#awinewith Petra Zink
MEET PETRA
Petra is the Founder of IMPACCT.
Find Petra here:
IMPACCT website or Instagram @petra.zink
Transcript
Danielle Lewis (00:08):
Well, Petra, thank you so much for being here today. Now instead of me introducing you, because I just know you as the personal branding queen, but I know it is so much more than that, I know you don't even think you use personal branding, so I would actually love you to tell us a little about what you do right now, but also around your journey to date. How did you actually get in to starting your own business and making it as successful as it is today?
Petra Zink (00:38):
Yeah, awesome. Thanks so much for having me. I'm excited for this conversation. Also, I'm always interested in how others got to where they are now because I think we can learn from every single person. Absolutely. What am I today? Yes, you hit the nail on the head. I am focusing on specializing in person branding mainly for corporate professionals, how they can build a portfolio career and how they can basically commercialize their knowledge. Most recently, I'm also an author. Yes. So cool. Say that.
Danielle Lewis (01:09):
It's amazing. It's like my childhood dream to be an author. So I watched your process. I was like, oh my God, it is possible we can do this.
Petra Zink (01:16):
It's possible. See, it was never on my agenda and then last year in July I was like, you know what? I need to write a book. I love it. I love it. And
Danielle Lewis (01:25):
You just did. That's so cool. I just
Petra Zink (01:26):
Did. Yes, I'm all for Done is better than perfect because there will probably still be spelling mistakes and there are a couple of diagrams that are not the right color, but hey, who cares?
Danielle Lewis (01:38):
It's done. It's out there. It's in the world. Yes,
Petra Zink (01:40):
Exactly. Yes. So yeah, specializing in corporate professionals and I also work with companies and especially over the last year, we seen more and more companies reaching out to help their staff to build their presence in their brand, especially if they're client facing. Any account directors, any consultants from the Big four, for example, lawyers, accountants, everyone who is client facing or who's got a business development role, they see that we are buying into people and not into brands or company brands. And this is what I've been specializing for the last five years. And I landed here by accident, never wanted to be an entrepreneur. Both of my parents are hardcore entrepreneurs. They've I think worked in a corporation for two years each, and then they started their own business and they had always modeled businesses on the go. And I experienced that extreme high. We had a lot of money, nothing. We couldn't even pay the grocery bill a lot of money June again. And I thought, I don't want to do this roller coaster. I am climbing the corporate ladder and that's it for me. And I did that for the first 10 years of my life. And because I grew up in a very hardworking family, it was easy for me to kind of progress quickly because I could outwork everyone, which
Danielle Lewis (02:55):
Is a really amazing skill to have. I think that the ability to outwork anyone translates into business life though as well.
Petra Zink (03:02):
Yes. Yeah, absolutely. And having said that, this was my biggest advantage and this is why I was in a very young, very senior roles already. And this also was my biggest baggage in the end because I expected when I was called into a manager's office, did I get the next promotion because I was the first in last out I had took on more projects to prove that I can do everything. And they said, no, we see that you're the hard worker, but you're not able to influence, you're not able to delegate and in your role. And back then I was looking after 18 boards, you are not responsible for doing doing. You're responsible for enabling others to do it. But I never got leadership training or coaching, so I had a completely different self perception than the rest of the senior leadership team had. And it bruised my ego just a little bit.
Danielle Lewis (03:52):
These things always do. Yes,
Petra Zink (03:54):
So much so I got out of the industry and was like, I am too dumb, too silly for marketing. I literally had no confidence whatsoever after this incident. And I got into recruitment into digital and tech recruitment, which I had never had any exposure to. So I literally googled what is SEO, because I didn't know the data. It's awesome. Yes. And as a recruiter what you need to do, you need to introduce your candidates to clients, but because I had no idea what my candidates were talking about with Crumb and Agile and C and all of that fun stuff, I just asked so many questions, I got to know them really well, how it got into it, what they can actually do, what's the difference between it. So what I did, I was basically the translator to my clients and I could set in my candidates because I could tell your story rather than say he's got five years experience here and three degrees here because nobody cares.
