Yay! We’re doing the happy dance for earning the Mentorship Award by the Evolutionary Business Council! It gives me great joy to be acknowledged for our work in the world especially when it is given by an international organization and recognized around the world.

While we’re doing the happy dance for all of the acknowledgements we received lately, it wasn’t always that way. There were times in building my business that things looked down right ugly, which brings me to this week’s vlog and lesson:

Look Beyond The Ugly

When I first purchased my commercial building, it had been vacant for over seven years. The exterior was painted with dark grey and black racing stripe, 1980’s lighting, and overgrown arborvitaes around the building. The interior had mint-green cinderblock walls, cement floors, stained drop ceilings in some of the suites, and exposed old HVAC units.

It wasn’t pretty. But, it was built like a bunker.

Ten foot ceilings, double cinderblock walls between each of the six suites, big windows, and a common passthrough for each suite for easy connection or separation of the suites.

In two months, my team of trades drywalled, painted, carpeted, electrified, plumbed, and landscaped their way to pretty to half of the building.
Yet, I still needed to furnish the space. Through some divine intervention, what fell on my lap was furniture. A set of commercial chairs were given to me by a company that was renovating. This time a 1990’s décor.

I looked beyond the ugly. With some fabric paint and stain, I transformed the set for our Java & Chai Lounge.

With one half of the CoWorking space complete and filled months later, I needed to transform the other half of the building. The other half of the building was still unpleasant in many ways.

I looked beyond the ugly. Above the stained dropped-ceiling tiles were industrial rafters, the design look I was going for. A splash of black paint on the ceiling, new doors, and carpeting along with a new bathroom and we called it done. And pretty.

However, leasing out the ugly section took longer than I wanted because many people couldn’t see beyond the ugly. It took rendering drawings and someone who could also see beyond the ugly.

I invite you to look beyond your current ugly. What your circumstance looks like now is not what it can look like. When you look beyond the ugly, you will find a transformation. Let that be your motivation.

INVITATION

If you’re inspired to join us to transform your business and distinguish it in the marketplace, I invite you to Create Your Signature Program on March 18-19, 2021. Join us either online or onsite. In two days, you’ll walk out with your signature asset and understand how your clients move though your products and services channel.