Find Your Drive to Succeed – Don’t Rest On Your Laurels!

Today I am going to challenge one of your assumptions.

Did you know that the vast majority of small business owners and entrepreneurs are NOT FINANCIALLY SUCCESSFUL? Let that sink in for a minute. Most entrepreneurs fail to create a viable, saleable business that will allow them to take time off and live a good life.

Do you know why?

Almost all business owners have some type of success at sometime in their business career, but they fail to follow a consistent pattern in their marketing and business efforts. In other words, they win a nice deal or get to the place where they are making a decent living, and then they COAST.

Or, they get lazy. They don’t want to get out of their comfort zone so they just continue to do what they have always done and they continue to get what they have always gotten: mild success.

Or they refuse to take responsibility for their success.

I want to tell you about a client who told me recently that he wanted to make more progress in our coaching journey. We had been working together for 6 months. His business provides him with low to mid six figures a year in recurring income. But he could do FAR more. His goal was to double that in 5 years.

In working with him, I tried to get him out of his comfort zone.

I said: How do you want to make yourself different from everyone else? He said: I don’t know.

I said: You are very knowledgeable. How can you take this knowledge and make a name for yourself? He said: I don’t know.

I said: You are a great public speaker but you haven’t been out there in a while. How can you use this skill to help your business? He said: I don’t know.

And so it went for six months. I could not get him to get out there!!! So I said “In the years ahead, if you go for one week without feeling butterflies in your stomach, then you are not doing enough to build your business.”

Really successful business owners are DRIVEN to succeed. They don’t rest on their laurels. They do the brave things to build their business.

Make sure that person is YOU.

Suzanne Muusers

http://www.prosperitycoaching.biz

Networking without follow up is crazy

I run into business owners who do a lot of networking. They list off all the networking events they attend and tell me how often they are out of the office. When I ask what strategy they have in place to follow up on everyone they meet, they stare at me blankly.

Networking is one of the best ways to grow a business and find new clients. If, however, you never follow up with those you made a meaningful connection with, you are wasting your time.

There are several great books that talk about networking follow up strategies. Here are two: Endless Referrals – Bob Burg; Get More Referrals Now - Bill Cates.

My golden rule for networking follow up is: Send a card or email within 24 hours. If you wait longer than 24 hours, you risk not following through. If you wait weeks or months, you risk not being remembered which is the kiss of death in my opinion.

When you send your follow up email or note, ask the prospect if they’d like to get together for coffee. This is a nice, non-threatening way to get to know them better. Be curious about them and their business by asking questions about their background and experience. Use this information to see if there are referral possibilities between you.

Make networking worth it by following up. Networking without follow up is crazy.

Grow Your Business and Prosper!
Suzanne Muusers
Business Coach for Entrepreneurs & Financial Advisors
Scottsdale, Arizona

http://www.prosperitycoaching.biz/

Branding – What makes a brand successful?

I recently met with Ken Peters, owner of Nocturnal Graphic Design Studio, to learn what makes a brand successful. My clients know that I have a passion for good design. When prospects and clients ask me “How do I attract high net-worth clients?” I always tell them to hire a top notch designer and make an investment in their brand. See for yourself what an expert in the design industry has to say.

Click on images to enlarge

What is a good brand composed of?

It’s much more than a logo and a catchy slogan. Brands are composed of consumer touch-points, and the perceptions they create. Every experience a person has with your company, products, or services, communicates a message establishing a perception that defines your Brand. A Brand is as much the perception of beauty in an attractive marketing brochure, as the perceived ease of navigating a user-friendly web site. It’s as much the tangible perception of quality craftsmanship, as the intangible perception of friendly service.

Because we each view life through the lens of our individual experiences, perception can’t be determined, only influenced. Influencing perception is the job of the Brand Identity. A Brand Identity is the visual articulation of the perception you wish your Brand to convey. Graphic Design is the craft used to create the Brand Identity. Marketing disseminates the Brand Identity. Advertising promotes and sells the Brand Identity. Together, they work to create, retain, enhance, sustain, and when necessary, recreate, Brand perception – all in an effort to elicit the desired consumer action.

Why is a professional brand identity so important for business owners?

Brand Identity is what differentiates your business in a cluttered market. It’s how you attract attention, communicate with consumers, establish emotional connections, create desire, and elicit action.

What are the top three mistakes entrepreneurs make when designing their Brand Identity?