(04:51):
And I outperformed everyone and very quickly again in recruitment and this is where the penny dropped, and I thought, what if there is a method that people or my candidates could actually help or focus on clarifying what is their competitive advantage? What makes them different? Because then they can communicate it themselves online with their online presence on LinkedIn, but also offline in interviews and so forth. And this is how they can commercialize their knowledge, their experience, their personal brand. And this is how developed impact with the CCC because it's my process, clarify, communicate and commercialize. And this is what I've been doing since 2017, full-time in 2019 I started second business and working with companies on executive, but also leadership development for global teams especially. We specialize in it before covid and global teams and remote working was a thing. We run hackathons for recruitment and also work with teams on building their brand and presence. So this is in a nutshell
Danielle Lewis (06:00):
That is so cool. And I just love the idea of, so I'm from the corporate world before I started businesses as well, and I was that person. I was just getting there first leave last, but I never established a brand for myself. It was never anything that I looked within and thought I've got to think about what value I add as an individual inside the organization. And I think nowadays they talk about entrepreneurs quite a lot and the thoughts sort of blending for me a little bit because it feels like I always think about you need your personal brand to sell your business, but inside a corporation you need the exact same thing to actually develop your career and progress as well.
Petra Zink (06:45):
Absolutely. And you also futureproof yourself with that because if you realize it two years, you actually can't be bothered doing what you're doing right now or you are at your board or your skillset is just not in demand anymore because of technology or economically changes as a brand, you can pivot a lot easier because you are known for more than your job title and your credentials. You are known for your personality, your strengths, your interests. This is what your story sells yourself in. And this is what others associate with us where we say this person, they're always upbeat, they always bring in energy. What if they actually do our event management? Boom. So all of a sudden other people bring opportunities to us simply because they put all in one together, not because we say, Hey, I'm so extroverted. I love people, I want to do events management, but because others see their potential and this is how we actually progress in our career and future proof ourselves.
Danielle Lewis (07:43):
Oh, I love it. I think it's amazing. So talk to me about the business side of things. So obviously you are so passionate about what you do. Have you got a team? What's your day-to-day role in the business right now?
Petra Zink (07:58):
Yes. I started as a business of one and have now grown a team of six altogether and they've got various roles from two VAs who are looking more of the tech side on the background to set up landing pages and do all the high attention to detail bits and box that I can't be bothered with. Amazing. Yes, I've got a videographer who also does podcast editing. I've got a social media lady who also does graphic design and then I've got a graphic designer who also works with me on my client's work. And then depending on the projects that we're working on, I also work with other consultants or coaches to fill certain slots. When we work with a company with 300 people, I'm not doing all of that. So I get other people in who are developing and delivering the training for them.
Danielle Lewis (08:52):
That's amazing. So I really feel like you've kind of stepped up to that CEO level and you are doing I guess the strategy and the thought leadership and the facilitation, but you've got other people around you now that kind of take on more niche roles in the business.
Petra Zink (09:08):
Absolutely, and this is also what I realized in corporate. I always was literally bored after year, maybe 18 months into my role because it was just so monotonous and in a second I pushed a little bit the boundaries. So I was like, oh, great idea, but don't do it next week again. I was like, oh, alright. Another call. I just got to constantly, especially in my last couple of roles, constantly with the red tape and say, you can't do it. We love what you're doing. But no, and because I delivered the numbers, they couldn't do much to me, but I just thought I've got so much more in me, I've got so many more ideas and I literally feel I'm on the hamster wheel and I'm not getting anywhere. Whereas now I can actually step into this role and I can live in 2036 because the team is in 2022.
