fbpx

On Work

On Work

I’ve had a lot of jobs in the past thirty years. Some are fairly typical: babysitter, hostess, waitress, office-type work with its accompanying office politics. The less common employment includes Bingo the Clown, farmhand on a farm in West Virginia, a short stint commercial fishing in Alaska, scouring remote islands for hardware for the set of a television show, and representing a toilet paper company at charity fun runs.

Plenty of my jobs have fallen somewhere in the middle: bookstore clerk (loved that job), bartender at an Irish pub (fun at times but ultimately not a very healthy environment), managing a real estate office (not my first choice in employment but I had a crush on the owner – also, he’s my husband).

Before I switched to writing full-time in 2012, one of my favorite jobs was cleaning houses. That’s not a job that most people would want, scrubbing other people’s toilets, but I loved it.

I’m good at cleaning. Bringing order to a state of chaos makes me feel happy and calm. Which is why I spent the better part of yesterday cleaning my house. I am undeniably affected by my surroundings.

Cleaning houses had other benefits too:

I was in business for myself.

The work required constant physical effort (as opposed to other jobs which had me sitting all day long).

The results of my efforts were immediately apparent.

And I didn’t have to deal with so many people (I can take them in small, controlled doses).

I’m sure lots of people would look at cleaning houses and think it a low point, but I think it’s one of the best jobs I ever had. It’s a good reminder to me that sometimes we need to honestly examine the benefits of something, rather than letting our thoughts default to the conventional, stereotypical thinking.

If you had a job that others scoffed at, but which you really enjoyed, I’d love to hear about it.

Join The Community!

Join our Facebook GroupJoin the quest for “The Sweet Life.”  Request access to our Facebook Group.  Let’s learn from each other!  GO HERE

Free Audio Book Download

Full Unabridged Audio Book “Vagabonding With Kids” by AK Turner!  GO HERE

Take The SWEET LIFE Assessment

See how you score? Identify your strengths. Discover areas in your life you want to improve. GO HERE.

Giving Back

Amanda and Mike launched an Impact Club in their hometown of Boise, Idaho in 2017, and have had a blast gathering like-minded individuals, families, and organizations to make significant impact in our community, raising over $200,000 locally and over $1.5 million nationally.  

Join Our Next Monthly CHALLENGE

Every month Amanda and Mike pick a month-long challenge that pushes us out of our comfort zone so we can grow, learn, and become better versions of ourselves.  Sometimes we design our own unique challenge and other times we join pre-established challenges. Email us to find out about our next upcoming challenge. Us@BusinessofUs.com

About Us

Our Story | Mike and Amanda TurnerWe are Mike and Amanda Turner, founders of “The Business of Us.” We are fierce advocates of helping entrepreneurial couples and families improve their lives, livelihoods, and legacies… READ MORE

No Such Thing As Stuck

No Such Thing As Stuck

Last year we helped our daughters start a business. They’re The Sugar Sisters. They make and sell cotton candy for birthday parties and other events. We also had pop-up cotton candy sales downtown on a few Saturdays. That was one hell of a sales lesson for my girls.

Emilia’s first sales pitch was to basically bully people. She’d get right up in their faces and demand to know if they’d buy. “You want to buy some cotton candy? Do you? DO YOU?”

I’ve never seen so many adults get scared of a twelve-year-old girl.

We gently suggested she try a different approach. Then she turned into a carnival barker. “Get your cotton candy. Right here, folks. Gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free. But NOT sugar-free.”

My other daughter is much more reserved, but she eventually got out there, singing out “Get your cotton candy!” She’d hold the last syllable for an extended note and then strike a pose, complete with jazz hands.

There were many times throughout those experiences that people would just pass by and the girls would say, “It’s not working.” But we made them get back out there and keep trying.

I believe there’s no such thing as “getting stuck.” There’s always opportunity to evaluate, innovate, implement, and improve. But if you don’t have that mindset, then it feels like circumstances are what they are – and you’re just stuck.

Which isn’t to say that I always solve a problem on the first attempt. Maybe it will take me 8,459 tries to answer a riddle. I think that’s the important distinction – knowing that the quest for improvement is endless and that I’m going to keep trying anyway.

Also, if you’re in the Boise area and have any cotton candy needs, I’ve got connections.

Join The Community!

Join our Facebook GroupJoin the quest for “The Sweet Life.”  Request access to our Facebook Group.  Let’s learn from each other!  GO HERE

Free Audio Book Download

Full Unabridged Audio Book “Vagabonding With Kids” by AK Turner!  GO HERE

Take The SWEET LIFE Assessment

See how you score? Identify your strengths. Discover areas in your life you want to improve. GO HERE.