1) Not working with professional graphic designers: Accessibility to computers, design software, fonts, etc., has created a proliferation of “off-the-shelf-graphic-gurus”. But, knowing how to use Photoshop doesn’t make someone a designer anymore than knowing how to scramble an egg makes someone a chef. Navigating the complexities and nuances of effective and compelling Identity design requires the acuity of trained, professional practitioners.

2) Cutting corners on quality: Graphic design, printing, photography, illustration, copywriting, materials, and overall consistency in visual tone and message each influence consumer perception. Skimping on these could communicate a lack of quality that will reflect poorly on your Brand. You might save pennies up front, but it’ll cost you in the long run.

3) Not following through: Designing your Identity is the first step, but it doesn’t end there. Building Brand equity takes time. Once your Identity has been launched it must be managed as your business grows and the Brand evolves. Communicating a consistent message, while being flexible enough to adapt to change, keeps your Brand from becoming obsolete. This requires constant attention. Trying to tackle the task yourself is a recipe for failure. Maximize your return on investment in Brand Identity by keeping it in the expert care of design professionals.

Is it more important to design an Identity to communicate an idea or is it more important to design an Identity that is visually eye catching.

Every Brand communicates an idea. The key is creating the right perception through an engaging Identity. That requires smart design. Design isn’t rocket science. It’s persuasion. And, persuasion is an art.

Please give us some tips on how to develop a successful Brand Identity.

1) Understand that working with a professional graphic designer is a capital investment, rather than an expense. Investing in quality up front generates greater dividends in the long run.

2) Work with a designer who excites you. Designing a creative and effective Brand Identity is a highly collaborative process. It not only requires imagination and skill, but also a spirit of enthusiastic give-and-take among people who inspire and challenge each other.

3) Be open to bold ideas, and willing to take risks. Creativity and imagination are still the most effective means of gaining an unfair advantage over your competition.

4) Remember that bad design is often as memorable as good design. You have to decide how you want to be remembered.

Ken Peters is the Owner and Creative Director of Nocturnal Graphic Design Studio, LLC, a Phoenix-based design firm specializing in brand development and corporate image for large and small businesses in all industries. To speak with Ken directly email ken@nocturnaldesign.com. To view samples from Nocturnal’s portfolio, visit http://www.nocturnaldesign.com/

Disclaimer - No affiliate relationship exists between Nocturnal Design and Prosperity Coaching.

It's Mid-Year - Are You Working on Your Goals?

Each New Years I redo my business plan and create my goals for the year. I review my Vision and Mission to see if it’s still relevant, update my strategies, and then create my goals. I coach my clients to do the same.

About this time of year I review my progress on annual goals. Are you doing the same? Or are you slacking off? Summer is traditionally a time for sending the kids to grandma, taking vacations and generally having a good time. But in doing so, are we neglecting our businesses?

Are YOU working on your goals?

As entrepreneurs we are usually too busy being the technician and working on the day to day chores necessary to run our businesses. There are appointments, networking events, business administration, and the work we do. It’s easy to get caught up in the daily grind. Nevertheless, if we truly want to get ahead, we need to work on the “Big Picture Goals” such as writing that book (join this book writing coaching group if this is one of your goals), creating that e-course, or writing the articles that will position you as an expert.

The subconscious mind knows when we slack off. It allows us to ignore what we really want. Don’t let this happen to you. Find a nice three-hour block of time in your schedule and revise your business plan. If you don’t have a business plan, consider my Two Page Mini Business Plan™. It’s fast, easy and gets results.

What's the best thing about my business plan? It's the Success Book - a Daily Action Planner that keeps the entrepreneur in line with the DAILY TASKS necessary to build a business. We all need a constant reminder that goals can only be achieved if we TAKE ACTION!

Grow Your Business and Prosper!
Suzanne Muusers
Business Coach for Entrepreneurs & Financial Advisors
Scottsdale, Arizona
http://www.prosperitycoaching.biz

Why Entrepreneurs Need Vacations Without Email or Voicemail

I just returned from a one-week vacation at the beach with my husband and family. A whole week of lazing on the beach, swimming, body surfing, eating in hole-in-the-wall restaurants, and generally having a good time. How many times did I check voicemail and email? I checked email once just to make sure there were no major issues developing without my knowledge.

Many entrepreneurs don’t take enough vacations. They proudly tell me that they’re just too busy to take time off. This always amazes me, I mean, isn’t freedom one of the reasons you started your own business? Those that do take vacations take their smart phones and laptops along with them to let interruptions ruin their serenity.

