3 Things I Learned When I Met Ashia Sims

If you follow me anywhere on social media, you’ve probably noticed some posts (Ok, a lot of posts) about  Weekend SmallBiz School and Meet and Greets. Well, I hope that you’re excited about both the launch of Weekend SmallBiz School and all the events leading up to it. But if you missed the posts on social, let me tell you a little about what’s been going on.

As we gear up for enrollment for the fall semester of Weekend SmallBiz School, we’ve been hosting some super fun Meet + Greet sessions with the awesome people who will be teaching this semester. We wanted to give students and anyone curious about the courses that will be taught in Weekend SmallBiz School, a chance to meet the teachers, ask questions and just sit down to a chat with another business owner. You can find out about all the upcoming Meet + Greet sessions here.

But last week, we hosted the first Meet + Greet with Ashia Sims. Ashia Sims is a content strategist that works with businesses of all sizes to effectively communicate their story to potential clients. In the meet and greet we talked about:

• her business and how she helps entrepreneurs like you,
• her entrepreneurial journey,
• how she balances it all and
• got a sneak peak into her workshop.​

Even though we had a lot of fun and some laughs I walked away  having learned some things. Which isn’t surprising. That’s why I love talking to business owners. You always learn something from their journey. And in just a second, I’m going to share three of my "ah-ha" moments with you.

But, if you missed the live event, no worries at all. You can watch the replay in full right here. And don’t forget to let me know what golden nuggets you walk away with. You can share them below or send me a tweet.

So on to what I learned from chatting with Ashia………

1:: You don't need to personally know someone to be mentored by them.

I’m a huge proponent of having mentors and being a mentor. My life professionally and personally would have been so different without good mentors along the way. And currently I would be less fulfilled if I wasn’t paying that back by mentoring others. So you may be wondering why this is listed as something that I learned. Well, here’s why. Ashia helped me think more broadly about who could be a mentor. As we rise in our professional careers and especially as small business owners, it can be difficult finding a traditional mentor. But what I learned was that anyone can be a mentor, even if you don’t know them or haven’t met them. It’s as simple as finding someone who inspires you, or has achieved what you want to achieve. Also, it opened up the perspective that I may be mentoring someone from a distance and not even know it.

2:: Get focused on getting stuff done with time blocking.

My to-do list a bully. There I said it. Even as I type this blog post it’s taunting me and throwing more things at me. But Ashia shared a really simple, yet effective tip for getting stuff done and maintaining focus. That’s time blocking. All that is really is giving yourself a certain amount of time to do a task. Then just set a timer for that time and get to work. Now, the trick is during this time block, you can’t give in to any distractions. Ok, let me break that down. That means no checking Facebook, not responding to text messages or answering calls.  You’re giving your full and undivided attention to this one task. Let me tell you, this works like a charm. And it works with anything, from household stuff to work stuff. Give it a try.

3:: Turn obstacles into opportunities. 

As a small business owner, or really any human trying to make it in the world this is a good reminder. We can’t be reminded of it enough. The truth is, you’re going to hear no more than yes. Things will be challenging more than they will be easy. And the path to where you’re trying to go is rarely straight but will have curves, detours and stuff that gets in your way. But we’ve got to learn how to navigate around those things. And if we’re really good, we’ll learn how to turn obstacles into tools for success. Ashia’s story about getting started in her career is such wonderful example of this concept.  So now when I have an obstacle, the next question I’m going to ask myself is how I can use it to propel my success instead of derail my success.

Those were the three major lessons that I learned from the Meet + Greet with Ashia. I’m looking forward to the next Meet + Greet this weekend with Erin Montgomery of Piper Media. You can get all the details and RSVP here.

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Weekend SmallBiz School Enrollment Opening Soon!

​Are you ready to get your learning on? The fall semester of Weekend SmallBiz School is going to be full of epic learning experiences for you my small business owner friend. Enrollment isn't open just yet, but you can be among the first to know when you can sign up for classes. Join the list below and you'll also get VIP Enrollment. VIP students get to register two days before the general public. So that means you'll get the classes that you want this semester!