When I left the world of large corporate in 2006, I was disillusioned. After 18 years of working tirelessly to get to a position and paycheck I’d always dreamed of having, I was miserable. You know, I’d always thought that regardless of the stress involved, making “that kind” if money would be worth it.

I found it wasn’t.

As I tell the story to others, I call that realization my “Early Midlife Crisis” – because I’d finally reached that goal, and realized it wasn’t what I expected it to be: long hours that belonged to someone else, migraines and physical sickness, no time to enjoy my family, my friends, and my life. I saw people around me, in my own age group, having heart attacks and life-threatening, stress-related maladies, and realized there was nothing that was worth losing the ability to enjoy – and experience – life! So I decided to jump off the cliff and start my own business… growing and selling organic herbs.

Today, when I look at it from the outside in, I think of the question so many others have asked me when I’m telling this story: “So, where did that come from?” I mean, really – I was born and raised a LAWNG ISLAND girl, never really gardened until we settled here in NC and bought our house in the late ’90s, and yet there I was – in 2003, I bought a piece of land that coincidentally was on the other side of my backyard fence, wrote a business plan, got to work… and eventually took the plunge into entrepreneurship in April 2006. And though discussion of that business is a blog for another day, I will say that I actually loved it…for awhile.

The way I look at it today is that regardless of the other circumstances that led me to create that business and do what I did, it gave me the chance to put in a buffer between myself and my life as a corporate citizen – aka “Corporate Me.” For 3 years (starting even before I left corporate), I dedicated my heart and soul to that business, in the solitude of what grew to be 5,000+ square feet of greenhouses and 2,500+ square feet outside of tending to those herbs. Instead of the hustle and bustle of 18 years of corporate life – people, staff, executives, communications, people, branding, messaging, people – it was the plants and me for a majority of the time (save for all the critters with which I became fascinated during my integration with nature).

In the end, that was how I found myself again. It cleared my head, I heard my voice, and I discovered I hadn’t really heard my own heart for a long, long time.

Fast forward 2 years, to mid-2008: The economy crashed. The herb nursery income became rather suffocating as customers began feeling the forthcoming effects… and the dotted syncopation of the occasional marketing side project I’d taken on became a regular hum, until I was actually bringing in as much money doing that – on a really part-time basis – as I was working in the nursery full-time PLUS!

I started attending business groups focused on entrepreneurs, and soon found through a succession of events that I was asked to speak – not about my herb business, but about marketing. I remember the first one: I had to dust off the ol’ mental cobwebs, since all of my presentations and classes for 2 years had been related to the herbs I grew. A friend of mine – also a business owner who had been a client, because I’d been helping her as one of my side marketing jobs – came with me to that meeting. She had seen me do my presentations regarding herbs, herb gardening, and organic gardening, and had previously complimented me on my presentation skills. However, she is simultaneously the best and the worst person from whom to solicit feedback on anything personal – both because she’ll tell you the honest truth, and because she’ll tell you the honest truth – so I wanted her to be there to give me a temperature reading on the value of this particular presentation.

Later, as we left the meeting, I noticed she was unusually quiet and pensive. We left the building, got into the car, and drove away, all the while without her saying a word. As confident of a professional as I had been, the longer she was quiet, the more nervous I became, and doubt started to tinge my mind (you know how sometimes that inner voice starts to panic) – had I flubbed it up that badly? Was she trying to find the words to tell me how terrible my presentation had gone, without hurting my feelings?

Just as I was about to burst from her uncharacteristic silence, I was opening my mouth to ask her what she’d thought when she turned to me, completely solemn, and simply said, “You know, first I just want to say that I completely respect you as a business owner, and I want you to know that I think you do a wonderful job with your nursery. I’ve heard you speak before, and I’ve always felt that you are very good at what you do.

“However, after today, I would undeniably say that THIS is what you need to be doing. THIS is who you are.”

It’s funny, how a simple conversation between friends in a car can sometimes really be that memorable. Her candor that day really helped me to take a serious, honest look at myself – and realize that it wasn’t the marketing that I’d grown to hate, but the environment in which I’d practiced it! In the time I’d been away, working with the plants, I’d become so much more comfortable and familiar with myself again that I was able to see that in corporate, I had tired of all the time away from actually doing the marketing, and instead having to play ridiculous politics and act as the proverbial Kevlar so my staff didn’t have to get distracted by the nonsense that went on in the ivory tower, and they could get their jobs done.