What has happened to Work Life Balance? Or is it just a myth? Don’t we want to enjoy our lives and live the good life?

Many business owners miss out on living the good life. They reach a point where immersing themselves in the business without taking time off leads to burn out, lack of creativity, and high stress.

We all need to regenerate and recharge our batteries – a vacation without work can do this for us.

Don’t make the excuse that nobody can do your job except you – this just means you don’t want to delegate and give up control.

Don’t make the excuse that you can’t afford to go on vacation because you’d have to pay someone to do your job while you’re gone - this just means you aren’t charging enough for your product or service.

Don’t make the excuse that responding to email and voicemail on vacation is just the way entrepreneurs work – this means you are too scared to create the boundaries you need to enjoy your life.

If you’re ready to take a vacation without interruptions, I’ve devised a list of suggestions to help you live the good life.

Rules of the Road – Take your vacations the restful way

1. Plan your vacation in advance and inform key people as the time draws near.

2. Set realistic expectations with your clients and vendors. Let them know that you are planning a vacation without interruptions so that they don’t expect you to answer their calls or emails while you are gone.

3. Send an “Out of Office” Email blind copy to all your current clients and vendors advising them that you will have limited access to voicemail and email and that you will respond to their questions when you return. Give them a contact in your company who can handle emergency situations, or delegate to a Virtual Assistant.

4. Create an Autoresponder that will automatically notify those who email you that you are out of the office.

5. Create a Voicemail message that advises callers that you are out of the office. Let them know that their message is important, but if it can wait you will talk to them when you return.

6. Leave your blackberry and laptop at home.

7. Create a detailed week by week “how to guide” for employees or virtual assistants on how to handle possible issues should they come up. You can reuse this guide each time you vacation.

Grow Your Business and Prosper!
Suzanne Muusers
Business Coach for Entrepreneurs & Financial Advisors
Scottsdale, Arizona
http://www.prosperitycoaching.biz/

True Purpose and Career Change

Do you know what you were meant to do with your life? Are you at a crossroad with some difficult decisions to make? Are you searching for more meaning?

We’ve all been there.

In 2003 I wanted desperately to have my own business again after four years working with large sums of money in the financial services industry. My husband was starting a business and was confused as to how to go about it. As I helped him navigate the start up phase of his new Design/Build business, something amazing happened. I realized that I knew quite a bit about business. How to start one. How to market. How to plan. How to be successful. After all, I’d had several of my own businesses since 1985.

About the same time I heard about a fascinating new profession called “Coaching”.

I was surfing the internet on Martin Luther King Day 2004 and the website of a well known coach came up in the search results. He asked “Could you be a coach? Could you make coaching your profession?” and I screemed “YES. YES. YES. THIS IS WHAT I WAS MEANT TO DO. THIS IS MY LIFE’S PURPOSE.”

So I busily set about researching coach training schools, took my training, and the rest is history.

If you are searching for what’s next in your life, I’d like to suggest a workshop that’s being given by three coaches in my network. Maria Busch, Debra Exner, and Ginny Kravitz are holding a free, in person workshop entitled “Now What?” on June 25th, 2008 at the offices of Jobing.com in Phoenix, Arizona. You can read more about the workshop here: Now What? -First Steps to move from thinking about a career change to doing something about it

Suzanne Muusers
Business Coach for Entrepreneurs & Financial Advisors
Scottsdale, Arizona
http://www.prosperitycoaching.biz

Café Carumba – An Example of How to Create a Purple Cow Brand

My husband and I had a great experience at a local Scottsdale restaurant recently that is the perfect example of a business with a great brand. We had breakfast at Café Carumba in old town. Here’s a restaurant that is not afraid to be different. From the ambiance to the local happenings, everything was unique.

I think so often we are afraid to pump up our corporate identity a notch because we are afraid to be criticized. In order for everyone to like us, we have to have a bland, boring, see-it-everyday identity. There’s also the cost factor. Hiring a professional is not cheap. I remember in 1989 when I hired my first graphics person. I paid $1000 for a professional company identity that was definitely not the norm. It was a tough cost to cough up, but that identity served me well for over ten years and helped me land a very prestigious client who would never have hired me with a plain jane boring business card.


What, you ask, makes Café Carumba so different? Here’s a rundown of what impressed me:

Business card: an old sephia colored photo of a bikini-wearing-woman playing a guitar. They obviously used the services of a professional designer with some out-of-the-box thinking. Is this a safe photo image? No way.

