Reduce Stress & Optimize Performance

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Stephanie Nash, Founder of Strategic Mindfulness, located in Santa Monica, CA, USA.

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

I am a mindfulness & body language expert & coach, and I help people reduce stress and optimize performance. My customers may be private clients or organizations & corporations. I also specialize in presentation skills - working with corporations, politicians, attorneys, and TEDx speakers, among others - helping presenters be relaxed, present and effective while sharing their message.

Tell us about yourself

I have been a professional actress for over 40 years, with decades of coaching actors and directors, and teaching presentation skills began 30 years ago as a natural extension of that. Then in 1998, I met a master mindfulness meditation teacher and quickly became his top teacher. Using his techniques, I designed a mindfulness program for a Harvard Medical School brain study and recorded a program for a Carnegie Mellon stress reduction study.

So, for the past two decades, I have maintained both careers. The acting gives me a bigger audience, and through acting, I have developed the empathy required to “become other people,” which is an invaluable skill when I am helping people work through all sorts of crises and challenges. And what motivates me every day is seeing the transformation that happens with my clients and how so many of them have gone on to contribute to the world in great ways.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Well, I have been recognized, featured, and rewarded in several aspects of my business, which is lovely, but not necessarily an accomplishment. What excites me at the moment (and I think it may ultimately be my biggest accomplishment) is that I am developing my own app, “Rewire Your Being,” which I hope will serve a much broader audience - and in a unique way.

My goal is that “Rewire” offers more than just great meditations or practical mindfulness tips for daily life but also introduces people to some fun, and possibly new, ways of becoming more embodied, empowered, productive and satisfied.

I’m known for my “practical, playful and profound” approach, and I hope I can continue to help people change the relationship to that voice in their head, enjoy each moment more, and to seek to contribute to the well-being of themselves and others. Can’t ask for more than that. That’s probably going to be my best contribution toward healing this planet and the people on it.

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

Getting and training a qualified support team is definitely the hardest thing for me. It takes time and commitment to get someone up to speed with what I know I could do - if only I could clone myself! :) So, until any such duplication of myself exists, I have to work against an old engrained habit of wanting to do everything myself (to have it done the way I want), which is simply not practical as your business grows.

I think an important part of running a business is developing leadership skills where you inspire others to be creative while also clearly articulating what needs to be done. And hiring the right personnel is everything.

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

Have a vision of who you are helping and how.
Don’t try to do everything yourself.
Remind yourself to look at what is most deeply gratifying and satisfying from what you do.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.strategic-mindfulness.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/217646413209110
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephanie__nash/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/stefnash
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanienashspeakercoach/

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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