Giving Back

Amanda and Mike launched an Impact Club in their hometown of Boise, Idaho in 2017, and have had a blast gathering like-minded individuals, families, and organizations to make significant impact in our community, raising over $200,000 locally and over $1.5 million nationally.  

Join Our Next Monthly CHALLENGE

Every month Amanda and Mike pick a month-long challenge that pushes us out of our comfort zone so we can grow, learn, and become better versions of ourselves.  Sometimes we design our own unique challenge and other times we join pre-established challenges. Email us to find out about our next upcoming challenge. Us@BusinessofUs.com

About Us

Our Story | Mike and Amanda TurnerWe are Mike and Amanda Turner, founders of “The Business of Us.” We are fierce advocates of helping entrepreneurial couples and families improve their lives, livelihoods, and legacies… READ MORE

All Figured Out

All Figured Out

​I’m a born planner, so I’d like nothing more than to have everything all figured out.

When I was ten I wrote out what my budget would be in my adult life. (Don’t worry, I accounted for inflation.)

I listed my projected salary as a cartoonist and then deducted expenses, like rent for an apartment in New York, utilities, transportation, and movie tickets. (I was ten, after all. And I still love going to the movies.)

I’m not a cartoonist, nor have I ever lived in New York. These are no longer dreams of mine. Things change along the way.

When you first come into adulthood, I there’s a tendency to think, “Yes, things change along the way. But NOW I have it all figured out.”

Or, “I may not have it figured out now, but I will by the time I’m 25… or 30… or 40. Yes, 40 for sure.”

There’s a certain freedom that comes along with realizing you’ll never have it all figured out. And that’s okay. You’re not supposed to.

I can still satisfy the innate planner within by scheduling my days and progress. Most of the time that works. But I’d much rather continue to learn and grow and adapt than to keep striving for having it “all figured out.”

As Mike and I start new ventures, I find that I enjoy the challenges and look forward to the unknown obstacles that will come our way. We’ll figure them out together. Approaching change with this mindset is liberating. It produces a heck of a lot less stress than trying to map out every action.

When I was young, in addition to wanting to be a cartoonist, both cowgirl and secret agent made my list. Plans are pliable. And I’m pretty sure that’s how it’s supposed to be.

If you have a story about planning your future when you were a child; or about how your path has taken you to unexpected places, I’d love to hear about it.

Join The Community!

Join our Facebook GroupJoin the quest for “The Sweet Life.”  Request access to our Facebook Group.  Let’s learn from each other!  GO HERE

Free Audio Book Download

Full Unabridged Audio Book “Vagabonding With Kids” by AK Turner!  GO HERE

Take The SWEET LIFE Assessment

See how you score? Identify your strengths. Discover areas in your life you want to improve. GO HERE.

Giving Back

Amanda and Mike launched an Impact Club in their hometown of Boise, Idaho in 2017, and have had a blast gathering like-minded individuals, families, and organizations to make significant impact in our community, raising over $200,000 locally and over $1.5 million nationally.  

Join Our Next Monthly CHALLENGE

Every month Amanda and Mike pick a month-long challenge that pushes us out of our comfort zone so we can grow, learn, and become better versions of ourselves.  Sometimes we design our own unique challenge and other times we join pre-established challenges. Email us to find out about our next upcoming challenge. Us@BusinessofUs.com

About Us

Our Story | Mike and Amanda TurnerWe are Mike and Amanda Turner, founders of “The Business of Us.” We are fierce advocates of helping entrepreneurial couples and families improve their lives, livelihoods, and legacies… READ MORE

If You Build It, They Will Come… Not Actually True

If You Build It, They Will Come… Not Actually True

I wonder how many people took that line from Field of Dreams and ran with it. I think a lot of people don’t realize that they’re operating from that mentality when they start something.

In Writing: I see a lot of people publish their books and then not understand why everyone they know isn’t scrambling to buy a copy. That’s just not how it works. And when writers fail to understand this (and accept it), they turn bitter. I’ve seen this happen often and it’s very sad.

If I read every book by every writer I know, I’d never have time to read anything else. That doesn’t mean I don’t read local. I’ve read books by dozens of local authors and I’ve read partial manuscripts from a dozen more. But they don’t expect it of me, just as I don’t expect it of them.

If someone is offended by profanity, I’m certainly not going to shove a copy of This Little Piggy Went to the Liquor Store at them. Modern publishing allows us further reach than if we were just selling from the trunks of our cars, so we shouldn’t expect our audience to center on those in close geographic proximity.

Also, having the expectation that someone will read your book just because they know you is arrogant, plain and simple. Writers who understand this are the ones who prosper and make real connections with readers in the long run.

