Today we’d like to introduce you to Joy Osaka-Lu.
Hi Joy, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
In 2016, at the height of my 34-year career in corporate America, where I spent over three decades blending business with technology in finance and investment management, operations, marketing, and regulatory compliance, I felt a strong pull towards teaching the unique strategies that had made me successful.
These strategies, which included changing corporate paradigms in innovative ways without needing a team or budget, had been my edge. As an Asian American woman in traditionally led industries, embracing my identity allowed me to make significant changes from within.
By 2018, I embarked on an entrepreneurial journey, realizing my role was to connect the corporate world with small businesses through meaningful purpose. Since then, I’ve supported a diverse group of entrepreneurs across all stages of their business, applying my insights in marketing, mindset, financial narratives, and operational efficiency. My approach is captured in my book, ‘The Dharma of Business,’ which explores the synergy of energy and business for better outcomes.
Now, as a Solutions and Mindset Strategist, I help growth-minded entrepreneurs refine their operations to match their expansion. This approach enables them to effect substantial, sustainable changes without sacrificing their values, using data visualizations to bridge the gap between qualitative insights and quantitative growth.
I value the emotional, intellectual, and business acumen of my clients, along with their readiness to weave the full spectrum of human experience into their business ethos.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No! And now, I’m so glad that it wasn’t dreamy and smooth.
I have learned to trust the friction and speedbumps that at first seem like an interference to my progress because they always give me the “medicine” I need to stay focused on my trajectory.
For instance, my work blends spiritual consciousness as a viable business tool along with traditional business acumen and strategies.
Back in 2018, no one really understood it…and it has been an evolving journey to dial in the messaging as a form of respect to those I encounter to make it easy for them to say, “Yes, that’s for me, or no, that’s cool but not for me.”
There have been many times when discouragement had visited me when client acquisition was slow, and doubt in the viability of my offerings was dark.
It turns out that was actually the best thing because my solutions were still in their incubation stage and not ready to be implemented.
Timing has always played with plans, and yet, I now know that 2020 had to happen to open my type of work to be more readily accepted by more people.
As someone once told me, “The world needed to reorganize itself, and I had to learn more about myself, too.”
But, as everyone can relate, those were challenging times, but now, they have birthed a new world of so many beautiful opportunities and like-minded business owners.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
One Ripple guides growth-focused entrepreneurs to scale their businesses while staying true to their core values.
We specialize in helping businesses at crucial growth stages, such as after proving their concept and facing the challenges of rapid expansion.
Our approach ensures that entrepreneurs’ actions align with their purposes efficiently and profitably, focusing on key areas like relationships, communication, solution relevancy, and context.
We offer a comprehensive framework to address and strengthen business capabilities, ensuring scalability and resilience against external factors.
Our methodology emphasizes maintaining a connection to the company’s culture and mission, even amidst growth.
Our distinct advantage lies in applying a broader perspective to remove problems from their existing context, allowing for clear, emotion-intelligent-without-entanglements decision-making.
We transition businesses from short-term fixes to building a solid foundation for future growth, enhancing both operations and impact.
Our work goes achieves immediate gains and goes beyond them by addressing deep-rooted social programming to liberate businesses from unseen constraints.
This holistic approach not only fosters sustainable growth but also sets entrepreneurs on the path to thought leadership.
We provide personalized support through assessments, strategic planning, and advisory during implementation. Additionally, we offer leadership and empowerment workshops and engage in public speaking.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
My biggest lesson and surprise about my journey is the one taught to me through my business:
It’s about balancing what I give in a way that makes room for me to receive more of I want. This keeps my business from a feast/famine state in terms of being a solopreneur and allows me to guide my client’s confidence to create this for themselves.
The way I do that is by making sure how I do things lights me up so that my energy and inspiration refill and self-regenerate without making a condition of a 1:1 return from anyone or anything else.
To arrive to this point, there were personal lessons I had to learn, primarily around what my formula for:
– a deeper sense of love for myself that is both forgiving and kind and fiercely strong when there is an intrusion without invitation … this has allowed me to give enough room and linear time for me to learn what I need to be the happiest no matter what happens. This has translated into modeling how my clients can adopt this so that they remain authentic and strong without conditions.
– a sense of trust in myself… that no matter what happens, I will always be ok, so I don’t have to over-engineer things beyond what I know what to be directionally correct. This deeply connects to what benefits my clients the most, of combining structure with flow and deep intuition with acumen.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.oneripple.net/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joy-osaka-lu/
