Exclusive Multiplicity: Highlighting the Adventures of a Serial Entrepreneur
A tale of one entrepreneur’s rise to success through bootstrapping while wearing flip-flops, where Kindra Cotton (the entrepreneur in question) shares a weekly story detailing the struggles and triumphs of being a serial entrepreneur.
The other day I was having a “blah” day, where things just weren’t quite working out as they should, and I became really pensive and started my end-of-the-year ruminating early. I started having those “doubts” that I think every entrepreneur has, wondering if I was making the right choice of continuing to move forward, even in the face of what sometimes seems to be insurmountable adversity. I feel fairly confident in knowing and believing I’m on the right path, but the hardest part of my day is trying to keep getting back up every time I fall down.
I was thinking all these thoughts on a rainy day right before Thanksgiving, and I was dragging myself to get through the list of errands I had to run. Just then, on my way out into the parking lot, at about 25 minutes before sunset, I saw a rainbow. It was breath-taking! I was immediately drawn to a happy place and it was a spectacular phenomenon to witness. Everyone walking in and out of that parking lot took note of it, and some people even came from outside of the building to see it. It managed to put a smile on even the most sour faces that day, and I took that little moment as an opportunity to learn a lesson.
First, for all the unremarkable sunsets I’ve seen in my lifetime due to my propensity for pulling overnighters, I have seen a paucity of real rainbows in my life, so much as, that seeing one definitely rests in my mind as a rare occurrence.
Second, in my haste to get about the errands I had to run for the day, I actually failed to charge my cell phone, and for me, that’s such a rarity, because I keep my phone charged 90% of the time I have it on me. The fact that it wasn’t charged then was a fluke, and sure enough, when I first ventured out, I thought I should start charging my phone during my drive from location to location, but I didn’t. When I saw that rainbow, and it’s beautifully breathtaking display, I immediately wanted to take a picture of it, but when I took out my phone and turned on the camera, the low battery light came on, and I wasn’t able to.
The two things I learned the most from this experience was that: 1) Great things can happen at any moment and take you by surprise and be totally uplifting in the process, and 2) if you aren’t ready when the opportunity hits you, you’ll regret it.
For me, a person who plans to plan with back-up plans just in case, this low-power cell phone debacle surely smarts, but it was a great reiteration of a message I needed to hit home: ALWAYS BE PREPARED!
So my question to you is: When’s the last time you’ve seen a rainbow? Please feel free to leave comments below or give me your feedback directly, either by email “podcasts @ exclusivemultiplicity.com”, or by finding me on Facebook, Twitter (@KindraCotton), or LinkedIn. You can also contact me via Skype at my name Kindra.Cotton, and you can now call me on my Google Voice line at: (201) 870-0234. If you leave a message on my Google Voicemail line, please be sure to mention which podcast you listened to.
Click media player below to listen to this podcast. If the player above isn't displaying, or working properly, you can also download the podcast from iTunes for free (it may take a few days for it to appear at this link, but you can subscribe directly to the podcast feed via iTunes if you want to always get new podcast episodes when they're first uploaded)!
Come back next week, and have a Blessed Day! Kindra
In this podcast, I talk about how on Tuesday, I was having a rather “blah” day. I had just experienced two setbacks which meant that I wouldn’t be making my sales quota for the month, and as always, I had taken two steps forward, only to experience taking another three steps back. I didn’t revel in my sadness for long, but it sent me out into the rather dreary and rainy day, in a bit of a ho-hum mood.
I often get reflective in times of sadness, especially when it’s two days before Thanksgiving, and once again, I can’t afford to travel home to see my family. It saddens me when I can’t come home as often as I’d like, but I don’t mind spending Thanksgiving by myself. In fact: I PREFER IT! I’ve had too many experiences of being a fifth wheel at people’s family Thanksgivings, that I’ve grown a preference for only being around my own family during that time of year, and if I can’t have that, I’d rather have nothing. Plus, I start to resent people that send me “pity invites” to their Thanksgiving festivities at the last minute, when they find out I’m not traveling home. And how, you may ask, do I know these are “pity invites”, well, I take “last minute invites” to mean, you weren’t really thinking of inviting me, but you’re doing so because some sort of social cues dictate that you should, for everyone FEELS that being “Alone on Thanksgiving” is some sort of terrible circumstance short of death. I can tell you it’s not. Those of us that live through it every year can attest to the fact that it’s certainly a manageable holiday, given the alternative.