In Real Estate: If You Build It, They Will Come… false. People get their licenses and then can’t understand why everyone they know isn’t calling them for help to buy/sell a house. The people they know might have longstanding relationships with other realtors they trust. And with over 5,000 real estate agents in our area, everyone is related to a realtor (or a few).

We can’t assume that the people around us are our audience. It doesn’t work that way.

It’s important to find your audience not based on the people with whom you are already acquainted, but rather the people who will actually benefit from whatever it is you’re putting out there.

It’s equally important to know who your audience is not. All of this informs us on how to best spend our time.

One of the best ways to hunt an audience is to put out varied content. It’s easy to get focused on one message delivered one way and then not understand why it doesn’t resonate with people. Maybe it’s the wrong message to the wrong crowd.

We have to try and test different things.

Like Heather Compton with her “Kindhearted Badass” shirts. When she first mentioned it to people, she got a lukewarm reaction. When she mentioned it in a different platform, a lot of the other ladies and I instantly raised our hands and said, “We’ll take one of everything.” She found her audience.

We’d do well to remember that the phrase, “If you build it, they will come” is from a movie about bringing back the ghosts of departed baseball players. It’s not a viable business approach.

Build it. Then find the audience who needs it.

Join The Community!

Join our Facebook GroupJoin the quest for “The Sweet Life.”  Request access to our Facebook Group.  Let’s learn from each other!  GO HERE

Free Audio Book Download

Full Unabridged Audio Book “Vagabonding With Kids” by AK Turner!  GO HERE

Take The SWEET LIFE Assessment

See how you score? Identify your strengths. Discover areas in your life you want to improve. GO HERE.

Giving Back

Amanda and Mike launched an Impact Club in their hometown of Boise, Idaho in 2017, and have had a blast gathering like-minded individuals, families, and organizations to make significant impact in our community, raising over $200,000 locally and over $1.5 million nationally.  

Join Our Next Monthly CHALLENGE

Every month Amanda and Mike pick a month-long challenge that pushes us out of our comfort zone so we can grow, learn, and become better versions of ourselves.  Sometimes we design our own unique challenge and other times we join pre-established challenges. Email us to find out about our next upcoming challenge. Us@BusinessofUs.com

About Us

Our Story | Mike and Amanda TurnerWe are Mike and Amanda Turner, founders of “The Business of Us.” We are fierce advocates of helping entrepreneurial couples and families improve their lives, livelihoods, and legacies… READ MORE

In Pursuit of Dreams

In Pursuit of Dreams

​There’s a saying…

Writers hate to write but love to have written.

This is a great example of what separates those who pursue their dreams versus those who do not. The key difference between the doers and the talkers is how they approach the pursuit.

Lots of people love the idea of the outcome, but not the pursuit, the hard work you have to commit to along the way.

They want to have written a book, but without all that pesky writing time.

They want to be in shape but without having to actually exercise.

If you can shift your mindset to find pleasure in the pursuit, you end up making bigger strides. Not fantasizing about the end goal, but taking each necessary step to get there, being present along the journey and finding joy in the slog.

I want to show my children, by example, that I not only dream, but also commit to pursuing those dreams. No one knows what I am capable of. Including me. I commit to pursing dreams, because I want to find out.

I was thinking about this the other day in terms of my kids, and kids in general. Adults are great at giving mixed messages. We love to tell little kids that they can be whatever they want to be. That they should dream big.

When they turn into teenagers and inch closer to adulthood, we start to chip away at that message. We encourage them to go for the sensible pursuit.

By encouraging something “sensible” or a fallback, we communicate our doubt about their capabilities.

I’m not bashing sensibility. I just think that too often we don’t give people enough credit. We assume they don’t know how to be resourceful on their own. We use criticism to put cracks in the foundations of their dreams.

I don’t want that for my kids. I want them to commit to pursuing dreams. And part of that equation is being an example for them.

Join The Community!

Join our Facebook GroupJoin the quest for “The Sweet Life.”  Request access to our Facebook Group.  Let’s learn from each other!  GO HERE

Free Audio Book Download

Full Unabridged Audio Book “Vagabonding With Kids” by AK Turner!  GO HERE

Take The SWEET LIFE Assessment

See how you score? Identify your strengths. Discover areas in your life you want to improve. GO HERE.

Giving Back

Amanda and Mike launched an Impact Club in their hometown of Boise, Idaho in 2017, and have had a blast gathering like-minded individuals, families, and organizations to make significant impact in our community, raising over $200,000 locally and over $1.5 million nationally.  

