[012] How Passion, Feedback, Persistence, And "Not Yet" Can Help You Achieve Your Dreams.

Three of my favorite examples of ordinary women and moms who achieved created and sold phenomenal businesses are housewife Debbi Fields, dancer Brynn Putnan, and tax saleswoman Sara Blakely.

There are many reasons why these women were immensely successful. Here are some of the most important reasons:

How this young mom and housewife without any business education created a business grew into 400 stores.

Debbi Fields was a young mother with no business education when she decided to open a business to sell freshly baked cookies. As most business owners, she struggled to get a loan, start selling her cookies when she didn't yet have a reputation, and manage a growing business.

Yet, her passion for making the perfect cookie pushed her to ask for things, sell cookies on the streets, ask for daily feedback from customers to improve her cookies, set hourly financial goals, and adopt modern software to better manage quality in a fast-growing international business.

Learn more about Mrs. Fields story here.

How this pregnant dancer with no tech or business background founded and sold and sold it for $500 million in 4 years.

Brynn Putnan innovated by creating a new product category within fitness: mirror screen gyms.

She was a dancer, and then opened up a boutique fitness studio where she taught. After asking her customers for feedback, she learned that they wanted more mirrors. She came up with the idea of installing a screen on a mirror to work out at home. The company was called "Mirror".

She pitched it to investors and got $75 million in venture funding. Many celebrities loved her product and started to post it on social media. Within 4 years of starting the company, she sold it for $500 million to Lululemon.

Her idea came from asking for feedback and then focusing on the customer rather than comparison. She says, "I spend very little time comparing to competitors and much more time focused on our members' needs and how to meet them."

Learn more about Brynn Putnan's story here.

How this fax machine saleswoman became the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world, while raising 4 children.

Sara Blakely used to sell fax machines door-to-door and became a national sales trainer. She wanted a pantyhose without the feet that didn't roll up her legs. So, she created one. She created the initial prototype and patented it, and called her company Spanx.

She had several challenges, especially explaining the value of her product to men who owned factories to produce the item and who were in charge of procurement for large department store chains to sell her product. Many hung up the phone.

When she pitched her product, she received "no" over and over again. However, she was not afraid of failure, because when she was growing up, her father would often ask her what she had failed in that day. She also learned to persist and that a no was a "not yet".

Eventually, she signed contract several large retailers, including Bloomingdales and QVS.

She expanded her business while growing her family to have four children.

Learn more about Sara Blakely's story here.

Expressing your passion, asking for feedback, persisting in the face of receiving "no", and thinking in terms of "not yet" can help you create opportunities and advance your dreams.

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You can also start to learn assertive communication which helps you calmly express any thoughts, ideas, desires, feelings and boundaries in a respectful, thoughtful, and anxious-free way with these free resources: https://wwwassertiveway.com/free.