Back in October of 2019, I ended up at a three-day Mastermind in Toronto with a hundred other business owners. At one point, they broke us up into groups, each led by one of the 10 presenters that were speaking over the three days.

My pod leader was Alex Charfen.

I hadn't heard of him before that day but his CV was impressive. He had built and sold businesses, built and lost a fortune, then built that fortune again. He was smart, savvy, direct and it was clear that he knew his stuff.

We all got 10 minutes to tell him about our business and what we were struggling with or trying to accomplish, and he'd give feedback.

I was excited to share what I was working on. I had been creating a plan for my business that really felt like me. For the first time in a while I felt like I was on the right path and was hoping to get some thoughts on things to watch for, tips on moving forward smoother or faster.

Instead he said, “why would you do that?”

Then proceeded to pitch an agency model.

I had already considered an agency model and decided against it, but he was so confident, so experienced, so convincing, that I got swept up in it and thought, "Well, he's been there. He's made more moves in the last year than I have in my entire life. He's seen a lot. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe an agency model wouldn’t be so bad.”

So I move forward with it and wound up having my best financial year ever.

And it was the worst year of my life.

It was the first time since starting my business that I seriously considered walking away and heading back to the corporate grind.

But I can't blame Alex for it. His advice was sound. It just wasn't for me.

I think about this a lot: how most of us never stop to ask whether the advice we're taking is actually suited to us in our specific business, or if we're just accepting what shows up, especially when we feel most desperate for an answer.

I got to talk about it this week with Stacy Brass-Russell on her podcast, Passionate and Prosperous.

We got into the real cost of making decisions from fear or comparison. Why your business bestie might be exactly the wrong person to ask when the stakes are high, and how I've been using AI as a thinking partner, (not a content machine) to pressure test my own thinking before making any big calls.

We also got into how to be intentional about whose voices you let influence your decisions, and why the most impressive person in the room isn't always the right one to listen to.

Listen to the episode here (or here if you want it on Spotify, and here if you want it on Apple Podcasts).

xo,
Sandra