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| photo courtesy of misscoupondiva.com |
This past Friday I went from doing the sit-down version of the electric slide to crying my eyes out in a span of 15 minutes.
Why was I electric sliding at 8am in the first place? Because I got a tweet from my friend Zara...made me do the happy dance when I read it.
Immediately after that I sent an email to someone I've been wanting to work with. Actually, it's someone I wanted to hire to represent me. I gave him my vision - the big picture - which I haven't shared with anyone. Not even my sisters. He asked questions, good ones. The best one being about revenue. The note I sent Friday morning was a link showing him what can happen when a blogger crosses over and gets the attention of mainstream media. A tv show. Not a drama filled reality train wreck, but a show that allows you to do what you love and get paid for doing it.
He responded back immediately telling me he wasn't the person for the job. As a result of not having experience in the industry, he said he couldn't ensure my success. I hit reply and proceeded to let him know had I not thought he could do it, I wouldn't have asked. The tears had started to flow before I hit send.
My plan was to cry myself to sleep. It was all of 8:35 a.m. I'd been up for two hours.
NO DOES SOMETHING TO ME
It never fails. Whenever someone tells me no, I get this urge deep down inside to go even harder...after a snot slingin' session of course. And his no wasn't a no like, "You really should give up this dream of yours". He wasn't doubting my abilities, he was questioning his own. Even still - I didn't like hearing the word no.
Early on in my working career, I was told I wouldn't make it to management because I didn't have a college degree. What people failed to realize is that I've always had an entrepreneurial drive. They were looking at my lack of formal education as something that would hold me back and I always pointed to my hands-on experience and real-life scenarios to get me up the ladder. While others were in the classroom learning how to do it, I was actually in the trenches doing it.
When I decided to get my real estate license, I was told over and over again I wouldn't pass the state exam on the first try. The instructors had statistics to prove it. I proved them wrong.
IMPULSE HAPPENS FOR A REASON
I don't know what the reason is, I just know you should act on it. I went to Facebook and saw an update from Miss Coupon Diva, Joyce K. House. That led me to clicking and going over to her page. That led to another click which put me on her website.
End result: within minutes I had picked up the phone and called the number on her contact page.
I was clearing my throat, preparing to leave a message when she answered. I assumed someone who has the amount of national exposure she has doesn't answer their phone. Joyce admitted during our conversation she rarely answers - it has nothing to do with my assumptions. She went on to say that everything happens for a reason.
I wanted to know how she'd gotten the amount of media exposure she had. But first I burst into tears and told her I was about ready to give up. She responded with a frank yet calm, "Well why would you want to do that?!"
She went on to tell me she'd done it all herself. She shared that recently she bartered with someone to help her out and suggested I do the same. I told her I hadn't taken that route because of how reluctant some people are to the idea of doing it. She responded in that same authoritative tone, "Well move on to the next person".
We talked for over half an hour. Exchanging stories of how we'd both been helped and done wrong by people whose only intent was to help themselves. She told me about ways she's been giving back and her plans for doing more.
She gave me advice and told me to start contacting radio stations. Something I haven't done. She told me to start couponing again (I confessed I got really lazy and stopped). I gave her my word that I would.
I told her maybe I had a fear of reaching out to the national media on my own. That perhaps I thought the only way I could get to that level was by hiring a professional. She told me that made sense and she reinforced that I could do it. I believed her. Not because she was telling me something I wanted to hear, but because she was telling me from her own experiences. That made all the difference in the world.
Here's a clip of Miss Coupon Diva on TLC's show Extreme Couponing:
Why was I electric sliding at 8am in the first place? Because I got a tweet from my friend Zara...made me do the happy dance when I read it.
Immediately after that I sent an email to someone I've been wanting to work with. Actually, it's someone I wanted to hire to represent me. I gave him my vision - the big picture - which I haven't shared with anyone. Not even my sisters. He asked questions, good ones. The best one being about revenue. The note I sent Friday morning was a link showing him what can happen when a blogger crosses over and gets the attention of mainstream media. A tv show. Not a drama filled reality train wreck, but a show that allows you to do what you love and get paid for doing it.
He responded back immediately telling me he wasn't the person for the job. As a result of not having experience in the industry, he said he couldn't ensure my success. I hit reply and proceeded to let him know had I not thought he could do it, I wouldn't have asked. The tears had started to flow before I hit send.
My plan was to cry myself to sleep. It was all of 8:35 a.m. I'd been up for two hours.
NO DOES SOMETHING TO ME
It never fails. Whenever someone tells me no, I get this urge deep down inside to go even harder...after a snot slingin' session of course. And his no wasn't a no like, "You really should give up this dream of yours". He wasn't doubting my abilities, he was questioning his own. Even still - I didn't like hearing the word no.
Early on in my working career, I was told I wouldn't make it to management because I didn't have a college degree. What people failed to realize is that I've always had an entrepreneurial drive. They were looking at my lack of formal education as something that would hold me back and I always pointed to my hands-on experience and real-life scenarios to get me up the ladder. While others were in the classroom learning how to do it, I was actually in the trenches doing it.
When I decided to get my real estate license, I was told over and over again I wouldn't pass the state exam on the first try. The instructors had statistics to prove it. I proved them wrong.
IMPULSE HAPPENS FOR A REASON
I don't know what the reason is, I just know you should act on it. I went to Facebook and saw an update from Miss Coupon Diva, Joyce K. House. That led me to clicking and going over to her page. That led to another click which put me on her website.
End result: within minutes I had picked up the phone and called the number on her contact page.
I was clearing my throat, preparing to leave a message when she answered. I assumed someone who has the amount of national exposure she has doesn't answer their phone. Joyce admitted during our conversation she rarely answers - it has nothing to do with my assumptions. She went on to say that everything happens for a reason.
I wanted to know how she'd gotten the amount of media exposure she had. But first I burst into tears and told her I was about ready to give up. She responded with a frank yet calm, "Well why would you want to do that?!"
She went on to tell me she'd done it all herself. She shared that recently she bartered with someone to help her out and suggested I do the same. I told her I hadn't taken that route because of how reluctant some people are to the idea of doing it. She responded in that same authoritative tone, "Well move on to the next person".
We talked for over half an hour. Exchanging stories of how we'd both been helped and done wrong by people whose only intent was to help themselves. She told me about ways she's been giving back and her plans for doing more.
She gave me advice and told me to start contacting radio stations. Something I haven't done. She told me to start couponing again (I confessed I got really lazy and stopped). I gave her my word that I would.
I told her maybe I had a fear of reaching out to the national media on my own. That perhaps I thought the only way I could get to that level was by hiring a professional. She told me that made sense and she reinforced that I could do it. I believed her. Not because she was telling me something I wanted to hear, but because she was telling me from her own experiences. That made all the difference in the world.
Here's a clip of Miss Coupon Diva on TLC's show Extreme Couponing:
Oh Donna, you teach such great life lessons! Thank you for sharing so authentically. I hope you know you mirror the daily frustrations of so many of us.
ReplyDeleteand thank you for taking the time to read and engage. i know the challenges and frustrations i face are similar to others which is why i share them to be a voice and inspiration to others.
ReplyDeleteDonna when one door closes... put on some steel toe boots and kick it down. Okay. Thanks. Bye.
ReplyDeleteHugs and Mocha,
Stesha
the following comment was left on 9/4/11. it's showing in administrator view, but did not get published due to a technical glitch:
ReplyDelete"Donna when one door closes... put on some steel toe boots and kick it down. Okay. Thanks. Bye. Hugs and Mocha, Stesha" http://hotchocolatecaramelmocha.com/