My coach and mentor is Ryan Levesque best selling author and founder of the ASK Method. A method that helps business owners from every industry discover and connect on a deeper level with their true ideal clients. So they can have businesses that serve people, the right people, on the highest level.
I was honored to speak at the very first ever ASK Live event that took place in Las Vegas just a couple of weeks ago. Now I was really excited because I was asked to give a small talk called a moment of inspiration. The inspiration and drive came from a series of events in the past that helped build my business to what it is today.
The bottom line here is that we don't do this alone. Running a business is tricky. It's not that it's harder than being an employee and doing a great job for another business. It's that the work we do to in order to make it run, successfully, feels like a risk. Now if this is something that you struggle with in your business then this episode is for you.
This week I'm talking a lot about stopping short because it's truly the main reason most artists fail to have successful businesses. In fact, it's arguably, the main reason most business owners fail before their businesses hit the one year mark.
There are so many factors to consider when you try to build a business that matters and actually makes money. The key for a business to survive, of course. But sometimes there are just too many setbacks that cause to have to pause, go back to the drawing board and start again. And that can cause even the strongest and bravest of them all to throw in the towel and give up. But the truth is that those who find a way to keep on going in spite of what anyone else might be saying are the ones that break through and thrive. Artists, if you are struggling with breaking through that barrier, then this episode is for you.
When I first started my business Love + Water Designs I was terrified that the marketing plan I put in place for it wouldn't work. That I wouldn't sell anything and that whole business would fold, leaving me looking like a complete failure. And guess what? It did. All of those things.
I felt, in fact, like a complete failure. For a long time. I felt like every other business owner was looking at me like I had no clue what I was doing, like would never figure it out and like I was destined for failure forever. Terrible story to tell yourself, by the way. So much so that I couldn't see the forest for the trees when someone actually did extend a loving hand to help. And then another. And then another. Before I knew it so many wonderful people were reaching out to help me, in various ways, to get my business back together and running. But when you tell yourself you might never see it happen and believe that in your hearts of hearts, it's hard to hear anything else.
I learned very quickly that maintaining a beginner's mind, not thinking, staying in action and just doing was the key to getting past the impossible voices in my head telling me I needed to revert back to stories from my past. The reasoning on why you should maintain a beginner's mind and celebrate small winds is what I talk about in today’s episode.
Róisín O’Farrell is a successful Irish Artist, passionate about two things: painting and teaching! She teaches anyone who loves to paint how to paint better and how to nurture their creativity. And, she also loves nothing more than to help artists and creative entrepreneurs to get their business mojo going.
She grew up surrounded and immersed in a family of talented artists, which was something she took for granted. She had into a career in Marketing and Customer Relations.
Her grandmother had rediscovered her life in her 70’s, travelling around the world in her 80’s and had her first short stories published shortly after. She showed Róisín that it’s never too late, and her achievements became part of the story of what the women in her family can do when they just go ahead and take the first step.
So she I took a year out and painted, like a job, everyday, and she now has an incredibly successful career as an artist, as well as an online career teaching artists all over the world how to become better painters and build their own businesses with and for their art.
In our discussion Róisín shares her story and anecdotes that will give every artist hope and inspiration that you can build a business with your art, your way.
Ryan Levesque is the CEO of The ASK Method® Company and author of the #1 National Best-Selling book, ASK – as featured by Inc. Magazine as the #1 Marketing Book of the Year and by Entrepreneur Magazine as the #2 Must-Read Book for Budding Entrepreneurs. The ASK Method® Company was recently ranked #462 on the Inc. 500 list of Fastest Growing Companies in America and named the #7 Fastest Growing Company in Austin, TX.
Ryan has used the ASK Method to help build multi-million dollar businesses in 23 different industries, generating over $100 million dollars in sales in the process. And since then, his student entrepreneurs have used the ASK Method in thousands of different industries to launch and scale their businesses online.
In our discussion, Ryan shares his personal experience witnessing how one artist grew his business exponentially by applying the ASK Method principles, and how you can begin to implement the ASK Method to discover and connect with your true ideal clients. Artists, this is an episode you don’t want to miss!
A major force in 21st century concert music, Victoria Bond leads a dual career as composer and conductor. Her compositions have been praised by the New York Times as "powerful, stylistically varied and technically demanding," and her conducting has been called “impassioned” by the Wall Street Journal and “full of energy and fervor” by the New York Times.
Victoria Bond’s recent activities include a performance and recording of two chamber works by members of the Chicago Symphony, a performance of orchestral work “Bridges” by the Cleveland Institute of Music, the premiere of oratorio “The Reluctant Moses” by The Choral Society of the Hamptons, a performance and recording of trumpet concerto “The Crowded Hours” in Chicago and lectures for the New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera.
In our discussion Victoria shared the kind of anecdotes that a successful woman in an industry traditionally dominated by men has, and these are words every artist working to stay true to their specific craft in spite of any roadblocks or challenges that may arise will benefit from.
Victoria’s Website- http://www.victoriabond.com/