Well, right now, while you read this, I’m doing something I’ve wanted to do for over 20 years!
This Friday and Saturday I’m hosting my own corporate strategic planning/visioning retreat.
Twenty years ago I dreamed of having my own company – something that would be aligned with my personal interests and values. Something that would be a solution and positive force in the world, in my own unique way.
I went on to study organizational development in grad school in the mid-90s. Then onto a career as a graphic recorder and facilitator — helping organizations clarify their visions and plans and shift their cultures.
Now, finally, I have begun to build my own real business (instead of a just solo facilitation and coaching practice). It’s still small (me and three part-time team members) … but I’m determined to walk my talk as CEO and apply the practices that I know make organizations healthy and happy.
We’re starting our company retreat with some personality work to understand our natural preferences and ways of working. Then moving onto doing environmental scan work on SHIFT-IT Coach’s business environment. Then into visioning and developing a detailed two-year operations plan. I can hardly wait to get this all mapped out!
Plus I’m bringing in my local mentee, Lisa Arora, to be our graphic facilitator. Now I can finally sit back and have someone else draw my thinking out of me – what a luxury!
As for an article this issue … I just finished writing an article for inclusion in an upcoming Association of Web Entrepreneurs book (I’m one of their contributing experts). We were asked to write on a Future Trend of our industry. Since I’m in the ‘self actualization’ industry, I opted to write on the acceleration of the ‘Cultural Creative’ market. Chances are, if you are reading my e-zine, you are a Cultural Creative too. This article is written from an internet marketing lens (as that is what AWE is all about), so a bit more business oriented than what I usually write about. It’ll give you a glimpse of what has gone on behind the scenes of SHIFT-IT Coach, Inc.
See you next issue!
Christina Merkley,
The SHIFT-IT Coach
[tags]Christina Merkley, The SHIFT-IT Coach, SHIFT-IT, Association of Web Entrepreneurs, Lisa Arora[/tags]
