Playing to your strengths can be a hard lesson to learn. But understanding yourself and building on those strengths are a key lesson in business growth.
On this week’s episode of NAPO’s podcast Stand Out – Growing Your Organizing & Productivity Business, host Sarah Karakaian speaks with Lisa Montanaro, an attorney turned productivity consultant, coach and public speaker.
Sarah and Lisa began by talking about Lisa’s background in performance. She performed in plays and musicals throughout high school and college. Interestingly, performance was not quite the preparation she thought it would be for a career as a lawyer. After finding out that law was not a good fit, she transitioned to professional organizing and productivity. This is where the performance background paid off – as speaking and interviews about productivity were a big part of her marketing strategy.
Sarah asked Lisa about the transition from law. Lisa described a fairly deliberative path. She didn’t just wake up one day and decide to start an organizational consultancy. It was planned and worked out over the course of several years.
Lisa’s legal background does come in handy when coaching clients new to the business world. Setting up your company properly from a legal and tax standpoint – these are areas where missteps can happen. Lisa helps her clients avoid that. Sarah and Lisa go on to talk about client relationships, and how careful client agreements can protect both you and the client when misunderstandings crop up.
Being in business is all about keeping the new business coming in. Lisa shares tips with Sarah about great ways to market yourself-whether your strengths are in being in front of people, writing, or working out collaborative relationships with organizations that compliment your work and target the same clientele. Lisa encourages business owners to network with other organizers. We each have our niche and specialties and can often refer clients back and forth to one another.
Sarah and Lisa also talked at length about capacity building. “Let go to grow” is a key axiom that Lisa follows. Do what you do best, and delegate the rest. It can be anxiety producing to wonder, can I really pay others to take care of some of these task? But in Lisa’s experience, that is how your business will grow.
There’s much more packed into the interview – be sure you take a listen. To check out the podcast and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode, visit: https://napopodcast.com/
Montanaro is owner of Lisa Montanaro Global Enterprises, under which she offers productivity consulting, success coaching, business strategizing and speaking to individuals and organizations. Lisa is an inaugural certified professional organizer and a member of the Golden Circle of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals. She is honored to have served as the moderator of the Ask the Organizer panel at the National NAPO conference for three years.
Lisa is a member of the National Speaker’s Association and is a frequent presenter at national and regional conferences and for tele-classes and webinars. Lisa’s presentations focus on productivity, entrepreneurship and life work balance issues. Lisa publishes a free monthly newsletter for success minded individuals. Her book, The Ultimate Life Organizer was published by Peter Popper Press in 2011.