Tuesday, August 28, 2012

My Hero!

Who do you have as a mentor or role model for yourself as a business owner?

We healing arts types don't necessarily have a strong sense of ourselves as business owners; this is new territory for so many of us. Who would you choose as a role model? Who do you know – personally, by interaction, or by reputation – that is being the kind of business owner you want to be?

I met a woman this weekend who works for The Container Store. She's an assistant manager at one of their California stores and really loves working for the company. She appreciates the core values and the operating principles the company lives by. She shared some recent examples – like floating credit to established suppliers during this recession – that impressed me too.

That’s a big company operating nationally. What businesses in your community are emulation-worthy? I think about my local independent hardware store, Fragers. They are acutely aware of the needs of their neighbors and carry products for everyone from the apartment dwellers in brand new buildings to neighbors renovating or maintaining 125-year-old historic rowhouses. They are deeply knowledgeable about the specific needs of our neighborhood and I’ve rarely had a question they couldn’t answer.

Best of all, they really take care of you. When they have to send you to another part of their tiny store to talk to someone with specific knowledge, they often will call ahead (they carry walkie-talkies) to let that person / department know you're coming!

They possess a high level of technical expertise and practice an above-average dedication to customer service. I would like my clients to be able to say the same things about me.

Let's drop it down another level. Think about other people / practices in your field. Who's built the kind of business that you long to have? Who's got the reputation? Who do you want to emulate?

I respect the Teal Center's longevity and their reputation (especially among local MTs) for professionalism and organization. Amanda Long is tireless in marketing her practice. Nicole Jefferson embraces her inner business woman with gusto; she's got some rock-solid business practices and has the growing practice to prove it.

You have to choose our business role models carefully. You need to know what it is, specifically, about a business that you like and want to emulate. Remember that being an excellent MT isn’t the same as being a great business owner. Being highly profitable is great if it’s in a way that would also work for the way you work.

Who would you nominate as a business worth emulating and why?

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Two: Better Than One?

1.  Like many people, I spent a lot of time watching the Olympics earlier this month. My favorite was women's beach volleyball (though don't get me started on the absurdity of their “uniforms”). I loved to watch Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings play together. What I noticed was that they weren't just awesome volleyball players, they were an awesome team.

Their ball-handling skills are world-class (obviously). What I noticed, though, is that they spent as much energy paying attention to each other as they did to the ball. Where does she need me to put the ball? Can she get to it? Can she put it over? Am I where she needs me to be? There was a palpable feel (even 5 time zones away) of connection between them.

When interviewed, they spoke often of their bond and admitted they'd even gone to couples counseling together (though both are married to other people) between Olympics. And that it had helped!

2.  In my other job – as co-owner and CEO of The Healing Core (a continuing ed company) – I have a partner, Kitty Southworth. And I flat-out could not do what we need me to do without her. She's often convinced that the company is 90% me and maybe 10% her (we jokingly refer to her as the 'eye candy' of our organization) but it truly is a partnership. Neither one of us could do this by ourselves. We don't have the full skill set, we don't have the energy or the motivation to go it solo, we don't have access to the same resources, and we don't have enough imagination.

Mostly what we don't have alone is encouragement and another point of view. That has been so valuable in the last year I can hardly tell you.

And we've been to couples counseling too. And it made a difference.

3.  I had dinner with a girlfriend last week. She's another one-woman shop, coaching a particular segment of the business community in a specific skill set (she asked me not to be too specific; her niche is unique enough that you might know her). She's done phenomenally well these last few years, garnering the kind of national recognition and press that most of us only dream about.

And she's about to radically change her business, from a coaching one-on-one format to a product -oriented business (ebooks, DVDs, etc.).  Why? Because it's become too much for her to do alone. The administration of her business – which she freely admits she hates to deal with – has swamped her and exhausted her.

I asked, of course, if she couldn't hire someone to do the admin side. She said yes but said it would take too long to find them, bring them up to speed with her policies and procedures, and transition the work from her to them. She was too tired. It was too late.

