Across The Desk With Elizabeth Plouffe

I don't have cable anymore. This is not a groundbreaking thing for most folks. For me, I've become dependent on Netflix and discovered Jerry Seinfeld again. Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee is my addiction. And the wise words from this long standing comedian? Pain is knowledge rushing in to fill a gap. Blew my mind. Listen up and find out how you can live with less pain :)

I loved what I wrote but did not love what I said. SO! This is new track. Why? 'Cuz it's my damn podcast and I can. I'm not a huge fan of "it" words. Start using things like empowerment and be your why and I start heading for the door. That's not to say there isn't value in any of those things. I just have to get over the nausea first. That's a bit of what todays' Entrepreneurial Entrails is about. Getting over your crap. The things that get in your way. The things that hold your business back. Me? It's because I have some inherent need to make everything harder for myself so it feels like it has value. Comes too easy? Psh. Worthless. Stay tuned. Some shit's about to go sideways.

Andrea Darabos joins us on the Spark Cafe to discuss her upcoming workshop and speaking gig with Spark the Change India! Build a Positive Cycle of Organisational Purpose, Strengths and Creativity Workshop: Play to your Strengths with StrongSuits: Practitioner and Facilitator

3 time zones come together for this Spark Cafe. We welcome Anant East who will be speaking at this year's Spark the Change India!

Spark Cafe welcomes Nilesh Kulkarni who is the winner of our Golden Ticket from Management 3.0 ! We were heart warmed to speak with Nilesh and discover the excitement and enthusiasm he's feeling towards coming to the first Spark the Change India! Sit down and take a few minutes to meet this lovely gentleman who is an agile coach in Pune and now a Spark advocate!

I'm joined today by the hysterical and madly skilled Karen Swyszcz from Makin' the Bacon. What do we chat about? Well, many things including why vowels are missing from her name, how she got started in the blogosphere and some crazy myths that businesses use to not blog. One of our shared passions is teaching businesses that there are better and easier ways to communicate for your business. And communicate you must. If you believe that building a website and occasionally putting up a blog post are enough to have you fending off the business offers, well, you're wrong. Very wrong. Join us for a fun filled, informative and snort inducing chat about the why's and wherefore's of makin' the bacon!

How often do you schedule time to learn in your business? Do you even see that as part of your business? Or do you think you know enough? Lots of questions I know. Today I had the chance to attend a great event at the DeGroote School of Business here in Burlington and get some answers. The event was a panel discussion on the advent of digital marketing and how organizations need to keep the conversation going. It was a great opportunity to reinforce what I already know but to also remind me how important learning is for your clients. Today? Today I learned the importance of creating thumb stopping moments. Curious? Have some questions? Well let's provide some answers shall we?

Karen’s mission statement: “To engage, educate and enable people working in projects and organisations, so that their individual efforts can make a positive impact.” Over the past decade, Karen has worked with various groups within the mining and project management sectors. Karen is a geological engineer, project manager, sustainability expert and change agent with 20 years of experience based out of Saskatoon in Canada; someone who believes that the greatest value can only be derived through common goals, healthy engagement and collaboration to reduce wasteful practices. Karen is a strategic forward thinker with strengths in binding together data, information and people, to identify risks and opportunities to solve complex challenges including leading teams through transformational change. Karen’s topic at Spark the Change: Design to engage and align for project success Spark Theme: Unleashing people

I'd like to tell you this is an interview with Jen Sincero and I'm all fancy like that. But it's not. What I can tell you is that I've just finished reading her latest book, You Are a Badass at Making Money, and it's freaking awesome. Wise Words on Across the Desk is an opportunity to give honest feedback about some of the crazy number of books I read and either recommend or advise you to steer clear. It could be said I'm the cattle prod of book reviewers ... If Jen Sincero can be the cattle prod of motivational speakers and get rich, then hey, why not me too? Take a moment to get inspired to get your financial mindset under control. One day, when I'm feeling brave, I'll read you the letters to money that I wrote and you'll see what change is possible. Universal Intelligence: show me the money!

Sunil, working as a Principal Consultant at Thoughtworks, is a Pragmatic Agile & Lean Evangelist and Systems Thinker. He has extensive international experience in consulting with organisations on the path of Lean Transformation and Change. Sunil’s topic at Spark the Change: Infuse Life, Embrace Change Spark Theme: Disruption and Change

Rich is an international Change Management Professional from Canada. He is also a founding member of the Association of Change Management Professionals. He has successfully delivered change for over 25 years globally. His legacy also includes developing the change delivery model for the UK government. Rich is an international speaker and has also been involved at Spark the Change in Toronto, his recent-most involvement being this year where I also had a chance to say hello to Rich over the Robot that I participated from at the Spark Toronto conference.

