Getting Out of Your Own Way

 Lisa Kipps-Brown - Glerin Business Resources, Inc.

Author of the books Disrupt Your Now and Boomer Cashout, Lisa is a refreshing change in a world full of self-proclaimed experts who throw jargon around like candy. She helps entrepreneurs solve big picture problems with disruptive strategic thinking and no gobbledygook. A pioneer in business use of the web, she started her web & marketing strategy company in 1996. When few people knew what Amazon was and two years before Google existed, she was already reimagining businesses and even sold an online business right before the dot-com bubble burst. Other achievements include saving companies from bankruptcy and tripling CARES Act funds for rural communities via innovative campaigns.

Lisa's straight talk combined with a natural talent for transforming basic ideas into disruptive strategy & valuable collaborations has people like Forbes 30 Under 30-listed blind PhD chemist Dr. Hoby Wedler calling her a “cognitive powerhouse.” Steve Sims, author of Bluefishing, says she's a unicorn who bridges the gap between digital natives and digital immigrants.

https://lisakippsbrown.com/

https://disruptyournow.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisakippsbrown/

Marlana: Lisa Kipps Brown helps entrepreneurs solve big picture problems with disruptive strategic thinking and no gobbledygook. She's also the author of the book Disrupt Your Now. Welcome Lisa! 

Lisa: Hello, Marlana! It's so good to see you. Thanks for having me. 

Marlana: So today we're going to talk about getting out of your own way. Because I think that's a problem that most of us have at some point or another, sometimes multiple times. Why do you think we do that to ourselves? 

Lisa: I think a big part of it is that we just overthink everything. And not just entrepreneurs, but everybody. You know, if you think about it, you can usually give other people better advice than they can give themselves. And then at the same time, you're screwing up your own life, or you're making poor decisions. I just think that we're so close to our own problems, that we can't see the forest for the trees. 

Marlana: Do you think that it's even possible for us to recognize that we're putting these roadblocks up for ourselves or not? 

Lisa: I’m sure that some people do. And I know that I do. But even when I know I'm doing it, a lot of times, I still am totally lost in what I should be doing. Because once again, it's just like, we're just so close to it. You know how like a painting, if you stand really close, and you only see a small part, you're not seeing the whole thing, and then

you back up and you see the entire vision. And you're like, “oh!” I really think that's what it is. Last weekend at Brandon Straza, (his three C coaching event), we talked about this topic a lot. And every single person there has the problem. I mean, I've been an entrepreneur for 31 years, and I've owned my current business for 26.

And there are other people there had been in business for decades. We're all the same. So, if anybody out there is feeling like a weirdo or loser, don't, you're just normal. 

Marlana: Is it better for us to have somebody kind of, give  us that bird's eye view, so to speak? 

Lisa: Yeah, I think one of the biggest mistakes that I made in my own entrepreneurial career is not having a coach earlier. I kind of always looked at a coach as rah rah, you know, you can do this. And I'm like, I understand business. And I don't need any motivation. I don't need all that. But what I didn't understand is, in pro sports, even Tiger Woods has a coach. Hello! He knows how to play golf, he still needs a coach to help them dial in on the very small points. That's what I realized, that's why I started working with Steve Sims at the end of 2018. Oh my god! It's been three years. But yeah, Steve is the first coach I ever had, and I would highly recommend a coach or coaches, and masterminds to listeners.

Marlana: So, in your opinion, what will a good coach do?

Lisa: A good coach is not… it's kind of like a therapist, they're not going to tell you what to do. They will give you advice and so forth. But more than that, they'll kind of help you discover yourself and they'll ask the right questions to help draw out of

You what you may know about yourself, but you may not be consciously aware of and sometimes they will help you advice-wise. Actually, help you formulate steps and so forth. I really do look at them more as a therapist and more of somebody to force you to    take that step back. Also, for accountability, because hey! Let's face it, it's really easy to go to have a to do list and at the end of the list half the stuff hasn't gotten done. And so having a coach who's gonna sit there and go, “did you do what you're supposed to do?” It makes it a little bit more critical that you get it done because you don't want to get fussed at. 

Marlana: Hm! So, what is the difference between them and an accountability partner?

Lisa: Well! An accountability partner to me is more a peer like maybe your same level, and you each are telling each other what you want to achieve, then helping each other make sure they do it. A coach should be somebody well above your level. And as a matter of fact, as you progress, you should continue to move on to other coaches..doesn’t mean that you have to ditch the one that you're currently working with. A lot of people I know have multiple coaches, but you need to be working with someone who's well above you in the food chain, so that they will push you to think differently and at a different level of success than you may be thinking of. And when I speak of success, I'm not talking just money, I'm more into a full life and living life. You know, I look at it as why be an  entrepreneur, if you can't live life like you want it, that's why money isn't the main thing for me. For some people itIs, maybe they just want to build something up really fast that they can sell. There's nothing wrong with it, but you should always have a coach who is several levels higher than you.

