“Take everything about your business and really make it align for you. Tweak them until they do or find another way. There’s always a way to move forward in integrity”.

 

Amira Alvarez is a business strategist and mindset mentor at Wealth of Life, LLC. She’s dedicated to helping highly ambitious entrepreneurial women have a fully actualized life–a life that makes them pinch themselves everyday and say “Do I really feel this good? Do I really make this much money? Do I really have this much faith and trust in myself, my life, this world, the Universe/God? Do I really get to experience this much love, connection, ease, and peace? Do I really get to have it all?” The answer is YES! Amira works in deep partnership with her clients helping them to step off the hamster wheel of never enough and make a quantum leap in their levels of success, service, ease, happiness, and fulfillment. More information about her work can be found at www.amiraalvarez.com
You are clearly passionate about business. What about it speaks to your soul?
Running your own business gives you huge freedom, as well as huge responsibility. There’s freedom to design it to fit your strengths, rhythms, energy, schedule, life style, etc. There’s freedom to make as much money as you want–the really sky’s the limit as an entrepreneur, unlike being an employee where there’s a cap on your income. This freedom also comes with responsibility.

When you’re running your own business you are personally responsible–there’s no passing the buck. Being responsible takes a lot of wherewithal. You’ve got to personally own every decision you make in your business. This takes not only a lot of thought and logic, but you must also line up your decisions with your values. All of this challenges you to grow personally and really evolve into a stronger, more grounded person. It really is a soul journey.

Business is often portrayed as seemingly synonymous with ‘’tough’’ but you believe business can be designed to be easy. What are your tips on this?

My best tip is to consistently ask, “how can I make this easier?” This presupposes that whatever challenge you’re facing could be made easier. Then your mind goes to work figuring out how to make that happen. You’ll be surprised at the solutions that appear.
You help businesspeople to make a quantum leap. What is a quantum leap, how does one make it and stay soaring?

A quantum leap is making such a big shift internally that you achieve something in the outer part of your life or business that seems almost miraculous. I describe it in more detail here, but it starts with getting really clear about what you want, what your vision and true desire is. Often times we fool ourselves about what we really want, so this step is super important. Next, we need to identify the core piece that’s holding you back from going for what you really want. This is usually on the level of beliefs.

There is something that you believe that’s limiting you from taking action. Once that’s transformed, you’re able to see the path forward, the opportunities that were right there in front of you all along, and act on them. Of course, this is not a one time process. If you want to keep soaring, if you want to keep getting to the next level, this is iterative. You must keep challenging yourself to go to the next level of amazing.
 A ‘’high integrity business’’ is another thing close to your heart. What do people really struggle with in their quest to run such a business and what’s your advice on how they can achieve this?
One of the biggest things I see women in business do that throws them out of integrity with themselves, is thinking that they have to run their business a particular way that doesn’t align with their truth. They’re not plugged into what’s really important or fundamental to them, so they make decisions from a place of frustration, fear, or impatience. They do things the way others are doing it because they think “if it worked for them, it will work for me.” But if it’s not in alignment with you, this is short sighted. It’s like trying to be someone you’re not.

You’ll never be able to pull it off. Instead, spend the time to really plug into what’s in alignment for you. Take the business and marketing models, take the hiring strategies, take the sales formulas, take everything about your business and really make it align for you. Tweak them until they do or find another way. There’s always a way to move forward in integrity.
The right mindset is always a game changer. How have you developed what you call ‘’the inner game of entrepreneurship?’’
To be honest, through a lot of personal growth work. The biggest tip I can give here is to not “blow off” your feelings and just power through your work. If you do, it will always feel hard because whatever needs to be attended to (the fear, limiting belief, mindset) never gets dealt with. Your feelings are there to tell you something. Your subconscious can’t speak to you in words, so it throws up feelings. Pay attention to what you’re feeling and investigate it. Otherwise, your business will always feel like an uphill battle.

This is huge part of how I work with my clients. We take whatever business challenge they’re facing and look for practical solutions. If those solutions feel overwhelming, frustrating, anxiety producing, or like they won’t work for them, we know that there’s an inner piece that needs to be attended to and we do the work there. Then action becomes easier and the path forward becomes more obvious.
Financial independence for women is arguably one of the most important issues women are grappling with. For women who want to start a business but are scared, where should they start?
Running your own business can provide financial independence, but it’s not without risk. All of us know that. It’s not a sure thing. For some of us, that risk motivates us. It’s a challenge we rise to. For others, that risk causes so much fear we shut down. It’s really important to know how much risk is good for you and where you get thrown over the end and run for the covers. Some businesses you can start in your spare time. Go ahead and start. Get a sense of what’s involved and whether you like it. Get your feet wet and then take bigger and bigger steps.

I’m a big proponent of what I call Elephant Steps. Also, having some level of financial security when you’re starting a business is important. If you feel financially insecure, you’ll end up trying to run your business from a mindset of scarcity and this is a real killer. That energy is not conducive to a successful business. But again, everyone is different. For some people it’s really motivating to be up against the wall and have to earn money. It’s a challenge they rise to. You’ve got to know yourself.

Drawing on what you help women do in business, how can women overcome times of confusion and hesitation to get traction on their dreams whether that’s running a business or something else?
The biggest thing that’s helped me is to invest in coaching. It took me awhile to get this in the beginning because I was a committed DIYer and felt exceptionally competent. I was fairly successful and felt like I knew what I was doing, or when in doubt, I could rely on my friends. But once I took the leap and hired my first coach, my business really took off. My business has evolved and now I coach people myself. Even so, I now have three support systems–a high-level mastermind, a private personal coach, and a group training program. I surround myself with people who hold a higher vision for me and help take me to the next level. So important!
I like the way you talk confidently about your genius and your super-power, how did you discover what these two things were?
Through a lot of soul searching and analysis. I really wanted to design my business around my strengths, what I’m really good at. I knew this would make everything easier. I kept looking at when things were easy for me, what came naturally, what seemed obvious to me but were not obvious to others. I started to triangulate all this information and I began to start to own this as my genius work and super-power. For me, this is being able to spot what people really want or what’s missing AND what’s getting in their way of having it. It may be under the surface and not visible to them. My genius is helping you see it and making it safe to go for it.

What would you say is your most powerful personal trait that has underpinned your accomplishments to date?
Perseverance. I don’t give up. I might course-correct, but I don’t give up.

 

What will the next big step from where you are now look like and how are you preparing for it?
I’m always quantum leaping my business. Last year I tripled my income. This year I hope to do the same. I will prepare by doing the deep inner work that allows me to do the outer work with ease. Our growth edge is always outside our comfort zone so this is a continuous process.

 

 For more information on Vera Ng’oma’s work and resources in leadership, personal and career development and excellence building, click here.