Category: Business

We recently returned from a trip to Michigan with a bag of rocks. Rocks that, at first glance, are completely unremarkable. You only realize they’re beautiful when they’re submerged in water, which is why all the rocks you see in gem stores are polished until they’re gleaming. 

There was one particular rock I wanted my wife to find…Michigan’s state rock, the Petoskey stone. Petoskey stones are fossilized corals, formed millions of years ago in ancient coral reefs under the sea that once covered the state of Michigan. 

They are both common and rare–meaning, how could something so intricately formed, something so ancient and perfect, be anything but rare? And yet they’re common enough that anyone walking along certain beaches for long enough in Michigan is bound to find one. 

This got me thinking about the history of diamonds and how they became so popular that 75% of brides wear one. 

Diamonds, like Petoskey stones, are both common and rare. The creation process of a natural diamond is amazing–carbon atoms, intense pressure, 2200 degrees fahrenheit heat, and a volcanic eruption are all required to bring diamonds to the earth’s surface. 

And yet, diamonds are actually quite common. In fact, they’re one of the MOST common gems in the world. So why are they so very expensive?

Enter De Beers diamond company and a brilliant marketing campaign.

In 1938, only 10% of engagement rings included diamonds. That changed in 1947 when De Beers launched a marketing campaign with the tagline “a diamond is forever.” De Beers went all out with this campaign, determined to make diamonds ubiquitous with marriage and commitment. 

And between 1939 and 1979, De Beers’ wholesale diamond sales went from $23 million to $2.1 billion. 

The De Beers marketing campaign was so savvy and so insidious, they were even able to determine how many months’ salary one should save for an engagement ring, and convince the consumer it was THEIR idea. 

This is not some diatribe against De Beers or diamonds. (I wear diamond rings and I love them)

What I’m holding awareness of is this: some company with slick advertising could have just as easily convinced the world that Petoskey stones are the ultimate rare status symbol. We could be walking around wearing fossilized coral on our ring fingers instead of heated carbon atoms. 

There’s incredible power in marketing. When we use it in our businesses, with intention and integrity, we create opportunities for sustainable growth.

Without intention, integrity and honesty–marketing is still powerful, sure…but it’s not sustainable. And it can be dangerous, even if only towards ourselves. 

If we look at trends with diamonds, we see that prices are plummeting. A combination of increasing lab-grown diamond sales (far more environmentally friendly), growing awareness of deplorable mine conditions and “conflict diamonds,” and a younger generation less interested in following societal norms have all contributed. 

Contrary to what De Beers has led us to believe, NOTHING is forever. Savvy marketing and slick sales strategies will take you far, but it won’t necessarily help you cross the finish line. 

When we sell something we believe in, when we’re honest with ourselves and our clients, when we focus more on relationships than profit…then we’re talking about sustainable growth, no matter what the market is like. 

Maybe Petoskey stones will have their day in the end. “A Petoskey is forever”…with the right marketing, it may just catch on yet.

In the meantime, as we continue to be inundated with a ridiculous amount of information and advertising, I’ll be over here blowing the dust off of my critical thinking skills by asking myself these questions:

“WHERE is this information coming from?”
“WHAT do they want from me?”
“WHY do they want it?”
“WHO benefits?”

❤️,

Amy

Recently in Level Up Mastermind, we talked about leverage. I’m always curious about the stories people have about leverage, so that’s where I often begin in a group. I want to know what they’ve told themselves, what they’ve unconsciously internalized from other people. 

I’ll define leverage the way we talk about it in Next Level Wealth–leverage is simply using tools and resources to maximize time, efficiency and energy. It’s a way to let go of the things that don’t bring us joy, don’t make us money, and someone (or something) else could do for us.

A story I often share about leverage is around bake sales. I have a–let’s be honest–hate/hate relationship with them. I don’t bake–and as my partner Brent will tell you, I rarely even cook. He loves it, I don’t. So same with baking–I do NOT love it, nor am I particularly good at it, so I outsource it to someone else. And let me tell you, I have MANY children, so I’ve done a lot of bake sale leverage.

