Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in professional development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Matt Mills, founder of Matt Mills Coaching/Ignite Your Career, located in Los Angeles, CA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I believe that it is possible for anyone to get paid to do the work and have a career that truly makes them come alive. As a career and life coach, that's what I help my clients achieve. I work primarily with mid-career individuals ready to reignite the spark in their professional life. Most of my clients come to me because they are eager to make a shift in their careers and lives but are not sure where to start and feel overwhelmed about where to begin. Through an in-depth 4-stage process, I help those individuals discover the next step in their career that will fire them up AND pay them well.
Tell us about yourself
I'm passionate about the work I do because I've been in the same shoes my clients have been in before, and I know how life-changing it can be when you take purposeful risks that may seem scary at first but are always worth it. I started my career in the entertainment industry, and even when I achieved a level success as a creative executive, I knew something was missing.
Once I hired my first coach, and they helped me discover that teaching and coaching were what I was meant to be doing and could get highly paid for it, I knew that there was an opportunity to provide that same gift to others who really needed and wanted to find that missing piece in their life. My journey brought me from Hollywood executive to teacher in Tanzania and then to a professional coach. It was the purposeful risks that I've taken throughout my life and career that have continued to motivate me every day to help clients find that same joy in their careers.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
As a coach, my biggest accomplishments are the achievements that I help my clients experience. I've helped clients plan and prepare to leave their jobs to take life-changing trips around the world, double their salaries, land jobs at top companies, find their true calling, and make extraordinary shifts in their life and career. Fortunately, my work is filled with big accomplishments because my clients achieve extraordinary results!
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
As a business owner, a lot is on your shoulders, and it can feel overwhelming at times. There will always be ups and downs, and that's a natural part of the process, so resiliency is the biggest skill you will need to cultivate. Even with my clients who are building their careers, they have to treat their career path like a business, so having resiliency and patience are incredibly important if you want to be successful.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- The desire for what you are creating and building has to be at a very high level from the start. If you aren't fully invested in and excited about your business each and every day, when it becomes challenging, you will be tempted to slow down too quickly or quit, so that purpose, belief, and desire need to be there.
- Consistency is key. You need to show up every day and not slow down even when you start to see results. I've had moments when I took my foot off the gas when I started to see success, and it was challenging to regain that momentum when that success started to slow down.
- Know that resistance is normal and part of the process. There will be many moments when your mind will start to convince you that you're on the wrong track, that a few "no's" mean you're failing, or that no one will care about what you're building. Everyone experiences this right at the moment you need to keep moving forward. When resistance to forward action shows up, acknowledge it, but don't let it keep you from stopping.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website:
https://mattcmills.com/
https://becomeignited.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/themattcmills
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattcmills/
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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