(09:50):
So it works well when you know what you can bring to the table and don't consider this as your weakness that you don't have the attention to detail because looking at a spreadsheet for longer than three minutes, I'm already bored, I don't even know what I'm doing. This is how quickly I switch off. And others still love doing that. They can't, if their life depends on it, come up with new ideas and concepts, which for me is so easy. So I think especially running a business, having a high level of self-awareness is key to be sustainably successful because you can burn the candles very quickly if you try to do everything well
Danielle Lewis (10:25):
And you're spot on. I think if you plan to scale at any point, you have to have those people around you. You literally can't do everything all the time. How did you find finding those people and bringing them in as members of the team? Was everyone you've ever hired the right fit or did you need to go through a learning curve or how is the process of scaling a team for you?
Petra Zink (10:50):
I've made mistakes too. Two very costly mistakes and even though I've placed 300 something people into roles and I thought I can hire quite well, yes, this one lady who I've known for probably seven years at that stage, I even placed her twice and everyone spoke so highly of her. We even were friends and all of a sudden I hired her, we had this business relationship and it went pear shaped like horribly wrong and she was upset and she said things I think she will regret now because this has a bit of taste now. So I never, in a second something gets emotional or personal, I'm out. I'm removing myself from the conversation because it's still just business in the end. It has nothing to do with the person and it got into that stage. So this was a very expensive mistake in different ways and how I found the other ones quite interesting actually. So yeah, I also teach at universities and I am actually a headhunter for up and coming talents. So I actually hired three of my previous students who have now transitioned. A couple of them are freelancers, so I'm just getting them in if I need something specific and the other person is full-time with me. So she's been the greatest hire. Then a graphic designer based in New York. I met her actually online through Instagram. Amazing.
Danielle Lewis (12:17):
So good.
Petra Zink (12:17):
It's so good. I saw some of her graphics and I was like, this is exactly the style that I want. So she's redesigned my brand and then my two bas, they're working together again. Instagram actually came across them through another online coach. She has a bit of a different specialization. I thought, who is this Lyra? It's her name. So I checked her out, we had a conversation, I just love her. She's always been with me for one and a half years. And then my videographer and podcast editor, funny story, he reached out to me on LinkedIn and said, can I interview you? And back then he was actually full-time employed and he wanted to showcase Brisbane businesses and I thought we get on a house on fire, we are literally taking the piece out of each other and we have so much fun together and he's been with me for four years, so the normal section. Wow. Yeah,
Danielle Lewis (13:09):
That's so good. So was there anything about the people that have worked out for you that maybe is like a hack for hiring people? Like any kind of advice for business owners who are kind of going, maybe they've had, they haven't quite got it right in the past and some they have, some they haven't. Is there anything that you can kind of pinpoint that helps you make the right decision when you're hiring someone for a team?
Petra Zink (13:32):
Definitely for me, I am not a micromanager. It again bores me to death. I don't want to look after somebody, I'm not their mom. So I always look for people who are driven, who are self-motivated, who've got their own ideas, who don't just address problems but come with a couple of solutions that we work through that together. Somebody who is independent but still wants to be part of a team, this is what I'm looking for and it comes down to personality and with all of the guys that I'm working with, we've got so much fun too. So it's not just a pure business relationship, a do this and tick the box and we are off again. That's not the case at all. So I also think could I spend a night with them if we go out, would I want to have a wine with them or not? Because if not, I wouldn't bother.
Danielle Lewis (14:19):
Well, I mean obviously I agree with you. I'm all about you just spend so much of your day working, you've got to have fun, you've got to be able to relax, you've got to be able to relate to people and on various levels, obviously everyone brings their own values to the tables and different personalities and styles and ways of working. But if you can I guess come together and find a common ground that's so important over and above just the work.
Petra Zink (14:48):
Absolutely. And in a business and work, it has enough challenges, so you don't want to add another layer of drama of personnel staff. I had that when I led teams. My biggest team was 16 people and it just drained me so much because it was always drama and he said this and she did that. I was like, gosh, are we in kindergarten? Just job can't bothered. Exactly. I can't get, yes, you can't say that. So to be honest, I also don't plan to have a massive team. I didn't enjoy it when I actually did it, and I always thought this was my goal that I have those big teams sounds more glamorous and romantic in the imagination, but in reality it's not my cup of tea.