Marlana: In the people that you've encountered and worked with, do you see the same situations arise over and over again? 

Lisa: Yes! definitely! Yeah! Somebody will come in, and they'll have a problem or a complaint. And we'll think we get it resolved. What happens is, there'll be a different problem or complaint that they have with themselves later on, what they don't understand is, it's all caused by the same thing. And hey! I am the worst at that, that's why I recognize it and other people. I'm really bad about having my list of things that I'm going to do and letting something blow that up. That should never be like that, I don't know, I think mine is kind of middle child syndrome wanting to. But so, I'm bad about doing that. But I'm also really bad about getting focused too much on some small detail that really doesn't matter and being a perfectionist, and over overworking it. It's a total waste of time because nothing will ever be perfect. Those are my two biggest those are the two ways that I get in my own way the most. 

Marlana: Hm! It seems like perfectionism comes up for a lot of people. 

Lisa: Yeah. And a lot of times people think that they're a  procrastinator. I used to think I was. I'm like, “why am I such a loser? Why do I procrastinate so much?” and I realized it's not really procrastination, it's more fear of not being perfect, so, it's like, I'm kind of like, or I'm getting better about it. If I can't do it perfect. I don't want to do it at all, 

or I'll put off getting started on something because of kind of that subliminal fear, fear of failure. Not that I really think whatever I'm going to do is going to end up being terrible. I don't think that but that it won't be as perfect as I as the level I hold myself to. 

Marlana: So how have you gotten past that?

Lisa: Just really, really trying to be conscious of my own thoughts that I quite it’s kind of like someone who's on a diet  or not on a diet, but somebody who complains about not being able to lose weight, to slow down, to taste your food because a lot of people eat really fast, and they swallow it. They never even really enjoyed what they were eating, they don't taste it. So, it's kind of like, the same thing for me. Take a step back. What am I thinking about? What am I feeling and trying to figure out? I know this sounds all like psychobabble. I'm not in the psychobabble at all, I'm like totally no BS, so, I don't mean it like that. It really does help if you can try to get in tune with what you're actually feeling and thinking. 

Marlana: Do you think a lot of people too are constantly looking to the next thing and not enjoying where they are right now? 

Lisa: Yeah, I do think that, and I also think a lot of we entrepreneurs have shiny object syndrome. It's just so easy to go, “oh my god! That is perfect.” If I just do that everything is going  to be awesome. And then you set off down this road towards nothing again. And so, what happens is you end up scattered all over the place instead of sticking to one thing. I'll give you an example though, of how the perfectionism thing really affected me recently if you'd like. 

Marlana: Yes! 

Lisa: So, when I was writing the book Disrupt Your Now I

tend to be a lone ranger. The last book I wrote before this one, I wrote it in three days because everything was already in my head, and I just had to get it out. So, this one I'm not only was writing it with someone else, I had a coach who is watching me. That's pressure, and then I ended up interviewing 50 entrepreneurs in it, so all of a sudden, I started! I didn't even realize I was feeling it. I just felt like I was having a meltdown. I didn't understand what was wrong, but I realized that I was afraid what if all these people who were  involved in the book after it came out were like, “this is crap” I was bored in it or didn't think it was up to par and I really freaked myself out. Thankfully I had a friend around, but you know, I'm married. My husband’s cousin could have done it, but typically spouses and significant others, it's hard for them to do because you just have all that stuff in between. So thankfully My friend was here, and she peeled me up off the floor and gave me a good cup of talking to and got my head on straight. … You know that's like what you're talking about an accountability partner, that's where an accountability partner will come in.

Marlana: Hm! So now that you brought it up, tell us about Disrupt Your Now. What's it about? Who's it for? 

