Featured Clients and Business Leaders
Deborah Davis
Marci: What advice would you give other writers/artists starting their own business?
Deborah: Clarify what your strengths are and choose the ones that you love to share with other people as the basis for your business. Keep time available for your writing or art. If you’re not an experienced, competent business person, get help from someone who is!
Marci: What prompted you to hire me as your coach?
Deborah: I knew I had solid skills as a writing teacher, consultant, and coach because I’d been all of those things for years—but mostly in volunteer capacities. I started working with a coach because I wanted to increase my income and be acknowledged as an experienced professional, and I needed help in deciding what my professional focus would be.
Marci: What have you accomplished since we began coaching?
Deborah: I’ve created a small and growing business as a writing teacher, coach, and consultant in the Bay Area, with plans in the works to extend my reach nationally. I’ve offered writing classes that bring in my desired number of students, and I’ve gained a steady stream of individual clients seeking my coaching and consultant services. I’ve also gained a great deal of confidence and satisfaction in being able to earn income from these services, and I’m enjoying my greater visibility in the local writing community as well as the positive reputation surrounding my services. Last, but not least, I’ve gained the satisfaction and honor of being a partner in some wonderful aspiring writers’ growth. Coaching has helped me define a business focus for my skills and talents and begin to develop a sustainable framework for marketing them. It has been hugely helpful to have someone experienced in building small businesses to bounce ideas off of, to help me prioritize and refocus when I go in too many directions at once, and to help me get an accurate portrait of my value as a professional in the current market. My coach also assists me in learning to create a healthy balance between my own writing as an art and my writing-related services.
Carol Rosenblatt
At Macy’s, Carol served as the Senior Handbag and Small Leather Goods Buyer at Macy’s Inc. West Division. Over the years in the retail industry (30 in total), Carol has helped hundreds of companies increase market share and sales revenues through her guidance. Carol has been able to leverage her expertise into building a brand around providing high-value, cost-effective service for clients.
Because of her street smarts, passion, clear convictions, and achievements, I was inspired to share her story with others:
Marci: Why did you start Mrs. R?
Carol: Due to the consolidation of Macy’s operations, I had to reevaluate my career. I realized how passionate I feel about working in the handbags and small leather goods industry so I was not willing to let that go.
Marci: What are the positive aspects of being an entrepreneur?
Carol: My quality of life has changed greatly. I control my destiny. I control the number of hours I work based on the clients I have in contract. I work around my personal life versus living life around my career.
Marci: What are the challenges of being an entrepreneur?
Carol: It is up to ME to acquire new clients….to be as aggressive as I can be but know when to say…no…critical piece is not to over extend yourself…to balance your personal life and career.
Marci: What advice would you give others before starting their own business?
Carol: First off…ask yourself…do YOU have the passion and determination to succeed at starting one’s own business? As always…do your homework. I had a mentor who first recommended to me to set up an LLC…be professional…be legitimate. Also realize your limitations…we are not all experts. I attended a Jewish Business League for Women seminar and my “Life Coach”, Marci….I researched her background and found she had done consulting…she was a perfect fit for me! It is important that you connect with your life coach…I was lucky and found mine on the first try.
Marci: How does coaching support you?
Carol: Coaching is a support system that is totally objective…offers guidance, challenges you, motivates you. Coaching helps you think out loud… and be open to criticism. I was looking for short cuts to expedite the process of starting my consulting business. Marci had the ammunition I was looking for and within a month of starting my business I secured my first client. I could not have done it without the help of Marci Rinkoff. She gave me “the kick in the tush” that I was looking for!
Lisa Schoonerman
Because of their personal situations, both Jan and Lisa feel passionately that there is a need to spread the word that the normal effects of aging, such as memory loss and slower processing speed, no longer have to be inevitable; that people can take steps to maintain and improve certain cognitive skills.
I was so moved by the work that this can do for seniors, I had to call Lisa to find out more. She is truly a leader in her own right…
Marci: Have you worked with a coach before? If so, how has coaching helped you with your business and in your life?
