“Be Fierce But Flexible” and Other Wisdom from An Evening With Danielle LaPorte

Excited to have our first Startup Princess event of 2013.

I can hardly believe it’s been two months since our event with Danielle LaPorte and I didn’t do a post-event recap! If there was a bad blogger award, I would get it.  Though it’s never too late to capture something great (even late) and there was sage wisdom that day that I have to share with you.

Success On Your Own Terms – An Evening with Danielle LaPorte was the perfect  to kick-off our 2013 event calendar.

I was lucky to spend the day with Danielle at three events.

We started the day with a personal and powerful lunch with eight women sitting around a fancy board room table chatting about business, relationships and REALLY making things happen.  It was intimate and life changing.  There was energy, and tears.  Strategy and mastermind.

Then, I got to watch as Danielle spoke to an audience around the globe at Adobe.  There were locals in the room and attendees watching from other Adobe offices around the world.  One of my favorite moments from that talk was “Every flavor of fear comes with information.”  As an entrepreneur, I experience said, “flavors of fear” on a regular basis.  Sometimes daily.  For me, entrepreneurial fears come in the form of what ifs.  “What if I fall flat on my face?”  “What if no one comes?”  “What if someone doesn’t like this product or coaching program?”  I loved the thought that I need to hear the information that is being provided to me through that feeling, but not to let it cripple me.  I can waffle in indecision forever for fear that I’ll make the “wrong” choice or put the “wrong” offering out there.  But honestly I need to feel the fear, learn from it and go.  Powerful stuff.

Danielle speaks to over 225 attendees at the Adobe Building in Lehi, Utah.

And then Success On Your Own Terms – An Evening With Danielle LaPorte was the perfect cap to the day.  The energy was high and it was an exciting night.

One of my highlights from Danielle was “Be fierce, but flexible.” It can be easy to give up.  It can be easy to get started on a goal or business venture and hit a wall and say, “See, this just wasn’t meant to be.”  What a mistake!  Be strong.  Success comes to the strong and the brave.  Success comes to those that hit a wall and say, “That was a good learning experience.”  Learn from it and move on.  Be fierce in your goals and dreams and yet flexible on the journey.  Be willing to alter the course that you use to get where you want to be.  We are learners.  Seekers, we are works in progress.  Each day we will grow and learn new things.  Just because you thought things had to be done one way, they can be done other ways to still get the same result.  I have seen “Be fierce, but flexible” show up in so many ways since the event.  I’ll be forever grateful for this insight.

I had may other powerful one liners that moved me, but here’s what some of our attendees said were their favorite takeaways:

“Well it was actually life changing for me. The entire experience. her thoughtful insights have flipped my business ideas around and I feel more on track and focused. The lunch was by far the most meaningful part for me and meeting the rock stars at the board room table and then hearing even MORE inspiration at the evening event. I mean Serrrrrriously? I love Danielle LaPorte”- Catherine

“I loved the thought that if you do something and fail, you will be farther along than if you hadn’t done anything, so just start.” – Pamela

“[My takeaway was] ebb and flow; more ebb before jumping to the next big thing.” – Adhis

“Failures are still progress.” – Becky

Even the men in the room loved the energy and advice!

Danielle LaPorte with Attendees

“I’m no princess and I still loved every minute Favorites in my own words: “When I apologize for my message to the world, I’m cooked! Fierce but flexible. Just felt wrong for the shape of my heart. Decide to rise because you want to explore your place in the universe.” I love the word explore in that…sometimes the cleanest and most loving place I can come from is curious. Thank you Danielle…you gave me permission to be happier and I am grateful! Plus, I taught a class of 27 seekers the following day and your authentic vulnerability and sharing colored me freer for that challenge” – Jared

After the event, Danielle signed books and met with attendees (and fans) for over an hour.  After the end of a long day, as I was driving Danielle back to the hotel her comment to me was, “Good group.  They were so gracious and genuine.”

Startup Princess Managing Director Michelle McCullough & Danielle LaPorte

Thank you to all who were involved in making the days event fabulous.  I honor those who came from from within the state AND those who drove and flew in from across the country.   It was an honor to share the day with you, and I thank you for making one of my dreams a reality.   A special thanks to event staff and volunteers, Adobe for hosting us and for homemadetoast.com for the beautiful photography.

If you attended the event and would like to share your “a-has” from the event, we’d love to hear from you in the comments below! 

If you’re wishing that you were there, here’s a great audio with Danielle talking all about success, her latest project The Desire Map, and how she produced two books in one year.

