Debra Kasowski

EPISODE 129 – Give More and Receive More with Teresa Spinelli

by 2 Comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv4orw2MVeA[/embedyt]

Meet Our Guest:

Teresa Spinelli wasn’t destined to lead her family’s grocery business. But life takes
many turns and the leader is what she became.

Born in Edmonton in 1961 Teresa grew up at the Italian Centre Shop, taking her first
steps in the pasta isle. By age 13 she was working in the store regularly as a cashier,
never dreaming she would one day ascend to the Presidency of the company. In 1983
after successfully graduating from the University of Alberta with a psychology degree
her plan was to pursue social work, though admittedly realized social work wasn’t for
her after completing a work term. “I realized I’d be a horrible social worker because I
wanted to take everybody home with me.”

Family misfortune changed the course of Teresa’s life with the loss of her brother,
followed by the passing of her father, Frank Spinelli three years later. “We were a
traditional Italian family, and I had a brother, so automatically, because he was the boy,
he was going to take the business.” In 2000 Teresa stepped in as the president of the
company temporarily; the company having 30 employees and a net worth of 9 million.
Teresa believed the Italian Centre had the potential to be bigger and better.
With her vision of changing the business from a local grocery store to a major importer
and distributor, within a year, she grew the business to 12 million in sales. Today, the
Company has grown 8 times with 4 stores (located in Edmonton and Calgary), 509
employees and sales of 64 million.

Married to Mike Newberry in 1999, and blessed with son Massimo in 2007 Teresa’s
business philosophy comes from her dad, “The more you give, the more you get.” Her
passion is revitalizing the McCauley community around Little Italy in Edmonton’s
downtown and volunteering with such organizations as the Italian Chamber of
Commerce; Mayor’s Task Force on Sustainable Communities, and Edmonton City
Manager’s Advisory Committee. For Teresa, it’s all about people and showing them you
love them with a hearty, bountiful meal.

“For me, it’s not about selling salami. For me, it’s about people. The reason I get up in
the morning is because I want to grow people.” – Teresa Spinelli

Among her notable awards for 10-years running, Teresa has been one of Canada’s Top
100 Women Entrepreneurs as ranked by Profit Magazine; the People’s Choice
Businesswoman of the Year; and has received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in
recognition of contributions to Canada.

Episode 93 – Silence Your Inner Critic

by Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Each of us has an inner voice. Some people refer to it as the inner voice of knowing- but does it really know, especially when the negative thoughts rear their ugly heads. Isn’t bad enough you wonder what other people are saying about you or the efforts you put out? You don’t need any extra judgment as you already are your own worst critic. There are times you say things to yourself that you would not voice out loud and direct at anyone else. Why? The inner critic is not compassionate, kind, or respectful. If you wouldn’t say it to anyone else, why say such mean things to yourself. It’s not that you are wanting to get rid of the inner voice, you are managing the negative thoughts.

When you are in a negative state of mind, you will take actions to support your thoughts and feelings, ultimately, impacting the results you are getting. You need to stop the critic because it crushes your self-confidence to take essential actions required to achieve results. Think of your radio dial; you can tune into music and messaging that you choose to listen to. Many of the messages in your mind have been forged from the past and no longer serve the current situation. It may have come from criticism or advice. You may hear the voice of your mother or father commenting on something and you have hung onto to it. Now in the present something comes up and you think it must be true because someone else has said it even it does not even fit the current situation.

You want to be able to silence the inner critic, the chatter, you hear in your head. Managing the thoughts, you are having is not as difficult as you think. Your mind is flooded with over 50,000-70,000 thoughts in a day with many of them being negativity. Most of these thoughts are unconscious until you bring them into your awareness. As soon as you bring a thought into your awareness, you can make a conscious choice whether you want to keep the thought or reject it. Unfortunately, you may grab a single negative thought and play it in your head like a broken record. It does not serve you – it is time to manage your thoughts and toss those negative ones away altogether.

“If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month.”
― Theodore Roosevelt

It all begins with…self-awareness.

