Latest / The Action Catalyst / REMASTERED: Facing Entrepreneurial Fears, with Christy Wright (Business, Sales, Persistence, Boutique)

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REMASTERED: Facing Entrepreneurial Fears, with Christy Wright (Business, Sales, Persistence, Boutique) · The Action Catalyst

• 0:32
  Host: Facing your entrepreneurial fear, that's
• 0:35
  what we're talking about on the show today, we have Christy
• 0:38
  Wright on the show to talk about overcoming that fear of starting
• 0:42
  something new. And so we're just excited to have her talk about
• 0:45
  starting a business or any endeavor. Christy, welcome to
• 0:48
  the show.
• 0:49
  Christy Wright: Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate
• 0:50
  it.
• 0:51
  Host: This book. So Business Boutique, it's called. Why
• 0:53
  targeted at women directly?
• 0:55
  Christy Wright: Yeah, that's a great question. And it's
• 0:57
  interesting, because I was raised by an entrepreneur. So my
• 1:00
  mom started a business when I was six months old to raise and
• 1:03
  support me. So I was literally raised in a business at times,
• 1:06
  like, I mean, we would go there at two and three in the morning,
• 1:08
  you know, for her to bake early. And so I have countless memories
• 1:11
  of this cake shop. And it really is kind of the backdrop to my
• 1:14
  childhood. And so I have memories of you know, her
• 1:16
  pulling me out of bed and go into the bakery to bake and I'd
• 1:18
  go to, she'd actually make me a bed on her big huge bags of
• 1:22
  powdered sugar and flour. And I'd go back to sleep. You know,
• 1:24
  when I was going to school, I'd go to school with a smell a
• 1:26
  flower in my hair. And I would always get money out of the cash
• 1:29
  drawer, which it's no surprise that her bookkeeper hated me
• 1:31
  because guess never balance. But I was a typical child of an
• 1:34
  entrepreneur, I was always there. And that was really my
• 1:38
  first introduction to business. And from there, I pursued a
• 1:41
  degree in business in college, and then started my own side
• 1:45
  businesses. Throughout my career. I've always been kind of
• 1:47
  a, you know, a go getter, and a doer and a mover and a shaker.
• 1:49
  And so I would have my career working for nonprofit, but I had
• 1:52
  these side hustles these side gigs. And what I've noticed is
• 1:55
  now we really live in the side gig economy where there are over
• 1:59
  a million Americans working as freelancers or independent
• 2:01
  workers are. So many people have these little side jobs or hide
• 2:05
  side hustles. And so I noticed that there's an opportunity to
• 2:07
  come alongside women specifically and help them with
• 2:10
  the business side of things. Because while pursuing what you
• 2:12
  love can be incredibly rewarding the business side of things
• 2:16
  overwhelms a lot of people, how do I market myself? Or how do I
• 2:18
  stand out in the competition? And how do I sell without
• 2:21
  feeling slimy? Or how do I manage my time when I'm a mom,
• 2:25
  and one of the things I've noticed is as women, we really
• 2:28
  approach business uniquely, because as you know, we're wired
• 2:31
  differently as men and women, the book is a step by step plan
• 2:34
  to start run or grow your business. But in the book, I
• 2:36
  cover all the issues that women need to understand in order to
• 2:40
  grow a business. But like, for example, I never talked about
• 2:43
  customer service. Like there's not a single chapter in the book
• 2:45
  on customer service. And here's why women intuitively take care
• 2:49
  of people like you don't have to tell a woman be kind super
• 2:51
  served go above and beyond she naturally is very relational.
• 2:55
  And she is great at empathizing. And so she's fantastic at
• 2:58
  customer service, I don't need to teach that however, because
• 3:00
  women are so relational things like selling or pricing yourself
• 3:04
  or talking about your product or setting boundaries or policies
• 3:07
  makes her feel uncomfortable. And so I spend a lot of time on
• 3:10
  how to sell.