About the Author: Michelle McCullough is the Managing Director for Startup Princess and is also a sought after business strategist and speaker. She’s the creator of “The Life Balance Myth” coaching program and self-study system for entrepreneurs & professionals. She’s been featured in numerous media outlets including entrepreneur.com and UVBQ’s 40 under 40.  She’s also the host of a weekly radio show.  As a mother of two young children she knows there’s no time to mess around.  It’s time to Make It Happen.

Success On Your Own Terms – An Evening With Danielle LaPorte

SUCCESS ON YOUR OWN TERMS
an interactive evening with Danielle LaPorte
author of THE FIRE STARTER SESSIONS

• Your most valuable currency is what comes naturally to you.
• You can go for love and ambition, consciousness and cash.
• Would you rather be ‘well-rounded’ or on your own leading edge?

Join us for this modern-day pep talk and soul-centered Q&A on what
matters most—from growing businesses to growing a life of meaning.

Known for her straight-talking insight, Danielle reframes popular self-help and
success concepts to cut through fear and give you to courage.

This may be the permission slip you’ve been waiting to
shine brighter than you ever have.

Thursday, February 21 • 6-9 pm
PLACE, Adobe – 3900 Adobe Way, Lehi, UT
Tickets Only $39 (INCLUDES a copy of Danielle’s Book, The Fire Starter Sessions)

(We expect this event to sell out, so reserve your seat today!)

“Danielle’s work… ignites the mind in ways that could change your career and life.”
- Scott Belsky author of Making Ideas Happen

“Danielle reminds us that all the passion and inspiration we’re seeking lies within us – and she guides us to uncover that beautiful fire and share it with the world.”
- Gabrielle Bernstein author of Spirit Junkie

About Danielle LaPorte

Danielle LaPorte is the creator of The Desire Map, author of The Fire Starter Sessions (Random House/Crown), and co-creator of Your Big Beautiful Book Plan. An inspirational speaker, former think tank exec and business strategist, she writes weekly at DanielleLaPorte.com, where over a million visitors have gone for her straight-up advice — a site that’s been named one of the “Top 100 Websites for Women” by Forbes.

You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter @daniellelaporte.

How Do You Define Success? – Evaluate 2012 and Make Powerful Plans for 2013

And we can’t DO it until we DEFINE it.\Success = Vision + ACTION.You have to first KNOW what you want.  Visualize it and WRITE IT DOWN.

Then you have to make it happen.  It’s not enough to know what you want and not go after it.  You can dream all you want of making a better life for yourself or your family.  You can even dream of five digit paychecks.  They won’t happen until you map out a plan and go to work.

2012 brought some amazing things into my life.  At the same time, I’m going to be super transparent – I didn’t reach some of the goals I set out for myself or my business this year.

Michelle McCullough is the Managing Director for Startup Princess and is also a national speaker and business consultant.  Michelle recently released Marketing Mastery, a 4 disc audio program that helps entrepreneurs and small business become confident in their messages that reach the masses.  Michelle became a partner in Startup Princess  in 2008.  She is responsible for event planning, marketing, affiliates, sponsorships and partnerships. Over the past 4 years she has coached women entrepreneurs (and even some men) and helped them grow their businesses from “dream in development” to established thriving businesses.  Michelle is a speaker, strategist, success expert and a serial entrepreneur. She started Doodads Promotional Products when she was 19 and has also spent the last 12 years working in marketing and advertising. She’s worked in all aspects of the industry from production to creative and sales to management. On top of her full-time jobs, Michelle has cultivated her love for entrepreneurship by running Doodads as a successful side business.  Today it continues to thrive.  This year Michelle launched a coaching program called “The Life Balance Myth” to help busy entrepreneurs build thriving businesses AND meaningful personal lives.  She believes that life balance is a myth, but she provides practical tools to achieve personal and professional success.   Michelle has two children ages 4 and 2 and lives in Utah. You can learn more about Michelle at SpeakMichelle.com.  Michelle’s new radio show “Make it Happen” launches January 7th, 2013

You Have Everything You Need To Succeed

What are some of your gifts?

My Winning Video in Brendon Burchard’s High Performance Academy Contest – Three Success Tips That Have Increased My Energy & Productivity

Excited to announce that this video was selected as one of the top 5 Winners in the Brendon Burchard High Performance Academy Video Competition. (You can see my name on the contest site here.) I get an all expenses paid trip to High Performance Academy in June and get to meet Brendon Burchard himself. (Insert happy dance.) What is SO COOL about this is that in January I put “meet Brendon Burchard” in my Ideal LifeVision and a picture of him on my vision board. Now that vision has become a reality!

