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An Epic Fail Should Fuel Your Next Victory

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It pains me to reflect on Ronda Rousey's first ever knockout. I literally felt nauseous as I watched Holly Holm have her way with her.  I have never in my life felt that dedicated to an athlete or person of celebrity status.  When I was first introduced to this woman, I had an instant girl crush!  I actually wanted to be her!  And again, that has never happened to me before.  My biggest takeaway from Ronda's many mantras is that even on our worst day ever, we still need to be better than second best.  And for the first time in her career, she wasn't better than second best.  This was her epic fail and now the whole world is watching.  

Too Comfortable Too Soon?

Within the last year, fame has hit Ronda hard and fast.  She is in the spotlight and can send any message she desires.  She is very comfortable speaking her mind and has been controversial with this freedom.  One of her messages is #DNB. Ronda conveys she is not a "do nothing bitch".  In this message she encourages girls to go after goals that don't include "sucking di#% to become famous...needless to say she's turned many heads and people are paying attention. In her defense, she had a good point which is to take positive action with your life :)  But had she gotten too comfortable with her shock-value approach?  Did she get too proud, too loud, too soon? 

I cannot and will not be the judge if I think she deserved to lose or if the hype about her wasn't all it was cracked up to be...but what I WILL judge is what decision she'll make following her fall and how will she use her fail to fuel her next victory?  In my opinion it is right now that Ronda has an opportunity of a lifetime.  She has the opportunity to produce an honorable legacy! 

Your Fail Is Your Fuel

As I wait eagerly for Ronda's ROCKY IV revival, I think about what we can learn from this. We've all had fails in life.  These fails mold us, develop us, and humble us.  We can choose to lose hope. We could choose to hide away and pray that nobody remembers how awful our fail was.  We could allow our embarrassment and shame to take over and limit us.  We could be a #DNB!   OR...we could stop feeling sorry for ourselves and choose to get up and take action!  Friends, do not let the devil bring you down!  Take one day to reflect, express and recover.  Then get up and GET AFTER IT.  

Be Grateful!

If you never experienced failure, you'd never really understand how phenomenal victory feels. If you never had obstacles to overcome or hurdles to jump, you'd never fully appreciate when you achieved a victory.  It's our failures that really call us to the best chapters of our lives and our biggest opportunities.  What will you decide to do when your time comes? 

I choose to be grateful for the opportunity for development. I never want to feel stuck.  Staying the same is not an option. I pray that I remember this when I'm slapped with defeat. It's not easy and it's not fun, but it's worth the fight!  

Ask & Receive More Referrals!

Industry friends and those alike.  Have you heard the saying, ask and you shall receive?   It IS that simple!  Ask for referrals to gain more referrals! 

In topics to come I'll piggyback this simple strategy with ways to implement a referral program, but the starting point to gaining more referrals really is this simple.  

First Step!  Sit down for five minutes and make a list of your TOP 10 clients.  After you've created your TOP 10 list, you have choices on how you'd like to communicate your referral request.  You could call them, text them, message them through Facebook or LinkedIn of course ;)  You could email them or send them a letter in the mail.  However your method, I'd recommend the verbiage to be short and sweet.

EXAMPLE: Dear friend!  I want to thank you for being an amazing client. I'm reaching out to you today because I'm looking to grow my business and I'd like more people like you in my life.   If you could refer me the person in your life who is most like you, I'd be so appreciative!   The best way for your referral/friend/colleague to connect with me is online/phone/email.  Thank you so much! Your advocacy is so important to my success.  Cheers! 

You SHOULD absolutely rewrite this to fit your audience.  Use verbiage that fits WHO you're writing to.  If your best client is in college, communicate their way.  (This is a whole other topic...stay tuned...) 

TIPS ON THE ASK:

1. Use their name in the conversation

2. Thank them for their patronage & continued support

3. Ask them for the referral. In fact, if you KNOW they're close with a potential client you'd love to work with, you could specifically ask they refer that person to you!

4. Give them a call to action. Meaning, they have a way to send their referral to you.

5. Thank them again! 

Finally, upon receipt of a new referral, DO NOT forget to follow up with a THANK YOU to your referral source.  This reinforces your client's action of sending you a referral and encourages them to continue to do so! 

 

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Success Starts with Self-Mastery | Intellectual

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It is my opinion that success isn’t just tied to dollar signs. To achieve life success, I believe one must develop themselves. Today’s topic is devoted to the intellectual goal toward self-mastery. It starts with our desire for consistent growth and development. To be someone who loves to learn. If you’re always learning, you’re always moving towards a new level of excellence and therefore a new level of success.