One of the reasons I look forward to the day, because it’s a day I know I’ll virtually have on interruptions, short of the few phone calls I’ll make and receive loved ones and friends periodically. I get the opportunity to catch up on work that’s been lacking, and luckily, at least as of this morning, I’m actually caught up on my business blogging! So that’s good news. Other good news is that my new business website is 70% done, and I’m looking forward to unveiling it in a few weeks, so I’m really excited about that too. I imagine that once this week passes, I’ll be breezing through the rest of 2011, and happily welcoming 2012 into the foray! I am really looking forward to the New Year, and while 2011 has had its good and bad, I’m ready for the next one right about now!
I would usually end my post by asking some sort of comment-inspiring question, but I suspect there won’t be a lot of people on the internet this Thanksgiving day, and those that are, probably aren’t checking out blogs or podcasts, so if you’ve made your way here somehow, either on Thanksgiving or some day eons later, leave me a message below or give me your feedback directly, either by email “podcasts @ exclusivemultiplicity.com”, or by finding me on Facebook, Twitter (@KindraCotton), or LinkedIn. You can also contact me via Skype at my name Kindra.Cotton, and you can now call me on my Google Voice line at: (201) 870-0234. If you leave a message on my Google Voicemail line, please be sure to mention which podcast you listened to.
Click media player below to listen to this podcast. If the player above isn't displaying, or working properly, you can also download the podcast from iTunes for free (it may take a few days for it to appear at this link, but you can subscribe directly to the podcast feed via iTunes if you want to always get new podcast episodes when they're first uploaded)!
Come back next week, and have a Blessed Day! Kindra
In this week's podcast, I talk about "The Adventures of Fall" and how reflective this time of the season makes me.
Please feel free to leave comments below or give me your feedback directly, either by email “podcasts @ exclusivemultiplicity.com”, or by finding me on Facebook, Twitter (@KindraCotton), or LinkedIn. You can also contact me via Skype at my name Kindra.Cotton, and you can now call me on my Google Voice line at: (201) 870-0234. If you leave a message on my Google Voicemail line, please be sure to mention which podcast you listened to.
Click media player below to listen to this podcast. If the player above isn't displaying, or working properly, you can also download the podcast from iTunes for free (it may take a few days for it to appear at this link, but you can subscribe directly to the podcast feed via iTunes if you want to always get new podcast episodes when they're first uploaded)!
By the way,Transcripts are now available upon request. If you want one, please email me at "transcripts[at]exclusivemultiplicity.com".
Come back next week, and have a Blessed Day! Kindra
A few weeks ago, President Obama delivered a Jobs Plan Speech in which he said his plan for america’s success included “A commitment to stay at it. To be persistent. To keep trying every new idea that works. And listen to every good proposal, no matter which party comes up with it”. Though I have a considerable dose of skepticism as to whether this will actually work to get something accomplished in Congress, in my own life, I can say that it’s the exact formula that I’m applying to yield my own success.
And that’s my podcast for this week. I’m pretty busy and don’t really have a lot of time at the moment, but I didn’t want to skip over my commitment to post a regular podcast message.
Please feel free to leave comments below or give me your feedback directly, either by email “podcasts @ exclusivemultiplicity.com”, or by finding me on Facebook, Twitter (@KindraCotton), or LinkedIn. You can also contact me via Skype at my name Kindra.Cotton, and you can now call me on my Google Voice line at: (201) 870-0234. If you leave a message on my Google Voicemail line, please be sure to mention which podcast you listened to.
