Bankable Biz Tips

WARNING: I shot this video outside in natural light with NO makeup! Sometimes being an emotional nudist is about taking risks (insert cackling laughter here). Note to self: Never eat a boat load of chocolate 2 days before shooting a video or risk having a giant zit-fest on your face).

A few days ago I was taking my Dad to the doctor for his monthly visit. Pop is a quadriplegic that has been wheelchair bound for nearly 15 years. My sister and I (along with 2 nurses) care for him at home. Due to the severity of his paralysis, Dad requires extensive medical care, and I take him to this particular doctor on the 2nd Wednesday of every month.  Yup, that’s the middle of the week, and the middle of the day… every single month. THIS is my why! I need flexibility and financial stability in order to sustain my family so we can provide this quality of care for my father.

Daddy always looks forward to his doctor’s visit with me because its the only time he has my undivided attention for more than 10 minutes. I’m always buzzing about headed to this event, or that meeting or just too plum tired to carry on a decent conversation. But once a month, we spend this bonding time together.  He especially likes our regular visits to Chick-Fil-A afterwards.

As we rode the 25 minutes to the doctor, Daddy asked about a few of my friends from college, then complained about how noisy the new washer is (you know the elderly have to have at least ONE complaint in every conversation).  Then Dad asked something that caught me a little off guard. After a long quiet pause, ok, during the time I might have been focused on taking a new short cut and not getting us lost. Anyhoo, during that pause, he put on his best southern drawl and asked “Howwws yo bizzzzness goin?”.

His thoughtful question caught me off guard because Dad and I rarely talk about my business. Not because he is not interested, but because I don’t want to him to worry too much. Besides, when I’m with him… I just like to “turn it off” and unplug from the daily grind. I smiled at how considerate his polite inquiry was.  Then I responded with a few details about only the good things (I never share my challenges with him).  I heard him breath a sigh of relief then say “I prays for your bizness every day” (yep he said pray with an “s” – it’s a southern farm boy raised during The Great Depression thing). My heart nearly exploded. I had not realized how concerned and emotionally attached he was to my success.  C’mon, say it with me.. “awwwww”.

My whole point to this post is sharing my “why”. My Daddy is my why. He’s the reason I work 18 hour days and reason my rates are not negotiable. A couple months back, I had a potential client ask me to reduce my costs by about 50% . Her reasoning was that she was using “household” money.  Let me be clear here, I would never ever ask someone to sacrifice the needs of their family for coaching. Likewise, I would not sacrifice the needs of my family to support their dream. My advice to those who are facing a similar challenge is find a different way to finance your aspirations, but never ask anyone else to compromise THEIR why to accommodate your why.

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Jai Stone (Master Brand Coach)

Master Brand Coach at Jai Stone, ULTD

Jai Stone, is a business lifestyle strategist and the founder of the Emotional Nudity Lifestyle and Game ChangHER University. She is also a highly syndicated blogger who has been featured in Essence Magazine, Huffington Post and on BET. She is currently a regular contributor to Essence.com

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