me successive pats on the back.

“Keep your eye on the prize,” Dyana said when we touched base a week later. We talked about my meetings with local women entrepreneurs who were so helpful in lending advice and tips for developing my business. One of them put me in touch with an upcoming event that I’ll be participating in next month – The Great American Bake Sale – at a local mall. It’s going to be labor intensive, but the ROI will be worth it – it always garners local media coverage and will be wonderful, charitable forum for people to taste my brownies and know that my company exists.

I recently sent out another email blast about Mother’s Day – and more orders have flooded in. Plus, I nearly got exposure on the Good Morning America show – nearly, but not quite. In the end, the producers of the segment on affordable Mother’s Day gifts wanted gifts for Mom’s made by Mom’s – and well, I’m not a Mom yet.

I’ve been so busy that I’m even beginning to let go of the anxiety of finding a “real” job. I will keep looking, but now that I’ve broken through the blockade and am following a new path, I feel a sense of focus that I didn’t have before.

Connecting with Dyana has most certainly been a positive development in my life and the future of my business. I wonder if I would be at the point I am today without her involvement and I’m confident the answer is “no”. She really is a healthy dose of optimism and creativity that I had not anticipated – and combined with other forces at play in my life during recent weeks, it all combined to bring me to this point today.

Give Alison some feedback, add your own story and add your own blockades or blockade-busters below.

Find out more about Alison and order some brownies!

Client Tell: Brownie Blockade, Part 3

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:12:42 +0000

Brownie Brazenness!
By Alison Turner

“I am capable of brazenness,” Dyana encouraged me to tell myself during our second phone consultation. “We need to activate you being brazen,” she explained. “We want to evoke it, because it’s in you!”

Me? Brazen? OK, I can go with that.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, my second call with Dyana was a little delayed – giving me more time to do my homework and collect my thoughts. Since we last spoke, I was 95% done with my website, had received my printed business cards, had put together a direct marketing email list and set up some informational meetings with local, successful female entrepreneurs in the baking business.

Dyana was wonderfully supportive of my progress and excited to hear what my next steps were for the week. On the agenda is getting my website “live”, developing a promotional campaign to publicize the site’s launch and that I’m here and ready to take orders.

From our discussion, it became clear that I need to manage this venture like I managed my corporate jobs. That’s especially challenging when my “cubicle” is my paper-strewn kitchen counter. Further, while attempting to realize this dream, I’m riddled with guilt over not focusing on a “real” full-time job hunt. I was laid off at the end of February. There’s severance money – but it will run out eventually. My brain cannot fully grasp the concept yet that that my brownie business can support my life in the same way that a full-time job working for some multinational organization could.

Dyana can tell that I’m somewhat frantic about having everything set up and ready to go, and that integrity is very important to me. She wants to steer me toward re-framing my business, moving away from seeing it as a pastime towards a fully operational “brownies are being made while you’re at the beach” type operation. The issue of scaling the business is very important, and it’s frustrating to my controlling nature that I don’t have all the answers. A meeting with a successful local entrepreneur (her company’s cakes were featured on Oprah’s favorite things episode a few years ago…) this week will help me on this front I think.

We also talked through some of the logistics I’m dealing with, and I followed up on Dyana’s recommendation to get a separate phone number for the business to put on the website. Another friend suggested using Skype to do this – it’s far more cost-effective than a separate cell phone line. We also brainstormed some email campaign themes, and Dyana’s non-stop enthusiasm had me wake up the next morning with yummy, chocolate thoughts prodding me forward all day.

Give Alison some feedback, add your own story and add your own blockades or blockade-busters below.

Find out more about Alison and order some brownies!

Client Tell: Brownie Blockade, Part 2

admin — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:06:05 +0000

Signature Bites, by Alison Tucker

First step to breaking through the “brownie blockade”
- By Alison Turner

I approached my first phone session with Dyana with a good deal of trepidation. I was fearful of sounding like a “corporate snob”, of not appearing committed enough to my brownie cause, of coming across as “too knowing” about the ins-and-outs of starting a business when I’ve no proven track record.

Thankfully though, my desire to connect with someone who could help me break through my “brownie blockade” was more powerful – and so while it occurred to me to worm my way out of our initial conversation and put forth another self-imposed STOP sign, I forged ahead and made the call.

Dyana was brilliant at getting to the heart of things very quickly, and very painlessly! Her probing questions promptly validated my self-diagnosis for throwing out one excuse after another for not having developed my business as far as I proclaim I have wanted to. “It’s not a lack of self confidence,” she said, “It’s about shaking the anxiety loose and growing in a controlled fashion.”

