How to Build Community with your Heart Light

Many adults struggle with feeling lost and they don’t do anything about it because they’re embarrassed and ashamed of not knowing how to move forward in the right direction. I’ve curated 17 TEDx events and over the span of the 7 years of my curation, I realized that there were integral pieces to what I had been building that made my movement so strong. I’ll share them with you now. these secrets are critical for business owners, business leaders and adults in general who feel like they've lost their mojo. If you’re an adult feeling stuck, let me help you. If you’re an entrepreneur feeling like you need to work on your brand, we all do. If you’re an executive feeling stressed about the demands of your lack of work-life balance, we definitely need to talk. If you're a leader with a team that does not respect you, you need to breathe, slow down and revisit your legacy.

First, some secrets of mine.

1. The feeling of belonging. This is a gift. I just have it. I’ve nurtured it over the years but for me, belonging is innate. Whether its the verbiage on a website, in an email, social postings, videos or campaigns, the feeling of belonging is key. Once you start to separate and divide people or make certain people feel less than or not good enough or just like an ordinary piece of the puzzle, you lack the “sense” of community. Every breath that I’ve taken to share what I build either for my own businesses or for my clients is based on BELONGING.
2. Curiosity. One of the things I’ve always admired is that as a marketing expert, I like to build a sense of trust but also a sense of learning. Creating an aura that everyone can continue to learn no matter what age, title or location makes every community an equal playing ground for success. If you’re acting as if you know it all, you’re creating a line between you and your teams or staff or fan base. When you take the line away and keep that curiosity strong so everyone can learn, that’s when life becomes a bit more fun for every participant in your network.
3. Childlike spirit. The wonder and awe of our childhood is something we must embrace daily. In fact, it’s a key element to remaining young forever, no matter how old you get. Letting your community, staff or teams feel like they can share and feel open and light hearted is an element of necessity in any business, organization or group. Let them come together to make puzzles, draw, create and build- because it is then that strangers become friends and friends become business partners and business partners become activists for each other and it keeps growing from there.
4. Keep your dignity. You’re gonna have some bad apples in the bunches no matter where you go, but if you want my secret to having less or none of them is to keep your dignity strong and to be transparent and CLEAR in your communication. If you are not, you royally piss people off. You try to back peddle and you get yourself into more doo doo. If you do that to a number of people, your legacy will drop and your reputation will be dragged. Keep your standards high at all times to let your fan base see the gift on what you’re providing for the world.    

A sense of self is the beginning of building any community. If we don't know who we are, that is ok because we get lost here and there. Life has this crazy way of making us feel bad and surprises us with big bounders that stop us in our tracks, but if we put in the work to keep moving forward, any boulder is a stepping stone.

Community is key whether between 2 people or 200,000. Why? Because it all comes down to relationships and trust and communication. If you're lacking in any of these areas, there will be little to no growth and that's when communities become stricken with falsities and you lose steam, confidence and charisma. I am a business coach and marketing expert helping people to build their personal brands, nurture relationships and have a strong sense of self, no matter where they are in their life span. Executive leaders really need to come together to realize that power is not in ego or control and entrepreneurs need to get over their own BS stories of not asking for help because they feel like they should be able to do it all by themselves.

Rise up with your heart light and turn that switch on.

Let's talk.

Learning how to speak and act in new ways as an adult can be aspirational, yet challenging. Elizabeth Barry is an inspirational speaker, business coach and author that helps career driven professionals develop a kinder demeanor, especially when faced with stress. Her methodologies are practical and her zest for life is contagious. Gain self belief and become an influence to everyone around you, including yourself. The courage that lives behind your fear is the bravery you never knew you had- until it arrives. Challenge habits, create boundaries, and nurture relationships as you learn to surrender to what is… and become who you wish to be.