Danielle Lewis (15:35):
No, and I completely agree with you. I think that historically people equate success to a massive office and a team and all those things, but I'm like, there are so many now that we do spark and we're in this community. I'm like, no, no, no. There are so many hugely successful profitable businesses that don't go down that route. And in actual fact, team and office and those kind of overheads can sometimes really hurt a business, especially in the early days. Are you guys all remote team?
Petra Zink (16:06):
Yes, we are. I do have a coworking space monthly where everyone could come, but at the same time, one of the, so Nathan just moved to Melbourne last week and he was in Bali for six months prior to that. So the other lady in New York chat is here. So yeah, we can meet in person, but we don't have to. And I agree, I want to have a lean and mean team where we can be also competitive in terms of pricing that we don't have to pass on all the overheads because that actually sets us apart from all the big businesses who've got those massive fixed costs that they have to cover to start with. Definitely. Also, when COVID-19 hit, I had back then six income streams and two of the biggest ones were cut overnight. Wow. I did feel sorry for myself, let's be honest, but I knew I could maintain the lifestyle, so I'd rather be more profitable with what I've got and what I built that if we don't have income for a few months, it's bad, but it's not the end of the world rather than literally living kind of paycheck to paycheck, which we never know as a business owner what's next month's coming.
(17:14):
And then I also invest a lot in automation to be honest. So everything that can be handled automatically with some software, with some technology I handed over because it frees us up to do more creative work to create new courses, to actually do business development, to be with our clients. So this is the biggest second expense probably after the extra staff is automation.
Danielle Lewis (17:36):
And that's amazing. And want to, before we go on, you mentioned multiple revenue streams and I think that's really interesting. I think sometimes people are divided over, just focus on one thing and I know that you talk about portfolio careers and multiple revenue streams and I'd love to get your thoughts on why and how that's been successful for you.
Petra Zink (17:56):
Yeah, I always had two income streams. Usually it was my full-time job and then I started as a personal trainer when at the age of 15 and it was always my second income. And then I went to university and got a job as PA for 20 hours and did about 15 hours as a personal trainer next to my study. So I always had multiple income streams even though they were smaller back then. And when I was put in performance improvement plan, I knew I had maybe a month, two months at a best runway and I only did a few hours of personal training back then. I couldn't sustain that and I thought I never want to be in that situation again where I literally don't know if I can pay my rent in the same year. I also got divorced, so it was literally on my own.
(18:39):
My family's back in Austria. I was like, I never do that again. If one income stream breaks away, I want to have at least another one that can sustain me in my independent life. And this is how I slowly started to build multiple income streams. What I'm doing, I'm not doing completely different things. I'm not a dog walker and a parachute and I still do the same topic or cover the same solution just in different ways. Exactly, yes. So let's talk about person branding for example, I do one-on-one coaching, but not everyone can afford it. So we also have an online course with done with you. So it's one toman, it's a group session. You have online content and then there's the online component without any coaching. So I offer the same content in three different levels.
Danielle Lewis (19:30):
Wow,
Petra Zink (19:30):
That's cool. At the same time, I also do a lot of paid keynotes, so that's fourth in country. Then training companies, it's a different audience, still same content or very similar. We tweak it a bit, but still we can still leverage the same material already. Then we've got leadership retreats, for example. We've got leadership coaching. It's all hand in hand that works. Then I've got the teaching engagement at different universities now the book is another unique country even though it's small, but it all adds up. So it's a few hundred there and a few hundred there. So yeah, it's good.