Tagline: Spirited Southwest Grill – this has two meanings, spirited as in beverages, and spirited as in personality. I like it.

Most expensive margarita: $9,999.00. How’s this for different?

Events: Cantina Tuesdays, Wine down Wednesdays, daily happy hour, The Margarita Bar Tuesday through Saturday, and several others I can’t remember.

Advertising: tents on the table advertising nightly events with inventive names and enticing food and drink options.

Environment: concrete bar area that is out of the ordinary and artistic; bright colors on the walls; nicely decorated outdoor patio.

When the urge strikes me to grab a bite to eat, I will go to Café Carumba because they have a well designed brand that wraps up their promotions into a unique, purple cow package. There are plenty of restaurants. There are plenty of investment advisors. And there are hoards of business coaches.

The moral of the story is: if you want to stand out from the crowd, create a brand that's not boring. Safe is boring. A good brand is never safe.

Women Seeking Success - Group Coaching

What do women entrepreneurs need to be successful? According to a 2006 study by OPEN from American Express, 43% of women business owners (vs. 32% of men) say the one thing they need to be more successful is money.

You can interpret that several ways. They need more capital to run their business. They need more income to cover overhead. Or they just plain need more sales.

I am a female entrepreneur. I’ve been involved in managing or owning a business since the early eighties (no kidding) and I can see clearly the issues and challenges women face. With my father as my role model, I absorbed the skills necessary to run a successful business. I have to say I learned to take risks. If I had played it safe I wouldn’t be here today. I’d be working a corporate job with hoards of other people. But I wouldn’t be happy and I wouldn’t be earning the kind of income I’ve always dreamed of earning. Having your own business affords women the lifestyle they crave. Work and life balanced together. In some ways that means having it all.

Is it possible to have it all? Can women entrepreneurs have a successful business without sacrificing their personal lives? YES! It can be done, but it is a learning process. It involves creating priorities and working smarter, not harder. It means not doing it on your own, but using your network and your noggin.

So what can women do to be more successful?

TAKE MORE RISKS!! Life is risky – You could be run over by a bus tomorrow. Working a 9-5 job is risky – You could be fired at any time. If you’ve always dreamed of having your own business, just do it! Invest the funds necessary to do it right. Don’t nickel and dime yourself to failure. I’ve seen it too often.

GET A MENTOR – I am lucky to have good old Dad as my mentor. Women need to develop relationships with other women AND with successful male business owners. Let’s face it. Men have been managing businesses far longer than women have – there is something to be learned from their history.

CREATE A SUCCESS PLAN – Write it down and make it real. What is it you really want to accomplish? What strategies will you utilize to get out of the box?

Because we have tunnel vision when it comes to our own businesses, it’s important to have the support of an outside person or group. I have created a group for women business owners where they can get support and brainstorming for their business: Women Seeking Success. There have been FIVE groups thus far. The 6th In Person Group will begin on July 8th 2008 and there are only 3 spots remaining.

This group is all about learning to MAKE MORE MONEY through Effortless Marketing: drawing business to you.

If you know a woman business owner who would like the support of other women entrepreneurs and who would love to learn enough in a six month group that can build and sustain their company for two to three years, please have them check out my group. You can sign up here: In Person Wait List - Women Seeking Success

Grow Your Business and Prosper!
Suzanne Muusers
Business Coach for Entrepreneurs & Financial Advisors
Scottsdale, Arizona
http://www.prosperitycoaching.biz

The Economic Stimulus Package - 5 Ways to Invest the Rebate in Your Business

Uncle Sam has your best interests in mind this year by doling out a sizeable chunk of change to each tax payer to spend on whatever your heart desires. There is some debate as to how helpful the rebate will really be for the economy, but that argument aside, you have the ability to do something REALLY great for your business with the funds.

How much do you get? Provided you paid taxes and filed a tax return for 2007, you may be eligible for up to $600 per taxpayer, $1200 per couple, and $300 per each dependent child.

Entrepreneurs can be a lazy bunch. They are known for working day in and day out on the technical aspects of the business, and not looking at the big picture. They can ignore the long term plans for business growth just to keep up with the daily grind. They can ignore the need for knowledge growth and can lose sight of the need to delegate. They can also let themselves off the hook for doing those key actions that really grow the business.

Here are some ways you can get the most out of the rebate:

1. Hire a Virtual Assistant – What tasks are you doing day in and day out that are really not your cup of tea? Consider your hourly rate versus the administrative tasks you are performing. If your rate is $100 per hour and you spend five hours per week on bookkeeping, then you are spending $2000 per month on tasks that can be delegated for far less.