Click media player below to listen to this podcast. If the player above isn't displaying, or working properly, you can also download the podcast from iTunes for free (it may take a few days for it to appear at this link, but you can subscribe directly to the podcast feed via iTunes if you want to always get new podcast episodes when they're first uploaded)!
By the way,Transcripts are now available upon request. If you want one, please email me at "transcripts[at]exclusivemultiplicity.com".
Come back next week, and have a Blessed Day! Kindra
This week's podcast is called "The Adventures of Blindness" and I discuss my recent experience where I woke up last week temporarily blind in one eye. Horrifying ordeal! Everything's fine now, but still a jarring experience. In all, it made me shake my head at the state of healthcare in america.
Please feel free to leave comments below or give me your feedback directly, either by email “podcasts @ exclusivemultiplicity.com”, or by finding me on Facebook, Twitter (@KindraCotton), or LinkedIn. You can also contact me via Skype at my name Kindra.Cotton, and you can now call me on my Google Voice line at: (201) 870-0234. If you leave a message on my Google Voicemail line, please be sure to mention which podcast you listened to.
Click media player below to listen to this podcast. If the player above isn't displaying, or working properly, you can also download the podcast from iTunes for free (it may take a few days for it to appear at this link, but you can subscribe directly to the podcast feed via iTunes if you want to always get new podcast episodes when they're first uploaded)!
By the way,Transcripts are now available upon request. If you want one, please email me at "transcripts[at]exclusivemultiplicity.com".
Come back next week, and have a Blessed Day! Kindra
This episode of "What I'm Reading" is on Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers: The Story of Success". Someone suggested that I read this book years ago when I was having an exceedingly difficult time trying to find a job, even before the whole “Recession” thing was on everyone’s lips. For years, I had no idea what the book was about nor why it was suggested that I read it. It was just mentioned in passing that I should check it out, so one day, on one of my many trips to the local library, I came across the book, and I decided to check it out.
It’s been a long time since a book has given me this feeling, but I can sum up my opinion of the book in one word: WOW! For much of the book, I felt like I was reading the words that had been in my head for a long time, especially as I’ve had to been introspective in seeking to uncover my own path to success in life, and why success has so deftly eluded me until now (at least in financial terms).
For the most part, the book posits that success is not just a factor of hard work, intelligence, ambition, and “stick-to-itiveness”, but also due to a number of factors that can provide someone with those characteristics with the opportunity to achieve phenomenal success as a result of a series of fortuitous circumstances that then propel them far ahead of their peers. In other words, it’s like saying what I’ve always believed, which is that those stories of people that “pull themselves up by their own bootstraps” are rarely true. Essentially, success isn’t achieved in a box, and it’s not something that can befall someone simply because they’re smart, talented, and able. Though I’m fairly young (all things considered), I know for a fact that you can be smart, intelligent, hard-working AND ambitious and STILL not be successful in life, because I’ve seen people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s with those traits that just haven’t gotten the opportunity afforded to them to turn all those things into profitable endeavors.
Having the opportunity to see early in life that the race isn’t always won by the best racer has helped me get, what I believe, is a realistic expectation of the probability of achieving success. I love the fact that reading this book almost INSTANTLY made me feel like I wasn’t crazy in my belief system!
The second major takeaway in the book is the notion of an “Outlier” and what it truly means to be one. For those that don’t know, an outlier is pretty much a statistical anomaly that severely seems to deviate from the rest of the pack. People like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Oprah Winfrey are surely considered to be outliers given their success in life and how far it has placed them from their peers. I love the way he tells rarely told stories about Bill Gates and Steve Jobs’ success, specifically that each had amazing opportunities to work on computers in the late 1960s and early 1970s at a time when people, even those working in the field of Computer Sciences had rare opportunities to use computers. Knowing how these extraordinary opportunities shaped the later success of Gates and Jobs, in my opinion, sheds a lot of light on exactly how success is obtained.
