Facing Your Fears

Fear is a 4-letter word all of us are familiar with. Some experience it less than others. Some are fearful; some are fearless. It’s even referenced in Brandstarter with the clever acronym “False Expectations Appearing Real.”

To celebrate 8 years since Laura opened the doors of Worx, we had a team birthday party. No balloons and streamers here, though. Instead, a 22’ pole, rope ladders, zip-lining, a huge swing and tightropes through tree canopies. It was a fun day overall, but every single one of us achieved personal goals and faced some major fears.

How do you know when you’re feeling “fear”? Does your heart race? Does your mind think of worst-case scenario endings? Do you shake from head to toe? We all felt a combination of those feelings when in reality our lives were not in danger. We had the proper safety equipment, a trained professional and our team to rely on. We all admit to repeating the same question and answer in our heads throughout the day.

“Will I die?” “No.”

During the climb of the 22’ pole, my body was shaking; I had to pause to control my breathing. I wanted to get to the top more than anything. The harness was attached to a rope that was being held by other members in my group. If I fell, I wouldn’t get hurt. Reaching the top and standing tall was liberating and joyful. I faced my fear, and I lived! So, while there are legitimate things to make you fear for your life in this world, most of the ones we face for personal or professional advancement isn’t life or death. 

The entire day, the bond grew stronger between the team as a whole and between each of us individually. To know we could rely on others, and we were willing to help each other in any way, demonstrated the importance of a team. 

Whether it’s your company, your family or a group of friends or a group of strangers, who is there during the initial fear? Can you count on them? A support team of motivators can really elevate your progress and successes.

While my favorite activity was the zip-line, the swing was also quite the adrenaline rush. As the harness attached to the rope is pulled by the rest of your team, raising you into the air, you feel it click into place. The only thing left to do is pull the lever. This frees the attached person from the rope stabilizing their height and allows you (and me, in this case) to fall and swing above the trees. The only way I was able to pull the lever was not hesitating. If you think about it too much, over-analyze the situation; you’ll never pull it. So with a green light from Clive (our man of the day!), I pulled the lever and experienced an amazing flying sensation.

The most challenging part of the day for me was the tight ropes between the trees. Constantly stabilizing my body and weight for 45 minutes straight literally led to muscle failure. I was completely exhausted physically and mentally. How can you avoid exhaustion? Pause when you need too, refuel as you go. Realize you are stronger than you think and keep going. Muster up that one last UMPH! to keep going. While I had to pause and regather my thoughts, I had special people around me helping me to appreciate my progress rather than feeling the frustration of my apparent weakness.

So, the next time you face fear, whether it’s starting a new job, giving a speech, or bungee jumping, ask yourself:

Who is there to help me?

How will it feel to overcome this fear?

How can I pace myself mentally and physically in order to succeed?

If you're interested in facing similar fears in an outdoor adventure atmosphere, visit upwardenterprises.com

Find your awesome.

Owning a business. Fun, right? Sometimes I chuckle at that statement. Owning a business absolutely can be fun, but it can also cause you to lose sleep and live on the stress highway. So why do we do this to ourselves? What about the stress and the uncertainty is so addicting? When we sign up for this journey, we take an unspoken oath to accept the good and the bad, the great and the ugly, the fun and the trying times. We accept that running a company is a rollercoaster of emotions.

I'm not addicted to the stress, but I am addicted to the results. With every low tide I know there is a high tide right around the corner. Just when I think I can't do it anymore, something amazing will happen and remind me of why I do what I do. I'm addicted to awesome. Here are some of the things that pick me up when I'm feeling blah, the things that are my awesome...

• I get to work with my friends, people I adore and love to be around
• I love being a designer and inspirational leader - I get to do that every day
• My commute consists of two flights of stairs - an atmosphere I created
• I get to help other entrepreneurs bring their dreams to life; that's awesome
• I have endless opportunities because I take the chance to reach them
• My husband gets to be a stay-at-home dad, and I get to see my son every day - win
• I can take off when and if I need to
• I love what I do; I rarely wake up not wanting to go to work

This blog post has a few layers to it. I'm writing it to remind myself of the things above because I'm having one of those times when everything seems more difficult than usual. I need to remind myself of the awesome things instead of focusing on the negative. I would never trade this life for another.

It's also to remind you to look at the things that make your life incredible, even if you're working towards a goal. What is your awesome? Can you make a list of the things that make you happy on a daily basis and keep them close to you for a quick and easy reminder when things get rough?

Lastly, this is an encouragement for you. If you're not living the life you deserve, you have the power to create a list of awesome. If you have an idea that you simply cannot stop thinking about, researching or doodling for, I want you to commit to yourself that you will take that risk. While you'll be accepting all the things that don't always feel fun, you'll be opening yourself up to endless opportunities, true happiness and personal fulfillment. 