4.  I had a friend visiting from out of state this weekend. She's a newlywed and we talked about the things old married ladies talk about with newlyweds. We talked about family relationships in general, including some grousing about my sisters with whom I'm having a disagreement about plans for the holidays (yes, already). We also talked about the grief of my mother's increasing dementia. And I was quick to say I could never manage to care for my mom the way she deserves if it was just me. I give thanks that I am one of several siblings and don't have to go this road alone.

 

By now, you've caught the theme I'm sure. So many of us work, effectively, alone. We have our private practice or we work for someone else as the only MT in their office. Even if we work in a multi-therapist practice, as independent contractors we are still responsible for our own business. That's certainly my massage practice. It's me and only me every day. And, yes, it gets lonely.

We need friends, partners, associates, companions along the way. We need other MTs especially. They are the only ones out there that can get us all the way. I'm blessed with membership in a small but supportive chapter (Washington DC) of the American Massage Therapy Association. While our quarterly chapter meetings can be quite small, we have a listserve that keeps us all up-to-date and connected. You can put almost any question out there and someone will have something to help you.

I'm also active in two groups on Facebook – one for my school (PMTI) and one for massage therapists in general. The conversations are lively, the posts are interesting, and the information and perspectives shared are worth the time it takes to keep up with them.

I belong to a small study group that's taking a year to work through Lynn Grodzki's “Twelve Months To Your Ideal Practice”. We have study-buddies we talk to every week just to keep each other on track. Love these women!


How alone are you? Where can you find connections and support on your journey as a healing arts practitioner? Nothing good comes from being alone too long!




Thursday, August 16, 2012

Work Harder. Or Not.

August is often the slow time for MTs. It certainly is this year for me so I've been taking time out to do the "background" work of business -- bringing my bookkeeping up to date, doing some course development, writing more, developing marketing plans, that sort of thing.

Which keeps me very very busy, ironically.  :)  So my blog posts have slowed down. I've got a backlog of them in my head for you but today I want to share something from a woman I met during my year in Australia. Ingrid Arna is a bubbling soda of joy, enthusiasm, and (her fave term) juiciness. This was today's status update on Facebook and I think it's so good, I'm sharing it here. Lots and lots and lots of wisdom in this for us. (emphases are mine)

When something doesn't flow whether it be business or a relationship, start to appreciate the message, the gift and the sign. What is the message you need to hear?

Instead of seeing it as a negative or a rejection or a loss what is the gain? What is the gift? If you have to push it then it ain't for you.

So why do we push, try to make it happen and work hard? There are many reasons but simply here's two biggies:

1. Fear that another deal, lover or opportunity won't come along = LACK

2. You have been programmed to believe in the work hard motto, the go to any length at all costs motto = LACK and FEAR based thinking.

Practice doing less, focusing on what you want and choosing relationships and business partnerships that are joyous, easy, rich, electric and love based = PURE AFFLUENCE and JUICY ENERGY that creates miracles, that builds fortunes and most importantly makes us feel incredibly alive, supported and healthy! xx

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Emotional Bandwidth as a Business Asset

I used to teach business practices at the Potomac Massage Training Institute. I stepped away from it when I felt myself getting kinda stale as an instructor but I've never stopped thinking about the class, contemplating ways to improve it or reorganize it, fantasizing about getting to teach it again. I loved teaching that class.

Recently the school asked me if I'd be interested in teaching it again. I said no.

I was planning to do some major writing today. Got deadlines coming up, I'm thisclose to being ready to look for an agent for a book, really excited to write that last chapter. I didn't do it.

Why? I have no emotional bandwidth left. I've been hit with too many major emotional upheavals in my personal life. A mother with increasing dementia. A dear friend on suicide watch.

But isn't work in a whole 'nother realm? And doesn't it just have to get done? Shouldn't I just "suck it up" (to quote another biz blogger) and get down to business?

No, I shouldn't.

Our work is personal, intimate, and requires a certain amount of our emotional resources. Not just the touching but the related work -- teaching, writing, etc. The best stuff doesn't come just from the mind; it also comes from the heart. And if your heart is depleted or at the edge of what it can process, you have to acknowledge that.

You can't always put your work on pause. Clients are still on the books. Meetings still need to happen. Classes have been paid for.

However, if you want to be a wise business owner, make sure you're checking in on and taking care of your key business assets, including your heart.