Meet Michelle McCullough, new Managing Director for Startup Princess

Startup Princess is excited to announce that Michelle McCullough is the new Managing Director for Startup Princess.  Kelly will still be active in our community, run #startupchats (every Wednesday from Noon to 1 Mtn on Twitter) & be part of the direction and strategy for Startup Princess with Michelle.  Michelle will assume a larger role than her current position as Business Development Director, which she has been since 2008.  She’ll continue to manage partnerships, sponsorships, affiliates and events in addition to her new responsibilities.

In addition to Startup Princess, Michelle is the owner of Doodads Promotional Products and is a speaker and business strategist.  Please welcome her to her new role and connect! Enjoy her interview.

Professional Background:  I’ve spent the last 14 years in marketing, advertising and sales working in all aspects of the industry. I’ve worked for advertising agencies, a television station, started a newspaper and worked in sales for a large corporation.  I love balancing traditional and emerging tools to share a message.  I also started Doodads Promotional Products when I was 19.  It’s still a growing, viable company and it’s just one way I fuel my entrepreneurial spirit.  I speak for corporations and organizations about marketing, advertising, sponsorships, and public relations (and love to give a motivational speech here are there).  I love helping entrepreneurs fulfill their business dreams and help them take their businesses to the next level, whatever that is for them.  I’ve been with Startup Princess since 2008 as the Business Development Director managing Startup Princess partnerships, sponsorships, affiliates, and events.

What you wanted to be when you grew up: A lawyer

What you are: Speaker, Strategist, Success Coach, Serial Entrepreneur

Brief Summary of your Start Up:    I’m a speaker, business strategist, personal success coach and a serial entrepreneur.  I may have come into Startup Princess when it was 2 years in, but I still consider it as one of “my” companies.

Company Website: http://www.startupprincess.com

Personal Website: http://www.speakmichelle.com

What inspired you: When I was in High School and College I was on the debate team.  It was something that I loved and I excelled.  I was always disappointed that there wasn’t a professional debate team like there was professional baseball or hockey.  I told myself I’d be a professional speaker someday.  My favorite thing to do is speak to audiences large or small.  I’ve also LOVED marketing since I took my first marketing class in High School.  Everything that I do today is virtually throwing speaking and advertising in a blender and out comes Startup Princess!

How did you fund your businesses? Bootstrapping

Do you have a Fairy Godmother?  Lots of amazing people have mentored me along the way.  But my most recent coach and dear friend Tiffany Peterson has been really instrumental in helping me develop since I met her 1 year ago this week through Startup Princess!

Do you belong to any Business Organization or Networking Groups? Startup Princess, BNI, Chamber of Commerce, The Hub

Current Business Challenge? Growing at a comfortable speed.

What are you doing about it? I’m remembering that raising my family is more important that growing a business.  Though I certainly believe they can co-exist, I’m very careful to ensure that my family doesn’t feel like they are being sacrificed in order to be successful in the business world.  That doesn’t mean that I always do this well, but setting my priorities and shifting them from my family to my businesses (and vice versa) takes a lot of planning, and day-to-day intuition.

Favorite motivational quote: Oh boy.  So many are swimming in my head.  I’ll share this one for now: “That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do.  Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed, but our ability to do has increased.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson

Family? Married to my best friend, Aaron.  We have two high-energy and highly-adorable toddlers ages 3 and 1.

How do you balance family and business? Like I said above, balancing family and business is an “act”.  I don’t believe life balance exists.  I believe we have to have a system of figuring out our priorities and know when to shift one into the first position and when to shift another back.  I have a system I use called the Life Priority System.  It’s a role based system that focuses on the things I want to be rather than the things I have to do.  It’s why I created the Life Balance Myth Workshop.  I’ve spent years of research and talked to a number of professionals trying to find the secret.  Now that I’ve found what works for me and other women I work with, I’m trying to share it with the world!

Favorite book?  The Success Principles, by Jack Canfield

What do you do to relax? Read a good book (fiction and non-fiction), scrapbook, watch an 80’s movie, spend time with my family and friends.

What do you want to change most about your world? I want people to be kinder and happier.  I want my kids to grow up being nice and treated the same in return.  I truly believe in the philosophy “Givers gain”, and wish more people believed in that as well.  I think the world, especially the business world, would be a lot better off if we all tried to give a little more and take a little less.

What are you most proud of? Running 3 businesses AND raising a family.