Attitude

As an Entrepreneur the challenge is self-discipline. We do not have a boss. We have no one looking over our shoulders. If we want to move a deadline, we can, and do…

We must set and meet our own expectations. We are accountable to ourselves. The first step towards achieving self-mastery success intellectually is choosing the right mindset. You must choose the attitude of, “I’m in need of advanced education. I need to learn more. I do not know it all. I desire a deeper level knowledge.”  The question is then, where will you begin your personal journey of building your intellect?

Reading

First, I believe reading is paramount. I once heard Dave Ramsey say that the only difference between who you are today and who you’ll be one year from now will depend entirely on the books you read and the people you meet. When is the last time you finished an entire book? I used to struggle with this! I would start a book and think that I understood the overall point, so I wouldn’t finish it. But there is something rewarding about finishing a book. And let’s be honest with ourselves…if you do not finish the book you are undoubtedly missing out.

What was tremendously helpful to my life was literally joining a book club. When I met with other professionals who had the same requirements, I was able to keep up. If I’m going to be completely honest (would you expect any different?) I really don’t like looking foolish so there were days I’d read for ninety minutes prior to our get-together to make sure I was up to date on our reading schedule. If there isn’t a book club you can join, then maybe you are the one who will start it!

If you’re perfectly capable of reading on your own, I’d recommend a daily and/or monthly goal. Maybe you read one chapter per day? Or two chapters per week? Or possibly twelve books per year? In an ideal world, what does this look like for you?

Audio & Visual

The audio and visual outlet is my personal favorite when I’m driving!  I’ll pull up YouTube, connect the Bluetooth to my car and off I go. Have you experienced Ted Talks?! One of my favorite Ted Talk is Simon Sinek’s presentation titled, Start With Why. Let’s not forget podcasts! Who has listened to the Beyond The Technique podcast with Kati Whitledge? Other great podcasts I would recommend are, This Is Your Life With Michael Hyatt, The Sales Evangelist with Donald C Kelly and Perpetual Traffic by Digital Marketer. If you happen to subscribe to Success Magazine, I highly recommend listening to the Success cd’s they offer with each month’s edition. I could go on and on but I’ll say this, what if you scheduled an hour per week to listen to, or watch a video? What if you scheduled two per week and starting taking notes about what you’ve learned and how you could apply that into your business? What kind of impact would this make in your life?

Live Events

One of my favorite educational outlets is investing in live events. This means you pay to attend advanced education on topics that improve your life and business. You could do this virtually through webinars or you could travel to an event which in my opinion, becomes an unforgettable experience. I believe when you pay for a workshop, seminar or conference, you’re more invested in what you take away from the event. It becomes your responsibility to learn. For me it’s almost a competitive challenge of how much I can take away from what they’re offering. My personal goal is to attend two major events per year. I’ve been to four destination events within the last seven months and I can attest that my life has dramatically improved. My marriage has been positively impacted, our personal financial picture has been defined with clear, long term goals. My businesses have progressed positively. And my professional relationships have not only increased, but they have deepened. Priceless! I’m so thankful for these events and the amazing opportunities they’ve provided. How many events will you attend this year? When will you have these scheduled by?

Hire A Coach

Lastly, an outlet that has been an ongoing investment which has been invaluable for me is hiring a business coach. Not only will a business coach keep you accountable to your goals. They will offer insight, education and resources that will increase your level of intelligence. Simply put, you don’t know what you don’t know! The right business coach is someone who genuinely wants to see you win. If they’re really good, they won’t be afraid to push you past your comfort zone.  The question isn’t if you should hire a business coach, the question is, when will you hire the coach? Are you delaying your potential? Are you fearful of what you could be missing out on? I was. Prior to hiring my business coach whom I’ve been working with now for three years, I was daunted by the price. However, I was more daunted by what it would cost me if I didn’t hire them. There will be a price to pay, it’s your choice which one. I believe if you hire a coach, you will be five steps ahead of ninety percent of your competitors. The right coach is ready and available. When will you finally decide to contact them?

Let's Connect

Until we connect again my friends, I want to thank you for your time and commitment to our topic today. You’re already on your way to mastering yourself or you wouldn’t be with me right now. If you’re a salon owner who desires additional education beyond the technique, please visit KatiWhitledge.com. I would love for you to reach out and email me. Let’s get to know one another! If you have at least five employed Stylists on your team and your biggest needs are obtaining and retaining new clients. Please visit MeetYourStylist.com. Meet Your Stylist is an exclusive online survey that will match your future clients to the Stylists are your Salon that is the best fit for them. Think of Meet Your Stylist as your number one referral source!

And as always I would love to connect on LinkedIn, Kati Whitledge or check out my facebook page…facebook.com/katiwhitledge.

Thank you for sticking with me until the end. Have an awesome day and stay strong!

