"Shiftology"

Core values (or core beliefs) give us direction and cohesiveness.

They tell us how to behave and what matters most within a work culture.

They are essential to building trust and collaboration amongst a team or family.

Core values help us make important decisions— meet big and small goals and gather meaningful data to track your progress.

Here are 3 core values to help you make an inner shift towards a more purposeful pathway.

Humility. Be someone who is NOT afraid to ask for help.

I don’t like to ask for help.

I don’t know many women who do.

However, in order to be a successful business leader, you have to ask for help— and not be shy about it.

Oprah once said, “You get in life what you have the courage to ask for," and her words ring true.

In 2020 I started writing my book, In All Lanes, a guidebook for leaders to help them rethink school and transform behavior.

During the writing phase, I asked my editor (now friend) for some audience generating book launch ideas.

Instead of her rattling off several suggestions that worked for past clients, she simply picked up the phone and made a call to a local friend and bookstore owner to make a connection. Well, that connection call led me to a fabulous sister-duo and black-owned bookstore who loved my book idea. They ended up pre-selling copies of my book and hosting an author’s event before the official book launch!

When I asked for help generating book launch ideas, in return, I got an entire pre-launch party planned for me with hundreds of dollars in pre-sale orders.

Let's humble ourselves and ask for help more often.

Adaptability. Learn how to be nimble and experiment.

Nimble business leaders are the most successful, period.

The hardest lesson you will learn in business is that things take much longer than you think— and that most of your "great ideas" won’t even make it off the ground!

But, if you’re willing to test your ideas (ad nauseam) and experiment with your business model, your entrepreneurial journey will eventually work for you— and your clientele.

I remember how often I was afraid to test my ideas when I first started running my business. I was afraid to experiment with students in my program— I thought experimenting meant that I was openly admitting that I didn't know what I was doing.

And I guess that was partly true... however, too much transparency about experimenting on my clients really frightened me.

However, experimentation was exactly what was necessary in order to expose the communication flaws and scheduling conflicts I found were hidden throughout my program delivery.

The solution to fixing those mistakes and flaws were a few minor pivots.

Week after week— while my program was running— I made small revisions to my content until my course a huge success.

Several students gave testimonies about how comfortable they felt in my course, and they could tell my team and I put an incredible amount of time in to make each session fresh and fun.

Clients enjoyed being a part of the experiment— they were happy to give that real-time feedback and see immediate improvement week after week. Being part of my experiment meant they were also a part of my journey!

Clarity. Clarity is power so be decisive.

"Don't be surprised by how the universe responds, once you have decided."

- unknown author

I solve problems every single day.

Some problems are major debacles, and others are so minor that they are easily forgotten minutes after making a decision about them.

Weeks into me launching my company, Truly POC INC, I was offered a six-figure contract to work on a solo project with a major company in a full-time capacity. The work would be easy, and the benefits would be cushy and full of perks— which felt like a no brainer, standing next to the unknown abyss know as entrepreneurship.

It was easy to forgo the offer— well maybe not that easy.

However, having clarity in my why helped me be decisive about what my work and life would look like— which allowed me to say NO and move on.

Once I decided on a resounding YES to running MY business full-time, the universe opened up right up and gave me several clients and partnership opportunities that helped me grow my business with rapid speed.

Having that clear why allowed me to launch my business to six-figures in just 90 days!