2. Rebrand your business – Is your brand exciting? Do you stand out from the crowd? If not, consider hiring a professional design company to rebrand your business. The easiest way to attract the best paying clients is to present a professional business image.

3. Invest in Your Business Skills - Take a workshop – What skill do you need to upgrade? Look around for workshops and seminars to help you improve skills you need to grow yourself and your business.

4. Invest in YOU – Are you happy with your life? Are you stuck in “all work and no play”? What could you do to improve your personal life? You could take a Life Planning Workshop, invest in a counselor to work out some old issues still plaguing you, or take a mini vacation.

5. Hire a Business Coach – Remember when you where involved with sports in school? The coach didn’t let you get away with slacking. Having a business coach to help you brainstorm ways to bring in new business will help you grow your business because you’ll be accountable to someone and they won’t let you off the hook if you’re not doing what you say you’ll do. Go to the International Coach Federation, click on “Find a Coach”, and enter the key terms for the type of coach that would be most helpful to you.

Whatever you do, don’t fritter away this tidy sum of money. If you chose to invest in your business it will pay off big time!

Grow Your Business & Prosper!
Suzanne Muusers
Business Coach for Entrepreneurs & Financial Advisors
Scottsdale, Arizona

http://www.prosperitycoaching.biz

Hear Ye, Hear Ye Marketing – Ten Tips to spread the word about your events

Ever had a party where no one showed up? You spent time decorating. You had the food catered from this nice little hole-in-the-wall up the street. You got all dressed up and when the door bell didn’t ring you were crushed.

This is much like an event a client had recently that was poorly attended. He spent time putting together and getting approval for a presentation for his financial advisor practice. He rented a conference room in an upscale boutique hotel and had scrumptious food brought in by an executive chef. He set up a PowerPoint presentation and waited.

What happened? He spent more time planning the event than promoting it. What could he have done to spread the word so that his event came off with a bang?

There are many ways you can promote your events so that they are well attended. The methods you employ will depend upon how ritzy you want your event to be and the goal for the event. Do you want new clients or just exposure?

1. Send invitations to your clients six weeks in advance and ask for a RSVP. Word your invitations to include a free invitation for your client’s best friend.

2. Have your staff follow up the mailed invitation with a phone invitation. Your response rate will be much higher if you touch your clients through mail and phone.

3. Attend networking events and announce the details of your event.

4. Send a blurb about your event to your local newspaper at least 3 weeks in advance. Your local newspaper has business and lifestyle event calendars that will list your event free of charge.

5. Use the services of online Press Release Distribution websites. Some are free and some charge an annual fee: http://www.prweb.com/ http://www.prnewswire.com/ http://www.marketwire.com/

6. Send a Press Release to your local newspaper, both before AND after your event. Use a professional or someone with experience to write the release. You want to make sure it’s newsworthy.

7. Announce the event on the home page of your website and include a link to the page on online calendars.

8. Use online event listing services such as the Business Journal in your city http://www.bizjournals.com/. This can be a GREAT way to drive traffic to your website and give you excellent exposure.

9. Utilize Yahoo’s service http://upcoming.yahoo.com/ to post an event in your city. Also use http://www.yelp.com to broadcast your event - allows comments from attendees.

10. Give Event Brite a go if you want to send email invitations and monitor the status of your RSVP’s: http://www.eventbrite.com/

Use these tips to pack the room and get the word out about your event. Spend time promoting your event and make it a success!

Grow Your Business & Prosper!
Suzanne Muusers
Business Coach for Entrepreneurs and Financial Advisors
Scottsdale Arizona
http://www.prosperitycoaching.biz/

6 Simple Steps to Organize your Business Finances so that you can Sleep Soundly at Night

Here's a great article I wrote to help a start up client get her business finances organized.

Loose papers, receipts, notes, credit card bills, financial statements, tax returns – these are the byproducts of owning a business. They take up space on your desk and in your mind and every time you look at the litter you feel disorganized.
Before I created a system to organize my business paperwork in the manner I’ll soon explain, I felt disjointed, out of whack, and like I never got anything done. I’d walk into my office and want to turn right around and walk out.

Is there a better way to organize your business finances? You bet. Follow the steps below to create a simple, yet functional way to organize your business and live a more carefree life.