Danielle Lewis (20:09):
No, I think it's such a smart idea. I mean you take the same concept and people talk about write one piece of content and push that out across all the different social platforms and into different formats, but it's the same topic, same idea, same content, just in a variety of formats. I love the idea of doing that for products as well. So why not if you've written a course, well why not deliver that in person and charge a premium or why not think about who can value from that same content if you just tweaked it a little bit to be industry specific or something like that. So I love that idea that you can kind of take your knowledge and leverage it in different ways or take existing products and leverage them in different ways. I think that's
Petra Zink (20:52):
Because in the end, this is how you futureproof yourself in the business. If my B2B, when COVID-19 hit all those big contracts where there's often 50, 60 plus thousand dollars investment, they all fell down. They all, even though they signed the contracts, I didn't go after them because I'm not such a B, so I focused on B2C because it's a lot quicker in terms of the sales cycle. I started small, developed a few courses and then went more premium when I added more, when a bit more of an audience. So it didn't happen overnight either, but at the same time, if you have got two different audiences with the same content or similar content or similar delivery, you already diversify your income without diversifying your attention because you don't have to constantly create something new if to say, Hey, can you talk about SA marketing? I would say no, even though I have good understanding, it's not what I want to stand for, it's not my area of expertise. I would start from scratch so I would lose more money then it would be worth it. So it also helps you to build your own brand to say, what can I say yes to and want? Do I say do I want to say yes to and what is a thank you, but no thank you.
Danielle Lewis (22:05):
Yeah, and that is such good advice as well. One kind of area I see business owners I guess make mistakes in is trying to be everything for everyone and try and say everyone in the world is my customer I can sell is like they just waste so much time trying to sell the wrong product to the wrong person. Whereas if you really understand, like you said, what you stand for and what you're knowledgeable on and then understand who that's valuable for, then that is just such an easier conversation to have when you're going through that sales process.
Petra Zink (22:36):
Absolutely, and this is also what makes you more trustworthy when you say, can you develop a website? Sure. Can you decide a logo? Yes. It's like, oh, okay, what can you not do? Can you walk my dog? This is why we compete on price because there's no differentiation to everyone else. But I think it also, it actually builds trust when you say, I would love to, but it's not my area of expertise, but you know what? I would actually refer you to X, Y, Z and build a bit of a referral network that you can send people back and forth because that could be also one of your business development channels where you simply pass on people or get them because they're the step before you or after you. And it comes down, I think to also abundance mindset when we are trying to go after every single person, I could lose something, I could lose a thousand dollars here, something there, whereas we've got eight plus billion people on this earth, I don't think anyone would staff, we've got some drive and actually make this work.
Danielle Lewis (23:37):
You are a hundred percent right. And that is exactly the I think philosophy that every business owner should have. There is enough out there for everybody. There are enough businesses to sell into, there are enough consumers to sell into. If you've got a good idea and you do add value, just start talking to people. You don't need to be worried about keeping all of the leads to yourself.
Petra Zink (23:59):
Exactly. And with some leads, they might be qualified, officially tick in the box, but they don't resonate with your approach and it would actually be better with somebody else because what we also want to avoid is bad feedback or bad comments or a refund or money back request because that could actually destroy us. Even though we've got officially the $10,000 and all of a sudden eight of those 10 people want the refund. Not good.
Danielle Lewis (24:26):
Yeah, exactly. And you've done all the work you've spent all the time. That's not a great situation to be in.
Petra Zink (24:32):
Not at all.
Danielle Lewis (24:33):
No, I love it. Well, and I want to ask you a question because we are here in this park community and most of us are female founders. So I wonder how being a woman in business impacted you or being a female in your career. Did you ever come across that as being a disadvantage or do you find it a total advantage? What's your position?
Petra Zink (24:57):
To be honest, I've never experienced something negative as such, and
(25:04):
I always feel sorry for myself, but I also never let that happen. So when I grew up, my dad treated my brother who was three years older and me exactly the same way. I had to do heavy lifting also from an early age onwards because my dad furnished universities actually. So we had to lift literally 10 hours chairs and desks and everything from the age of 30 to 14 onwards. So I never saw, we are different and I have a lot what I call masculine energy. I'm not that feminine or female by nature. So I always fought my way through and that also, to be honest, always build male teams around me because it's easy for me to get on with them and I usually earn a lot more than all my female counterparts because I ask for it, but I do, you
Danielle Lewis (25:57):
Know what, maybe that's good advice. It's just getting in there and just doing it and asking for more. I love that.
