CEO SPOTLIGHT
Thinking Bigger Allowed One Small Business Owner to Achieve Her Dream
By: Meredith Flory
Part of healthy leadership is being healthy in other areas of your life. Setting boundaries and reasonable expectations, creating a healthy work environment, and fostering other important aspects of leadership are easier to model when you are taking care of your own well-being outside of work.
Christy Miu is the owner of Healing Hippies at Creekside in McMinn County, Tennessee, where she not only practices healthy leadership as the head of a small business but also helps her customers find their best wellness practices. Miu is a licensed massage therapist, Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT) 500 and meditation teacher, Reiki master and teacher, Warrior Goddess Facilitator, and personal wellness coach. She is also a mother, grandmother, and member of the community where her business is based. After she had started her own yoga journey to help herself, she shares, “I saw the need in the community for what I had to offer.”
She explains that while there are many places to do yoga as an exercise, “There is more than stretching our muscles. We need to learn to breathe correctly and how to come out of our toxic headspace.” As she looked to start her business, she was not sure a yoga studio would survive on its own in her location, so she started brainstorming what other services she could offer that paired well with yoga. She says, “I had wanted to be a massage therapist when I was younger, and I thought they would work well together.”
MARKETING BUZZ
3 Tips to Cultivate Healthy Business Partnerships
By: Julie Kirchner
“I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.”
– Mother Theresa
In your journey of leading a team or a small business, have you ever entertained the thought that you could accelerate growth by embracing a business partnership? We hear you—it sounds challenging. But paving a path into new partnership territory can also come with substantial rewards like diversified skill sets, access to new networks, and newly discovered bandwidth (brain gold) for strategic planning. You likely have a dream partnership already in mind. So, how do you set the stage for a healthy partnership so you can stress less and grow more?
- Make a contract. Ground rules set everyone at ease. Establishing even a simple contract demonstrates that you take the partnership seriously and sets a standard for professionalism. Formstack and HelloSign are two resources that offer free trials and monthly plans starting at $15-16/month while giving you access to contract templates and mobile document e-signing capabilities.
- Model healthy communication practices, and others might just follow your lead. In the early stages of a partnership, devote ample time to onboarding. Use this time to clarify expectations and preferences, identify and model important boundaries, and ensure you are on the same page at each step. This time investment can help reduce stress later by preventing miscommunication, averting unrealistic timelines, and avoiding unmet expectations. Provide an approachable framework for your accessibility and set a positive and responsive tone.
BUSINESS ETIQUETTE
Healthy Partnerships and the Business of Meetings
By: Nicole Keeny
“Here’s the long and the short of it. I hate hockey, and I don’t like kids.” So says new coach Gordon Bombay in the cult classic movie The Mighty Ducks. A similar sentiment seems to sum up how most people feel about work meetings: I hate meetings, and I’m often not fond of the people in them.
Business leaders agree, however, that face-to-face meetings continue to be one of the best ways to motivate and lead. Meetings are inevitable, and often partnerships are fostered or damaged as a result. Whether you are the leader of the meeting or simply an attendee, you play a role in the partnership. How can you contribute to its health?
- Arrive promptly. The meeting is set to begin at 10:00 a.m. Sure, swinging in at 9:59 is technically arriving on time, but you are then left with no opportunity to connect with the other meeting participants prior to getting down to business. Building healthy partnerships starts in the moments before the meeting begins, where you can chat about your families, show an interest in one another’s lives, and generally be human. Yes, that will require talking rather than checking your email in the minutes before the meeting. Yes, you may need to break the silence of the room to start an actual conversation. Yes, if you are leading the meeting, you will need to be prepared early so you are free to focus on attendees as they arrive. We believe in you.
CLIENT PROFILE
Services Provided: Business Growth and Content Creation
“I have been working with Powerhouse for the last several months on numerous projects. It has been amazing to find such versatility and knowledge within one company. It has truly been invaluable to have so many experts in various fields all in one place who come together to develop our vision. The professionalism, attention to detail, quick turnaround time, and understanding of all facets of nonprofit requirements as well as business development have made Powerhouse such an instrumental part of our success making a difference in our community.”
– Amanda Thurn, Program Director, Space Coast Basket Brigade
BUSINESS RESOURCES
There’s an old saying that leaders are born, not made, but that’s not strictly accurate. Leadership skills can be developed over time, and part of being a good leader is helping to foster and develop those skills in your employees. For a list of ways in which you can encourage leadership development in your company, check out this Forbes Human Resources Council article on supporting leadership development at every level.
Want to overhaul your own leadership skills to develop healthier strategies? The Business Journals Leadership Trust has curated a list of resources specifically designed with you in mind. Learn how to identify what you’re doing right, what you can improve, and what not to do by checking out their suggestions.
Interested in bringing healthier partnerships to your business? It all starts with trust and finding partners who share your values. The CPA Leadership Institute reports seven characteristics you should consider when deciding with whom to partner.
Or maybe you’re just getting to the point in your small business journey where you’re contemplating building some partnerships. Not sure how to go about finding the right partners? Or want suggestions on the steps you should take? BoostBlog has an article you should check out.
As always, Powerhouse Planning has resources and services to help. We can assist with strategic planning, professional and process development, leadership mentoring, and much, much more. Contact us today to see how we can help you create the healthy leadership skills and partnerships you need.
Have you . . .
Checked out Powerhouse online recently? Our website has undergone a face-lift! (And it’s more than “skin deep.”) New, FREE resources, case studies, and more can help you determine how Powerhouse can best help you. Not only are we constantly updating our website, but we’re also ever-present on social media. Check us out on Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. You never know what we have going on there. Who knows, you may even get a chance to interact with our president! She’s currently scheduling one-on-one, 30-minute sessions where she will speak directly to you and offer advice and mentoring on any of those thorny business issues you might be facing.
