DO YOU LOVE YOUR BUSINESS, LIKE DARLENE LOVES MAPS?

What if you met someone who gushed, “I love maps”?  “No, you don’t understand, I LOVE maps! They are the best because everyone needs them and relies on them almost every day, so how can you NOT LOVE MAPS?!”   I did meet that person in February, which made me appreciate how inspiring it is to get to know the dozens and dozens of you through NAWBO Columbus events who are just as giddy about your business, and the niche product or service you provide to the benefit of your customers.

What if another woman business owner apologized to you for being so passionate, not overbearing mind you, about her service offering, because in her 25+ years of a corporate career as an executive, she was advised to “dial it back”?  Contrasting examples for two women business owners who both love what they do, and yet one is unabashed and the other is apologetic.

Here’s the great news, as business owners, we should be passionate, joyous, even giddy about what we do because we have the privilege to direct our own destiny, be as bold and visionary as we dare, and positively impact our clients and community.  That’s exciting! In fact, bold entrepreneurship is one of our values at NAWBO Columbus.

This value creates an inspiring, tremendously passionate membership base of women business owners who love what they do for a living.  That’s one of the reasons why I have always enjoyed attending our NAWBO Columbus events; there’s such an excitement around each of your services or products that it naturally creates a buzz, an organic following, and that deserves a celebration with apologies never expected.

While the “old school” way of doing business has traditionally been that there’s no emotion in business, the reality is if you love what you do and you want to passionately share it, that engaging conversation and information-sharing will naturally draw the right customers and supporters to you.

When NAWBO Columbus’s member and GIS (Geographical Information Systems) guru, Darlene Magold, who literally has a love affair with all things map-related, even being the only woman to co-found the GIS certification program at the University of Dayton because of her passion, proclaimed her love for maps to a group of us at a February retreat, we laughed.  We didn’t laugh at her, we laughed with her at the joyous outburst that was so contagious. She was ready to leap from her chair to educate us on why maps are so magnificent.

Guess what happened next?  Sure enough, she had us EXCITED ABOUT MAPS, of all things! It was no surprise to us that she is growing by leaps and bounds. (Her new customer initiative has “SMART” in its name…just sayin’.)  She woos others to open their minds to the possibilities she creates. Voilà, who doesn’t want to partner with someone who is not only an expert, but joyous about it, and about you as a customer?

In the day-to-day hustle, it’s easy to lose sight of what makes us gush about our business.

What do you love – really LOVE about your business that makes you giddy?

Why should people be just as excited about your product or offering as you are?

How does it change or impact their life and why do others need to know about this?

We at NAWBO Columbus always look forward to hearing about your business, why you have a passion for it, and how it makes our lives better.  Cheers to you and the passion you bring!