We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rosie Rochelle. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rosie below.
Hi Rosie , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear how you think where to draw the line in terms of asking friends and family to support your business – what’s okay and what’s over the line?
I’m a big advocate of community and partnerships. But admittedly, I do not always like asking friends or family to support my business. I can too easily believe that I would be bothering them if I asked. Here’s the truth: your friends and family want to see you succeed and will feel joyful to know they helped you get there. People want to help, it really is in our nature to do good. Do you know that Steve Jobs asked for help when making the glass surface of the iPhone? And the person who helped him proudly displays the thank you note from Jobs directly. If Steve Jobs can ask for help, I think we can too. Here are some ways that people would love to support you: purchasing your product/service, referring others to you, sharing your post on social media, helping you set up an event, attending your event, giving you feedback or a review, and in general, encouraging you on your journey!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
For as long as I could remember, I loved to write. It was my safe place when I was growing up in a troubled home and foster care. Writing allowed me to process, heal, and connect to myself and God. Years ago as I was reading a devotional faith book, I thought “I can do this” and began to write! But quickly, I dismissed my ability to write such a book. Having dropped out of high school as a teenager and working my way through college, I never thought I had the same abilities as other writers or professionals. So I put my dream on the shelf and focused on my professional career as a college counselor, all along the way dreaming, creating, and crafting to my hearts content.
One day, things finally clicked for me. I realized I was creating and writing for other people and companies but not for myself or my personal vision. So I quickly moved to action, creating a website and writing a devotional book. About 1 year later I decided to move that vision further by creating a digital faith magazine with the intent to encourage and inspire women to follow the calling in their heart. To date, we have reached thousands people in 13 countries (that we know of!)
As the founder and director of Heartstance LLC, my vision is to help women fulfill the calling in their lives and to know that they are worth pursuing their dreams. We do this through our community magazine His Story Magazine and through career and vision coaching. We help women overcome the fears, challenges, hurdles, and incorrect beliefs that hold them back from the dream in their heart.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Anyone who knows me, knows if I start talking about Disney, I likely won’t stop for a while. I love Disney! But not for the reasons you might think. When I step into a Disney park, I am in awe of the pure creativity, vision, and innovation all around me and what stands out the most to me is that all of that creativity at one point was just a vision in Mr. Walt Disney’s mind. I am captivated by the vision and creativity and most importantly the implementation of that vision and creativity. That for me is the most rewarding part of being a creative: seeing a vision come to life. That at one point, this vision only existed in someone’s mind, and now it is a reality for all to experience.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
We have a team of eight incredible writers and creatives for His Story Magazine. This team is a community and unit that functions together to produce something incredible. When I decided to launch the magazine and invited these team members, I knew that the team needed to be cultivated for it to last. So rather than bark orders or give strict deadlines, I created a community where people could share their struggles, encourage one another, and be inspired in their writing together. I have always put the team above my own interests, even if that meant I would do more of the writing or layout to help lessen their workload. I recognize when they need time, rest, prayer, encouragement, or a firm reminder to write their articles. This type of leadership takes patience, a constant denying self, and faith in God and my team that the work will still get done. We have never missed a deadline and the team always puts in more than their share of work to the magazine.
My advice would be to know yourself, your own limitations, and to know your team. Seek to lead rather than just manage. Seek to encourage, inspire, and grow your team members in their strengths. When your heart (heartstance) is to serve first, and genuinely help your team grow, you will naturally see them pour out their best.
Contact Info:
- Website: heartstance.com
- Facebook: heartstancemagazine