Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Michele Reiner, founder of Storied Awareness, located in Atlanta, GA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Nonprofit leadership is tough. Resources are scarce, fundraising is challenging, and the social issues these heroes are addressing are complex and consuming. In fact, Storied Awareness research has shown that 51% of surveyed executive directors left the role in less than four years, 60% did not take another executive director role once they left, and 45% had left the nonprofit sector completely by the time we caught up with them.
When you consider that every organization these leaders represented spent time, resources, and social capital bringing them onboard and up to speed, it is staggering that both the individual organizations and the nonprofit sector as a whole completely lost this talent investment almost half the time.
Storied Awareness’ research-based coaching programs provide unique opportunities for nonprofit leaders to embrace their intuitive leadership skills and deepen the impact of their work. Through coaching leaders to capitalize on strengths, improve where needed and manage the many layers of their role with grace, we give nonprofit leaders what they need to flourish in the role and love what they do.
Tell us about yourself
While engaging in the nonprofit field in a multitude of roles over the past 30 years, I grew increasingly curious about leadership and its impact on the organization and community. Through reflecting on my personal experience as an executive director, board chair, leadership coach, and nonprofit consultant, I realized that it wasn’t the tactical and practical skills that made the difference for the leaders who succeeded in their roles. It was really the softer leadership skills and the organization's culture that made the difference.
I knew then that leadership coaching was the way to maximize my talents to support nonprofit leaders who are doing groundbreaking work every day. Three tenets inspire my work, and building my practice around them is what inspires me every day:
• The richest path to improvement is where thinking and feeling intersect - and this is tough work.
• The power of connection and understanding is radical.
• Nonprofit leaders need space to be seen, heard, and understood.
Nonprofit leaders don't have the luxury of wasting money, time, energy, and resources, and I strive to give every client I work with the space they need to untangle challenges, understand what they can and cannot do to effect change, and put their dreams into action.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
A major tenant of the Storied Awareness mission is listening to and learning from the experiences of others. An exciting accomplishment was surveying and interviewing over 40 former nonprofit leaders and analyzing the results to provide relevant, data-driven recommendations to nonprofit leaders wanting to improve their work and impact.
By pushing ourselves to understand and reflect on our stories and the stories of others, we cannot stop ourselves from shifting. Once individuals start shifting, the impact ripples to transform other individuals, families, organizations, and communities.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
As a solopreneur, balancing building the business with running and implementing the business is often hard. I see opportunities in every direction to add more programming, develop more services, and support more leaders. Yet, I'm also a mother of 3 school-aged children and an active community member, so I need to constantly prioritize and determine what is important for me to be doing right now.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- It's important to dream big, yet critical to remember that you just need to start moving forward. You'll learn more by securing your first few customers than by taking another class, getting another certification, or listening to another podcast.
- Build your network and find supportive people who are doing adjacent work. These are the people you can turn to with questions, hold you accountable, and inspire you when things are tough. If you can afford it, add a coach to this mix. The pay-off will be worth it!
- Be yourself and build your brand and marketing around this. There is nothing more exhausting than trying to be someone else and nothing more inspiring than showing up authentically and finding the people who you want to work with - and who want to work with you.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.storiedawareness.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storiedawareness
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/storiedawareness/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmnreiner/
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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