We were lucky to catch up with Dora Rankin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Dora, thanks for joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

We live in a time where we either expect ease, comfort and instant gratification or we are martyrs, doomed to thinking we are trapped and don’t have options. What if you could have the ease and comfort as the northstar of working hard. I said HARD, not tirelessly. We have the power to reach our northstars, however they won’t be handed to us. Working hard doesn’t equal success. However, being able to walk through hard things knowing more will be revealed creates a magical life of ease & comfort.

At 25 I found myself divorced, raising two little girls and taking care of my sick mother while climbing the corporate finance ladder. I did hard things. I didn’t have ease and comfort. I wanted instant gratification. I didn’t even know what a northstar was. I was like Nike, I just did it. Over two decades.

Today, the travels (responsibilities) of my life have brought me to ease and comfort. Even more, it’s brought me to my purpose. Success has always been there, but true success is delivered when I humbly respond to the tasks of which I walk through.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Like most entrepreneurs, my story hasn’t always been picture-perfect. After going to rehab at 17 and later becoming a single mom, I felt like I had no choice but to join the corporate world.

I found a job in corporate banking and worked my way up the ladder. By the time I was 27, I had become a VP, was coaching sales teams, and driving tons of revenue for the business. I had finally achieved what I always wanted: financial security, success… and yet, something was missing.

The high-pressure corporate environment, combined with my responsibilities as the mom of two young daughters and full-time caretaker for my sick mom, meant that I was having panic attacks almost daily.

Ultimately, after 23 in the banking world, I was laid off in 2017. And while it shattered my world at the moment, like many people, losing my job turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me.

I found a new job in the start-up world, which opened my eyes to entrepreneurship and the struggles women face when raising capital. After some time there, however, my sister helped me realize my true passion: what I really wanted was to help women live their purpose and create economic power as business owners — and that’s what I get to do every day now.

Though my story has been messy at times, it’s shown me when women are economically empowered, they can change their lives completely. Money gives you choices, and the truth is, real power comes from having those choices.

If you’re ready to overcome the obstacles standing in your way and build a thriving, wildly successful business, I would be thrilled to support you.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Marketing on social media can be a whirlwind of unknown. Everyone has their own ideas of what will work. Build the email list! Build the lead magnet! Create the funnel! Perfect your ads! Hire the lead agency’s! But no one is actually educating you on what the difference between lead gen, sales and marketing actually is.

Today’s your lucky day!

There’s a key differentiator between marketing and sales. Marketing is INBOUND> it’s how your people find you. Sales is OUTBOUND it’s how you find your people. Building out both is your growth strategy. You must experiment with both until you activate the flywheel. The flywheel is the automated lead pipeline that everyone is looking for. This takes time, patience, experimenting and rinse and repeating.

Posting once, sending out an email cadence, going live for a week and hosting a workshop will NOT create the flywheel. Dig in, have fun with it and reach out if you need guidance.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

There’s only four ways to get sales. Your growth strategy consists of strategic outreach, partnership development, building your ecosystem and inbound marketing. Executing this strategy will activate your market every time!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://gypsysoulcoaching.com/business-coaching
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doralrankin/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoraLRankin
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doralrankin/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtGcHUulSXZH2gg5WE25uiQ?app=desktop