Lisa: It’s called Disrupt Your Now: The Successful Entrepreneur’s Guide to Reimagining Your Business and Life. You know how you  meet entrepreneurs all the time, they may be very successful, they have the right cars, they live in the right houses and everything, but they are miserable to the

outside world, they may seem like they’ve made it, but they just are miserable. It may be because of time, or they may feel trapped, they may be breaking because a lot of times we're not as financially successful as we are, because we've overdone it. This book is for those people to help them figure out what it is they really want out of life, so they can use their business to help them get it. The book evolved over time, it ended up nothing like I had envisioned it was going to be initially, but I love what it ended up being. It's kind of like a bathroom book for business. It's a whole bunch of short stories, and you can pick it up and start reading anywhere if you want to. It's not like something that you have to read from the beginning to the end. The other thing I really like about it is that I have entrepreneurs of all types, I have people from Steve Sims, the real life Wizard of Oz and Jeffrey Madoff, who owns the premiere video production company in New York City. He has clients you may recommend, I mean, may recognize like Ralph Lauren, and Tiffany and company. I mean, Ralph Lauren has been his client 35 years. So really, really high-level entrepreneurs down to, I have a teenager who's on the autism spectrum, and is owning his  business for three years, and a guy who has spent 15 years in prison for armed robbery. So, there are people of all types, because I wanted people to come away and realize, “if they did it, I can do it”. If everybody is hugely successful, people tend to focus on what their life is like now, not what it was when they were scraping up.

Marlana: So, all these people are actually people who have gotten out of their own way. 

Lisa: Exactly, yes. That's what a lot of the stories are..what was going wrong? And how did they figure out? How the hell did they get out of their own way to do it? So, a lot of it even if it doesn't explicitly say that, that's kind of what's going on? 

Marlana: Is there a common thread to a lot of the stories?

Lisa: The biggest common thread to  me is to always be ready for opportunity, and learn to recognize it, because the greatest opportunity in the world can come along. But if you're not ready for it, you can't seize it. Like if you meet the right person, or if the right project comes along. So, you have to really dial in what you want, learn the most that you can about it, become a real expert. And you have to learn how to recognize opportunity, because it's not just going to come up and knock on your door and go, “Hey! I'm opportunity. Do you want me?” Usually, the biggest opportunities that people in the book came across or things they weren't even expecting, they weren't even looking for. But somewhere along the way they had prepared themselves to be ready for that moment in time and to recognize it. 

Marlana: What do you think the difference is between opportunity and shiny object syndrome? 

Lisa: Well, shiny object syndrome is more when I kind of look at it as more of a bit of that procrastination. But it's when you know what you need to do, you know what you're going after. But all of a sudden, it's usually more of a tool or an app. It's like, “Oh my god! Here's this awesome app! Here's this awesome, awesome social media platform!” If I just go and start using this and use it all the time, then I'm going to be this huge success, rather than focusing on the thing that’s our goal. I'm not telling people to never change their course, their vision and all that because I'm a big believer in constantly evolving. My business has never been the same year to year. I mean, when I started it, I had two babies and was caring for an Alzheimer's patient. So, my life back then was a lot different than it 12 years ago when my kids were moving out and growing up, but right when I was positioned for everything to be about me. My mother got Alzheimer's, and I became her caregiver. So, that's one of the main reasons I started my business, was so that I could  shift and make it fit my life. That was a great question, I want people out there to be able to differentiate between shiny object syndrome, which is just a distraction that's delaying you, versus taking stock of where you're at and making an informed decision and some kind of shift or pivot. 

Marlana: Hm! It seems like in there, that’s knowing what our core values are, things like that, and what our hard noes are, will also help eliminate some of that.

Lisa: Yes, and I have it broken up into five sections. The first section is you What do you want out of life? What is important to you? What motivates you? What are your core values? And also, what are your weaknesses? How can you  take your weaknesses and turn them into strengths, the second part goes out a little bit like to your network and the people around you, who you surround yourself with?

and learning to recognize opportunity. The third part is more about learning to think creatively and think differently. Fourth is about more of the actual operations like delegation and stuff. And then the last part is about a higher purpose about business being more than  money. Because, if money were the answer to everything, we wouldn't see all these wealthy people with all these problems. So, at the end of the day, when you reach your goal financially, you still have to live with yourself, you're still the same person, and you still have the problem, your same problems, except maybe not financially. So, you have to understand what you really, really want. So that you'll be happy being with yourself. 

Marlana: How important too do you think that it is  to set your goal and know what your goal is in getting out of your own way?

