How these experts are reaching new heights of impact, influence and income through the power of collaboration.
The landscape of business is changing at a rapid pace, with the unexpected stimulus of the Pandemic having physically driven people apart, our innate desire for human connection is reviving old ways to unlock success, in a way that feels to most, as an unconventional way.
Many entrepreneurs have been told that ‘it’s lonely at the top’, however for this group, through the power of ‘Uncommon Collaboration’ the view from the top not only feels very different, it looks completely different too.
Generating impact, influence and income demands innovation, even when it means swimming upstream. For Monique Alvarez, her calling was clear:
“I was given the idea to create an event called Uncommon Collaboration. I thought it was for our book partners and authors. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The day I facilitated that event I began to die. The only thing that’s keeping me in this role and performance, is pride. I’m afraid to find out what might happen if I lead my life and business as I really desire to.”
I recently sat down with the women of Uncommon Collaboration and asked them to share how they are creating Unconventional Success through the power of working of together:
Your Network is your Net Worth
Krystal Hille is one of those women with energy that lights up every room she enters. When I sat with her and she shared ‘working with others toward a common goal shifts something within you’, I felt it.
I believe this is the difference between those really doing the work vs those who know the work, cerebrally.
One of the main questions I wanted to dive deeper into with this Bestselling Author, Publisher & Soul Leadership Mentor who has worked with some of the world’s leading spiritual mentors, was:
What is the secret to really tapping into your network to do good work?
‘Number one, you need to let go of the ‘what’s in it for me’ mindset. When I initially decided to move into the world of collaboration, I noticed how much my comparison-thinking led to competitiveness which led to a feeling of inadequacy and this simply wasn’t supportive of where I wanted to go.
If you want to truly grow your net worth, then your network holds the key. Collaboration with power referral partners has helped my publishing house grow and create magical win-win-win situations.
The three things Krystal recommends for anyone wanting to truly go all in on creating unconventional success through the collaboration is:
1. Collaborate with people who share the same target audience but help them in a different way.
2. Find people who share your values and love the same things, but come from a different angle.
3. Work with people who know who they are, embody their value, and can appreciate and value you for who you are.
Finally, she says: “Be confident in who you are. Share for the love of sharing, for the love of helping. Feel the energy exchange that comes back to you when you are acting from a space of abundance, because it always comes back to you, even if that is in round-about, unexpected, or magical ways.”
Expand Who You Are
”Being in a dedicated referral group that is structured to be collegial, communal and non-competitive, has expanded my personal and professional world quite literally.”
Terrie Silverman is a woman with a heart of gold, while only ever meeting her virtually, the presence she offered me, was as if she was sitting right there in the room with me.
Coming from the arts, Terrie’s experience is unique and she offers a vibrant perspective to the entrepreneurial world that differs from those she collaborates with. Her biggest shift was realizing that this is the only way she will be doing business in the future and I wanted to know more.
She began: ‘Having collaboration be an intrinsic part of my business, especially as a solo-entrepreneur means l have community, connection, resources and support!’
I mean if this doesn’t evoke curiosity within you about the possibility that awaits, then I don’t know what will.
The 3 key elements she recommends for anyone wanting to explore true business collaboration are:
1. Recognize you’re not in competition with each other. Knowing that changes the energy and dynamic of how you can support one another. You can and will complement each other’s skills and talents, which brings exciting opportunities from personal and professional expansion.
2. Connect and get to know the person, not just who they are in business.
3. You’re building a relationship. Be interested and curious about who this person is, where they come from, what they love, what makes them unique, what they’ve overcome.
Finally she shares: ‘We inspire and support each other while being called forward into our best selves and learning alternate business models. I’ve been hired to collaborate as a story coach for colleagues’ coaching programs. I’ve been hired by publishers to facilitate workshops for their authors, as well as story coaching for the author’s book chapters. If you are hesitant on going all in on collaboration, don’t be!’
Release ‘the lone wolf’
Walter Payton — ‘We are stronger together than we are alone.’
For Tarsh Ashwin, a fellow Aussie whose accent soothes the soul, her greatest gift has been in releasing the ‘lone wolf
syndrome for ultimate healing through Collaboration.
Mother, successful Author and Publisher, Tarsh moves through life grounded in trust and her essence fully expresses this. And as I have come to learn, it wasn’t always this way.
‘My fears around collaborating came from being burnt in the past and not believing that I could trust others to be reliable, a lonely mindset to cultivate. I realized that if I truly desired to grow my business in a more collaborative way, healing had to happen. Transcending my inner ‘lone wolf’ has been a powerful journey.’
It is possible to achieve success standing side-by-side with others through the dynamic opportunity that collaboration offers, and the potential is vast. Yet it will demand you to overcome your limiting beliefs.
Here is what Tarsh did and what you can do too to heal and leverage potency in community:
1. Heal your hurt: ‘I Healed the hurt, opened my heart and came into my body so I could feel it, heal it and release it. Through doing this work I realized that one of my greatest gifts is actually cultivating community!’
2. Elevate your Communication: Be brave to speak your truth, share your ideas, humbly receive feedback and understand how ‘non violent communication skills foster seamless collaboration’
She wants you to know:
‘If you’re an ambitious, high achieving woman with high output, imagine what’s possible when you amplify that through the power of collaboration. You can easily overcome the ‘success only comes with hard work’ belief when you move within a community!’