Petra Zink (26:04):
Yes. But I do see for myself that my male counterparts, they just say an extraordinary amount like that I'm worth it. And I'm like, oh, but can I really charge that much? So I still question myself all the time, especially when it comes to higher ticket offers. And when I was in recruitment, what I constantly saw was females tick nine and a half out of 10 boxes and thought, I'm not quite ready yet. I'll wait for another year. So to go for this more senior role. And the guys were, well, I'm kind of ticking three out of 10 boxes. I'm kind of overqualified, but I'll go for it anyway. It's such a different approach to things is why females usually get stuck or take lower paying roles because it's also a different drive. They'd rather be part of a team and belong to a social group.
(26:53):
And guys, it's still about status and their own ego. There's nothing right or wrong with it, it's just a different driver that I've seen over and over again. And it also comes down to acknowledging what are your personal values. To be honest, for me, I've made the decision that I don't want to have my own kids. I'm not naturally nurturing and caring as such. So I've made that decision. I admire moms who juggle it all. I don't know how to do it. When I look after my step kids for half an hour, I think I deserve a medal,
Danielle Lewis (27:24):
But
Petra Zink (27:25):
Everyone's got their own strength.
Danielle Lewis (27:28):
That's true. And I love that idea as well. I mean, I think so much we talk about what women aren't doing and how we can fix this, but I actually love what you just said about understanding what your own values are and you know what, if you want to make a choice that's maybe not feminist women's liberation doing all the things. If you want to make a choice that aligns to your values, maybe that's not such a bad thing.
Petra Zink (27:55):
No, I don't think so. To be honest, there's so much discussion about International Women's Day, which we just had and women's only initiatives, but this is totally excluding, there's nothing about diversity or being inclusive because we are excluding a big chunk of a population and in the end we as females can't survive and thrive when we don't have to buy in from men. So what's the point of excluding them rather than,
Danielle Lewis (28:19):
Oh my god, it's so funny you say that. I just had this conversation with my partner and he's like, so do you have any men at your International Women's Day event? I was like, no. He's like, well, that's not very diverse and inclusive. I was like, damn it. No truth. Men aren't at the table having the conversation then I think we are probably doing ourselves a little bit of a disservice.
Petra Zink (28:42):
Absolutely. And I think it actually is also upsetting for them because
Danielle Lewis (28:47):
There are good ones out there.
Petra Zink (28:48):
Exactly. There are
Danielle Lewis (28:49):
Plenty of good ones.
Petra Zink (28:51):
And I've had a couple of really good senior leaders as they were both guys, and I looked up to them, we had a good relationship and they would definitely support the best talent. If it's a female or man who cares, as long as you show dedication initiative and have personality that resonates with them, it doesn't matter. So I think some of those conversations are going too far in the opposite that actually does the female drive a disservice that fulfilling a certain quota just for the sake of it. It's not right. Choose the best talent, not because of the agenda, but because they qualify for it. Yeah, absolutely. But I know it's quite controversial in that case.
Danielle Lewis (29:34):
I know, but it's also like we should celebrate men who do that. We should also make sure that the companies that do that and take that approach are celebrated as well so that we can, I guess, hero the idea of picking the right person for the job and yeah, it's interesting.
Petra Zink (29:52):
Absolutely.
Danielle Lewis (29:53):
I love it. And so I know you are in the gym every day if not twice a day, so I always assume that is your way of looking after you. I mean, beyond the physical aspect, running a business is very mentally taxing. So I wondered for the people in the network who have businesses or thinking of starting a business and they're feeling overwhelmed or they're feeling like, why the heck did I start this business? And it's all about how do you take a minute for yourself and if things are getting a little bit overwhelming, how do you step back and look after you and I guess take on those challenges?
