Up until 4 years ago, building a business around speaking and training DID NOT amplify my freedom. Rather, it got me in my way of it.
I felt like I was constantly waiting for an HR leader or event planner to get back to me and let me know if I was the chosen one for an opportunity.
I selected my speaking content based around my perception of what others wanted from a speaker, rather than on what I truly had to say to the kind of audience I wanted to serve.
And I felt like I had zero control over my paycheck because, well, I didn’t. At the time I wasn’t producing my own profitable events, my speaking was not integrated with my coaching offerings, and I was seriously under charging my corporate clients because I didn’t know how to price my one-off offerings (or create proposals that incentivized companies to work with me for multiple engagements).
While freedom looks different for everyone, you know it when you have it. And you definitely know when you don’t!
As I write to you today, I’m sitting in my backyard on my laptop (my daughter and our nanny reading Interstellar Cinderella a few feet from me.) I just finished fielding phone calls from a few of the women in my Spotlight Speakers Collective – as they put the finishing touches on their speaker reels before they come to Las Vegas to work with me (which will have happened by the time you are reading this). The weekend before I wrote this I DID NOT WORK on Saturday or Sunday, and the week before I took 2 weekdays off so that I could spend some extra time with my kiddo before I lead the Collective, go into a strategy day with an event producer on a possible speakers’ workshop we are looking to host, and then travel for a leadership retreat. And each night for the past 2 weeks I’ve watched a few episodes of the Australian show, Dance Academy.
That’s my definition of freedom. What’s yours?
Whether you want to be a digital nomad who runs her business off of her computer while she travels the world, or you want to build and serve your tribe through speaking, if you haven’t defined what freedom means for you it’s likely to elude you.
One of my business pals, Natalie Sisson, has built a wildly successful lifestyle business by showing other entrepreneurs how to create and live their definition of freedom.
Since leaving her home of New Zealand in 2006 and then quitting her 9-5 in 2008, Natalie lived out of her suitcase and traveled the world (69 countries and counting!) all while running an online business that allows her massive freedom and a multiple six-figure income.
(Natalie is a Your Spotlight Talk alum, and she recently gave a TEDx talk, “The surprising truth about freedom.” Check it out here.)
Natalie and I recently sat down to chat about what she knows (for sure!) about building a lifestyle business, her top tips for creating residual income, and how she has pitched (and attracted) speaking gigs, workshops, and panels that let her travel.
Enrollment is now open for Natalie’s signature program, The Freedom Plan.
It teaches entrepreneurs how to develop the mindset necessary for a freedom-based business, shows us how to create an individualized financial plan, and illuminates for participants how to increase productivity (and eliminate busyness) to grow a business from anywhere.
I recently enrolled in another one of Natalie’s program, The Freedom Lab, to see the behind-the-scenes of her course, and I was so impressed I knew I wanted to be an affiliate of hers. (Which means if you choose to enroll in The Freedom Plan through me, I will receive a commission for sharing this opportunity with you.)