• 3:11
  Host: So let's talk about the selling part, selling without
• 3:14
  feeling slimy. So why do you think they feel that way? And
• 3:17
  what are some of the things that you can do woman or or male who
• 3:21
  kind of has that resistance?
• 3:22
  Christy Wright: Sure, well I think for me, it's I have
• 3:24
  noticed that everyone probably has been burned by a pushy
• 3:28
  salesperson, someone that didn't do it well. And so because
• 3:31
  they've had a bad interaction, whether that's a used car
• 3:34
  salesman that totally tried to take advantage of them or been
• 3:36
  interrupted and kind of bullied by someone in sales, it frames
• 3:39
  their perception of sales. So this they have this idea that
• 3:42
  sales equals pushy, aggressive, having an agenda, taking
• 3:46
  advantage of someone taking their money. And they use all
• 3:49
  these words to describe it, when in fact, sales is really about
• 3:52
  serving. And so what I do is I spend a lot of time reframing
• 3:55
  this idea of sales for people because if you can redefine it
• 3:58
  for them and show them what sales truly is, then they can
• 4:01
  sell with confidence. So for example, sales is influence. So
• 4:05
  influence is simply you know, making an impression on someone
• 4:07
  leading someone to a great result. So if you're married,
• 4:11
  then you influence someone to spend the rest of their life
• 4:13
  with you. That's a big sale. You know, if you got your kids to
• 4:15
  eat dinner last night, the thing is, is we're really in the
• 4:18
  business of influence. And one of the things I've noticed is
• 4:20
  that like, I'm in the business of sales. And so I stand on
• 4:23
  stage all time, all the time telling people how to reach
• 4:25
  their goals and how to build their business and how to have
• 4:27
  more life balance. And you know what no one ever says to me,
• 4:30
  that Christy Wright? She's so pushy, telling me I should reach
• 4:33
  my goals. Why? Because I'm not selling, I'm just influencing
• 4:36
  and when you believe in your product, or your service or your
• 4:39
  business, you realize really is about serving and taking care of
• 4:41
  the marketplace. Because when you're meeting people's needs,
• 4:43
  and you're solving their problems, the sale is natural.
• 4:47
  But we focus so often on the pushy side of things that we
• 4:50
  hold back and we don't even ask for the sale. Many people don't
• 4:52
  have sales simply because they aren't asking.
• 4:55
  Host: Right. One of the things that you talked about
• 4:57
  specifically in Business Boutique that sort of caught my
• 4:59
  attention, was this phrase mom guilt?
• 5:03
  Christy Wright: I'll tell you I had an experience, I guess it
• 5:05
  was about two years ago. So when my son Carter, I was dropping
• 5:07
  him off at daycare for the first time, which if you end up taking
• 5:10
  your kids to daycare, just know it is a traumatic day. And you
• 5:13
  are a basket case, and you're leaving them in the arms and the
• 5:16
  care of someone else. And I was leaving daycare that day, just
• 5:18
  feeling so guilty that the daycare, by the way, is exactly
• 5:22
  like 1/10 of a mile from our office. So this child is right
• 5:25
  next to me. He's perfectly safe. I was just overcome with guilt
• 5:28
  and feeling what if he needs me? What if he's scared? What if
• 5:30
  he's sad? What if he cries? What if, what if what if, and I felt
• 5:32
  really honestly, God's say to me in that moment, Christy, I want
• 5:35
  you to remember that what you're doing is important. And I felt
• 5:38
  God saying what I was driving to which I was driving to one. And
• 5:40
  what's interesting is it shifted my perspective, because I think
• 5:43
  as parents and as business owners, it's very easy to look
• 5:46
  in the rearview mirror of our life, instead of the front
• 5:49
  windshield. So we're always focused on what we're leaving
• 5:51
  behind. Oh, I feel, you know, when we're at home, I feel
• 5:53
  guilty of not getting enough done at work. So we got our
• 5:55
  email open, and we've got our phones on, we're always thinking
• 5:58
  about where we're not. And then when we go to work, we feel
• 6:01
  guilty, we're not with our kids, we're not at home, we're missing
• 6:03
  out on soccer games. So I just want you to shift your
• 6:05
  perspective, realize that both things that you're doing your
• 6:09
  work and your family are very important, and you love them
• 6:12
  both very much. And that's okay, that's a good thing. But the
• 6:14
  best way to shake the guilt is to focus on wherever you are. So
• 6:18
  if you're at work, be there busted, make a difference. But
• 6:21
  you're at home, put your computer down, look your kids in
• 6:23
  the eye, put your phone away and be present there. So wherever
• 6:25
  you are, be there. And for me that has been a game changer
• 6:28
  because you are looking through the front windshield instead of
• 6:30
  the rearview mirror. And I love how my friend Tony says that he
• 6:32
  says I'm always driving to somewhere that I love. When I'm
• 6:35
  driving to work, I'm driving to somewhere that I love. And when
• 6:37
  I'm driving home, I'm driving somewhere that I love. And it's
• 6:39
  it really is about looking where you're going, not focusing on
• 6:42
  what you're momentarily leaving behind.
