Share Your Personal Story of WHY

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Lisa McGrath, an international bestselling author, national board certified teacher, and coach, based in Olympia, WA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Pages with Purpose takes entrepreneurs, coaches, and aspiring writers on the author's journey with a 6-week Writing, Publishing, and Marketing course with the opportunity to become a bestselling author in the international bestselling anthology series Pages with Purpose. Imagine tapping into your WHY and the impact sharing your story can have on readers. For many featured authors, submitting their personal chapters to the anthology leads to other opportunities, including upscaling their businesses with products, services, speaking engagements, TEDx, and writing full-length manuscripts. Publishing a book is one of the quickest ways of gaining visibility, authority, and credibility. It allows you to share your expertise with an audience and convert those readers into clients.

Tell us about yourself

My personal story of WHY started back in high school when I had a conversation with my favorite English teacher. When he asked me about my future plans, I shared my heart's desire to be an author. My dream was quickly shadowed by his comment that, as a woman, I should "marry and raise a family." With my uphill journey littered with obstacles, including being a homeless teen, I shelved my dream of becoming an author and made a commitment to helping others who experienced the hardships of growing up in a dysfunctional family or felt a loss of direction in their lives find clarity and purpose.

After years of helping others discover their dreams, design a plan, and develop the action steps to achieving their personal and professional goals, I dusted off my own dreams and began writing again. I started blogging, writing content for my business, and sharing my personal story of WHY. I continued to help others find their WHYs and share their stories while behind the scenes, my business grew. The publishing side continued to develop with book coaching, editing, and publishing services, as well as ghostwriting services for other professionals.

The best part of my business journey is that I continue my mission to help others discover, design, and develop actions to live their dreams while living my own Intentional Life, sharing my WHY, and growing my business. Being of service and witnessing the journeys of my clients fills me with an intrinsic value that overflows with gratitude. With each success, I see the shadows of my past, the echoes of the naysayers, diminish. This experience has been my greatest motivation to share my message with others and encourage them to accomplish their goals and share their personal stories of WHY for professional purposes.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

When I was that young girl dreaming of becoming an author, I never imagined helping hundreds of others become bestselling authors too, and this experience has been one of my biggest accomplishments as a business owner. Sure, I love that I've published over a dozen books and earned recognition as an international award-winning bestselling author, but bearing witness to the success others achieve in my programs is the greatest reward.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

One of the hardest things I've experienced as a business owner has been letting go and delegating responsibilities to my team. It took some practice, and I'm not always the best at it because I love almost all aspects of my business. But I've learned that there are some chores that are better done by others so I can concentrate on the ones that are mine to do, such as the coaching.

As I continue to delegate, I'm able to grow in other areas, both personally and professionally, and I have discovered more opportunities to explore and widen my experiences. I'm able to implement the strategies and systems that allow me to live intentionally.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

Growing a business has many rewards, yet so many people quit just before experiencing success. Overcoming imposter syndrome, negative self-talk, or other self-confidence issues is one of the greatest issues new business owners struggle with. So, my first tip is to work on your mindset. You'll want a growth mindset that opens you up to learning, taking risks, and performing the tasks necessary to start. Don't listen to naysayers, and build a "can-do" attitude.

My second tip is to invest in yourself and your business. This can be coaches to employees and everything in between. When I brought my coaching business online, I didn't have the necessary skills, but I invested in classes, software, and business coaches to help me navigate, start, and grow. Investing in personal and professional development accelerates your journey to building a successful business (and life).

I learned my third tip from one of my business mentors: "done is better than perfect." You don't want perfectionism to stall your progress and prevent you from growing. Once you make a decision to start your business, write your book, or transform your life, get going by taking the next best steps. If you're just starting out, get help. Make your website live; you can always change it up as you go. Writing a book? Get the words down on paper and edit later. Want to transform your life? Start with the end in mind and create the steps to achieve the transformation you desire. Every step forward in your journey is progress, and when you make small, consistent steps forward, you will make progress and accomplish your goals.

So, my three tips for starting, running, and growing your business are:

Develop a positive mindset.
Invest in yourself and your business.
Don't procrastinate: Done is Better than Perfect.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.pageswithpurpose.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PageswithPurposewithLisa/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachlisamcgrath/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/1lisamcgrath
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachlisamcgrath/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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