 

Who’s Your Coach? The Power of Accountability

Think about professionals such as Harry Josh, Jen Atkin, Wayne Grund, Sam Villa, Paul Mitchell and the list goes on. You would agree that they had support as they rose to the top, right? Even those who are solo celebrity stylists, they aren’t really solo. They need assistance with business, photography, social media, public relations, etc… And along the way, I believe they all had mentors they reached to for advice!

Who is your mentor?  Who has experienced the level of success you desire? Finding the right accountability partner is key to substantial success beyond the technique.

Categories of Life

The seven major life categories are career, financial, spiritual, physical, intellectual, family, and social. I would encourage you to choose accountability partners in any or all areas you want to make a commitment of growth and development.

To stay on point today, we’ll focus on choosing an accountability partner for your career. As mentioned above, this is someone or a few people who have reached the level of success you desire.

Start Here

Brainstorm your list! Take a timer and set it for 15 minutes. Remove all distractions, i.e. your cell phone, social media, etc…for some of us with A.D.D you may need to have a coffee shop session to get away from a distracting environment.

Write down all the successful individuals or companies you have in mind. Then take each person and company and write down who they know or who works for them that could be the right person for you. An example is, I knew my friend Jacob was a successful real estate agent, so I put his name on the list. I could reach out to him directly but I also wrote his boss’ name because I’ve heard Jacob mention that his boss offered amazing education and has been a tremendous resource for him as he grew his clientele.

In other words, think outside of the box and avoid restrictions. You don’t necessarily have to know the person yet.

NO Relatives

There’s only one rule to your brainstorming session. Do not list any friends, family members or relatives. Why not? Great question!

•  Because you do not want someone you can manipulate

•  Because you do not want someone who will let you off the hook

•  Because you cannot hold it against someone for holding you accountable

•  Because we’ll have no one to blame but ourselves if we do not reach our goals

You Get What You Pay For

Have you thought about hiring a coach? Don’t worry, this isn’t a sales pitch.  It’s my success story.

In 2010 I founded an upscale salon boutique. It was my first business with employees. Prior to, it was just myself operating as an independent contractor. So, after three years of great success and approximately twelve employees, I had hit a plateau.

I knew it was time to reach out to a business coach. I was scared of the cost. For weekly coaching sessions, the cost was $2,000 per month. To overcome my fear of spending $500 per hour, I asked myself, “what would it cost if I didn’t hire a coach?”  When weighing my options to invest or stay where we’re were at with our business, the answer was easy. I took the risk and I spent the money.

After one full year of working with my business coach, our salon expanded our working space by an additional 50%. We had an 838% increase in profits during the first quarter compared to the year before. HUGE! We also hired our first fulltime manager and it gave me the freedom to work on the business instead of in the business.

As a result, our team has doubled, we have now have four managers, we have our first two apprentices and our Stylists are earning more at our Salon than any other Salon in our area! So, would you agree it was worth every penny? So would I.

Reach Out

Now the really hard part.  Having the guts to reach out to them!  Let’s get this fear out of the way now…. the worst thing that could happen is they will say “no”.  And that’s okay. I believe everything happens for a reason.  Either they aren’t the right accountability partner for you or right now isn’t the right time for the two of you. That doesn’t mean it won’t ever be.  That’s exactly why we made a list with abundant options!

If you’re wondering how to reach out to someone on your list. I would recommend a simple message. Let me repeat that, a short and simple message that won’t overwhelm the recipient. No one, not even you I suspect, would want to open a message that is four paragraphs long.

Here’s an example, “Hi Jacob, I hope you’re doing well! I wanted to see if you had time this week for coffee or a drink after work? I have an idea I’d like to run past you and would appreciate your input.  Thanks!” ~Your Name 

Boundaries

Once you meet with your prospects and have chosen a partner that is ready to work with you, you must come up with clearly defined boundaries. Here’s a list to consider

·      How often will you meet?
·      Will you meet in person, via phone or online?
·      In between meetings will they be accessible?
·      If so, what is the preferred method of contact? Text? Email? Social Media?
·      Will there be “homework” to complete in between each meeting?
·      If one cannot meet on a planned date, what are the expectations to inform the other? 24 hours’ notice?

 I’ll make a point here that this is why it’s so important to choose someone who isn’t close to you so the boundaries don’t become fuzzy. Paying for a coach makes the boundaries issue a non-issue.

Just Go For It!

Final thought. If you take these steps and stick with an accountability partner, you will undoubtedly have tremendous success.  How can you be sure? Compare this to professional athletes. None of them are without a coach, let alone a team of coaches! The more people you have in your corner, the more powerful you become. Be courageous and just go for it!