• 6:45
  Host: That's strong. Do you think there's value to kids
• 6:47
  seeing their mom work?
• 6:49
  Christy Wright: Yeah I totally do. And here's what's
• 6:51
  interesting is, I think it really comes down to whether
• 6:53
  you're working a full time professional job in an office
• 6:56
  like maybe some of your listeners are or you're working
• 6:58
  part time, or you're just using your gifts in some way at home,
• 7:00
  even if you're volunteering, like if you're doing something
• 7:02
  outside or in addition to of your responsibilities. As a
• 7:06
  mother, as a parent, as a dad, I think there is incredible value
• 7:09
  in your kids seeing you use your gifts. And for me, my mom, for
• 7:13
  example, growing up my mom did not teach me work ethic and
• 7:16
  character and perseverance and persistence and resilience. She
• 7:20
  lived it and I live it as well. More is caught than taught. And
• 7:25
  it's so powerful when you live and your strengths. When you use
• 7:28
  your gifts when you do something that is contributing to the
• 7:31
  world, whether that's through volunteering, or through your
• 7:33
  job or your business, it is an unbelievable example to your
• 7:37
  children that is more powerful than anything you could teach
• 7:39
  them. So my argument is for for women or for men, is you're not
• 7:44
  harming your children by working hard. It doesn't make you a bad
• 7:47
  parent. In fact, I think it makes you a better parent. And
• 7:50
  Meg Meeker has a fantastic quote, she says the most
• 7:53
  powerful way to teach a daughter how to enjoy life is to let her
• 7:57
  see her mother do the same. So what does that look like for you
• 8:01
  in terms of using your gifts and doing work or doing things that
• 8:05
  bring you joy. And like I said, I don't think it makes you a bad
• 8:08
  parent, it makes you a better parent. It doesn't make you
• 8:09
  selfish, it makes you smart. And you are going to raise children
• 8:13
  that have those qualities because you live them out as
• 8:16
  well. You know, my mom, her story of the cake shop was the
• 8:18
  story of struggle, I certainly didn't have a Pinterest perfect
• 8:21
  childhood sleeping on flour and sugar bags. But that is the
• 8:25
  story that made me you know, it's the struggle didn't hurt
• 8:28
  me. And the struggle is what made me.
• 8:30
  Host: When you actually go to start the new thing, what are
• 8:34
  the obstacles that we should expect to hit?
