Blog

We’re thrilled to introduce you to the newest addition to our coaching team - Winn Clark. Winn comes to us from the city of brotherly love to share her coaching wisdom and amazing hair. After a successful corporate career that carried her all over the world, Winn now lives in the wine country of Paso Robles to cultivate joy, prosperity, and contribute positively to her local community. Ask her about her favorite local wines! Winn coaches clients on how to be more Awesome at work and at home - as a leader and a teammate.

Jana Kleitsch is the CEO and Founder of Wanderlust.co a tech startup focused on designing the next big tool for trip planning and discovery headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Jana is also one of our 2016 Awesome Coaching Scholarship recipients.

Last week, a colleague called and left me a weird formal message on my voicemail to call him back as soon as possible. This was pretty out of character for him, so I started to worry. Was he upset about something? Was our recent conversation not sitting well with him? My imagination took off. (I’m not a big worrier, but my imagination can get out of hand. #VisionaryProblems) I decided to call him the next day, and I told myself that it was because it was getting late.

With the heat of summer settling in, most people are busy contemplating vacation plans and time with families and friends. They’re having fun and recharging. Meanwhile, many entrepreneurs struggle to enjoy time off, even when they manage to squeeze it in. Wanting a fresh perspective, I asked Greg, an entrepreneur who owns an IT company, about his former struggle with vacations. When Greg started his company, he was working so hard that he couldn’t even IMAGINE the idea of taking time off.  

Avital Ungar is the CEO and Founder of Avital Tours, a culinary exploration company in San Francisco and Los Angeles that offers progressive dining experiences. She's also our 2015 Awesome Coaching Scholarship recipient.

She recently sat down with us to share a bit about her Awesome experience with our 2016 scholarship applicants.

This is the second article in our Saying No series. Click here to read the first article.

When it comes to saying ‘No’ or ‘Not Now’ the best place to start is to get clear on your priorities. Once you understand those, you’ll know why saying no or not now is the best choice for you or your business.

The next step is to write down how you plan to say no. If you’re responding via email, this might be a given, but it is important to practice - not only to feel more comfortable, but to do it in a way that strengthens the relationship, rather than pissing someone off. (We’ve all shot off the quick response that ended up not going over like we hoped.) So if you’re planning on saying no or not now in person or over the phone, write down what you plan to say in advance! And keep it short. You might choose to include a reason for saying no or not now, but don’t bog others down in your guilt—let them save their time for pursuing people who are interested in the opportunity! 

“Should I say yes or no?!” my entrepreneur client asked me.

Transitions are hard. They are especially hard for entrepreneurs because we don’t move in and out of jobs like typical employees. Plus, structure usually isn’t our thing. We’re pretty comfortable with ambiguity and, having grown companies from the ground up, we’re used to roles evolving organically.

When we do face a change that demands a transition — adding a board position, selling our company, or hiring a C-level executive to take over some of our responsibilities — it can be unfamiliar and challenging.

What is it that compels tens of thousands of people from around the world to build a city in the middle of the hot, empty desert?

Being an entrepreneur is like being a professional athlete. Entrepreneurs are high performers as well and could take a few lessons from them. The pro athlete's job is to perform at the top of his game, day after day, week after week, year after year — and he doesn’t feel guilty about taking time to care for himself physically.