I created a workbook for people like you and I called it Brandstarter (pictured above). Brandstarter was designed to help you get out of your head and into your passion. You will work intimately through each chapter as you identify who you are, what you do and how your idea makes a difference. Most importantly, it allows you to focus on YOU. 

I'd be honored for you to invite Brandstarter into your dreams. You can purchase a copy at www.getbrandstarter.com 

I want you to be happy. I want you to look at your list of awesome every day and say, "Wow, I have so many things to be thankful for." The cool thing is you're not alone. There's an amazing group of people out there that think just like you that want to share in your happiness and success. You can hear some of these amazing people on The Green Couch.

Share some of your awesome with us! We'd love to hear them!!

Unfabricated Unwrapped

A year ago I had no idea what I was getting myself or my team into. Lets buy a green couch and turn it into something that has meaning! Not an easy task, that's for sure. As the idea started to take shape, so did the interest. Our first set of interviews were nerve racking. It was all new territory for us. But it wasn't long after the first set that we knew we had something special. It was that day that I joked about doing a live interview, and a year later, Unfabricated took place.

We're not event planners, that's why we hired Heather Akers from Akers2Grow. But we are visionaries. It didn't take long to find out that we all have a passion for taking an idea that was once nothing and turning it into a physical space that people were enjoying good food and good company in. We started the planning 6 months prior to the event. There were mood boards, samples, tastings, laughs, long nights and tons of details. Most importantly, there was passion and everyone involved was focused on the same goal - create a night that inspires people.

Let me tell you about the emotions leading up to one of the biggest nights of your life. The weeks prior I was scared, nervous, wondering if anyone would really care. Would months of hard work go down the tube or would we fill the house? We'd sell a ticket here and a ticket there. I was excited when we sold 10! There were days where nothing happened. No tickets. No planning. Then there were sprints where it seemed like it was all we were talking about. Something incredible happened then. Two weeks prior to the event, tickets started to roll in. 2 at a time. 4 at a time. Soon we were faced with the reality that people actually WANTED to be there! Why on earth do all of these people care about what I have to say? I'm just a small town girl, why me? The moment hit me when I had to make a call to Heather to tell her we were on the verge of selling out. And then we did. SOLD OUT friends. I emphasize that to show you that you can do anything. It amazes every time that if you put in the sweat equity and give life to that idea that brews in your head, it can lead you to incredible things!

As the room set up went up and the guests started coming in, I did a room check. Amber was smiling, Kassie was laughing, Momina was holding a conversation, my husband had a beer in hand and I was standing tall. At that moment I knew we had done it and all fear literally left my body. I left the main room a few minutes prior to the presentation, sat in Roy Pitz Brewery and reflected on the last 7 years of my business journey. I took a million deep breaths, downed about a gallon of water and then I saw Heather come in with her beautiful smile and say, "It's time." I walked down the hall, heart racing and then that beautiful tune to our videos came on. I watched how brave our risk takers had been in the past. I looked across the heads that filled the chairs. And when Whitney from Digital Bard said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, that is the Green Couch, and this is Laura Wallace!" the once sitting guests stood and clapped. My heart is racing writing this right now because I've never felt so appreciated and welcomed before in my life. Chills. 

The interview seemed like it flew by! I was so comfortable in spilling my gutsy that I could have talked for another hour or two! I guess we'll save that for the book :) I shared things that only a handful of people knew prior to that night. I shared difficult things, things that keep me going and did my best to pass on words of encouragement. You CAN do this. You were chosen to. If you're a risk taker, you were born that way. There's something special about you that is unlike no other. You have the ability to live a life that is beyond your wildest dreams!

I want to thank each and everyone that came out to support The Green Couch Project and myself last Tuesday night. It means more to me than I could ever express that you believe in the project. It means even more to me that you take whatever inspired you and apply it to your life to create happiness! If you're interested in being on the couch, visit our website and fill out a form here! We'll be choosing our spring candidates soon.

As a risk taker, naturally there's another chapter :) So what's next? 

The full length audio interview will be available on Friday, February 6th through the Apple iTunes store! Subscribe to our Podcast channel through the Podcast app! We'll be releasing past participant interviews over the next few months.

Brandstarter Pre-Orders are available now!

Designed for risk-takers, by risk-takers who have been through the same struggles as you, the workbook is your in-house strategist, giving you the resources to build a consistent and recognizable brand. Because we want you to succeed, we’ll include a 60 minute phone call with an expert to review your journey. This book is perfect for you if:

• You have an idea and are thinking about turning it into a business (no experience necessary!)
• You have a business and you want to refine your strategy, dig in a little deeper
• You want to take your business to the next level

Photo's by Melanie Anderson of Anderson Photographs - Thank you!!!