The rest is history. Here’s the report, 2 years later: AboutFace Marketing is flourishing, and I’m expanding! I STILL love marketing, more than ever; however, now I also love the environment in which I practice it ! In all honesty, I can tell you that I love working with small and medium businesses, where the owner is completely passionate and in love with what they’re doing. I love knowing their passion and drive is 110% behind what they’re doing; when they’re frustrated, I’m frustrated – but likewise, when they succeed from the help I give them, I feel like I’m on top of the world!

It seems that there’s all this noise today about “heart-centered marketing,” which is quickly becoming a catchphrase before the general population really understands what the term is supposed to mean. Does it have to do with your message, and the way it’s delivered? No doubt. Does it need to reflect that you have consideration and care about your target market(s)? Absolutely. However, your message, your brand, and your product or service will never be effectively relayed as genuine and “heart-centered” unless you, as the owner (and in turn, the people who work with you) really feel it in your core!

So, as you continue to build your plan, your brand, and your business, don’t forget to look into the mirror with regularity and ask yourself:

1. Am I passionate about this?
   
2. Do I love doing this, all day, every day?
   
3. Do I believe in my business and what I’m doing, 110%?
   
4. Do I really feel like I’m able to make my customers’ lives better by introducing myself and my company into their lives?

No matter how crafty your branding is, and no matter how snazzy of a Website you may have, “heart-centered” marketing by nature will only exist if and when you can honestly answer yes when you ask yourself those questions. It’s not simply another method or approach du jour; it’s a result of that state of being. You can’t fake that!

This isn’t just marketing; here’s a simple business tip in relation to this exercise: If you answer no to any of these questions, but yes to the rest, don’t skip over it, but figure out what you can do to change your business and/or approach so your answer is yes. Often, this simple reassessment can transform a stumbling block in your business to success in one short step – yet there are many businesses that struggle for years because the owner(s) and/or whomever is running the business never does.

Case in point (and this is the hardest, since it’s looking in the mirror): Had I ever asked myself the above questions with the herb nursery (or heck, even back in corporate), I know I would have had to waffle a bit about #2 – and I will say in both instances. Did I love the herbs? Yes; I completely believe in organics, I believed in the high quality of what I produced, and I loved sharing how to grow and use them with other people. However, I’ve since discovered the downfall, and why I really didn’t have the endurance to continue on when the going got tough: Though I really like having my hands in the dirt and working with plants, today I can admit what I probably wouldn’t have been able to back then: that I didn’t like having to work 5am-5pm often 6 days per week, and 5am through noon on the seventh for most days of the year, without the flexibility of when those hours were (I was a slave to the plants, the heat, and the sun); and then in North Carolina summertime suffering through 110+ degree (Fahrenheit) temperatures in the greenhouses while having to continuously exert myself past the point of physical and mental exhaustion. I got tired. However, did I have the opportunity to change the environment? Not really – plants are plants! And when the going got a little tough, instead of really pursuing the flexibility I needed to keep it going (something I would have counseled my marketing clients to explore), I instead went back to my original career equation (marketing), reexamined it, and altered that situation so that all the answers to all of the questions above became yes.

Here I am, 2 years later. Do I work long days? You bet – often as long as those hours were in the greenhouses. Do I tire myself out? Definitely. However, when things really started getting  overwhelming recently, guess what I did? I took a reassessment – and now I’m hiring someone (actually, it may turn out to be some two) to help out, which will put me back into my Yes Zone.

So before you start attending any Webinars, seminars, or workshops about “heart-centered marketing,” first make sure you’ve taken a good look inside of yourself,  and that all systems are a go in terms of how you feel about what you’re doing on the business front. It’s only when you’re truly in that comfort – and passion – zone in all areas that you will be able to honestly make that connection with your target market(s) and customers via a true reflection of that passion via your branding and marketing efforts.

P.S. Thanks, Loni, for that comment in the car that day… you’re a great friend, and you are one of the most humble but dedicated and passionate businesspeople I know!

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