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DISCUSSION
GROUP
What's on your mind?
Packaging Horizon1
Keeping Your Boat Afloat
By Mary Ellen Reis, Packnology
Mary Ellen Reis left her position as vice president at the Snapple Beverage Group and entered
a whole new role as the head of her own company, Packnology, a packaging consulting firm located
in Peacham, Vt. Despite all the stress associated with being an entrepreneur, Reis says she loves
every minute of it. My focus is on the creative development of innovative packaging, and my experience
and contacts in the beverage industry have helped me tremendously, she comments.
Now that she has been her own boss for some time, she offers some suggestions to those who also
want to be in charge of their own business.
Since you're not in a corporate environment anymore, it's critical to keep the flow of information
coming. Says Reis, I'm an avid reader and a huge Internet surfer. I scan the globe for a constant
variety of innovations. She also suggests that the Small Business Association can be very helpful
with the financial and tax side of your own business.
Networking is essential to the entrepreneur. Stay in touch with industry affiliations and associates.
You need to work hard to stay abreast of industry trends, she advises.
Reis recommends that those who are considering jumping the corporate ship must do some serious homework
before starting their own business. You work twice as hard, says Reis, but at least the rewards are all
yours to celebrate.
Mary Ellen Reis can be reached at mel@packnology.com or visit her
Web site at www.packnology.com.
Mind Games That Can Sink Your Entrepreneurial Ship
By Kimberly Pickett, Principle of Broad Knowledge, Inc.
I was laid off. On a cell phone. On a holiday at The International House of Pancakes. Given the fact that I went from
flapjacks to fired in the span of five minutes, I handled it pretty well I cried for about a minute and a half and then was
done with it. Instead of looking for work again, I decided to become my own boss. Suddenly, I reported to no one, reported
to no place in particular, and had nothing to do unless I created it. There are consequences to self-employment, and it's
not all rainbows and unicorns.
First, no matter what the transition, you must not attach the event to conclusions you make up in your head. In other words,
you must be careful not to say, I got fired (switched to a different department, reorganized) because I'm not good at what I do,
or some other equally pointless power-stealing mental gymnastic.
The next thing I confronted was not knowing the answer. It can be very unsettling to float in a sea of I-Don't-Know. Before the
change you just knew instinctively what to do, because it was rote. If you didn't know, you could walk in the next room and ask someone.
After becoming my own boss, I was overwhelmed with the thought that there was no one to ask! If I don't know, then no one does.
Here's the big secret: No one knew the answer. They were just making it up as they went along. That is what the people around you
were doing when they knew the answer. They were just giving themselves the authority to decide in the moment. I was speaking to my mentor
early in the process and telling him about this dynamic, and he said, When I first started out, I didn't know what to do next. I just did
the next logical thing. This gave me the freedom I needed to act, which brings me to my next point.
You must stay in action (all success and breakthrough lies inside of being in action, even when you do not know if it's the "right" action.
(There is no "right" action).
Keep your critics in perspective (even if your biggest critic is you).
Take a look at your integrity. Integrity in this discussion is handled not as a spiritual leader should have integrity, but rather,
the integrity of a coffee cup to hold the coffee. You do what you say you will, and you get to say what you will and won't do in the first place.
Kimberly Pickett can be reached at Kim@broadknowledge.net or at US/Canada (888) 0247-4228, phone, or (508) 300-7857, fax.
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