“The” Carrie Wilkerson, a savvy country gal, former Mary Kay rock star, author, speaker and founder of The Barefoot Executive, recently sat down with me for a virtual Author Chat. Carrie shared loads of biz advice, success nuggets and tough love for women in direct sales. I completely connected with her back story of a working Mom who jumped into entrepreneurship because she wanted to be home with her children. Not only has Carrie built a successful biz empire, she’s lost more than half her body weight, dealt with infertility and overcome huge financial loss. She’ll inspire you to go barefoot, get over your excuses and get to work putting your passion into action.
13 Bright Ideas From My Author Chat With Carrie Wilkerson:
On overcoming fear and failure:
You can live and laugh, or you can die and cry.
Until you move the needle, nothing changes. It happens one choice at a time.
On weight loss:
The defining moment for me was missing my best friend’s wedding because I felt so-not-myself. I was uncomfortable with my weight and stayed home. To this day they still don’t know the reason I didn’t go.
Stop the “fat girls don’t wear white” in your head. Write that on the wall.
On Direct Sellers who give up too soon:
You quit your direct sales business and give up before you’ve even started. Until you are desperate for that cash, socialization, the prize, whatever…you will not work your business like a business. Quit quitting when it’s inconvenient. Stop it.
I was the top recruiter for Mary Kay at 266 lbs. So whatever your excuse is on why people are not attracted to you, it’s a lie. If I could do it and not see my ankles so can you.
If you want to motivate your husband make some dinner, make love or make money.
On dealing with rejection:
You’ve got 5 minutes to get over it. Then put on some gangsta rap and deal with it. Cowgirl up and handle that mess.
On standing out in the crowd:
I hear “you are something else” a lot. Some of the things that threaten people about us, are the things we need to magnify.
I’m the Meg Ryan of the coaching world. People want to hang out with Meg, but secretly want to be Brad and Angelina Jolie.
On creating simple systems:
Make yourself do 5 activities a day. I learned that from Jack Canfield. 5 of something simple and similar everyday. By the time we get in that groove we’ve defeated doubt. 5 a day will move you into momentum.
Work your business with intention. If you do that you’ll be in the top 5% of income earners.
On waiting to start:
Perfection is a procrastination tactic. Done is always better than perfect.
Find Carrie’s book, The Barefoot Executive, on Amazon here.
Special thanks to Deirdre Rubink for suggesting Carrie for the Visionista Book Club! Watch the full interview here:
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Lynn Bardowski is an award-winning entrepreneur and bestselling author of Success Secrets of a Million Dollar Party Girl. She speaks to global audiences about work-at-home success, vision and branding and is a resource for press, media and bloggers. Like her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter and subscribe to her YouTube channel.