Step 1 – Get a Binder - Purchase a three-ring binder based on the volume of paperwork you produce annually. A 1.5” or 2” binder would be adequate for most businesses. You will use one binder for each year you are in business, so that every detail pertaining to your business that year is in one place for easy retrieval. In the viewing window type a cover that shows the name of your business and the year.

Step 2 – Get a Three Hole Punch – Purchase a three-hole punch. This is to hole punch all larger receipts, documents and financial statements and have them fit neatly into your binder.

Step 3 - Get a Zipper Compartment – Purchase a plastic zipper compartment from an office supply store to hold small receipts.

Step 4 – Purchase Accounting Software – Get yourself accounting software so that you can track your finances. Professional business owners track their profits and losses using the right tools and analyze their financials regularly. I recommend QuickBooks, but there are others such as Peachtree, Microsoft Office Small Business, and Simply Accounting. Try to begin tracking sales and expenses from the beginning of your business or the beginning of the year.

Step 5 – THE SYSTEM: Arrange paperwork in your binder according to month. Keep all receipts, credit card statements and bank statements (make sure to reconcile these monthly), and sales tax reports (if you sell products). At the end of each month, run a Profit and Loss Statement and a Balance Sheet (collectively known as Financial Statements). The Financial Statements become the separator for each month. File small receipts that can’t be hole-punched in the zipper compartment at the back of your binder.

Step 6 – CLOSE IT OUT – At the end of each year, reconcile your accounts, print your annual Financial Statements, and close out your year. Put the binder away and start a new one for the New Year. Give your accountant or CPA a copy of your QuickBooks file to prepare your income tax return.

Tips:
Only handle receipts one time. Review them. Record them in your software program. File them in your binder.
Use one credit card for business and one for personal expenses. This way you can maintain separate business and personal expenses. If you ever need to carry a balance, you can easily determine the tax-deductible interest.
Consult with your accountant or CPA regarding what is and is not tax deductible.
Make an appointment with yourself one to two hours a week to do your business finance organization. When you have room in your budget, hire someone to come in and do it for you.

The system above is one way to organize your business finances. If you would like to go beyond this system and organize your business for financial success, you may want to consider writing a Business Plan. I have created a plan that incorporates Goal Setting, and heavy Branding and Marketing with My Success Book - a built-in Daily Action Planner to encourage accountability and results. Find it here: The Two Page Mini Business Plan™.

©Copyright 2008- Suzanne Muusers - All Rights Reserved

About the author
Suzanne Muusers is a Business Coach and Business Expert based in Scottsdale, Arizona. She is a credentialed member of the International Coach Federation and has owned or managed a business every year since 1981. She is the creator of The Two Page Mini Business Plan™, The Six Step Guide to Creating a Business Plan That's Short, Easy, and Gets Results! Visit her site: http://www.prosperitycoaching.biz/

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor – Women are Natural Leaders!

Arizona Historical Museum April 27, 2008

I was privileged to attend a talk given by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman, and Justice O’Connor’s son Scott at the Arizona Historical Museum regarding the O’Connor House Project – a community effort to move Justice O’Connor’s historical adobe home to Papago Park. The event was well attended by the Association of Women Lawyers, Soroptimists, and Rotary and their guests.

For information about making a tax-deductible gift to the O'Connor House, click here: http://www.oconnorhouse.org/

I was riveted to my seat while listening to the Justice and her stories of the early days of being a female lawyer. Out of college in 1952, Justice O’Connor couldn’t get a job as a lawyer. She interviewed at several law firms and was told that they would NEVER hire a woman lawyer. She finally talked a California county supervisor into hiring her. She shared an office with the receptionist and worked for free initially.

She was appointed to the Arizona State Senate in 1969 and was reelected to two two-year terms. She often invited members of the Arizona Senate to her home for parties and get-togethers because as she said she wanted to leave partisan politics at the Senate and have people develop deeper relationships. She mentioned that forging relationships across party lines in order to do the necessary work is a very important quality to have in politics. I can’t agree more.

Justice O’Connor talked about the time she received a call from Washington to inform her that she was being considered as a candidate for the Supreme Court. She went to Washington to meet Ronald Reagan. She never considered that she may win the nomination. Ronald Reagan called her to say he would be announcing her nomination the following day and she was speechless.

What struck me most about Justice O’Connor was her disposition. What an intelligent, authentic, honorable person she is. A natural leader as many women have proven they can be!

Suzanne Muusers
Business Coach for Entrepreneurs & Financial Advisors
Scottsdale, Arizona

http://www.prosperitycoaching.biz