Be Willing to be Lovingly Called Out
Stop the BS. If you want true connections, you cannot be inauthentic’
Else Johnson, a woman of many talents, a master of many languages, especially the language of the mind as an expert in behavioral science, is a warm soul.
She is an explorer at heart, who also dared to move 6000 miles away to be with a man she’d only known for 3 months, so why not throw out the old rule book for doing business and replace it with a way that sounded insane!
Her personal experience with collaboration:
‘My impact has shifted by learning how to be called out by my collaboration partners. My message was misaligned with who I truly am and by embracing the loving and kind way my partners did this for me, it has allowed me to show up more powerfully and authentically. When you align with women who know how to be in community and absolutely have your best interest at heart, you will be elevated to a level that previously you were afraid to show up as! And that means your message finally resonates with exactly who it is meant for, translating into more influence and income.’
For Else, letting go of self judgment and the judgment she held around others played a critical role in becoming a valuable member of Uncommon Collaboration. It gave her the gift of trust like she had never felt it before, which has not only impacted her professionally, but also personally.
‘The tide rises all boats – financially, spiritually, emotionally and mentally. You perform better and in deeper alignment with your heart for greater impact in your life and in the lives of others when you choose to no longer do business alone.’ She concluded.
Manage Your Energy
“No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it.” – H.E. Luccock
Meet Georgie Hansen, a mama, survivor and all round down to earth, angel.
Her eclectic mix of PR, marketing communications savvy, and soulful intuitive wisdom with a deep understanding of human communication, collaboration, and connection makes her an absolute blast to be around! And I can testify from personal and professional experience.
I asked her to share her top 3 considerations for getting the most from any collaborative experience and this is what she had to share:
‘Speaking opportunities, summits, media opportunities and the long term friendships that have been formed have been invaluable. When women come together, when we gather together, when we share our stories and bring our own unique skills we utilize one another to grow. Together, we exponentially amplify our impact. My entire world has shifted and this is what I believe women need to adopt:’
1. Compassion: Always hold yourself and others in the highest level of compassion possible. Did you know that compassion has a higher frequency than empathy? I didn’t either until Georgie shed light on this for me! This is about learning to hold someone’s highest intention with love while holding them in their experience.
2. Manage your own energy: Working to your best ability while keeping others accountable to theirs, requires energy management on the micro and the macro level.
3. Know what your genius is: seek out people who compliment your dynamic. Know your Human Design, Gene Keys and Wealth Codes, when you do and you know another’s dynamic, you can work to amplify one anothers innate ways of building abundance.
‘Collaboration is my work, I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing in the publishing arena, in the angel mama community, without other people, without sisterhood, without a community. That is what makes my work, my work!’
Remove the Ego
Meet Executive Chef, Master Healer and Author, AlyseMarie Gallagher Warren, a woman who expresses her essence in embodied ways. With a voice that soothes the soul and food that tantalizes the taste buds, she is someone who brings all the love!
When it comes to collaboration she has had to transcend one of the biggest blocks facing women, the sisterhood wound.
‘This one was so big for me. I know this was a big one for me. When I signed up for my first collaborative book project, I had the hardest time seeing myself as part of the group. I never let myself feel like I belonged or that I could belong – but through conversation I realized most of us in that book were feeling the same way. So the next book I leaned in, I allowed more of myself to be seen and felt. And it was magic!’
She wants other women to experience the potency of contribution when it collides with collaboration. For that to actualize she advises the following:
Connect deeply with your inner self and higher self. Remove distractions and go inward regularly, you can try meditation and attending women’s circles to practice.- Learn how to hear the sound of your inner voice by listening beyond your ego, this takes time and guidance. Find a support system to help you do this.
3. Drop your own learned bullshit. This one requires an open mind and a willingness to be more committed to learning what contribution through collaboration will give you rather than your conditioning and old ways being.
‘Ultimately, transcending these wounds, gave me women who were similar to me and I have gained more of myself in the experience, I feel secure in being all of me and has grounded me into the fact that everything is always working out and when I show up to collaborative projects with this energy it holds other women to bring all of them to the space too.’
Better Business Practices
USA Today Best Selling Author, publisher and Supernatural CEO Incubator, Jess Verrill, has created a thriving business rooted in collaborative projects.
Her mission is to have a massive impact on the world through the elevation of consciousness while staying aligned in spiritual integrity. Through her voice, integrity is felt.
Jess wants other women to know that collaboration is a beautiful way to develop better business practices. Finding others that are willing to show up in the relationship brings risk, Jess shares:
“Remind yourself that you are safe, that you have got this, that you are going to be ok and to continue to step forward, to move forward with openness to receive. Don’t limit yourself on what could go wrong because you will never experience what could go right”
I was intrigued to learn that her collaborative practices have gifted her business with plentiful fresh practices for success:
1. You can share business wins and fails that gift each other with future proofing skills and strategies
2. Brainstorming sessions offer clarity on improving systems, messaging and offerings
- Elevate your clients’ experience and results through deepening your trust in yourself, in your business by doing business in a new way, with others who also trust you.
WORDS BY SHANNON ROSE