What thoughts are you thinking? Once you can notice your thoughts in the moment, now you can change them but before you do, why are you having them, to begin with? Is your self-confidence low? Is fear coming up? Even though negative thoughts come up and their many have been moments that you tell yourself, “I am stupid.”, you need to stop and remember there also have been a time you have shined and felt on top of the world. You are not stupid – your behavior or action you took was not the right one now.

When you catch yourself saying a negative thought, STOP and take notice of it. You can say, “Cancel, cancel, cancel”. Your thoughts are powerful. Your thoughts influence the actions you are going to take. If you are in a bad mood, you may react to a situation or say things you would later regret.

REFRAME the thought into a positive thought. Positive thoughts lead to positive actions. Positive actions will get you closer to the success you are looking for. The reason people do not achieve the success they are looking for is often because the get caught up in the stories they tell themselves.

Get into a positive state of mind. When I studied the morning routines of successful people, I learned that they put themselves into a positive state. To get yourself into a positive state, you can pray or meditate, exercise, write in a gratitude journal, or read a book that gets your mind primed for the day. The morning is not the only time you can do this. You can change your state by simply thinking of a time where you felt unstoppable and you felt at the peak of success.

Your inner voice is not a bad thing…it can warn you or alert you to doing your due diligence. It is a bad thing when you allow thoughts to take root and sabotage your efforts. You need to remind yourself that you have greatness within you – everyone does. Holding back on your greatness serves no one – if you hold back – it is a tragedy. Everything in life is interconnected. If you do not fulfill your purpose, others are impeded from fulfilling theirs.

Make a choice. Your imagination can run wild if you let it. Telling you stories of disempowerment. You need to harness your thoughts and empower yourself. You can break down your stories and examine the words that you use. The word “Can’t” places limits on what you believe is possible and what you think you are capable of doing. Yes, there are somethings that you can’t do such as swim without oxygen in the depth of the sea or fly above the mountains like an eagle. There are things you can do and you are stopping yourself from doing them.

Can’t is a choice. You are choosing not to. Do you notice when you have a choice you suddenly have empowered yourself and taken control of the actions you are taking? What CAN you do? Stephen King said, “you can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.” Focus on what you can do versus what you cannot.

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t—you’re right.”
― Henry Ford

You have more power than you give yourself credit for. When you pay attention to what you are saying and how those words make you feel and the thoughts you are having, you can start taking actions that support your success rather than sabotage it.

Be Aware -Notice and Understand It.

Stop – Cancel the thought.

Reframe It.

Get into a positive state.

CHOOSE – what you are going to say and do that will empower you!

We would love to have you subscribed to the Success Secrets newsletter on my website at www.debrakasowski.com where you’re going to get us free MP3 download 10 Surefire Strategies to Power Up Your Productivity and Performance. I would love to hear about this podcast has impacted your life. E-mail me at Debra@DebraKasowski.com. Thank you for listening to The Millionaire Woman Show where we talk about leadership, business, and human potential to help you live rich from the inside out. Subscribe to The Millionaire Woman Show. Share it with Your Friends. Give us a 5-star rating!

DEBRA KASOWSKI, BScN CEC is an award-winning best-selling author, transformational speaker, blogger, and Certified Executive Coach. She has a heart of a teacher and is certified in Appreciative Inquiry and Emotional Intelligence. Her writing has been published in a variety of print and online magazines. Debra Kasowski International helps executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations boost their productivity, performance, and profits. It all starts with people and passion. Sign up the Success Secrets Newsletter and get your free mp3 download today! www.debrakasowski.com

 

 

 

 

Episode 86: Never Make Quitting Your Option

by Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Meet our Guest:

Bean was paralyzed in 2012, by an autoimmune disorder called Transverse Myelitis. She has over 10 years experience as an X-ray technologist specializing in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab. She is also a certified Makeup Artist who has worked on numerous fashion shows and photo shoots.