Yes, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are exceptionally smart and innovative, but they’ve also had some exception opportunities to enhance and capitalize on their skillsets in a way that FEW people ever could have, in their generation, and even still nearly 50 years afterwards. I do have to say, I would have LOVED to hear Oprah’s story of “Outlier Success”. I’m certain there’s so much more to that story than we in the general public now, but I suspect we won’t find out about it until AFTER she’s passed on, or is pretty close to it. LOL.
A running theme throughout the book is the “10,000 Hour Rule”, which pretty much states that most outliers are successful in the fields because they’ve spent a concentrated 10,000 hours of their lifetime perfecting and improving their craft. Bill Gates got his 10,000 Hours between the time he was in grade school until the time he went away to college, having spent years working on computers at his private school as well as through companies that were affiliated with his father. A phenomenal opportunity whose importance of which can’t be overlooked, given that most college campuses didn’t even have active computers in the 1960s.
The Beatles got their 10,000 hours while during a two year “residency” in Hamburg, Germany playing sets for hours at a time and improving their showmanship and musical talent. In Outliers, Gladwell purports that it was these experiences, coupled with individual talents and ingenuity that enabled The Beatles, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and many of the other “trailblazers” in modern history to leave their mark on history. I think the book shows that “luck” really is what happens when preparation meets opportunity, and it shows that receiving that opportunity is critical to success.
For this reason, I’ve decided to write Malcolm Gladwell (or at least attempt to do so), and tell him how monumentally inspiring his book was AND how I’d greatly appreciate anything he could do to help me open up the doors success I so desperately need to propel my own self to success. Over the past several years, as my life has been on a continual downslide, I’ve always held firm to the notion that this is happening to help prepare me for a better day. It’s this belief that is likely the ONLY thing that keeps me getting up out of bed each day, even when I know that getting through another day is likely going to be grueling. Throughout it all, I know that it just takes ONE PERSON (i.e. THE RIGHT PERSON) to catch wind of what I’m doing and that can become the start of everything turning around for the better. I’m tireless in my efforts to continue to do what I can to bring forth the opportunity I need to bring my success to fruition, and I’ll be tireless in trying to access the people that can help me access the network that I need to flourish.
Stay tuned. I’ll let you know how it works out in the upcoming weeks.
So, with that being said, that’s what I’m reading. I would HIGHLY recommend this book, and if you happen to read it, let me know what you think.
Please feel free to leave comments below or give me your feedback directly, either by email “podcasts @ exclusivemultiplicity.com”, or by finding me on Facebook, Twitter (@KindraCotton), or LinkedIn. You can also contact me via Skype at my name Kindra.Cotton, and you can now call me on my Google Voice line at: (201) 870-0234. If you leave a message on my Google Voicemail line, please be sure to mention which podcast you listened to.
Click media player below to listen to this podcast. If the player above isn't displaying, or working properly, you can also download the podcast from iTunes for free (it may take a few days for it to appear at this link, but you can subscribe directly to the podcast feed via iTunes if you want to always get new podcast episodes when they're first uploaded)!
By the way,Transcripts are now available upon request. If you want one, please email me at "transcripts[at]exclusivemultiplicity.com".
Please feel free to leave comments below or give me your feedback directly, either by email “podcasts @ exclusivemultiplicity.com”, or by finding me on Facebook, Twitter (@KindraCotton), or LinkedIn. You can also contact me via Skype at my name Kindra.Cotton, and you can now call me on my Google Voice line at: (201) 870-0234. If you leave a message on my Google Voicemail line, please be sure to mention which podcast you listened to.
Click media player below to listen to this podcast. If the player above isn't displaying, or working properly, you can also download the podcast from iTunes for free (it may take a few days for it to appear at this link, but you can subscribe directly to the podcast feed via iTunes if you want to always get new podcast episodes when they're first uploaded)!
By the way,Transcripts are now available upon request. If you want one, please email me at "transcripts[at]exclusivemultiplicity.com".
Come back next week, and have a Blessed Day! Kindra
