Learn how authentically connecting with others led Carrie to build a business in which clients come to her instead of the other way around.
Location: Portland, OR
Business: Words Cure
How we met: The Pioneer Nation Facebook group
Carrie describes herself as “an extreme extrovert.”
According to the Strengths Finder test Carrie is a natural connector. She is driven by other people’s stories and always wants to find out what makes them tick. She is always helping people and connecting with them. She has a knack for understanding the perspectives of others.
Her Facebook feed is a “happy place” as well. Even though some people tend to post negative comments on Facebook, she never responds to those comments, and only focuses her energy on positive interactions. She loves reading her newsfeed to find out what is going on in her friends’ worlds.
Carrie built her business organically, in response to requests by other people.
Carrie built her business organically, in response to requests by other people. She lost her job during the recession, and then she kept getting called for different things, from helping people throw events to helping them promote themselves via social media. Most of her projects involve writing and editing.
As she was helping people do what they were paying her to do, like social media or blogging, conversations would naturally arise that tapped into a deeper need they had. Those natural conversations about what makes people truly happy have led Carrie to become a coach in order to help her clients identify what makes them happy and then help them take steps to attain that happiness.
In addition to helping others through her business, she also does a lot of volunteer work.
Even though being an extrovert can be a huge asset in building a network, it also poses some challenges.
Carrie says that it can be difficult to ask people for what she needs, because she is so focused on giving to others. She gets so much information about those around her, but when it comes to telling her own stories and communicating her own needs, she can sometimes feel uncomfortable.
From going to Pioneer Nation and doing Marie Forleo’s B-School, Carrie has decided to move away from consulting for small businesses and move more toward coaching, but she admits she is dragging her feet on making it happen and asking people to be her clients.
I was surprised when Carrie said that she learns a lot from watching her introverted husband build his network.
Even though he is an introvert, Carrie’s husband has made a concerted effort to learn how to network effectively. He has learned how to approach people, talk to them, and then ask for a referral. His passion for his business in the architecture industry has driven him to learn about people and connect with them.
Just as Carrie’s husband got out there and started meeting people even though it was uncomfortable for his, she knows that taking daily actions will help her “own” her new path as a coach.
Some of her “take action” ideas include:
- Starting a Desire Map Meetup group
- Getting up in the morning and thinking of one forward moving idea
My takeaways:
- It’s extremely important to help others, but it is equally important to be able to ask for help yourself.
- Extroverts are thought of as the best networkers, but they can also learn a thing or two from introverts.
- It’s a huge asset to be able to connect with others and understand different perspectives.
Carrie wants to connect with:
People who have a desire to take responsibility for their own happiness and uncover their own path to self-confidence.
Want to connect with Carrie? Check out her LinkedIn profile here.
1 step you can take to grow your network today:
Do some volunteer work. You never know who you’ll meet when you’re in active service helping others.
[…] becomes a pleasure. (I also noticed this in many other conversations, among others, the ones with Carrie Ure and Kerstin […]