Behind the Scenes: My Business Mentors

New! Once a quarter or so, I’ll write a behind the scenes type post about my business. I know many of you are entrepreneurial.

In all aspects of life, mentorship is important and when it comes to business, I would say it’s paramount to have mentors. Whether it’s direct mentorship or someone to learn from, from afar.

This post is timely as a month ago I was at FinCon 2019 and just returned from Amy Porterfield’s Entrepreneur Experience. FinCon is the annual conference for financial bloggers, coaches and advisors. There are keynote talks and mini sessions but the main reason we all go is to meet people “in real life” and network. This was my second FinCon. A lot has happened in the past year–it has been a year of immense personal and business growth.

Just prior to last year’s FinCon I started working with a life coach trained by Brooke Castillo. This is when I started what I call my residency in online entrepreneurship.

I went to medical school and residency to learn how to become a doctor. I knew nothing about running an online business or being an entrepreneur. When I saw or read about others doing that, I would always think “Wow, I’m just not like them. I’m not creative.”

I’ve been learning (and still am!) from the following people and what they all have in common is a mindset of growth and abundance and over-delivering in value. For each one, I’ll share their one tip that has helped me to propel myself and my business.

Amy Porterfield

Your online business’s success is tied directly to the energy and size of your email list. List building should always be in the top 3 business priorities.

Amy is probably my main and favorite business mentor right now. I’ll be honest, I am not even sure how I stumbled upon her but I am so glad I did! Amy is the queen of digital courses and list building.

She hosts the podcast called Online Marketing Made Easy where she shares her tips for online business success. Her voice has this confidence and authenticity that is hard to match.

I’ve enrolled in almost everything Amy has to offer starting with her List Builder’s Society – a course on how to build your email list. I’ve also bought other people’s courses through her (see below) getting special bonuses only Amy gives. I’ve learned how to organize my business’ assets, how to streamline business communication and build my team.

She encouraged me to hire my integrator (also known as a project manager), an elevated position so I can be free to work on the things that only I can do. Hiring my integrator a few months ago was definitely a leap of faith (and dollars) but I am confident I made the right decision. At some point, you just can’t run every aspect of your business anymore and you need to focus as the visionary and content creator. 

And … I just returned from Amy’s live event, The Entrepreneur Experience. Not only did I get to meet Amy “in real life” but I was able to spend time with like-minded entrepreneurs, share struggles and wins in an empowering and safe environment.

Marie Forleo

Everything is Figureoutable!

Yup that’s me and Marie! I had the honor of meeting her on her book tour for “Everything is Figureoutable.” Go get this book now! 

I first learned about Marie through Amy Porterfield. Every spring Marie opens the doors to B-School – her widely popular course on how to start and run an online business. Her mission is to help all heart-driven entrepreneurs.

Marie combines Jersey girl sass with some Italian sprinkled in. She has an award-winning show Marie TV in addition to her recent book Everything is Figureoutable. 

Stu McClaren

The more money you make, the bigger impact you can have on the world

I learned about Stu through Amy (notice a pattern here?!). Stu is the king of all things monthly membership sites and Amy is the queen of digital courses. Stu and Amy say that courses and memberships go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly.

He was my favorite speaker at Amy’s Entrepreneur Experience. He infuses passion, energy and comic relief. 

He learned early on that there is nothing wrong with making money. He said the more money you make, the more impact you can have on the world. He co-founded Village Impact, a Canadian foundation that builds schools in Kenya. They are working on building a college for budding entrepreneurs. Wealthy Mom MD made a donation to Village Impact which I will talk about in a future blog post.

There will be setbacks and there will be epic “failures.” Success comes to those that persevere and adapt. Click To Tweet

Summary

Amy, Marie and Stu have guided me this year. Their overarching message to me is to change my relationship to failure. Business is not a straight linear adventure. There will be setbacks and there will be epic “failures.” Success comes to those that persevere and adapt.  My ability to handle the highs and the lows and move forward anyway is how I will be successful in business.
As I look ahead in 2020 my focus will naturally shift to learning from Brooke Castillo of The Life Coach School as I finish up my coach certification. I’d love to hear from those of you running a business – who are your mentors and why? Drop me a line here.

Disclaimer: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that I may receive a commission if you purchase through one of my links. I highly recommend all of the products & services because they are companies that I have found to be helpful and trustworthy. I use many of these products & services myself.