 Earlier this week, I went out on a quick road trip to Eastern Washington with my Mom. Happy Mother’s Day to all of you who are mothering, in every sense of the word. Whether you are a mother to an animal or a human child, the nurturer of a project or idea, or a momma duck figure in any way, I hope you enjoy this day. I’ve been on my home Island for a few days now, taking care of some business, taking client calls in thespringtime sun, organizing details for my high school reunion, and seeing plenty of old and new friends. My Mom and I have also spent quite a bit of time together in the past few days. While visiting my childhood home, it’s been particularly interesting to see people who I haven’t seen for years. Within a time span of about 5 minutes in a store aisle, we do our best to catch up, and swap a few stories about our lives. In that conversation, I usually mention the first evolution of my business, my former nutrition company, as well as tell them about the work I’m currently doing. It made me think back to how much thought went into that business transition several years ago. Many of you are in your own transitions right now, and I thought it would be interesting to share a little more about why I quit my first business. Here’s a hint: It had something to do with falling in love. Enjoy,
Ava Waits This is where making money feels like bliss.
P.S. Plans for the upcoming 30 Days to Release Your Financial Constriction group are well underway. We just welcomed an international member to the group, and would love to also have you with us! All the details are below. P.P.S. Did you know that current private clients either receive 30 Days to Release Your Financial Constriction for free, or at a very reduced rate? If you’ve been interested in working with me privately, simply reply to this email. I’ll share more details, and we’ll get you started at the perfect time, so that you can also be in 30 Days with us. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|
Another round of 30 Days to Release Your Financial Constriction starts on May 13th!This is one of my most popular groups for women, and one of my favorites to lead, because it’s such a happy month for all of us. Members have experienced many successes in their finances and life while in the group, like: a gift of $5,000, being able to buy a new car for half-off, new clients, and lots of unexpected monetary and tangible gifts. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|
I Highly Recommend the free “Cover Your Booty” Webinar Series with Genavieve Shingle Jaffe
Many of you have asked about the legalities of doing business (like contracts, disclaimers, and how to create a solid legal foundation for your business.) I’m not a lawyer, so I haven’t been able to answer those questions, but I have a friend who CAN! Genavieve Shingle Jaffe has a completely free webinar series coming up, called “Cover Your Booty,” where she will cover topics such as client contracts, business formation, privacy policies and more. The webinars begin on May 12th. I’m a proud affiliate of her programs, and believe that her guidance will give you all of the structures to keep you from worrying about scary (and often expensive) legal mishaps in your business. Register for the free webinar series at ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
Why I quit my first businessFor a moment, I want to honor my first business, and also share why I quit it. In 2009, after several years of training in food science and behavioral medicine, and being certified as a health and nutrition coach at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition, I opened up a nutrition coaching company based in Olympia, Washington. It had been a passion of mine to teach people about the healing properties of foods, and I immediately began teaching all kinds of classes, and working with private clients.
My nutrition company went through many growth phases, as I discovered which topics I most enjoyed. I spent some time offering natural dental care, and support for digestive health. A few years into my career, I settled into a niche that I loved, when I started providing more nutritional support for people who often traveled. During that time, I taught Traveling Healthy in Europe classes for travel television host Rick Steves, and had more and more exciting opportunities to travel for work.
Then something happened: I fell in love…. with something else….and it was a total surprise. While I was running my nutrition company, I also started working with about 25 other entrepreneurs behind-the-scenes. Many of them were beginning their service-based businesses, and wished to learn about marketing. I started teaching these entrepreneurs about how I’d been growing my own business, and showed them how I had doubled my income over one year to the next. I also taught them about the marketing processes that I had used as a brand new entrepreneur, which often let me turn total strangers into paying clients in 10 days. During our time working together, these new entrepreneurs experienced many successes. I particularly remember when one of my international clients got on television to talk about her company. That was a huge moment to celebrate.
Sharing marketing advice with these entrepreneurs brought me a lot of joy, and I soon felt called to make a professional shift. I began planning to step out of my nutrition company, and into the next evolution of my career. Though I had spent years studying nutrition, my intuition was screaming at me to become a guide in the areas of business, marketing, and money. I can even remember the very last time I taught a cooking class. I was standing at the front of the room, when I realized that I shouldn’t be teaching cooking classes anymore. I became so distracted by this thought that I lost my ability to eloquently speak. I happily never taught another cooking class after that.
As excited as I was to make the switch into this next business evolution, there were also a few growing pains while I dismantled my old career. My energy and focus on my nutrition company started to leak out of it right away. I stopped marketing my nutrition services in the way that I previously had been, and eventually was down to 1 or 2 nutrition clients, with a few entrepreneurs behind-the-scenes. By that time, I’d guided more than 80 entrepreneurs to expand their businesses.
One mistake I made during this transition was that I was charging ridiculously low prices for business mentorship, because I didn’t yet see it as part of my “official business,” and because I didn’t quite understand how valuable it was. That undercharging got me into a bit of trouble, and for a little while between businesses, I sought out food and financial assistance.
It took about 1.5 years to shift out of my nutrition company, and int
Today, I definitely still geek out on nutrition research at home. Sometimes I’ll give my entrepreneur clients tips on how they can naturally whiten and care for their teeth (It’s particularly important for entrepreneurs who want to be on stage, or even be across the table from a potential client….because bad breath is quite a turnoff in sales). In 30 Days to Release Your Financial Constriction, we have a week devoted to learning about the foods that correspond with healing the energy centers that are related to money, the digestive system, sexuality, and safety. I appreciate how my nutrition background gets to step in during that time. It creates a more holistic approach to business and money.
As you continue through whatever big or small shift/move/evolution/transition that you are in right now, it is my wish that you will find all of the resources you need, and have the bravery to move forward. I hope that you will attract all of the exciting rewards that are waiting to find you. It’s also okay to let go of old things that aren’t working for you anymore. It’s not always comfortable, but it’s worth it.
© 2015 Ava Waits
Ava first used entrepreneurship to pull herself out of poverty, going from food stamps and the food bank line, to signing on over $17,000 worth of business in one month. She is passionately committed to helping other women release financial constriction, feel content with money, and live richer lives through entrepreneurship. Ava’s clients often receive surprise income, travel the world with their businesses, and start signing on new clients at their highest prices yet. As a speaker, Ava has been interviewed on television, and has been invited around the country to inspire audiences at business events, women’s organizations, and financial companies. To connect with Ava, and to view article and video archives, please visit www.AvaWaits.com. |
o my current business. During that time, I was very grateful for the guidance of several key mentors, who encouraged me to move forward, and to also honor everything that had led up to that point. I kind of always joked that my current business (helping women grow businesses where making money feels like bliss) sort of “ate” my previous nutrition company, because my professional transition didn’t erase all of my nutrition background. Little aspects of my nutrition past became woven into my current business, even though I no longer work with one-on-one clients regarding their nutritional health.