We can leverage just about anything. What tends to stand in our way (isn’t this so often true?) is ourselves. So why are we so resistant to the idea of leverage?

Let’s take a look at some common stories people tell themselves:

• It’ll take more time to train someone (or learn the new system) than it’s worth when I can just do it myself and save that time.
• No one is going to do it as well as I will and the way I want it done.
• Leverage is expensive, and I don’t have extra money for that in my life/business yet.
• It’s silly to pay someone to do something that I can do myself.

Any of these sound familiar?

I could address each one of these stories in detail (and I often do with my 1:1 clients), and yet the most important thing I want you to take away from this newsletter is about the stories you tell yourself and your ATTACHMENT to them. 

All of those stories you’re reading above? They’re just that…stories. They’re not facts. The rigidity of those stories takes away your freedom to do something different, to see things in a new light. 

I’ve known many people (my past self included) who had very little money and utilized leverage in amazing ways in their lives. I’ve witnessed people taking back their time and energy and choosing more mindfully where they want to invest this precious resource. I’ve worked with people who finally accept that they don’t have to do everything just because they CAN–that it’s valid and a serious commitment to self-care to let go of what’s least important to them through leverage. 

A refusal to embrace leverage is an invitation to burnout. 

I encourage you to look at your own stories about leverage. What would it be like to challenge those? Are you willing to open your mind and let in the possibility that life doesn’t have to be this hard?

Happy leveraging ♥️, 

Jen 

Here’s a subject that’s come up a lot for me and Jen lately in our deep-dive inner world conversations  business meetings. What does it mean to be a seeker?

For those of you who listen to Glennon Doyle’s podcast, she talks about being a seeker–and that the nature of a seeker is to always be seeking, but not really finding.  In fact, there’s danger in a seeker “finding” something, because the attachment to that spiritual paradigm, or personality type, or whatever it is can become too extreme and then block the seeker’s own inner knowing.

If you’ve ever wondered how people become enmeshed in high-control groups (“cults”), it starts with being a seeker. (I confess that “cults” are my current hyper-fixation/obsession)

Every wonderful quality has a shadow side. Seekers are curious, open, see beauty and wonder in the world, and teach those of us who are NOT seekers about the magic of being a human being in this wild world.

The shadow side can look a couple of different ways. Seekers can seem fickle, not grounded in reality, and flaky. 

Seekers can also be more susceptible to a phenomenon I like to call, in all caps, THE WAY. They can so desperately want to make sense of the world within and around them that they can give too much of their inner knowing and authority away to some force outside of them, and then it becomes not “a way” but THE WAY.

Finders look for what is already there. They often say things like “the research says…” or ask questions like “what’s the evidence for that?” They’re more logical, more reality-based. They find INFORMATION, check the source, and that’s that. They are our truth-sayers, our grounding rods, the steady hands that guide us. 

And the shadow side? Certainty and rigidity…which then blocks curiosity, personal growth and magical mystery.

Isn’t that interesting? The shadow side for seekers AND finders can involve certainty, knowing THE WAY.

Most of us are going to lean one way or the other on the Seeker/Finder spectrum. But here’s the really cool thing–we can consciously grow that more underdeveloped part! We can practice tapping into the part that is less accessible, and over time it becomes MORE accessible and available to us.

And bringing this back around to your business (I do eventually get there 😉)…

Your business needs the seeker AND the finder. The balance is essential for the gifts that each of these types bring to the table. 

We need the grounding and the dreaming, the security and the risk, the logic and the magic. Maybe you’re lucky enough to have a business partner or a team that brings all of these qualities into your business (this is probably the most amazing thing we discovered during our NLW planning retreat).

Or maybe you’re a solopreneur, and you can do more work within yourself to access both your inner seeker and your finder.

Either way, recognizing the value in both of these types and bringing their best qualities into your business could be the missing piece when it comes to growing your business.

Which type do YOU lean towards?

♥️, 
Amy (85% Finder, 15% Seeker)
Next Level Wealth Coaching