Join Our Next Monthly CHALLENGE

Every month Amanda and Mike pick a month-long challenge that pushes us out of our comfort zone so we can grow, learn, and become better versions of ourselves.  Sometimes we design our own unique challenge and other times we join pre-established challenges. Email us to find out about our next upcoming challenge. Us@BusinessofUs.com

About Us

Our Story | Mike and Amanda TurnerWe are Mike and Amanda Turner, founders of “The Business of Us.” We are fierce advocates of helping entrepreneurial couples and families improve their lives, livelihoods, and legacies… READ MORE

Your Team Matters

Your Team Matters

In my mid-thirties, I looked into joining a soccer team. My kids were little and I wanted something to keep me active, but also an outlet outside of my home. I’d played soccer as a kid and teenager, and had always loved the game.

The local adult league had an over-thirty team. Perfect!

When I inquired about joining, however, I was told they were full. “But there is a team still looking for players,” I learned from the league coordinator, “it just isn’t an over-thirty team.”

I contacted the captain for this team. She said they’d love to have me and told me when to show up for the first match.

“Is anyone getting together to practice?” I asked. “I’m a little bit rusty.”

“No,” she said. “No one really has time. We just play the games.”

“Okay,” I answered. I didn’t take this to be a bad thing. If anything, it was an indication that this was a fairly relaxed group, which was what I was looking for.

At the first game, I arrived to find that I was by far the oldest member of our team. The rest of my team ranged in age from 18 to 23.

No matter. They were happy to have a goalie and it felt good to lace up the cleats.

The other team, I noted, looked like it might have been the over-thirty team I’d been after in the first place. They looked a little older, a little wiser, and a little… happier.

It’s not that my teammates looked miserable, but they did appear to be incredibly serious. While the other team warmed up for a friendly soccer game, my squad readied themselves as if going to war.

I tried not to dwell on it and took my place in the goal.

At which point every red flag I’d picked up on came fully to light. Mostly in the form of red cards for my teammates.

They played dirty.

Soccer, for them, was a full-contact blood sport.

They even went so far as to try to pick physical fights with members of the other team.

What the hell?

These people need to look into roller derby or rugby, I thought.

No wait… MMA!

There was a time in my life when I was feisty, trash-talking, I-want-to-kick-some-ass kind of asshole. But I’d sort of grown out of that stage, you know?

I lasted a whopping two games playing both goalie and sweeper. My short-lived stint on the field wasn’t due to any moral high ground. Long before I ever got around to telling them that I wasn’t the right fit for their group, I realized I wasn’t physically up to the challenge.

After just two games, I’d done enough damage to my legs to knock me out for the rest of the season. I like to think I truly gave it my all, so much so that I left everything I had out there on the field, but it’s just as likely that I simply didn’t have the basic level of fitness needed to compete.

Either way, it was a blessing.

We only get so much (who knows how much?) time on this earth. And whether we want it or not, the character of the people we surround ourselves with will seep into our lives, into our own character.

And my teammates wanted to punch their opponents in the face.

You can see how that might be problematic.

With whatever time I have left on this planet, and in whatever capacity I spend that time, I’m going to make sure I’m surrounded by the right team.

I’m not just talking about sports, either. When it comes to business, you need a team with character and moral conviction that align with your own. For your own integrity as well as the integrity of your business.

If someone on your team repeatedly merits the entrepreneurial equivalent of a red card in soccer, you may both get thrown out of the game.

When it comes down to it, the integrity of your teammates matters just as much as their ability to show up.

Join The Community!

Join our Facebook GroupJoin the quest for “The Sweet Life.”  Request access to our Facebook Group.  Let’s learn from each other!  GO HERE

Free Audio Book Download

Full Unabridged Audio Book “Vagabonding With Kids” by AK Turner!  GO HERE

Take The SWEET LIFE Assessment

See how you score? Identify your strengths. Discover areas in your life you want to improve. GO HERE.

Giving Back

Amanda and Mike launched an Impact Club in their hometown of Boise, Idaho in 2017, and have had a blast gathering like-minded individuals, families, and organizations to make significant impact in our community, raising over $200,000 locally and over $1.5 million nationally.  

Join Our Next Monthly CHALLENGE

Every month Amanda and Mike pick a month-long challenge that pushes us out of our comfort zone so we can grow, learn, and become better versions of ourselves.  Sometimes we design our own unique challenge and other times we join pre-established challenges. Email us to find out about our next upcoming challenge. Us@BusinessofUs.com

About Us

Our Story | Mike and Amanda TurnerWe are Mike and Amanda Turner, founders of “The Business of Us.” We are fierce advocates of helping entrepreneurial couples and families improve their lives, livelihoods, and legacies… READ MORE

Pin It on Pinterest