• 8:37
  Christy Wright: Okay, I'll tell you for me in my research, but
• 8:39
  also in my personal experiences, the number one thing that you
• 8:41
  will experience that will hold you back is fear. The number one
• 8:44
  thing now when you're in the workplace, and maybe a different
• 8:47
  type of fear. And that voice of fear might be a little bit
• 8:49
  different. So for example, when you're doing your own business,
• 8:52
  if you had a side business or small business that you want to
• 8:54
  start to voice might say something like, Who are you to
• 8:57
  do this, someone's doing it better. There's no room for you
• 9:00
  in the marketplace. Now when you're in a work environment or
• 9:02
  professional environment and you want to launch a new project or
• 9:05
  you want to pitch an idea to your leadership team, then the
• 9:08
  voice might say something like everyone's gonna make fun of
• 9:10
  you. What are people gonna think? Who do you think you are
• 9:12
  to try to lead this someone else is already in that position.
• 9:15
  That's, that's not in your job description. So the voice might
• 9:17
  say something different. I want to be clear there, depending on
• 9:20
  the situation that you're in the root of the problem is the same.
• 9:22
  You're going to experience fear and fear is very normal. Anytime
• 9:26
  that you're doing something new, you're going to have fear creep
• 9:28
  up of and it will torment you with these terrifying
• 9:30
  possibilities of what's going to happen if you do it. You're
• 9:32
  gonna fail. People make fun of you, if you're gonna be
• 9:34
  embarrassed, you're gonna post something on Facebook and no
• 9:36
  one's gonna like it, you know, you're gonna be a fool. And so
• 9:39
  when this fear gets really loud, that's where most people get
• 9:41
  stuck because most people believe that fear is a sign
• 9:44
  you're doing something bad. It means it's a red flag. So you
• 9:47
  should turn back now if I was supposed to do this, it would be
• 9:51
  easy. I wouldn't be scared. But I would say the opposite is
• 9:53
  true. Fear isn't a sign you're doing something bad. I think
• 9:56
  it's a sign you doing. You're doing something bold and I think
• 9:58
  that is a good thing. Hang, and even very, very successful
• 10:02
  people are scared. Many successful people that are well
• 10:05
  known celebrities and athletes have suffered from the imposter
• 10:09
  syndrome, which is the syndrome that says, Who are you to do
• 10:11
  this, you don't deserve to be here, people like Maya Angelou,
• 10:14
  Kate Winslet, Michael Jordan, you know, talk about this fear
• 10:17
  of failure, this fear of not being good enough to do the
• 10:19
  thing that they're doing. And so I just encourage people, the
• 10:22
  antidote to fear is action. The best thing you can do when
• 10:26
  you're scared is to take action is to step into that fear. I
• 10:29
  tell people all the time, don't wait until you're not scared to
• 10:32
  do the thing you want to do. Do it scared? Because that feeling
• 10:36
  may never come? You know, I've been scared plenty of times. But
• 10:38
  I still walk on the stage, even though I'm scared. So what is
• 10:41
  that that you want to do? Is it a project you want to launch? Is
• 10:44
  it a new initiative at work that you want to lead? You want to
• 10:47
  raise your hands? I think it's time for me to lead this thing.
• 10:50
  Is it starting, you know, growing a team from the ground
• 10:52
  up, maybe pitching a really big client at work? Maybe it's
• 10:55
  starting a site or small business, whatever that thing
• 10:57
  is, don't wait until you're not scared to do it, do it scared.
• 11:00
  Host: So when you come to actually starting a business,
• 11:03
  there's all of these things that suck taxes, insurance, hiring
• 11:08
  people, firing people, all of this stuff. You know, if that's
• 11:12
  holding someone back, what would you say?
