We were lucky to catch up with Anita Henderson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Anita, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

In the world of entrepreneurship, particularly among solopreneurs — those single-owner, small business, mostly service-focused enterprises where the owner/CEO is often the sole employee — there is this “hustle and grind” culture. For some reason, people have taken the red pill and think that the harder they work the more they will earn and the bigger their business will be. This can’t be farther from the truth. Even worse, these business owners keep telling themselves and others to “Get outside your comfort zone.” Sad thing is, they don’t even know what their comfort zone is.

There is a way to do things, a way of being, that most solopreneurs never get to. Why? Because we are constantly pushing ourselves to go big, do more, try this, do that, and get outside our comfort zone. Most entrepreneurs never really get to the point of doing what they do well and enjoying it. Doing better, challenging yourself, and improving is one thing. I’m all for that. Constantly chasing perfection and other people’s definition of “well done” is a dead-end trap. It isn’t sustainable.

The problem with continuous improvement and stepping outside your comfort zone is that most people never really get to find their groove, their flow, and keep it going long enough to be great at what they do. Solopreneurs who chase short-term challenges and constantly make corrections with no purpose or goal don’t know the joy of embracing their comfort zone. They strive so hard to get outside of a zone they’ve never really been in, which leads to more hustling, pushing, challenging, and striving.

The poor little comfort zone has gotten such a bad rap in the entrepreneur world that most people don’t even know what theirs is.

Anita, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

As an author coach and book publishing strategist, I guide corporate executives and experienced entrepreneurs to write, publish, and leverage their books to build their brand. I believe most experienced professionals have a story to share. Many of them would agree, and they want to tell their story, they just don’t know how; they don’t know who to trust; and they need the accountability to get it done once they commit to do it.

As The Author’s Midwife, I bring to the table the strategy of a book publishing insider, the skill of an experienced writer and editor, the accountability of a coach, and the organization and focus of a project manager. Plus, we have an incredible team of publishing experts to help our clients accomplish their goals. All of this comes from my decades as a business leader.

My evolution as a business owner has taught me some valuable lessons about what it takes to know my value, ask for what I want, squash imposter syndrome, and embrace my comfort zone.

In the two and a half decades since starting my company, The Write Image Consulting, LLC, I have ridden the roller coaster of entrepreneurship. The incredible highs have let me know what I’m capable of. I have been elated over (and sometimes surprised by) my successes: five-figure sales days, six-figure revenue years, new program launches, invitations to speak to audiences (and get paid to do so), serving as president of a successful organization, forming a business partnership, co-hosting a radio show, an internet TV show, and a podcast, and writing and publishing several books, including my memoir “Becoming The Minimalist Entrepreneur: Lessons from My Journey to Work Less, Earn More, and Play More.”

The lows have also been critical in defining the entrepreneur I am today: failed promotional campaigns, costly gambles that paid zero ROI, clients who didn’t pay on time or at all (including one I had to take to court), a recession that caused me to pivot and reshape my entire business model, trusting people who didn’t deserve it, new programs that cost me more time to develop than the profit they generated, years when there was more famine than feast, and a global pandemic that shut down the world.

It took me thirty years to get started on my entrepreneurial journey, but when I did, I ran with it, and I haven’t looked back. Well, I did go back to corporate work a few times after starting my company, but through it all, I learned that I am an entrepreneur. Even better, I have grown into a business owner and a CEO.

The lessons I’ve learned have reminded me of my natural way of being. The skills, talents, strengths, characteristics, and gifts that have been with me throughout my life have guided me to where I am today. There were times when I rejected my natural tendencies, moments when I ignored my gut instincts, and situations that caused me to marginalize my intellect.

After decades in business, I’ve learned to trust myself more than I trust anything or anyone else. That has led me to clarify, simplify, and focus as an entrepreneur, to essentially become the minimalist entrepreneur. Because when I eliminated all the outside noise, I could hear my inner voice calmly confirming, “You got this, girl. Run with it. Keep rising.” And that’s exactly what I’ve done.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

During my first decade as a business owner, I was a public relations specialist and marketing consultant. My clients were micro-businesses, nonprofit organizations, and universities. I enjoyed the work, but success was fleeting because I wasn’t focused on a core offering, wasn’t clear on my ideal audience, had no processes to guide my services, and wasn’t consistent or strategic with my pricing. Because of all that, profits were hit or miss, and that led me back to a corporate job. That was a very hard decision.

After a few years, I regrouped, refocused my mind, reassessed my skills, and re-entered the world of entrepreneurship with an entirely different focus. By then, the book publishing industry was just beginning to blossom, allowing “regular” people to get their books published, independent of the traditional pathway of using a literary agent and a high-profile major publisher. So, I jumped at the opportunity to integrate my skills of writing and project management, and my love of books, into a new business model.

Re-entering entrepreneurship as a book publishing strategist and author coach meant learning about an entirely new industry. I began researching the book publishing industry, met with established independent book publishers and others in the industry, and developed descriptions and pricing for my services. Pitching myself as an author coach without a book of my own seemed insincere and phony. So I wrote a book the following year to add some “street cred” to my bio. I needed to have the experience of going through the entire publishing experience myself.

I became well aware that The Write Image was once again a startup company that had to adopt an entirely different business focus and approach to everything. That required me to have a different mindset about my service offering, my target audience, and my marketing.

Coaching, the way I wanted to do it, was very personal, almost intimate, even exclusive. It had to be, considering the focus of my coaching and the target audience I had identified — corporate professionals and experienced business owners. When people share their stories and their writing, they share a very personal side of themselves that often feels uncomfortable for them because it requires a level of vulnerability. Whether writing memoir, inspirational or spiritual content, or instructional material, they’re sharing their writing, which can be a very private part of their personality that they’ve not previously exposed. That, in itself, is an experience that requires trusting their coach in order to produce the best content.

All of that networking really paid off because within months after setting up my author coaching business, opportunities began to drop in my lap. It was incredible!

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

As I mentioned, helping people share their stories — which many times include personal aspects of their lives — requires them to trust me, not only my experience but also my character and personality. Essentially, I need to be likable. Therefore, without a doubt, the most effective strategy to grow my clientele has been networking.

Networking is basically relationship building. That includes making meaningful, authentic connections with people who are your ideal client, referral sources who regularly engage with others in your ideal client profile, and other thought leaders in your industry who you can learn from. In all of these relationships, you need to make yourself a resource, someone who gives first whether that is information, a referral, or some other resource.

Of course, networking is an investment of time, so I have to choose which organizations, events, and other leaders I invest my time with.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://writeyourlife.net/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anitatheauthorsmidwife/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anitarhenderson/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@writeyourlife3666
• Other: https://writeyourlife.net/minimalist/

Image Credits

Ashley Hugghins, Urban Trends Photography