Since being diagnosed and achieving milestones that seemed impossible, Bean is determined to make her experience a positive one. To help others affected by disability and vowing to Never Give Up.

She is the cofounder & administrator of ReYu, a local (Edmonton) non-profit Paralysis Recovery Centre. Bean was one of the featured models with disabilities in Western Canada Fashion Week. This part of fashion week was the first ever of its kind in Canada. www.reyu.com

Episode 54: Say Yes to Your Success

by Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpX-cdo1oSY[/embedyt]

Meet our Guest:

Debra began transforming lives in the 1970’s when she studied at the feet of the greatest spiritual masters of the east — often in deep meditation for 10 to 12 hours a day and complete silence for weeks at a time – and then taught meditation to thousands around the world.

In the 1980’s Debra immersed herself in the knowledge of the Masters of western metaphysical thought and founded Yes to Success Seminars bringing then radical ideas like “your thoughts create your reality” into the mainstream.

Within a few short years, Debra’s seminars were being taught in cities across the US and in seven countries on four continents – before the days of the Internet. Debra appeared regularly in publications as well as on radio and TV.

As a sought-after trainer, her clients included McDonnell Douglas, Mattel Toys, and the Xerox Management Group—at a time when it was practically unheard of for women to be doing trainings in corporate America.

Using the knowledge they learned from Debra, her students went on to become mega-successful entrepreneurs, NY Times bestselling authors, millionaires, billionaires—even household names.

In 1988, at the height of her success, on the verge of launching her own national TV talk-show, Debra walked away from her career and disappeared from the public eye for over 20 years when she chose to follow a different passion—to be a stay-at-home mom.

Now a best-selling author, world-renowned speaker, and the co-founder of Your Year of Miracles mentoring program for women, with thousands of students from over 50 countries around the world, Debra has taken the idea of success and abundance to a whole new level as she now teaches how to create a life filled with miracles.

She is also the proud mom of two amazing young adult children.

Episode 53: Seeing the Opportunity in the Struggle

by Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

When you decided to become an entrepreneur, chances are you became one for one of the following reasons. You may have been climbing the corporate ladder and decided that it wasn’t taking you to where you wanted to go. You became bored or your work lacked meaning. You decided that you could make a bigger difference by doing something on your own or with the team that you helped put together. You may have decided to become an entrepreneur because you needed an outlet where you could be innovative and use those creative juices. Another reason for choosing this lifestyle may have been because you wanted to have control over your own actions or maybe even for work life balance. You chose this route for flexibility and to develop a deeper connection with people. You may have even chosen to be an entrepreneur because you just didn’t feel like you fit into the mold of the business or organization you are working for. You may have seen the pain point in the industry and you decided that you are going to provide a solution. All of these were game changing decisions to live life differently.

Do You Really Work?

To the outside world, being an entrepreneur might look like you have no rules or boundaries. You may be attending charity events and socials more than they see you work. What the outside world doesn’t know, is that you put in a lot of hard work and many long hours that are on not on display for them to see.

Are You Struggling in Silence?

There may be even times where you’ve been struggling in silence not wanting anyone to know about some of the lack of results for the lack of money coming in. This can be devastating as you may have family or yourself counting on you and you feel like you’re failing. The fear of failure may consume you to the point that you may become depressed. Where there is action, failure is seen as optional. Where true failure occurs, there is no action and hence no results. You may have a fear of uncertainty not knowing what the future will hold. I fear is more common than you think whether you are an entrepreneur are not everyone faces an uncertainty the moment they awaken.

What ACTION can you take? Know your numbers so you can make better decisions. Pay attention to what money is coming in and what money is going out. Look at your sales process, do you need to change up your approach?