“Three Success Tips That Have Increased My Energy & Productivity”

What tips do you have for increasing your energy and productivity?

Let’s connect!  Follow me on twitter.  Follow me on Facebook.  Check out my free video e-course on Working Smarter Not Harder here.

Michelle McCullough is the Managing Director for Startup Princess.  Michelle became a partner in Startup Princess  in 2008.  She is responsible for event planning, marketing, affiliates, sponsorships and partnerships. Over the past 3 years she has coached women entrepreneurs and helped them grow their businesses from “dream in development” to established thriving businesses.  Michelle is a speaker, strategist, success expert and a serial entrepreneur. She started Doodads Promotional Products when she was 19. And has also spent the last 12 years working in marketing and advertising. She’s worked in all aspects of the industry from production to creative and sales to management. On top of her full-time jobs, Michelle has cultivated her love for entrepreneurship by running Doodads as a successful side business.  Today it continues to thrive.  This year Michelle launched a coaching program called “The Life Balance Myth” to help busy entrepreneurs build thriving businesses AND meaningful personal lives.  She believes that life balance is a myth, but she provides practical tools to achieve personal and professional success.  You can learn more about Michelle at SpeakMichelle.com.  Michelle has two children ages 4 and 2 and lives in Utah.

A Credo For Making It Happen – Video by Danielle LaPorte

Check out this video below – Danielle LaPorte at her finest!  And if you want to see Danielle LIVE, she’s coming to Salt lake City on February 21st, 2013.  Get your tickets here.

First Published on April 17th, 2012

And this video is pretty smokin’. Light your fire:

Congrats, Danielle!

Motivational Monday – What Would Your Life Be Like? #FireSS

One of my favorite burning questions from “The Fire Starter Sessions” by Danielle LaPorte, has me thinking today.

If you want to get in on the pre-order for the Fire Starter Sessions, check out the bonuses here.   The bonuses are only available until the book hits the stores on April 17th.

Here’s the question for the day:  Should business be easy?

Are YOU a Fire Starter?: Book Review The Fire Starter Sessions by Danielle LaPorte #FireSS

We’re excited to announce that Danielle LaPorte’s book The Fire Starter Sessions is being released this month!

I was lucky enough to get a sneak peak and I LOVED every inch of it.  I love how it feels like I’m listening to her talk as I read the words.  She has a great way keeping her speaking voice in her written words (I’m jealous of that!).  It’s like she’s sitting there talking to me, I like chat with girl friends.  It’s honest, it’s authentic and it’s incredibly moving.

The first time I sat down to read it every sentence made me say, “I need to tweet that…and that…and that.”  Everything was so juicy.  And to make it even better, my favorite part is that her best bits of wisdom are huge.  Unmissable.  Though every phrase might be tweetable, there are things she wants to make sure that you GET.  Here’s one of my favorites:

The typography is phenomenal.  It’s not a boring read.  Danielle’s personality even comes through the layout and font.

This book can help anyone step up their success game and light the fire to be your own authentic, powerful and amazing self.   It’s geared towards entrepreneurs though anyone can glean juicy wisdom from each page.

What I love about this book goes well beyond the words on the pages.  We started working with Danielle at Startup Princess almost 4 years ago.  Before The Spark Kit came out, before Your Big Beautiful Book Plan, before this book hits bookstores to become a New York Times Bestseller (I can feel it in my bones…).  Before all that, she was a blog writer and was a candid fire starter herself – out to squeeze the real passion out of every human being.  Igniting corporate professional cube sitters into budding, inspiriting entrepreneurs.  Looking back on the last 4 years has been a treat to watch, and a blueprint that any aspiring speaker, author and changemaker can pattern for success.  Share your voice for free online, inspire others in one-on-one coaching, get out there and speak, create phenomenal products then in four years, you could have your own best seller ready to hit the book stores.

This book is the perfect mix of helping find out who you really ARE and what you want to BE with the added bonus of helping you take the steps necessary to live your own great life.

As Danielle says, “Mindfulness and contemplation is only half the equation. You’ve got to take some action, Jackson.”

And honestly, the message that I got for me, was “What are you waiting for?”  Some juicy stuff is coming down the pipe, all because I read this book and because I love Danielle so much.

If you want to get in on the pre-order for the Fire Starter Sessions, check out the bonuses here.   The bonuses are only available until the book hits the stores on April 17th.  You won’t regret it, and you’ll be on your way to making a movement of your own.