• 11:14
  Christy Wright: You know, it's interesting, because I think the
• 11:15
  whole business side of things really intimidates a lot people,
• 11:18
  a lot of people and keeps them from starting businesses, you
• 11:21
  feel like before you've started a business, that that stuff, the
• 11:24
  insurance, the taxes represents probably 90% of running a
• 11:28
  business. But the reality is, it represents about 10%. Now,
• 11:31
  granted, it's a very important 10%. But the majority of your
• 11:34
  time, the 90%, day to day, it's doing interviews, writing blogs,
• 11:38
  serving customers, making sales, it's doing the fun stuff, which
• 11:42
  is why you got into business. Now, certainly, you need to take
• 11:44
  care of the business side of things, you need to keep your
• 11:46
  records, you need to have insurance, you need to pay your
• 11:48
  taxes, those things are very, very important. But what I would
• 11:51
  say for people that are intimidated by that is if you
• 11:54
  can just get help in those areas, you're not expected to be
• 11:57
  an expert and everything. But there are probably people around
• 12:00
  you on social media, in your church, in your community in
• 12:03
  your neighborhood, that if you just simply put a word out,
• 12:05
  like, hey, you know, do you know anybody that can help me with
• 12:06
  this. And that's true for anything that you're weak. You
• 12:09
  know, I tell people again, and again, in business, but also in
• 12:11
  leadership, for your listeners that are working in a company in
• 12:14
  a career, you are going to be the most successful in life.
• 12:18
  Regardless of what type of work you do, you will be the most
• 12:21
  successful when you stay on your strengths. And so how that plays
• 12:24
  out is you're going to be the most successful, but you're also
• 12:26
  going to have the most fun when you do what you're good at. So
• 12:29
  for all of the areas that you're weak, especially in business,
• 12:32
  just ask for help find people around you that can support you,
• 12:35
  you know, my husband is incredible with details. So he
• 12:37
  helps me with the organization of things and the follow through
• 12:40
  and covering all the bases things I wouldn't even think
• 12:43
  about because I'm a creative, I'm a big idea person. So
• 12:45
  surround yourself with people that are strong in areas that
• 12:48
  you're weak, and then you can stay in your strengths. And
• 12:50
  those people get to stay in their strengths as well.
• 12:52
  Interesting. Because if you're can get so loud and terrify you
• 12:55
  at these possibilities of what will happen and then you stay
• 12:57
  stuck and you never do anything, then you continue to believe
• 13:00
  that story that you're telling yourself like, Oh, I couldn't do
• 13:02
  because it was so big. It turns into this excuse that you
• 13:04
  justify being stuck. But the truth is, and that's the reason
• 13:07
  I say the antidote to fear is action. Because the best way to
• 13:10
  make that fear Shut up is to do it then fear can't torment you
• 13:13
  with these terrifying possibilities what will happen
• 13:15
  if you do it because you did it and you survived and it's the
• 13:18
  best way to make fear, Stop taunting you is when you
• 13:21
  actually just step into it and do the thing anyway.
• 13:24
  Host: So if somebody is out there right now, and they are
• 13:27
  listening, and maybe they have some dream, and they have that
• 13:30
  fear, what is the first action that you would tell them to
• 13:33
  take?
• 13:34
  Christy Wright: I would say find out what the quickest win is for
• 13:38
  you and your business and your idea so the lowest hanging fruit
• 13:40
  so for example if you want to have a huge online community
• 13:43
  you've got this big dream and you want to have a big blog and
• 13:46
  all that stuff don't get overwhelmed by this big big
• 13:48
  idea. Write one blog let's say you want to launch a huge
• 13:51
  boutique storefront don't get overwhelmed by all of that just
• 13:54
  sell one product make one sale write one blog do one speaking
• 13:58
  event what is the thing for you that's the lowest hanging fruit
• 14:01
  because if you take that one step I mean just one step that's
• 14:04
  all you have to do one baby step that when will feel your
• 14:07
  competence to take the second step which will feel your
• 14:10
  competence to take the third step and then baby step after a
• 14:12
  time months and years later you're living your dream and
• 14:15
  you're at that final vision but the truth is it just happened by
• 14:18
  taking that first step so whatever that is for you figure
• 14:21
  that out your quickest when your lowest hanging fruit take that
• 14:24
  step that will fuel your confidence to keep going.
• 14:27
  Host: Well my friend, so good to spend some time with you,
• 14:29
  Christy Wright is who we're listening to, Business Boutique
• 14:32
  is the name of the book. Christy. Thanks for all the work
• 14:34
  that you do there and that all y'all do as a team.
• 14:37
  Christy Wright: Thank you for having me.