Feeling the fear... and discovering it's rather wonderful!

Last week I did an absolutely terrifying thing.  Something way outside of my comfort zone, but something I’m now very proud to have done.  It wasn’t death-defying, and it didn’t involve dizzying heights or great speeds.  In fact, in many ways it was pretty usual for my line of work: I stood up in front of 250 people and gave a short talk.

So what’s so terrifying about that?  “You facilitate workshops all the time and are often in front of a large crowd” I hear you cry…  Well the difference here was that I was speaking at Thrive 2014, the Women Unlimited conference for female entrepreneurs, and I was sharing with them my story of SE².

I said yes to the offer of being one of the ‘WOW’ speakers at the conference back in December.  I knew it would be good for me, but had no idea what I was going to say.  My slot was to be an ‘inspirational, real-life filler’ in between the ‘proper’ speakers - including Laura Tenison, Alicia Cowan and the founder of Women Unlimited, Julie Hall Me.  Inspirational.  To 250 women who all run their own business.  Great.

I’ve been to the conference for the past three years and I know it’s full of fabulous women, driven to make their business success through sheer will, dedication, passion and hard work.  It’s my annual energy boost, and I always return to the office with hair-brained plans and buckets of enthusiasm.  I wanted to capture that excitement and feed it back into the conference – but how?

So I decided to ask the SE² team.  And their advice was really quite simple: just be yourself and tell your own story – and so I did.

I won’t bore you with the whole speech here (though I believe it will be available online soon…!) but it turns out that what I had to say did resonate with lots of women in the room.  My story – from saying ‘yes’ to an exciting opportunity when I was in a dead-end job, to meeting Liz and building the fabulous SE² team – struck a chord with many in the room.  People actually came up to me afterwards and said how much they’d enjoyed it! 

In writing the speech and preparing for the conference, it became very clear to me how lucky I am to have such an incredible business partner in Liz.  She’s someone to share the highs and the lows, to bounce ideas off, to celebrate with.   Together, we’ve built a great business and a fantastic team, and have clients we enjoy working with on projects that interest and excite us.  I know I’m lucky to enjoy my work as much as I do – and to work with such a great friend.   

I closed my speech (which I’m sure overran!) with 10 tips to doing business the SE² way.  And so – for what they’re worth – here they are for you all to share!

1. Say yes (and then later learn to say no)
2. Build a great team
3. Share your worries:  a problem shared, is a problem halved
4. Be inspired
5. Work with clients you actually like
6. Work to live (not live to work)
7. Vibrate with your own energy: create your own story
8. Smile from the inside
9. Love you job
10. And celebrate!