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

Dianne, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Some of the most interesting parts of our journey emerge from areas where we believe something that most people in our industry do not – do you have something like that?

I want to change the stories we teach our children and tell ourselves.  Our parents taught us to go to school, get as much education as possible, get a job in our field, and work harder than everyone else to move up the corporate ladder and we will be successful.  Put some money away for retirement, pay your bills on time, and everything will be fine.

We can live wherever we want, drive pretty cars, buy jewelry, vacations, and name-brand clothes – your one income and credit will get it. So, what do we do? We get into college or a trade school and start living the dream. We bought the fancy car with the maximum payment our credit would allow. We signed up and got approved for all the credit cards to our favorite department stores. We’ve taken on student loans and other debt to fund trips and guilty pleasures.  Life is good!

When wegrow into adulthood and are well into the job, we have the responsibility of kids and paying back the creditors for the remarkable life we’ve been living. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the mundane wash, rinse, repeat cycle, and suddenly life doesn’t seem as exciting as we thought it would be.

We want the life we see on social media. We start comparing what we have to what others have. We need tangible things to represent what we are accomplishing in life. We end up looking beautiful on the outside but miserable on the inside. We’ve created a mountain of debt and spend the rest of our time trying to get out of it.

The cycle must stop. We need to change our mindset to where we think we will end up rich when we strictly exchange time for money. We’ve got to stop worrying about what others think about us and start handling our business as owners and investors, producers, and not just consumers. People don’t want to hear the reality because it goes against everything they learned.  The truth is that we all have to live ourentire life as though it were a business. Who wants to do that?  It sounds like no fun. It sounds like I can’t enjoy my family and that I have to live a stuffy, boring life. 

If that is your reaction, I challenge you to go against the grain. Reach out and learn how you can live your life like a business. This lifestyle will allow you to get the best of what life offers with the fulfillment, security, and peace of mind that others dream about having.

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

I am a corpreneur, a finance and career coach, a motivational speaker, and an international best-selling author.  I work with other corpreneurs who are busy with their 9-5, businesses, and side hustles but are hungry to get their finances in order.  These women crave the ingredients for financial independence because they want the security and peace of mind that comes with being free.

I’ve worked in multiple Fortune 500 companies in leadership positions. Myexperience span numerous roles, including Healthcare, Research, Compliance,Sales, and Operations.  I went through the battle of getting laid off and managing side hustles, which was a struggle.  I didn’t have enough to get through the hump and had nothing to show for my hard work.  I couldn’t understand being a numbers person, what I was doing wrong, and what I needed to do differently.

After multiple iterations of having a lot of money and losing everything, I sought a financial education from one of the best in the industry and was blown away by what I didn’t know. I continued my education and took the necessary coursework to become a finance coach. I am now on pace for the freedom that others only dream about.

After speaking with many women about my experience, I saw the need for a place where like-minded high-achieving entrepreneurs and corpreneurs can learn the tools for financial freedom together. The Stay Hungry Club caters to women who crave the most for their professional, business, and personal life and sets them up with their recipe for financial success.

They may have very little or a lot of money left after they pay the bills.  I aim to have them use the tried and true solution to change their trajectory for good.

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 learned early in life that you must separate who you are at home and on the job.  To maintain professionalism, you must become entirely different from who you are at home.   In the process, you can become confused and give confusing signals to those around you.  I had to unlearn this much later in life when I saw how it impacted my mind, heart, and finances.  After unlearning the lifestyle I had been living for years, I had to reprogram myself to live as one person, and that person had to become the business. 

While complaining about not having enough money, I was essentially leaving money on the table daily.  For example, money slipped through my fingers when I used my car, ate out with a colleague, purchased toiletries on business, and paid to cut my grass.  I had to take myself out of a state of unconsciousness to be aware of how my spending choices impacted my future.  It’s freeing to be authentic in all roles and to build your wealth grow as a result of it.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I’ll never forget the day I interviewed for an operations management position in a Fortune 500 company.  I couldn’t be more ecstatic to oversee a 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week department; however, several interviewers shared that I was probably better suited for Sales.  I loved the role I was applying for and felt offended that they didn’t see me as the perfect fit for the position.  I was not too fond of convincing people to buy something.  I didn’t particularly appreciate that my livelihood was dependent on it.

I wanted to work with the concrete day-to-day management of people because it was easy and rewarding. I continued to get promoted up the ladder throughout the years and became an expert in my field. With every promotion came new challenges that I loved taking on, but I also started getting more exposure to the sales world. I managed many departments internally and recognized the critical contribution of Sales. They kept our world afloat.  We couldn’t live without the business they brought in, and they couldn’t survive without us following through on the outstanding service.

One day, an opportunity arose with an opening within the Sales world. I tossed and turned at the thought of being face-to-face with the customer daily. What if I couldn’t sell anything?  What if they slammed the door in my face? Hung up the phone on me?  What if they repeatedly told me no?   Who wants to deal with constant rejection? On the other hand, I knew that if I didn’t take advantage of the opportunity, it might be years before I sawanother opportunity.  I ended up applying and going through a grueling interview process.

Was I afraid of success, or was I just comfortable doing what I had been doing for years? I was at a turning point where I had to decide quickly. After weeks of preparing and interviewing, I landed the position.  I realized that each of us plays a selling role when we have to promote ourselves or our work to others.   It’s funny how much I love the role today, and I haven’t looked back since. Allowing yourself to step out of your comfort zone and pivot could be one of the best moves in your life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://diannebowdary.com/ https://stayhungryclub.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diannebowdary/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/diannebowdary.info/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamdiannebowdary/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DianneBowdary

Image Credits
Jay Fields at JSpire Productions for Photography