446 MINISODE Michelle Lynne: Why Asking for Help is Not a Weakness

Women Innovating Networking Growing Scaling – that’s WINGS … I’m Melinda Wittstock, my mission is to help women take flight to soar to the success of our dreams in business and in life– and create and grow businesses in alignment with our passion and purpose.

On this special Mentoring Minisode of Wings of Inspired Business … we talk about why it can be so hard for women in business to ask for help … how we can so easily fall into the trap of “doing it all”, the trap of perfection … and miss the opportunity to grow lucrative businesses … simply because we don’t ask for help from people who’ve done it before and will help us get where we’re going swifter and easier.

Here with us today to provide her insights and inspiration is …

Michelle Lynne

Michelle is the owner of the successful interior design firm ML Interiors Group, and she says she had to learn the hard way that mentors and coaches were what she needed to succeed. Launched her firm as the markets crashed in 2008, it was touch and go … and she learned a lot along the way … including why it’s vital to engage coaches and mentors.  She’s also the founder of Designed for the Creative Mind, where she teaches interior designers and decorators proven practices, processes and profitable systems she learned along the way.

Michelle Lynne will be here with her advice in just a moment on our Mentoring Minisode and first …

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And now to the inspiring Michelle Lynne

Michelle is a talented interior designer who took the leap into entrepreneurship from the corporate world as the markets crashed around her in 2008.  She says she learned a lot about the mindset you need to succeed – and she shares some important advice on today’s Mentoring Minisode.

Melinda Wittstock:         Michelle, welcome to Wings.

Michelle Lynne:               Thank you, Melinda. I am honored to be here.

Melinda Wittstock:         Yeah, I’m excited to talk to you. As the new year gets going, I’m always curious to find out what’s inspiring people. And we’re in 2020, so what’s your 2020 vision?

Michelle Lynne:               My 2020 vision is extreme growth. I am so excited, but at the same time, I’m simplifying, so it’s kind of a double edge right there. Growing my business, growing in size for my new home. I’m moving my interior design studio to my home with my team. And really, just kind of streamlining.

Melinda Wittstock:         I like that. You can actually streamline and expand at the same time. Explain a little bit more about how you’re going to do that.

Michelle Lynne:               Well, basically, I’ve operated off of instinct for so long that in the last couple of years, I’ve really made it a focus to work strategically and going through and taking a look at the numbers. I mean, the numbers will tell you what needs to be done. I’m looking at how much I’m literally paying to have my interior design studio, and it’s worked great in years past, but my team has started to work much more remotely. I’m in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and they all work a minimum of 45 minutes away from the studio, so granting them the freedom to work from home, at their convenience and at their own pace, still meeting deadlines, and still meeting clients accordingly, has left my real estate basically sitting open.

So running those numbers and being very strategic looking at it just led me to make the decision to actually close the design studio and move the operations into a new home. My husband and I are actually moving into in the next few weeks, so I’m pretty excited about that.

Melinda Wittstock:         That is very exciting. Yeah, I think that’s possible, and I think it’s important. To attract great team members, you have to really make it about them, and people prefer virtual work, in a lot of cases.

So we all have challenges in our businesses and our lives. I always like to de-stigmatize those. So what are some of yours right now?

Michelle Lynne:               My biggest challenge … We actually adopted a newborn a little less than two years ago, and I’m no spring chicken. So my biggest challenge right now has been to be fully present when I’m home with my husband and with her and not be multi-tasking with my work.

Melinda Wittstock:         I see.

Michelle Lynne:               And vice versa. When I’m at work, I’m fully at work and not concerning myself with what she might be doing in the moment. It’s been an interesting ride.

Melinda Wittstock:         Yeah, I think so. My kids are a little bit older now, and I have come to really see it, that if I can be 100% present, whatever it is I’m doing. I’m a better mom for being an entrepreneur. I’m a better entrepreneur for being a mom. But it’s very important just to be present or 100%, whatever you’re doing, without guilt or trade-off or apology or whatever. What would be your top three go-to pieces of advice for women in business and female founders, based on your own experience, Michelle?

Michelle Lynne:               I tell my students … I’ve been coaching and mentoring and I’ve started an online course for interior designers, but one of the biggest things that I’ve shared over the years is don’t wait for the perfect time. And build the plane while you fly it. So as you’re going through and growing or starting, developing, pivoting your business, there’s no perfect time. And perfection is just so fleeting, anyway. It’s not reality. So build the plane while you fly it. Don’t be afraid of making a few mistakes along the way, because you can always go back and edit those in the future. So that’s one of them.

Another piece of advice is don’t believe everything you think. Oh my gosh, we all get so stuck in our heads so many times. My opinion is that this mind of ours is a piece of software, and we have the ability to control it. But this piece of software was developed what, 2,000 years ago or so? Whatever. And it was developed to keep us safe and to protect us from lions and tigers and bears. Oh my! But it’s always looking for what’s wrong. So we have the ability to not believe what we think but to create what we think. And so I’m just a huge proponent of us being in control of our own mind.

Melinda Wittstock:         I love the way you said that. I think that’s so interesting when you realize it was developed 2,000 years ago. And we are literally being driven by all these subconscious, outmoded, outdated thoughts, and so we really do have the power to create what we want. What would be the third piece of advice?

Michelle Lynne:               Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, and this took me a long time to learn. So it’s something that I really want to share with female entrepreneurs everywhere, that doing it yourself, boot-strapping it, is not a badge of honor. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. Finding people who have forged the path before you will very readily offer to assist you if you only ask. And they will make your path shorter. They will make your path easier. They will help you not step on land mines. It’s just such a blessing to find somebody who has walked that path before you.

Melinda Wittstock:         So very true. So Michelle, how can people find you and work with you?

Michelle Lynne:               So I can be found, actually, at designedforthecreativemind.com. That is where my online business course is. It’s for interior designers who need assistance with the business of running interior design. I can also be found at mlinteriorsgroup.com, which is the actual interior design studio that I run. So I’m managing quite a bit of social media, with the two platforms.

Melinda Wittstock:         Michelle, thank you so much for putting on your wings and flying with us today.

Michelle Lynne:               Oh, it’s been my pleasure. Thanks for having me.

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