Year of Yes

For years friends and colleagues told me that I should share my knowledge and expertise by consulting. I had given it some thought but always had a reason that prevented me from moving forward.  Then, life threw a few curve balls that ended up being perfect pitches.

Around the same time, the TV show, Scandal, written by Shonda Rhimes was in its final season.  I happened to look up Shonda on the internet and found she had written a book, Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person. It interested me enough that I downloaded it.  Then I started to read it.  While it wasn’t what I expected, I took the simple message of say Yes to everything for a period of time and see how your life changes.  Once I started saying Yes to what I was passionate about everything else fell into place.

Randy, my husband and business partner, had been consulting on business and Human Resources for a little while.  We had just moved from New Jersey to Florida and needed to register that business in the state. Randy and I had worked together earlier in our careers and complemented each other’s skills and personalities.  I thought long and hard about the opportunity to finally do Communications consulting work.  And, we decided to make a go of the business together.

That business is Paradise Workplace Solutions.  We help small and mid-size businesses evaluate what they need to do to take their business to the next level by looking at their processes and employees and match it with their plans for future growth.  Businesses, like people, get stuck in old patterns that worked on one level but could be getting in the way of future business growth. That’s where we come in.  We help leaders communicate differently, identify the skills their employees need, work with them to implement and set them on a new trajectory.  Our sweet spot is assisting owners and managers until they’re comfortable and then following up periodically to ensure their organizations match with future business goals.

I’m saying yes to the unknowns and I’m acquiring knowledge in areas that I would never have thought would interest me. I’ve navigated the business licenses process, am building a social media presence, doing market research, identifying business leads, selecting a customer relationship management system and developing marketing plans and materials.  I’m energized.  And, I’m having the time of my life.

Look for Paradise Workplace Solutions on LinkedIn, FaceBook and Twitter. Like us, Friend us, Follow us.  We’ll be posting regularly.

Susan O’Connor