Happy reading and Happy Friday!

Let’s connect!  Follow me on twitter.  Follow me on Facebook.  Check out my free video e-course on Working Smarter Not Harder here.

Michelle McCullough is the Managing Director for Startup Princess.  Michelle became a partner in Startup Princess  in 2008.  She is responsible for event planning, marketing, affiliates, sponsorships and partnerships. Over the past 3 years she has coached women entrepreneurs and helped them grow their businesses from “dream in development” to established thriving businesses.  Michelle is a speaker, strategist, success expert and a serial entrepreneur. She started Doodads Promotional Products when she was 19. And has also spent the last 12 years working in marketing and advertising. She’s worked in all aspects of the industry from production to creative and sales to management. On top of her full-time jobs, Michelle has cultivated her love for entrepreneurship by running Doodads as a successful side business.  Today it continues to thrive.  This year Michelle launched a coaching program called “The Life Balance Myth” to help busy entrepreneurs build thriving businesses AND meaningful personal lives.  She believes that life balance is a myth, but she provides practical tools to achieve personal and professional success.  You can learn more about Michelle at SpeakMichelle.com.  Michelle has two children ages 4 and 2 and lives in Utah.

Making the Most of Your Blog Posts

Were you on pins and needles waiting for the 3rd installment of the “blogging for business” series?

Well, here is some late night wisdom:

Share your posts.

Yup, sounds like rocket science, doesn’t it?  But it’s surprising how many of my clients write posts and expect people to wake up one day and think, “Gee, I wonder what Michelle blogged about today.”

In my opinion, this is one of the greatest uses for social media.  There are a lot of misnomers about what social media is for and how it should be used, and we’ll save that topic for another day, but you should appropriately share your posts through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other places where you have a community.

There are a couple of tricks to it that I want to share.

Tip #1 Instead of saying, “I just wrote a blog post about….” (they’ll find that out when they click on your link.  Let’s let them be pleasantly surprised you have this in you.)  Share your title (It’s catchy, grabbing and on topic, right?) and a link and that’s it.  Hopefully your post and your title should have the goal to add value so people want to click on over and read what you have to share.

(Insider tip, there are sites that will automatically send  your posts to twitter even without you having to do anything else.  We have used twitterfeed.com before.  Now, here’s a note: if you set this up to feed to your facebook account, it will pull random pictures when it posts on facebook.  Sometimes you end up getting a 3rd party ad [if you have ads on your site like we do].  We stopped doing the facebook feed and now only do the twitter.)

I feel like I’m off on lots of tangents here, but it’s okay to post, “I wrote an article about…” on your personal facebook page.  However, I think a catchy title and a link is best for twitter and on business facebook pages.

Tip #2 Go the extra mile by asking an engaging question in your tweet or post.  For example:

Will Blog for Traffic – 7 Tips to Increase Your Posts For More Site Traffic http://bit.ly/HWSZYc How many times do you blog/month?

(Insider tip, bit.ly is a great site that will shorten your hugely long URLs to make them more user friendly for twitter so you can stay in your character count.  It’s also great for analytics to see how many people you were able to get to click over from your social media efforts.)

The goal is to get people to engage with you.  Some may not ever read the post, that’s okay, it’s still good for building a sense of community, and it also gets people personally invested in your article before they click over.  Having them personally invested is good.

Tip #3 Share your post AGAIN later in the day on Twitter, using all new verbiage.  I don’t suggest you share them again on Facebook, but since the landscape of twitter changes so frequently and since not everyone is on at the same time AND since some people will be drawn to different info try another point of view.  For example:

Did you know sites that blog 20 times per month have on average 5 times more traffic? http://bit.ly/HWSZYc Yes, really.

(Insider tip: I read that updates that have links in the middle are more likely to get clicked, that’s why I put something after the link.)

Tip #4 If your post is about a popular topic add a hashtag to your tweet (but not necessarily to your facebook post).  For example:

Did you know sites that blog 20 times per month have on average 5 times more traffic? http://bit.ly/HWSZYc Yes, really.  #blog (What are you writing about? #cooking #fashion #sales, #marketing, #statistics, etc)

Again, it needs to be relevant, but this will open you up to new networks and increase your chances it will be seen by people searching for posts in that hashtag.

Tip #5 Include pictures in your posts and have the “pin it” button on your site. (oopsy, no picture in this post…) You can pin your own posts, in my opinion, but some people say you shouldn’t pin your own stuff, so at least make the option available for others to do so for you.

