Pop Quiz, Monday with Carrie Mead, MS

The Pop Quiz, Monday, is a fun little exam that we love to give to savvy business owners. The examination is not a surprise, after all, since the interviewee already knew about the questions in advance. However, we can always pretend and have fun with the scenario of a young entrepreneur sitting in class nervously biting on their pencil. They are ready to take a pop quiz on a chapter that they were supposed to read the night before. Instead, they played Metroid all night on their SNES (Oops, this was me in high school). The real purpose of the pop quiz is that this is a fun way to introduce business tips from real-world experiences that you can not learn in a classroom. We want to thank our entrepreneur for being a good sport and volunteering their time to answer a few questions to help our community grow from their knowledge.

I want to introduce you to our guest today, who will be taking our Pop Quiz Monday.

1. Can you please tell everyone your name?

Carrie Mead, MS

2. Tell us about your business and what you do?

I am a Professional Life Coach specializing in major life transitions. We all go through life transitions such as loss, relocation, the birth of a new child, retirement, or a dissolving relationship. During these times, we often feel lost, and we just want things to return ‘back to normal.’ As a Seasons of Life Coach, I assist people in navigating these changes successfully. And that does not mean that things go ‘back to normal,’ but rather, a new reality is created. Things cannot return to a previous state after a significant shift; it’s just not possible! The seasons only move in one direction, from the ease of Summer through the change of Fall to the depths of winter and to the creative promise of Spring only to return to Summer again. And so it goes over and over again. As humans, our lives follow this same repetitive trajectory when our lives change. I help clients recognize where they are on the path and how to enter into the next season successfully.

3. Why did you want to become an entrepreneur?

I entered into this arena to gain the flexibility that I desired to balance my family-life with my career. Working for myself genuinely allows me to set my priorities and reach the goals I have set for all areas of my life. Working as an employee has many limitations, but it also brought about a certain amount of security, which was nice. Working as a contractor gave me more flexibility, but again, there were limitations. On my own as a solo-preneur, I feel no restrictions — real or imagined!

4. What are the challenging aspects of running a business?

Running a business requires the ability to multitask, prioritize, and learn quickly on the job. As a coach, I am confident in my coaching skills, but this is just one part of my business. I have had to learn confidence and savvy in marketing, networking, and financials, to name a few. The beginning is the most challenging as you are wading your way through these murky waters.

5. What do you love most about your job?

I love bearing witness to the transformation that occurs within the client. Put another way; I love watching people learn to accept and love their own perfect imperfections. Underlying most challenges people are facing, the core of the problem is self-doubt and fear, but when they learn to accept themselves just as they are, transformation occurs.

6. How do you have fun at work (team building, pranks, etc..)?

I work alone, so every day, I make time for myself for some ritual of self-care, whether that’s a yoga class, meditation, walking in nature, or calling a friend. I build my schedule myself, so I allow time for self-care every single day.

7. What would one piece of advice that you give to a new business owner?

Be prepared for the unexpected. As a new business owner, you have (hopefully!) prepared for the apparent challenges of reaching potential clients and locating the perfect office from which to work. But, there are so many other factors that will arise along the way. You have to be flexible, adaptable, and wise every day. For instance, do you know how or when to pay your business taxes or where to obtain your licenses or the ADA regulations that apply to your new workspace? You cannot know it all, so you must be flexible and discerning.

Thank you for taking our pop quiz today. You get an A+ for effort. You can learn more about our interviewee and their business by visiting them on the web: www.curiositylifecoaching.com

Originally published at https://www.inboxdude.com on December 8, 2019.