Ah, control. That word comes up in my personal life too. My ever-supportive fiancé commented on my control issues this past weekend in an entirely different context, so I shouldn’t be surprised that this spills into my business persona as well. But what to do about it? When does too much control become a bad thing? How do I control my control problems?

Dyana was also quick to identify my very practical nature and approach to life, and encouraged me to start segregating the practical side of my brain from my brownie plans and aspirations. It’s almost as if my practical mind has a choke-hold on my ambitions, circumventing development because I’m trying to control the outcome of next steps instead of just moving forward.

I was also very encouraged to have Dyana explore my work-style preferences. I’m a social person, and historically, I’ve really enjoyed the corporate office atmosphere and working in teams with smart people. I fear my quest for entrepreneurship will leave me lonely and bereft of social interaction.

I wasn’t quite sure where all of this was heading, and how we would work through it. So when “homework” was assigned, I smiled to myself and like the good student I always was, I wrote down my assignments:

1.    Come up with a brownie vision – how to take it from a one-woman collective to something much bigger and doesn’t have me as a lonely baker!
2.    Map out my collective ambition and develop an organization chart. Define the ideal business model – is it Patagonia-style or Vermont Country Store?
3.    Develop a target list of buyers, both “sure bets”, “maybe’s” and “fantasy” buyers.

But I think my most enjoyable, and easiest homework assignment – what Dyana called my “bonus” task – will be listing all those STOP signs I have no problem coming up with – just watch me fill up an entire sheet of paper with those!

Give Alison some feedback, add your own story and add your own blockades or blockade-busters below.

Find out more about Alison and order some brownies!

Client Tell: Brownie Blockade, Part 1

admin — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:18:41 +0000

The “brownie blockade”
– by Alison Turner

I have been baking decadent, delicious brownie “bites” since 2003 – and since those first batches came out of the oven, friends and family have urged me to start a business selling them.

But as good as I am at baking, cooking, and taking care of myself both financially and mentally, I am even better at coming up with self-imposed road blocks for not starting my brownie business. As each Thanksgiving and Christmas merged into Valentine’s Day I would declare, “That’s it, next year I’m going to be in operation and taking orders.” But it hasn’t happened. I am at an impasse – a brownie blockade.

I consider myself a smart woman, accomplished even. I put myself through college, earned a MBA from a leading English university, have lived in countries on both sides of the Atlantic, am debt free, have worked for global corporations, and have an extensive and valued network of friends. My first career was as a business journalist – I’ve interviewed hundreds of small business owners as well as CEO’s of huge companies. I’ve studied business management, and even entrepreneurship. I know the scary facts. Added to that, I spent my second corporate career in the marketing, advertising /branding and communications arena. I know how to promote.

I turned 40 a few months ago –and I think my best years are still in front of me. I’m confident I have a handle on what does and does not contribute to success. I’m ready.

So why do I return to my “this time next year…” speech? Why does each year close and my countless batches have only gone as far as my workplace, friends, or family functions? While others around me search for an idea, a concept they can be passionate about and turn into a business, I have something laying at my feet, but I can’t bend down and pick it up.

One of my dearest friends, Cat, has listened to my brownie banter for quite a few years now. I tortured her recently when trying to select a company name for my brownies – and then finalize the branding color scheme. Cat is very much like me, and also completely nothing like me. However, one of our commonalities is that we are active “connectors” – putting people in touch with each other when we feel or see that they can help each other in some small or big way. That’s how I met Dyana – Cat connected me to her – as they both worked together some years ago and have remained friends.

As soon as I read Dyana’s tag-line on her LinkedIn page: “Helping self-starters learn to self-finish: one project at a time.” – I could identify! I was immediately hopeful that someone was out there that could decipher my subconscious inability to turn my ‘bites’ into a viable business – one that operated outside of my mind!

Dyana considers herself an instigator – I consider Dyana my business therapist. I am looking for and expecting analysis of my reservations, my hang-ups, my preconceptions about having one’s own business, plus a lot more! But most importantly, I’m open to her help – I am here to embrace it.

I want my business to launch and to succeed. I want to break free of the confines and security blanket of my former ‘Corporate America’ jobs. I want as many people out there as possible to experience the joy of eating my creation. I am at my brownie breaking point.

Give Alison some feedback, add your own story and add your own blockades or blockade-busters below.

Find out more about Alison and order some brownies!