Tip #6 Share blurbs to recent posts in your newsletters.  Just because they’re on your list, doesn’t mean they have seen your posts online.  Give your network your knowledge via email, but only a blurb with a link back to your site.  This will help you boost your traffic.

Tip #7 Finally, hopefully you have a way to capture emails when they DO get onto your home court.  Help them become part of your network with ease so that you can send them additional information via email.

Well, there you go.  Do you have any additional success tips for sharing your posts to grow your traffic?  Let’s share!

Let’s connect!  Follow me on twitter.  Follow me on Facebook.  Check out my free video e-course on Working Smarter Not Harder here.

Michelle McCullough is the Managing Director for Startup Princess.  Michelle became a partner in Startup Princess  in 2008.  She is responsible for event planning, marketing, affiliates, sponsorships and partnerships. Over the past 3 years she has coached women entrepreneurs and helped them grow their businesses from “dream in development” to established thriving businesses.  Michelle is a speaker, strategist, success expert and a serial entrepreneur. She started Doodads Promotional Products when she was 19. And has also spent the last 12 years working in marketing and advertising. She’s worked in all aspects of the industry from production to creative and sales to management. On top of her full-time jobs, Michelle has cultivated her love for entrepreneurship by running Doodads as a successful side business.  Today it continues to thrive.  This year Michelle launched a coaching program called “The Life Balance Myth” to help busy entrepreneurs build thriving businesses AND meaningful personal lives.  She believes that life balance is a myth, but she provides practical tools to achieve personal and professional success.  You can learn more about Michelle at SpeakMichelle.com.  Michelle has two children ages 4 and 2 and lives in Utah.

Stay the Course – S.M.A.R.T Goals for Navigation

All of us Startup Princesses have seen, read or at least heard of the Titanic right? The most awesomevessel of its time with a romance tucked in its core. After we have put away our tissues and, as I dowith many things, think about how it could have been different (I love happy endings), I try to relate it tobusiness. Historians and titanic enthusiast would say the ship was either going too fast and/or it steeredright into a ginormous iceberg. I would sum it up as sub-par steering and the stars aligning.
Everyone’s business is, in a way, a ship navigating through the treacherous seas of bookkeeping,management, product formulation, business planning, growth, quality, service and a thousand otherthings. Not to mention all of the balancing that most of us have to do on the tight rope of our chosen voyage.

EXCITING!!!

What tools do we need to successfully sail or fire up both engines to reach our sought horizon of up andto the right (growth)?
Too many to list in one blog or by one person but here is a baby step….

GOAL Setting!

Here is a quick hot sheet for a method that has been added to over time by so many people that it can’tbe accredited to any one captain and is taught in many institutions and 101 courses around the world. Always, my favorite reason to reference such things is that it gives a polished presentation to a real world,tried and true, results-driven tool.

It is called … S.M.A.R.T Goals (brilliant)

Specific. Setting a goal that is too broad (i.e. sell a lot of widgets) allows for too many unknowns. At what pointhave you sold ‘a lot’? What number constitutes ‘not enough’? Identifying a specific marker allows you torealistically gauge when you’re close to reaching your goal. This can applies to product development,marketing, and online presence.

Measurable. Be sure that your goal is something that can actually be measured. Quantify it. When are you going topass out the bonus checks? It will be difficult to set a specific goal if it is not measurable. Measurability aswell as specificity help you to identify progress and recognize milestones.

Attainable. Do not set yourself up for failure by setting a goal that is not attainable. Bringing in $1,000,000,000in revenue for the quarter is an exciting prospect but it may not be something that is realistic for yourcompany at this stage. By setting goals that you are unlikely to achieve, you set yourself (and youremployees) up for disappointment, ultimately destroying morale.

Relevant. Goal setting becomes an important part of business planning when the goals are relevant to theoverarching mission or vision of the company. Make sure that your goals align with the company’spolicies, overall direction and ability at your stage in the voyage.

Time bound. When you choose not to set time bound goals, action steps toward the achievement of goals do not rankhigh on the list of priorities. Setting a time frame for achieving your goals helps you to stay on track forrealizing your goals.

As you are taking the helm, reorganizing, or holding steady, setting S.M.A.R.T. goals and navigationpoints will help you evaluate and reach your desired destination.

Wishing you fair winds and calm seas!

Brooke & Megan are entrepreneurs who are passionate about the sales process, customer experiences and growth. They founded BreakOut Sales, a company that specializes in building dynamic sales teams for new technologies and bringing European products/services to the US market.

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