Posts Tagged ‘business owner’

“You Won’t Like Me When We Are Finished”

// August 3rd, 2012 // No Comments » // Adventure, Bringing Value, busness, Challenges, Communicating, Exit Strategy

… That’s how my strategy session began.  Not very comforting I would say. In truth, I trusted this friend and if I wasn’t ready to hear the harsh truth, I wouldn’t have asked for his help.

So we began by defining a few categories, those that brought in money and those that didn’t, what absolutely needed to be done and what was left over. Of course in my eyes, I had nothing that was left over and everything I did was on the list for possible revenue.  Did I say he was not afraid to call me out? And that happened more than once I will add. I’m not a real strategy kind of girl. I’m a great student however. If you tell me what I need to do, I will do it.

After a few hours I was so glad it was time for lunch so I could absorb what was being discussed and I didn’t have to remove any more items from one category to another….for a short while anyway. You have to understand that in order to add anything to a category you need to eliminate something else. Should I remind you that I have relationships with everything I do so eliminating something is like breaking up with someone. I hate that!

We are on the last hour and  he has complimented me on my attitude as well as the fact that I haven’t totally lost it or ended up in a pool of tears. The truth of the matter is that I already knew my outcome but it’s so much easier to hear someone else say it for you….I may not have allowed the tears to flow but then again, I had done so much crying over this that I don’t think I had any more tears to share.

Guess you have already figured out that the last program I put together in my wonderful brain is on hold. It was draining me, making me more cranky than I’ve ever been and taking my eye off my real goals. I invested a lot of time, energy and money and that was a difficult pill to swallow but my plan going forward was solid. The content I developed will be used in other programs and I will go forward using the tools I have in place and add this content to the mix. I was on the right path, I just took the wrong fork in the road….for now. I need to be on this path where my purpose and passion is.

So what did I learn from this entire process?

~Don’t be afraid to dream but stop before it becomes a nightmare.

~Ask for help when you have lost your way….something most women don’t like to do.

~Find someone that will not only be your friend, but will tell you when enough is enough.

~Get back on track and be as amazing as you know you are.

My friend told me a story that I replay over and over in my head.  Here is the shortened version.Two men are in the men’s room. One is wearing a very expensive suit and is throwing twenty dollar bills in the toilet. The other man asks him why he is doing that? He replies ” you don’t think I would put my hand in the toilet for a quarter do you?” I hope you got the metaphor….I heard it loud and clear.

Happy Selling!

How Women Can Get Ahead: Advice From Female CEOs

// May 22nd, 2012 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

Sometimes the differences between men and woman are slight and sometimes they are quite obvious. Women now make up approximately 50% of the workforce and believe it or not some of the same issues that women faced decades ago are still challenges for women today.

Women are looking for certain things that will make a difference in their workplace. This includes mentoring programs, building relationships, understanding the differences in the genders and work life balance. Can women have it all? Maybe or maybe not but it’s all about choices.

I stumbled across an article by the Wall Street Journal titled “How Women Can Get Ahead: Advice From Female CEOs”. I think it gives a great perspective from very powerful women. You can see the full article by clicking here or on the image below.

 

From Stay-at-Home Mom to Business Owner

// July 22nd, 2011 // No Comments » // Adventure, busness, Challenges, Guest Posts, Hard Decisions, new business, starting over, women in business

My name is Barbara Doweidt, I was simply a stay at home mom. You know the type, your day starts at 6:00 AM getting kids up and ready for school. Spending your day making appointments, arranging schedules, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, gardening, then chauffeuring your children to their after school activities.

My children are now grown, one in college and one a senior in high school. Finally, it’s me time.

So I was looking for something to do. My husband and I stumbled on Koko FitClub and we knew this was something we really wanted to do. Finally a fitness club that made sense. But, we didn’t want to open a business in Wisconsin, because we did not plan on spending the rest of our lives there. Being we lived in Keller before, we decided that was a good place to open our business.

Well my husband had to keep his daytime job and my daughter (senior in high school) had to stay in Wisconsin, so I moved down to Keller Texas by myself to open our business.

At first you would think, yay a place to myself, no cleaning up after anyone, if I put ice cream in the freezer it will be there the next time I get a craving. That yay feeling went away after about a week of living alone, no dog, no busy kids, no cooking dinner for my husband. LONELY!!! And then on top of that I had to open a business. Did I mention I was a stay at home mom. I do not have a college degree, I knew nothing about opening a business. Honestly at times I wanted to quit and go home. But I couldn’t, too much had been invested. If it wasn’t for my very best friend Tina to let me be a part of her family when I needed it, things could have been a lot worse.

So I worked hard, did a lot of things I was afraid to do. Learned A LOT. And now my business is open, I have met so many wonderful people. There are so many people out there that truly want to see you succeed and will help you in any way to do just that.

With the business open I have surrounded myself with staff and members, so the lonely is gone. I do of course miss my family intensely, (mostly the dog…just kidding!) but life is better and when my daughter graduates she will move down and when our home sells my husband will get an apartment in Wisconsin and I will get a home (and the dog) and he will travel to visit as often as possible.
The business is doing well, and I am looking forward to opening the second location hopefully by the end of the year. I am still learning something new every day which is great, everyone should.

Barbara Doweidt
tx.keller@kokofitclub.com
bad6@mac.com (personal)
817-733-6613 cell