“Just because you are struggling does not mean you are failing.” Neil Patel

You may be overwhelmed by the increasing competition. One of Neil Patel’s business philosophies is to not talk about your successes as you may be bringing on more competition. It is more powerful for others to share your successes. Be careful not to get caught up in the comparison trap. Wlonerangerhen you start comparing other people successes to your own you diminish your own worth. You need to be aware of the strength that you bring to the marketplace and how you and what you deliver is different and can stand above the crowd. Ensure that competition and comparisons don’t lead you into a Lone Ranger mentality. There is a difference between being alone and being lonely. Sometimes when were lonely we latch on to anyone -even if they’re not the ideal client. But when you are alone, you can be true to yourself and get really clear about your compelling vision. Your job is to delegate or outsource to others so that they can help you achieve that compelling vision. Build your team gradually. They don’t need to be full-time team members; you can hire people on a part-time basis or by contract. If you tried to do everything by yourself for a long period of time, your business will not be sustainable. You may even burn out.

As an entrepreneur, know that you are not alone. Know that the struggles you face others are also facing, they are just not talking about it. Join groups and associations were you can surround yourself with like-minded people who can help push you to the next level and who can see the potential of your greatness. Talk with others who been where you want to go or find a mentor to share their experiences. Use competition to your advantage by paying attention to the finer details of what you deliver and truly listen to your customers’ needs and wants and deliver value.

52337615 - people meeting friendship togetherness coffee shop conceptGo to networking events and build relationships beyond the hello. Connect with associations in your industry. Discover what their goals are and how you can help. As you help others achieve their goals, they in turn will want to help you. This is called the law of reciprocity. You will build a loyalty and trust like no other. Learn to be happy for those who are succeeding around you instead of being caught in the comparison trap. Believe in yourself and believe that your success is on its way as well. What you are admiring is one moment or period of time. Their dream is their dream. Your dream is yours. You need to stay focused on why you are doing what you’re doing and what you want to accomplish. The outcomes may not be the same. Don’t lose sight of yourself by wishing that you are living someone else’s life, you have so much to offer and we need it done your way.

Turn inwardly and look for the opportunity that exists in your struggle. What are you struggling with? What is the lesson that you are learning from the situation? What can you do differently? Whose knowledge skills and abilities can you tap into to share their experiences? Ask for recommendations or resources. In what ways, can you view this situation differently? Is it time to let go of one idea to really focus and develop another?

TMW_PDFclickhere.fwHow are you getting in your own way? You may be preventing yourself from achieving success with your own mindset. Are you willing to take a risk, at least a calculated one? Are you willing to go out and meet people and move beyond the hello? Are you willing to follow-up and ask for the sale?  Listen to what you are telling yourself. Are you being supportive and encouraging to yourself? Challenge your assumptions. Push yourself farther than the day before. You do not have to feel alone. You may want talk to a trusted friend or a mental health professional. Sometimes when you are too close to your problem you cannot see the solution. Asking for help is a strength. What would you tell someone in the same situation? Follow your own advice!

We would love to have you subscribed to the Success Secrets newsletter on my website at www.debrakasowski.com where you’re going to get us free MP3 download 10 Surefire Strategies to Power Up Your Productivity and Performance. I would love to hear about this podcast has impacted your life. E-mail me at Debra@DebraKasowski.com. Thank you for listening to The Millionaire Woman Show where we talk about leadership, business, and human potential to help you live rich from the inside out. Subscribe to The Millionaire Woman Show. Share it with Your Friends. Give us a 5-star rating!

DEBRA KASOWSKI, BScN CEC is an award-winning best-selling author, transformational speaker, blogger, and Certified Executive Coach. She has a heart of a teacher and is certified in Appreciative Inquiry and Emotional Intelligence. Her writing has been published in a variety of print and online magazines. Debra Kasowski International helps executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations boost their productivity, performance, and profits. It all starts with people and passion. Sign up the Success Secrets Newsletter and get your free mp3 download today! www.debrakasowski.com

Time: 12:22 min

Keywords: entrepreneur, struggle in silence, struggle, see the opportunity, solution focused, entrepreneur lifestyle, lone ranger mentality, failure, success, reasons why you became an entrepreneur, entrepreneur struggles, entrepreneur strategies, entrepreneur strengths and weaknesses