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KHARISMA MAGAZINE { PREMIER ISSUE 2018 }
Are you living it?” I would say those nine out of ten people would probably not be. And, you know, it’ s not something that people would think up in a weekend, but people don’ t often take time out to get really clear on what their ideal life looks like to them. To them, it may be that they work a great 9 – 5( o’ clock) job and then they switch off at the end of the day and they go home and they spend time with their family. For other people, that may include nothing to do with a 9 – 5 job; they might want to just do their own thing, create their own artwork, write books, travel the world, hang out at swimming pools all day.
So, it’ s really just about getting clear on exactly what you want your life to look like, and then going after it. And that’ s what I really think the freedom aspect is: It’ s the freedom to do what you want, when you want, with whom you want.
Kharisma: And you were able to have that freedom, and also marry the adventure in travel, which was pretty awesome! And to have a successful business, but still yet enjoy the life that you want, which is pretty awesome. For many of us, you know, venturing out there and doing something that we really love, but at the same time, it should be something that we love, because, as you mentioned in your book, it becomes play, and because you’ re loving it and you’ re enjoying it at the same time and you’ re making money and you’ re, you know, making a difference in people’ s lives, so – which is pretty good.
Now, I know you refer to – I guess some people would know it as passion – as a“ Sweet-Spot”, which I think is a pretty cool way of describing it. So how does one go about building an online business from scratch based on their sweet-spot?
Natalie: First off, the“ sweet – spot”, for those who’ ve never heard of it, it’ s got nothing to do with a sweet store, although there are a few similarities. It’ s all about you loving to do what you are good at, and what people are willing to pay you for— and that, the inflection right there, is called your sweet – spot. So I think a lot of people get really hung up on stuff when they say,“ You know, I’ m really not expert enough, I don’ t actually have a specific skill – set” but, every single person in this world knows something that somebody else is not as knowledgeable about yet, or can do something that other people aren’ t good at doing yet. And that is head – value— and that’ s something! And that’ s what I really try to talk about in the book, about a couple of ways that you can make money doing what you love, and that is one of them: It’ s being in line with your sweet-spot. So for example, if you are great at cooking French meals and you always do that and you hold parties at your place but you just think that it’ s something that comes naturally to you, but other people may be commenting all the time saying,“ I just don’ t know how you create these great recipes and these incredible meals! Teach me how to do it!” or“ How do you do it?”
And that should be a sign to you that you have something that they potentially don’ t and you know, you can monetize that. I know that the word may sound a bit meh to some people, but that’ s the value right there: People who are no good at French cooking, who desire to learn how to do that, you can share your gifts with them and teach them, whether it’ s through creating a cooking book, series of cooking videos or a program that helps them to become‘ Being At Home With French Chef’, so that’ s what happens when you can align your sweet – spot with your business idea. You can create some pretty amazing magic, I think.
Kharisma: I also love how you describe the three key traits of successful entrepreneurs. And those three key traits are; Responding Positively and Learning From All Mistakes, which I think is very important, because as we know, as entrepreneurs, there will be challenges, and we will make mistakes, and how we respond to these things happening is very key; and also Taking Personal Initiative, which is also important; but then your last point was Having Great Perseverance, which I always say to people, or entrepreneurs, and women entrepreneurs, perseverance is so important because there are days and times that you will be challenged on all fronts and if you’ re really passionate about what you love and want to see it successful, you have to have that tenacity and that perseverance to sort of stride through the good times and the bad times, so I really love those three key areas that you mentioned.
And you also said,“ What this tells you is the road is hard, long and bumpy. You and the business necessarily become inseparable. To preserve your mental health, you have to absolutely love your work, then your work becomes your play, and you never tire of it.” You also said,“ The lifestyle part of me is having enough discipline to not overwork. Be sure to set boundaries for yourself and your family. So that they respect and expect that you have to work but live up to your commitment. That’ s when it’ s time to play; and you will play!”