Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Lisa Summerour, founder of Summerour & Associates, Inc., located in Fallbrook, CA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I am an engagement and empowerment educator who uses writing, speaking, coaching, consulting, facilitating, and courses to encourage and teach successful women and a few extraordinary men how to fully engage in their lives. I believe "empowered people, empower people," and I want to help people find as many paths to their own empowerment as possible so they can lead their best selves forward and help others do the same.
Tell us about yourself
I wasn't always as confident as I am today. I grew up so shy and very self-conscious. I used to hide under my grandmother's coffee table, thinking the adults in the room couldn't see me. I’ve worked as a professional actor, but the first play I ever did was in eighth grade, and I only agreed to do it because I had to wear a costume where no one could see my face. I was always worrying about things and was diagnosed with ulcers as a teenager.
This may seem like a long way back to talk about my business experience, but I believe we are all shaped by things that happened in our youth. So, while I was this shy kid who never saw myself in the spotlight, I always imagined having my own business. I don't know where it came from. I just know that it carried through and made it much easier for me to leave an acting career to pursue entrepreneurship.
When I was about 8 or 9 years old, my grandfather was able to select a watch from a catalog as an anniversary gift from his employer. I remember thinking I didn't want to wait for someone to gift me a watch. I was fourteen years old when I learned that you could make money selling Avon. That was it, the entrepreneur bug bit me. I was actually selling products for a friend's mother, and she started taking me to her meetings. Before I knew it, I was literally ringing doorbells in a 4-block area in my neighborhood as the Avon Lady. I managed inventory, bag orders, worked on my customer service, and developed and maintained clients. I didn't realize then that those behaviors would be the foundation of every business opportunity I've ever been a part of.
Years later, when I started acting, the desire to have my own business remained. I missed a second audition for my first movie role, playing opposite Denzel Washington in the Academy Award-winning film "Philadelphia." I was scheduled to work that day. I was a freelance makeup artist. Yes, I could have blown the chance to play opposite Denzel Washington because I wanted to help people select moisturizers and foundations! When I stopped acting full-time, it was because I knew I wanted to devote more time to running my own business.
I had several entrepreneurial adventures interspersed with jobs in corporate before completing several degrees and getting grounded in what I really wanted to do. My challenge was combining my skills and varied interest into offerings that successfully address the needs of my clients. Once I figured out that I had multiple ways of accomplishing this, things got easier.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Keeping my business up, running, and thriving. At first glance, it might appear that I have an eclectic and wildly diverse set of skills and services that weren't compatible. The reality is that everything I do is designed to help individuals deepen their engagement in their personal and professional lives so they can experience empowerment.
Empowerment is about giving yourself permission to operate in your gifts, talents, and skills for the betterment of your life and the lives of those around you and to do so intentionally. This means showing up in your personal and professional life feeling comfortable in your skin, taking a calculated risk for better outcomes, and getting out from under the debilitating effects of shame, guilt, or embarrassment.
So, I'm proud that whether it's helping one person realize that the end of a marriage does not mean the end of their joy – by guiding them through my Divorce is Not a Destination program, if I'm speaking to international leaders in Ghana on how they can create work environments that foster engagement to develop leaders while sustaining productivity and growth, or I'm when I’m interviewing someone on my podcast, and one listener is encouraged to take a chance on themselves by pursuing a dream - it's all about getting people to engage more fully in their own lives and learning to love into that.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Being organized enough to maintain the discipline required to create systems and processes that allow a business to thrive rather than just survive. I have experienced “chasing the shiny thing.” When it happens, it takes me off course, and I can end up with multiple things on my many plates that stay spinning in the air but never get to the table. Discipline in working on one thing through to competition by having a process that helps me work on a few things each has been enormously helpful.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Do something you’re good at that brings you joy and benefits others. I know it's a cliche, but it's true. It is much easier and more gratifying to do something fulfilling while serving others. When these three things intersect, skill, enjoyment, and service, the likelihood of it becoming a sustainable business increase exponentially. You could be serving a client or working your business to satisfy a need for a loved one – either can provide a powerful why that keeps you motivated through challenging times.
- Run your business like business as early as possible. I speak with people who are struggling because they are running businesses like "side hustles" or hobbies. Years ago, I heard a director say, you can run your business full-time or part-time but not in your spar-time. In other words, successful businesses are planned and should be run and operated on purpose. So many people treat their businesses like “side hustles” or hobbies. I’ve never heard Oprah, Bill Gates, or Magic Johnson refer to their business ventures as “side hustles.” Running a business like a business means knowing what you’re good at and where your time is best spent.
If you’re an artist who isn’t painting, a musician who isn’t playing music, or a writer who isn’t writing because your time is being spent updating your website, doing graphics, organizing your very disorganized financial records, or making telephone calls – then you should consider outsourcing these jobs and get back to doing those things that are income-generating activities for your business. - Determine the value of what you offer, then get comfortable having dignified conversations about money. I wish I’d thought that term up, but it came from one of my coaches. What you are charging for your services should reflect your time, energy, expertise, and the accumulated knowledge you’ve acquired to be able to solve a client’s problem(s). Your fees should reflect all the tangible and intangible skills, talents, and knowledge you bring to the situation. Create a pricing structure that puts you in a position to maintain and grow your business.
Then, learn to have dignified conversations by being forthright about the cost of your products or services. Know that underpricing services can often be traced back to a person undervaluing their worth due to improperly evaluating their offering(s) or being insecure and simply not believing they are worth more.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Become a life-long learner and an avid player. The learning does not have to be through formal education. It could be reading books, watching TED Talks, Masterclass Online, attending conferences, getting certified in an area that aligns with whatever it is you do, or some combination of any of these things. Make your learning a combination of personal growth and business development. Finally, factor in the playing. Research shows that playtime increases productive, cognitive function, and job satisfaction and reduces stress. That’s a pretty powerful reason to include playtime in your life. It’s all about being fully engaged, so you end your path to empowered living. Then, go help someone else find theirs.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: http://liveempoweredinstitute.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrLisaSummerour
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drlisasummerour/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/drlisasummerour
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlisasummerour/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
Turn your craft into recurring revenue with Subkit. Start your subscription offering in minutes and supercharge it with growth levers. Get early access here.