Lisa: Yes, I worked with a life coach when I was in transition between my previous career and vibrantBrains. I found the experience to be tremendously beneficial in terms of helping develop focus, realizing priorities, and then sticking to the priorities. For vibrantBrains, the result of improved focus and discipline was the business plan. In my life, it was more about directing my energy toward things and people who truly matter.
Marci: What made you decide to start your own business?
Lisa: For me, I wanted a personal growth opportunity. Having been in the corporate world my entire career, I didn’t feel like I was learning as much as in earlier years and I began to feel my inspiration dwindle. Jan Zivic, my partner, and I had been considering doing something together for awhile. I think for Jan it was largely about the creative process. When the idea for vibrantBrains started to blossom from our own life experiences (Jan suffered a traumatic brain injury in an auto accident and my mother was diagnosed with dementia), though, things just kind of fell into place.
Marci: What kinds of support systems (or people) helped you launch your business?
Lisa: We relied on the typical support systems – friends, family, and former colleagues. Networking, something that comes easily to Jan but not as much so for me (an introvert), is absolutely imperative to anyone starting something new – especially in our case since not everyone understands the concept of cognitive exercise let alone the need. Getting the word out has been our biggest challenge and we’ve had invaluable assistance from our personal and professional networks.
Marci: What is your perspective on being in business in today?s economy?
Lisa: I would be lying if I said it was anything other than extremely challenging. The irony is that the programs we offer at vibrantBrains are great for people who might be in the market for a job, or want to sharpen their skills to set themselves apart from colleagues to get that promotion. Many of our clients report benefits ranging from increased confidence to quicker thinking; qualities that definitely help in a job interview!
Marci: What are the top 3 things that every woman in business needs to know?
Lisa:
1. Don’t be afraid to self-promote.
2. You can’t do it alone; we women sometimes are not as good as we should be about helping each other.
3. You can’t do it without a solid financial base. While this certainly isn’t something that just women need to keep in mind, given the current economic climate it is even more important than ever.
Marci: If you could do anything differently with Vibrant Brains, what would that be?
Lisa: We have a very high rate of repeat business; once a person completes a program and feels the positive changes, they want to exercise more and improve more – in the same way that fitting into your skinny jeans helps motivate a physical exercise program. So in terms of doing something differently at vibrantBrains, that would have to be figuring out a way to impact even more people.
Leslie Grossman
The most successful women I’ve encountered know how to use their resources. Here’s Leslie’s comments on coaching:
Marci: How has coaching helped you?
Leslie: One coach, in particular, who I worked with over the course of 3 years, helped me increase sales of my marketing company by 200% taking it to nearly $2 million in revenues. He also helped me identify my true passion and stand – creating more women leaders in the world. This eventually led me to creating Women’s Leadership Exchange. You could say that coaching played a critical role in helping me be more successful and fulfilled in my life by realizing my true life’s purpose. It also impacted my financial success.
Marci: What are the top three things behind your successs?
Leslie: (1) Doing more listening and less talking, (2) Collaborating with other people and groups, (3) Being open to new possibilities every day of my life.
Marci: What makes a great salesperson?
Leslie: I believe that great sales people don’t really have to “sell” their products/services. If they have done their research and can determine how their product/service can fulfill the “needs” or address the “pain” of their prospect, they are 50% there. The other 50% is truly listening to and building trust with the decision maker so that “yes” comes easily at the close. I think the hardest part of selling is getting in the door – the door to the decision maker – and, of course, a great sales person knows how to do that.
Marci: What have you observed as the most common issues and challenges that women in business face?
Leslie: Women often get bogged down in the details and in trying to be perfectionists about everything. Guilty as charged! I am constantly reminding myself about this. In addition, too few women in business have a real “circle of influence”, a trusted group of people who are their informal advisors and connectors – people who they can go to on a regular basis for information, insights and support, and who they give back to, as well. That’s why we created at WLE the Leadership Executive Circle (LEXCI) program – which not only teaches leadership skills but provides an ever expanding circle of influence that stretches across the country.
