The other day, my friend and business partner, Susan Hyatt, and I went into an Evansville, Indiana bank branch to open a business account together for our new endeavor, Boss University (BU).
BU is the coaching school we’ve created and are running together to train and release a new cadre of powerful life coaches into the world who will change the world.
I love how we hit our stride walking into the bank that afternoon.
We were coming from a luncheon where Susan had been nominated for her city’s Athena Award, so we were beautifully dressed.
Actually, not just beautifully dressed, but dressed in that show-out-who’s-that-girl?-movie-star way both of us so comfortably inhabit in our 40s.
We sat with our bank officer who efficiently guided through the seamless process; and as she continued to plug in our business information, she became quite curious.
She remembered that Susan’s husband had come into that branch in the past to handle wire transfers for Susan’s international retreats; and now, here we were together with a new and bold endeavor — creating a school.
We explained that we’d known one another for a long time and were having the first classes of our school in my hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.
But who knew where we’d take things in the years to come? We said we could see ourselves educating our coaches all over the world in future. Both of us have proven to ourselves over and over again that anything we truly desire is possible.
The woman across the desk from us smiled and said wistfully, “That sounds incredible. I wish I were brave enough to go to places like that. I struggle with even thinking about leaving Evansville.”
I put my hand on top of Susan’s, looked at the banker and said, “You know, both of us were women who once told ourselves we weren’t brave enough to do a lot of things — whether it was work, travel, or how we took care of ourselves.
And we made a decision to be different every single day. And now, that’s how we live the way we want to live and do the things we want do.”
What I really loved after I said that was her reply that she’d already proven to herself that she was brave and went after what she wanted because she worked with a company wellness coach to successfully quit smoking.
She already had evidence created by none other than herself that she was capable of doing something different. And it was not just a one-off decision she made that evaporated over time; she had to choose herself every day.
That’s the beauty of being a life coach; I get to help women uncover and amplify their own bravery every day.
It’s not something I give to them, or that other people in their lives permit them to have.
They, should they choose, recognize it, own it, and continue to grow into it.
“If I was brave enough, I would _______________________________.”
How would you fill in the blank?
What’s the thing that you think about doing that you tell yourself, “if only …” or “maybe someday, I will…”?
Maybe it’s a bold career move.
Maybe it’s the places you want to see in the world.
A style or aesthetic you want to step into.
A way of being in your body that feels like freedom and trust.
Think about that, and instead of building a case against yourself with answers about all that you do not have to get what you want, shine a light on what’s already within you and around you that can carry you forward.
Be brave and focus on that; then design whatever simple and significant actions that will fuel your dreams and desires.
Ask for the help you need to encourage you, inspire you and help you remain accountable to yourself. That’s actually my line of work and I love to be of service to help other women shine and grow.
When you can wrap your arms around your bravery instead of thinking the things you want in life are always going to be at arm’s length or even further away, that’s how your dream life becomes what you live each day.
Brave hearts:
Enrollment for Boss University opens this week!
If you have not emailed, messaged or commented to Susan Hyatt or me that want to receive an email that has all of the details (dates, location, the curriculum, the added bonuses I’m not going to tell you about here because it’s fun to build the anticipation : ) , then now is the time.
Let me know at laura@laura-wagner.com. This is a brave and bold venture — probably the biggest one of my career so far. Here’s a little sneak peak into that enrollment email to give you an idea of what Susan and I are all about:
“We’re creating the “new female economy”—women earning serious money, women running businesses according to their own rules, women occupying leadership roles, women disrupting old systems, and shattering glass ceilings.”
Bold businesses and brave living. Get into it.