Petra Zink (30:37):
Well, I've got three non-negotiables and this is going to the gym in the morning. I walk and talk with my partner and then learning something new. And it could be in different ways, either listening to a different podcast or having another model module in an online course or being part of a mastermind in few mastermind and also the gym first thing in the morning, what it also signals. So yes, it is for my own sanity because I recharge, but at the same time it also signals to myself that I come first and sometimes the days can go crazy and then at night you just can't be bottle. But in the morning you've done it, you've got it out of the way, you're more energized. And I do get busy. I am the more often I exercise, so often also go for another run at lunchtime or go for a run again in the afternoon or for a team session.
(31:29):
And I actually get more done on those sessions than when I work because you think about a problem and you just can't come up with a solution. And in the second you get your blood moving and you don't actually think about it, your brain still focuses on finding the solution. It comes a lot more natural. And I also use it when I do keynotes, for example. I actually rehearse it when I swim for two, three kilometers to practice it because I can't be distracted by telephones, by emails, by Netflix. So it's just finding what works for you. But I do think that in a second I constantly get overwhelmed and I get naturally quite anxious all the time. The only way to balance that is to challenge my body and to change my physical state because this is how I switch to also from the mental state. And yes, I can't tell you how many times a day I think of should I just quit it? Is it even worth it? It's like, oh yeah, just another day
Danielle Lewis (32:30):
We are having these thoughts. I need to go for a run.
Petra Zink (32:33):
Exactly, exactly. Because we are just getting in our own heads so easily. So if we just changed, and in the end, I think as an entrepreneur, as a business owner, if you can't look after yourself and if you don't know how to manage your own energy, you will very quickly run out of business also because there's only so much energy that you can give.
Danielle Lewis (32:53):
Oh, absolutely. I love that. Well, we're going to wrap up with one last question for you, and that is if you could give a person who is thinking about starting a business, one piece of advice, what would that be?
Petra Zink (33:08):
Optimize for interest.
Danielle Lewis (33:10):
Elaborate. I like it, but elaborate.
Petra Zink (33:13):
So many think they can only start a business with the one profession or with the one industry they had experience in, even though they hate it, but they don't realize that they can also commercialize their underlying strength and their expertise and experience that they've gained throughout the years in different ways. So let's say we are an accountant, and I hate accounting, but how could I still monetize my knowledge? I could teach others how to do accounting or I teach at universities, for example. Or I can develop a course how to do your bookkeeping as a business owner so I can still leverage what I know, but package it in a different way. And this is what so many don't think about. We are not stuck in where we are right now. We can move and we can change. And there are studies that show that we've got about five different careers in our professional life and in those five careers, 17 different jobs. So why should we stick to something that we can't be bothered with? Because if you're not that interested, that passionate about a topic that you could listen to, learn about and read about 24 7 for the next 2, 3, 5 years, again, it's not going to be sustainable because we need to stay up to date. We need to know what's happening in the industry that we can then adjust our skillset and our tool that we need in order to perform the task. So yeah, optimize for interest.
Danielle Lewis (34:32):
Oh my God, I love it. You are literally amazing. Well, thank you so much for spending your time with us today and those insights were incredible. So I do really appreciate you being honest and sharing your challenges and successes and insights. That's absolutely fabulous.
Petra Zink (34:49):
Thank you. Honestly, I love what you're doing and thanks so much for putting together the Spark community, incredible leaders there. And it's good to just be honest with each other, to bounce off each other and say, how do you solve this problem? Or does anyone else feel like that? Because sometimes we do feel a little bit weird or isolated, especially Exactly. Especially if our rates are all corporate employees who've got no idea how to run a business, that we don't have a paycheck, that we struggle sometimes with paying the babies. Nobody realizes what actually goes into running a business and how often you doubt yourself if you're good enough, and when you get the hundreds rejection for the same thing, it's like, what am I'm doing wrong?
Danielle Lewis (35:29):
No, it's so true. I read a quote recently that was, if you want to go fast, go. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. And I love that because it is that premise of, you know what, there's so many other people in the same boat, and if you can bounce off each other, learn from others' mistakes and have a bit of a shoulder to cry on every now and again, it never goes astray. Absolutely. Absolutely. Love it. Awesome. Well we will wrap the recording there. That is absolutely incredible. Thank you so much for having me.
