Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Anne Bonney. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Anne thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

I have owned my own business for almost 8 years and I’ve joked from the beginning that I vacillate daily between terror and elation! It would be so much easier to just go work for someone else, know there’s a steady paycheck coming in, and rely on just carrying out the directives of your boss and executives (or if you’re the boss/executive, have a team to work with to make those decisions. But the elation of having the freedom of owning my own business and doing things my own way far outweighs that, and it just takes a ton of courage to move forward.

The key I’ve found is to run my business in a way that feels energy rich to me. There is SO MUCH advice and “you have to do it this way” and “if you don’t have this, you won’t be successful” but in the end, I’ve found that I need to shut that out after a while, and do my thing! Do the business building activities that fulfill me (referral marketing, podcast, books, networking) and find a way around the business building activities that people say you HAVE to do (cold calls, social media consistency, constant follow up) that make me feel terrible and like a gross salesy jerk-face! By shutting out the noise and doing my business the way that feels good and right to me, I’ve been able to be very successful AND happy. The other key for me has been to look at how far I’ve come from that first $200 presentation, and how much I’ve accomplished since September 2015, living in my parent’s basement, using up the last of my savings and credit and working at the Olive Garden! It’s so easy to get caught up in the forward momentum and the focus on what I don’t have yet, I periodically stop and say, “Yes, you’ve got a lot of work to do, but look at what you’ve done!” and that gives me to the courage and motivation to keep going!!

Anne, 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?

My main business is as a keynote speaker talking to corporations and associations about dealing with the discomforts of change. (https://YourChangeSpeaker.com) I’ve moved 28 times to 4 continents, I’ve had 5 distinct careers so dealing with change has been a constant throughout my life. I’ve also studied the human response to change so I work to normalize the discomfort that comes with it so people can get over their challenge with their resistance and move through it. My 2 books are about dealing with change (one for individuals, and one for managers) and my podcast is called Dancing in the Discomfort Zone, where I talk about any and all topics that make people uncomfortable, to try to help them find less resistance and more courage as they move through the world. I take a fun approach, because this is a very serious and uncomfortable topic, and when we laugh, we’re able to trust more and be more open to the vulnerability that it requires to change our behavior and mindset. I also do workshops on leadership that people want to follow, having tough conversations, and emotional intelligence/personality styles so people can embrace all that discomfort as they navigate the changes in their lives.

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

I left my corporate job in Sept of 2015 with some (but not a lot) of savings. By March, I had run out of money and credit, and I still didn’t have a pipeline full of business (I had none!) I was at a crossroads, and it would have been easy to just go get a job. I spent a day searching and then decided it was worth sticking with it and trying to make it work so I got a job at the Olive Garden to bring in the cash I needed to stay afloat, and kept plugging away at my business. Eventually I got to the point where my shifts at the restaurant were interfering with speaking opportunities, and I was able to quit waiting tables and devote myself full time to speaking. (THANK GOD because I kept burning myself on the breadstick machine!) I never thought that at 43 with a masters degree and having worked myself up to a senior director level at the third largest gym chain in the US that I’d be waiting tables and living in my parent’s basement, but it was what I needed to do to make this business work, and it was not only worth it, it was a fabulous experience in being humble and doing what I needed to do to do the job that truly feeds my soul! I joke that I put all my furniture and my ego in storage until I was making enough to move out on my own!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I see so many people stopped by fear an discomfort. Fear is a part of life and success and finding fulfillment, and so often people shy away when they feel any kind of fear or discomfort. My mission is to help normalize that discomfort and provide people with tools to be able to recognize it when it happens, analyze the actual risk and move forward if the reward is greater than the risk! I feel there is so much value, courage building and strengthening in “WOW! That was hard/uncomfortable, but it was so worth it.” and we get better at dealing with the uncomfortable things that we can’t control when we step into the uncomfortable things that we can.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://YourChangeSpeaker.com
• Instagram: @SpeakerAnneBonney
• Facebook: @SpeakerAnneBonney
• Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/annebonney
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF6svpLe3qVb6eCKyeY4_Nw

Image Credits
Headshots taken by Melissa Song Photography