If you're an entrepreneur, and especially a solopreneur, then you know the challenge of trying to reach a goal on your own. it's easy to create the goal but achieving it? Sometimes it's easy to have it slip down the list. Meet Holly Simmons. She's a Burlington based Family Enterprise Adviser and Thinking Partner. I met Holly last year through a mutual friend and have not only gained a friend but a respected colleague. I've been fortunate to receive coaching from Holly and it was this experience that inspired me to create the Making Shift Happen program for members of my women in business group, Ballsy. Holly and I sat down today to talk about the value of building an accountability program, how you can create a beneficial partnership to achieve goals and why talking it out can create new goals you never even considered.

Take a moment and learn more about our keynote Jason Little, author of Lean Change Management. Not only is Jason a global thought leader on change practices, he's also a tech geek that is going to join us through Kubi technology!

We've all heard how we should focus on the "why" behind our business and make sure that we lead, produce and create with the why in mind. But have you ever considered what drives your why? Why sometimes, even with the best of intentions, your why gets derailed when constraints get wrapped around you like a boa constrictor? Daniel H. Pink dives in to Drive to help us understand what motivates us to succeed, why managers should stop buying so many carrots and the truth behind what creates motivation and what sends us in to the ever popular state of not being engaged with our job. Why is this important? Well if you run your own business - it's crucial to understand what makes your team tick. It means you keep paying the rent and stay in business or you keep hiring new team members until the exhaustion of training kills your business. Or if you manage teams for an organization, it can mean the difference between delivering on a project and meeting your deadline or explaining to your boss why that won't be happ

Do you sometimes step back from your business and think, "What in the hell am I doing this for?" I have. Lots. And then I figured out why. I wasn't listening to what drives me. That little voice that says, "Hell yes! This is what I was born to do!" I was born to teach. Took me many years to figure that out. I was also born to solve problems and put out fires. I love it. Makes me do the Mambo when I get to do that. One way I feed that habit is by being an event planner. Nothing says run like a lunatic like being in charge of a team of people delivering an event with hundreds of attendees. It blows my kilt up in a big way :) But if you haven't found your drive, or at least what drives you on certain aspects of your business, maybe it's time to take a look at why. Or better yet - who can you give those jobs to that rob you of your drive so that you can get back on track! Interested? Listen on.

A lot of people struggle with liking photos of themselves. Why? I've no idea. I know I did until a few years ago when I opened my own business. I knew I'd have to have some good shots of myself. Why? Because people buy you and your business. If you come across shifty, incompetent or unfriendly, you've just done yourself out of some business. Decisions about people through their profile photo are made in 40 milliseconds. Yep. That fast. And most people aren't even cognizant of having weighed, measured and found you wanting. They just know they aren't going to do business with you. So if your profile photo space is blank -it's the same thing. What are you hiding? Why aren't you visible for your business? Are you telling the truth about who you are and what you can do? So much pressure in this selfie laden online world. Take some of these tips, get a friend with a steady hand and for the love of all that is holy don't use a selfie and add a profile photo to your social media platforms, website and wherever e

I find it REALLY hard to stick to one subject. Partly because I read like a lunatic and partly because I have undiagnosed, treated with coffee, shiny things ADD. What I do find is that I tend to pick up on the little details that most people miss. That's how 30 or more was born. 30 and counting tips and hints about opportunities to fix or try out something new in communicating about your business. I kick off talking about where your logo should be. Sounds silly but are you sure it's up to date on the millions of profiles and websites you might have set up to promote your business with? Are you taking advantage of 1 simple hint that takes minutes to set up and provides passive advertising every time you send an email? If you've got 5 minutes, I've got 30 or more ways to get you communicating better :)

If you're a woman and you've ever had to negotiate anything that involves money, you likely either paid too much or got paid to little. It appears to have something to do with biology. Men? Not so much. They apparently can negotiate like a surgeon. I'm thinking it's time we all had a little bit of medical school when it comes to negotiating. On this episode of Ballsy in Review, we touch on noodling (that's thinking not drawing) and how both negotiation and noodling affect our next steps.

Sometimes, in the best of both worlds, your business life and your personal life hit a patch of nirvana. Most times, as an entrepreneur anyway, your business life kicks the stuffing out of your personal life. Late nights. Missed dinners. That kind of thing. I took a chance last year while trying to help my son, who is on the spectrum, and reached out to an organization to offer my services. Why? Because it had been too damn hard to find them and I was tired of it being hard. That decision to volunteer turned in to what is one of my most rewarding client relationships. Take a listen and learn more about how connecting your core values to business decisions can lead to unexpected bonuses AND learn about http://itsaneurodiverseuniverse.ca/index which is an amazing event I get to be a part of.

You hear the guru's spouting the catch phrase, "what's holding you back?" Once you find that out, your life and business will be as close to nirvana (not the band, though that would be cool) as is humanly possible. Or you could be a stubborn jackass, not ask for help and struggle along like a lunatic for months. Which I did. Until now. Today we touch on the power of getting the right coach, how that can lead to breakthroughs for your business and provide relief for your tired solopreneuring brain. And if you are also a She-Hulk, then here are some tips for finding your Wonder Woman and kicking nirvana's ass.