Archives

How we met: Christie teaches classes online on design and branding. I took her class Polish Your Online Brand and was so impressed with her genuineness and amazing natural teaching abilities that I had to find out how she created her online community. Her business: Jewels Branch Where she lives: Sullivan, Missouri Christie teaches courses on online design and branding. I loved one of her courses (Polish Your Online Brand). I wanted to know how she makes it all happen, because I’m interested in doing something similar. Polish Your Online Brand takes some of the elements of her other courses and puts it out there for free. She provides …

Location: Portland, Oregon Her Business: heartspark How we met: The Pioneer Nation Facebook group Susan teaches the science of happiness and thriving. Her clients learn their success patterns and use them to make more of their lives, whether that’s making a life change, or thriving in their current jobs. Susan says that finding success patterns is like being told what your super powers are. It’s a little bit humbling, it’s a little bit hard. And she finds that it’s really beneficial to have a mix of people from different companies in her classes. The program is based on asking questions, and different companies and types of people ask different …

Location: Milwaulkee, Wisconsin Her Business: She helps people make money online so that they can live a free lifestyle. She does one on one and personal coaching, blogging, and webinars to teach people to use social media to either provide a service, offer a product, or do affiliate marketing. How we met: Tamira and I are in a Facebook group together. After I commented on a post, she reached out to me and asked about my business. Then she asked if she could help me in any way.  I was already impressed with her networking skills at that point, so I asked if she would be up for talking …

Location: Minneapolis, MN His Business: Cavitt Associates How we met: Through the One Hundred Dollar Club Facebook group Michael always wanted to write a book about how to start a business, but he didn’t know exactly what he would write until he read The Luck Factor: Why Some People Are Luckier Than Others and How You Can Become One of Them by Max Gunther. In the book Gunther outlines 5 attitudes toward life that lead to “luckier” lives.  The first of these is the “spiderweb structure,” which essentially means that people who build large networks of people are more likely to unexpectedly “get lucky” because of their connections with …

  Location: Denver, Colorado David’s business: David is currently the COO at Dental Solutions, LLC, however, his specialty is coming into businesses and helping them implement change and growth. How we met: I taught David’s son in Hebrew school when he was in 5th grade. When I asked David how he builds his network, the first thing he said was, “A lot of people think they have networks because they know a lot of people, but knowing a lot of people isn’t the same as having a network.” As a strategist for businesses, it makes sense that David views networking in a strategic sense as well.  When building a …

  Location: Portland, OR Her business: Small Business Systems and Technology Consultant How we met: Christy and I met on the last night of Pioneer Nation. We went out to dinner with some other ladies and decompressed from the conference. Christy is in the process of growing her community by fostering relationships forged at Pioneer Nation, and by asking people about the need for systems in their businesses. Like me, Christy was impressed by the presentation Shenee Howard made at Pioneer Nation.  Since the conference, she’s been asking lots of people about their struggles with using systems in their businesses. Using technology is very frustrating for a lot of …

Location: Bellingham, WA Business: Marli currently works at Western Washington University, where she “helps college kids navigate their universe”, but she is hoping to become an inspirational speaker and consultant who works with high school and college students to help them follow their dreams. How we met: Through the Pioneer Nation Facebook group Marli is in the beginning of her entrepreneurial journey, and she is getting out there by saying “yes,” and, in her words, “putting my passion and ideas out there and saying this is what I want to do.” A friend who works in a high school recently asked Marli to present to a group of her students.  …

Location: Denver Business: Yoga and meditation for corporate businesses Like me, Grace is seeking out many opportunities to learn about how to network effectively. She took an online class called “Connect With Anyone” from Scott Dinsmore, in which she and 8 other people worked together to identify people with whom they wanted to connect, and then to brainstorm together how to connect to those people. Grace said she learned that there are different ways to connect with different types of people. For example, connecting with a well known, industry leader, can be more challenging than connecting with a peer, and might take longer to accomplish. On connecting with influencers: …

    Location: Denver, CO Her business: Annette Slade Photography Annette is a very talented food photographer, but she says it has taken time for her to feel worthy of her success. Now that she has a more abundant mindset, she finds that more people approach her to work for them. For a long time, Annette thought that she had to have a lavish studio or drive a certain type of car to be  successful.  Over the years, she has learned to value herself and her work more and more and now she realizes it’s not the lavish studio or the car you drive, but a comfortable, positive environment  …

Carie is a passionate educator and a mom who is developing innovative ways to help traditional teachers feel encouraged, grounded, and connected to a supportive community. She is also interested in helping entrepreneurs feel competent, capable, and encouraged as they develop teaching skills and design curriculum to educate their clients. Location: Corvallis, OR Business: Helping teachers How we met: Carie and I met at Pioneer Nation, on the last night of the conference. Unlike many of the business owners I have talked to, Carie is in the very first stages of her business.  She knows what she loves and what she is good at, and she is still figuring out …