What advice would you like to offer other Start Up Princesses?  Grow at your own pace.  Stop comparing yourself to others or thinking that someone else has the “secret” to running a business and having a thriving personal life.  They are all trying to figure it out, too.  As I have coached women entrepreneurs over the last 3 years, I’ve found that more often than not, problems in business are because they are struggling to find balance.  They are often working too much, working too little or spending their time on the wrong activities that should be trashed or delegated.  My advice is to do what’s best for you and your business in your current stage in life regardless of what your competitors or friends are doing.

Favorite Magic Wand (tool/resource)?  The 2 G’s: God and Google (Kim Flynn planted that in my head and now I couldn’t possibly think of any other favorite resource.)  I rely on both daily.

I’m excited for this new chapter with Startup Princess and look forward to many great opportunities ahead.  If we haven’t met already, I hope to meet you at a live event someday!  Until then, let’s connect virtually.  Follow me on twitter @speakmichelle, find me on facebook here and at my personal website http://www.speakmichelle.com

 

10 Secrets to Being a Great Speaker

Today’s Magic Wand: The Presenters at the Startup Princess conference were awesome! One of the reasons was that they were very prepared and another is because they fit their messages to the audience. I was impressed by their captivating, content driven messages. Here’s 10 Secrets to Being a Great Speaker (from things I’ve noticed that worked well).

1. Object Lessons in Presentations can be Effective–Becca Levie demonstrated how to cut a piece of paper big enough for 3 people to fit in, you’d think it would be impossible, but she showed us how and reminded us to take a new perspective/think different.

2. Handouts of your Powerpoint Presentation can be a Great Backup (particularly if the projector doesn’t work)–We had a few issues with our projector and it made me consider that bringing a handout of the slides could be a good back up for the audience and also provides them the content so they don’t have to worry about writing down all of the notes (great thinking Nancy Cadjan!)

3. Bring Product Samples (if you can), these don’t have to be your own products, you can even get a sponsor to donate little gifts to hand out–if they are somewhat related to your topic or you can work it into the presentation somehow, everyone loves a gift (Startup Princesses at our conference walked away with Becca Levie’s LipNotes chapstick, gourmet popcorn by Colorado Kernels, and more fun items!) Or, you can give away product for prizes…thanks to Raw Melissa, Lori Harris, Rachael Herrscher, Corey Olauson, Nancy Cadjan, Becca Levie, Wendy Bird, Deborah Gardner and Sarah Jane Wright.

4. Get to Know Your Audience, if you are new to an organization, spend some time on their website, get to know your audience and gear your presentation with their culture lingo, etc.

5. Incorporate the Conference Theme Our Keynote Speakers did such an amazing job of speaking about and emphasizing our conference theme, Make a Wish, Make it Happen…Barbara Vineyard added Make a Wish, Make it Happen through Connections, I loved that twist for her presentation in a final send-off for the conference.

6. Be Flexible! Tech issues happen, speaking times get shorter (or longer!), and if you can be flexible, it will make things much easier. During my presentation my cell phone rang! It ended up being a good time to remind people to turn their phone on vibrate!

7. Be Passionate about your Topic! We all love to hear someone speak who is passionate. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about internet marketing or are sharing an inspirational message, share what you’re passionate about, share personal stories and experiences!

8. Arrive Early and Get a Sense of the Conference Atmosphere, when possible– it helps to attend a session prior to yours so you can get to know your audience better and if you can, stay afterwards too, it will help the audience feel that they can approach/relate to you easier if you are a participant as well as a speaker. You might also see if you can run a “tech check” with the projector, etc. if you have a media presentation–you don’t want any surprises!

9. Be Transparent, be REAL–share with them your challenges, successes, and be honest about how things are going if/when asked. I was so impressed that Barbara Vineyard (at left here) talked about her magazine’s challenge to reach a broader audience and make it profitable…she gained respect for sharing and compassion as well. It’s a good thing to see that speakers don’t have all the answers and are trying just like the rest of us.

10. Leave Time for Q&A Although it’s not always under the Speaker’s control, if possible leave a few minutes to answer questions, unless it’s a motivational speech, then no Q&A typically; some of my favorite parts were the Q&A!!

If speaking isn’t your forte, start practicing, you never know when you might be asked to be on a panel or speak for a group! Eye contact, Confidence, Familiarity with the Topic, and Audience Participation/Interaction are always important.