We were lucky to catch up with Allison Ziegler recently and have shared our conversation below.
Allison, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
The first step to being successful comes from deciding there is no other option. The concept is simple, but the implementation is where most people give up.
In 2024 it became my absolute mission to learn to believe in myself under any circumstances and against all odds. I had just left my corporate job, which had been my dream for years, but all my fears and subconscious doubts immediately rose to the surface once it finally happened.
Instead of letting fear control my actions, I addressed the root causes of why I was so scared, and I learned to create new beliefs that supported the life and business I actually wanted.
2024 was a year filled with challenges and setbacks, but what I gained the most through all of these lessons, was a reframe of what it actually means to be successful. Fear of failure and fear of success are one in the same, and the sooner you can learn to embrace the setbacks or perceived failures as guideposts along the path, the sooner you experience success. Business is a process of experimentation based on creating products and services from your heart that are designed to help others, and failure is just a part of the process on the path to success.
Allison, 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?
Allison Ziggy was founded in 2019, after a particularly challenging set of circumstances that landed me in Waxhaw, North Carolina, living with my Dad. I had just quit my high paying corporate sales job, and experienced a bipolar misdiagnosis; I had never felt more lost in my entire life.
In the aftermath, I discovered manifestation and meditation, and I started to fall in love with the possibility of a better future. My circumstances continued to improve the more I integrated this work, and I knew it was part of my mission to make this level of transformation available to others. I have been helping people take action on their big dreams, learn to trust their intuition and create better standards for themselves ever since.
I particularly love helping people transform their lives using pen and paper, and I created my own line of planners and journals. I currently offer 5 planner variations on different paths to transformation, including taking a Dry Month, going on a Solo Trip or setting intentions with the moon.
I currently offer coaching services and digital courses designed to help people align their beliefs to dreams so that they can experience the life, love and career they’ve always desired. Additionally. I am writing a book about my misdiagnosis journey, titled Princess Interrupted, and have a weekly podcast of the same title. My intentional journaling community, the NYC Calendar Club meets regularly for journal parties, where people come together and set intentions, sticker and get creative with manifesting dreams around the calendar.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I had been operating under the of model of “hard work plus desire equals results” for as long as I can remember, essentially trying to replicate what had worked for me in the corporate world, but this just created burnout and frustration in my business.
I quickly learned that the energy you put into an action is the same energy you get out of it, and I started to prioritize shifting my state before doing any work on the business instead of just “trying to get things done.” Your energetic state is far more important than action alone, and reframing my relationship to the work I was doing changed everything.
Now, before I create anything for my business, I connect to the heart of the person who will be reading my words; I visualize them, and share my message from a place of service. I do this every single time, whether it’s an writing an Instagram caption, email, pages in my book, or recording a live video.
When you stop making it about yourself and start reconnecting to the larger vision and the bigger impact, miracles happen. It becomes less about what you’re doing, and more about who you are being. When I feel stuck, I think about that version of myself from 2019, who felt so lost, and I connect to what she would have needed to hear in that moment and create for her.
Not only has shift in perspective this allowed me to grow my business, but it’s enabled me to bring more of myself to my work, instead of creating something anyone could replicate. Work created from the soul is the most valuable contribution you could ever make, and it’s far more fun than forcing yourself to do something.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
From the time I started my business in 2019, it was always my dream to take it full time. I used the principles I coach my clients on to attract aligned opportunity after opportunity in my career, and I leveraged these corporate sales roles to unlock international travel opportunities, and attended conferences around the world while funding my larger dream and supporting my NYC lifestyle. I always made it a point to bring my entire self to whatever I was doing. Even when I was meeting corporate clients, I brought all of me, even if the only impact I made was ordering a sparkling water at dinner instead of a glass of wine. I always made it a point to be grateful for where I was at while continually striving for more.
It eventually got to a point where my corporate career was no longer aligned, and I used a week of vacation time to visualize what my life would look like as a full time entrepreneur. The Monday when I was due to return back to work, I received notice I was being let go. I knew I had two options; view this situation from the perspective of a victim, or use this to create the opportunity my heart truly desired.
I wasn’t ready from a revenue standpoint to leave the corporate world when I did, but I knew this was my chance to go all in on my dream. This resulted in the most challenging year of my life from a personal, financial and personal development standpoint, but on the other side was the life and business that I always knew was possible.
Your dreams are your dreams for a reason, and it’s up to you to uncover anything within yourself that tries to make you believe otherwise. I wouldn’t be the woman I am today had I given up, and this truly is just the beginning.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.allisonziggy.com
- Instagram: @allisonziggy
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonaziegler
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@allisonziggylicious
Image Credits
Nasir Javed Cami Compton