Lisa: Well, the as far as goal Personally, I think to understand yourself, know what you want out of life, that is immensely important, until you know what you want. It's not like it has to be X amount of money or whatever, but just know the values, the things that are hard noes for you, I'm not willing to sacrifice, whatever these things are. And then on the flip side, these are the things that I really would love to have. And if I could ever have them, this would be wonderful. And so that's really important. But then within the business itself, yes, you have to have goals, you'd have to know where you're going in, you need to have short term goals, midterm, and long-term goals. Because if you don't know where you're going, you won't know when you get there. And you'll just

meander all over the place. If you know where you're going, then you can constantly take stock of whether you are on the right path. Nic Peterson has a book called Bumpers that I love, N.I.C. Peterson not in a CK. It's called Bumpers. It was just a brain dump. He did not mean for it to become a book, but his friends were like, “well! We're gonna make it into a book if you're not”. And he recommends like in a bowling alley, how you can put bumpers on each side, so that you can't go too far. Either way, he recommends that you do that in your own life, and  I was like, this is brilliant. Why did I never think of it? So, he  says if you have a great day where you have reached your goals or exceeded them, stop, where most of us are like, “Oh! I'm going, I'm gonna keep going, I'm gonna keep charging” and what ends up is that usually, it ends up biting you in the ass, sorry, but whatever. Sorry, I don't know if I could say that. But you know, it comes back to bite you. So, he says, Don't overdo it when things are going great. But on the flip side, when things are going wrong, realize where you are and stop yourself from going further down the wrong track. That has really helped  me since I read his book a couple months ago, because I had this figurative, these figurative bumpers in my mind almost visually and I can kind of gauge myself well how far  I am from each side. 

Marlana: Hm! That's great! So, if somebody listens to this episode and gets nothing else out of it, what would you like them to take away from this? 

Lisa: It’s your business and you can make it anything you want. 

Marlana: Hm! Love it. Okay, Lisa, four final questions for you then.

Lisa: Okay! 

Marlana: The first one is, what's the best piece of advice you're ever given? 

Lisa: It's okay to say “no”. I used to be a yes person in my  personal life and business. And I do think that's a real middle child thing. I finally learned it's okay to say no, and I actually hurt some people by not saying no. 

Marlana: yeah, and it's also okay for no to be complete sentence.

Lisa: Yes, that's another great point Marlana.

Marlana: share with us one thing on your bucket list 

Lisa: I’d like to hike the Appalachian Trail

It's always been a dream of mine. 

Marlana: And you know, while we're on bucket lists and things like that, I know you have some other exciting things going on. You want to tell anybody about? 

Lisa: Oh, well, things you have going on? Yeah, well, I work with a NASCAR driver. Our mission is to combat veteran suicide. And this coming weekend we have the first Braille paint scheme in NASCAR and the first blind going sponsor, I'm so excited PhD chemist, Dr. Hoby Wedler, he is not a veteran, but you know, anything that we do to help veterans helps everybody. Because, you know, it's a cross section of all demographics. And my father was blind, healthy, when Hoby and I met, we became great  friends, we're collaborating on a lot of stuff. So, we're promoting accessibility, the hashtag access saves lives. Because if you have access to what you need, whether it's education, training, funding, food, clothing, a house, if you have access to those things, you're much less likely to commit suicide. And my grandfather killed himself when I was five, and my grandmother tried to when I was 11, so it's a cause that's really important to me, my husband's retired Navy. So that's another connection. And then with me and Hoby, my dad, I can't remember if I already said this, my dad was blind. So Hoby and I just had this real deep connection with each other. 

Marlana: Yeah, and if anybody hasn't figured this out yet, Lisa is multi layered. 

Lisa:(laughs)

Marlana: Yeah. So, when the toy companies finally get around to making an action figure of you, what two accessories will it come with?

Lisa: Okay, the first would be 3d glasses. And people probably like what? Well, that's because I just see things differently. I see. And I think now I'm not sure if I'm answering the question the way you want it to. But I see it as like, if I had if I were with somebody, and I had to be the action figure to save them, I would put it in my 3d glasses. And I would figure out how to get them out of the problem. Instead of like bash bam, boom, you know, that I would do it with my mind. And then secondly, it would be an infinite supply of food and toys for all the cats that are end up adopting. They all end up at our house somehow.

Marlana: So, love that. And last one, Lisa, how do people find you?

Lisa: My website is LisaKippsBrown.com  And  I'm Lisa Kipps-Brown on pretty much all social media platforms out there. 

Marlana:And as far as the book, what's the best way to go about getting the book 

Lisa: If somebody would like to read into its on Amazon, the name is Disrupt Your Now, or you can go to DisruptYourNow.com, and there's a  dedicated page on my website, you'll be able to see a couple dozen of the people who are in the book and links where you can find out more about them. And we are actually and I'm also working on a companion workbook that wouldn't

be out for another month or two. But yeah, go to Disrupt Your Now.com and that will also link you over to Amazon if you  want to get it and if you do get it, please do review.

Whether you hate it or whether you like it. I really want to know what people like of it; I mean what people think of it.

Marlana: Love it! Thanks so much Lisa, and thanks for being here. 

Lisa: Thank you Marlana. Appreciate it.