Today we’d like to introduce you to Erin Samaniego.
Erin, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
It was March 2018 in Cancun, Mexico. I’m sitting in a room with the top half percent (0.5%) of the sales reps in the company, feeling so humbled and proud of my accomplishments. As I sat in a room with 164 of my peers, I kept thinking to myself, “How am I going to take my business to the next level?” I didn’t know that I would end up working with entrepreneurs helping them reach their business goals.
I am a wife, a mother of two young kids, have two dogs and have built a business managing all of it.
From an early age, I had ambitions of having a business and for making a difference. When I was 19, I discovered the world of personal growth and development. This sparked my desire to have everything I did contribute to others in some way. For over 20 years, I had been immersed in training myself and others to identifying barriers and move beyond them to accomplish the things that really matter in life. I have personally coached over 200 people helping them reach their goals and create lives and businesses they love.
In my early twenties, I pursued an interior design career while going to school to be an interior designer. I do not recommend doing this but as you can see I don’t always follow the rules. Halfway through a design project with my mentor, he lost his battling with cancer and passed away. At that point in my life, I wasn’t sure that redecorating people’s homes was the kind of difference I wanted to make for people. I wanted my life to have more meaning.
And, as if someone was answering my prayers, I was offered a once in a lifetime opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. I was recruited by the largest educational company in the world, Landmark Worldwide, to work directly with the senior executive responsible for their global leadership training and program development worldwide. I was literally making a global impact for people, communities and society!
A few years later, I met my husband, settled down to start a family and got a job in the “regular” corporate world where I worked for many years. But I never felt settled. I had a side business to satisfy my entrepreneurial itch but I really wanted to be self-employed. I had two small children, a “steady” job with benefits and we just purchased a new house so I couldn’t just quit now. That would be a really stupid idea and the thought was terrifying!
But again, as if someone was answering my prayers, I was laid off from my “steady” job! I didn’t have the courage to leave my job but I knew this was meant to be. So I embraced the opportunity of being set free to pursue my dream of self-employment. Be careful what you ask for because you might get it!
I hit the ground running with my direct sales business and in just two years, I was earning an income, several promotions, bonuses and incentive trips. In one year, I was recognized as a leader and one of 20 people to be published in the 2018 catalog with my story, out of over 45,000 other business owners. I mentored a team of entrepreneurs and help many grow profitable businesses.
So there I was in Cancun, soaking in my achievements, contemplating what was next in my business. By the way, it is quite amazing what happens when you keep listening because it hit me. I knew I wanted to make a difference for small business owners in all different industries. During my time as an interior designer, I was a member of an incredible organization called Mind Masters-The Entrepreneur’s Brainstorming Team. I knew we could create a community of like-minded business owners, who were basically on their own, to come together and support each other to reach their goals and grow their businesses.
I launched Mind Masters in Ventura County and have not looked back since. I am now doing what I love, helping small business owners focus and accomplish their goals so they can have the confidence and success they work so hard to achieve. Oh, and I do it all around being a wife and mom FIRST!!!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Entrepreneurship is a game of constant challenges. Even when you reach a goal, there is always the next challenge.
One of the biggest challenges I overcame was thinking that in order to achieve success, I had to compromise what I wanted and what mattered to me. I spent a lot of hours away from my husband and kids earning an income in my last business. I decided before starting Mind Masters that I would work during the hours my kids were in school. I really wanted to do school drop-offs in the morning and pick them up after school. I didn’t want to work nights or weekends anymore. I gave myself permission to have my business work around my life and not the other way around. I have had to turn down business to keep my promise to myself and it has paid off. If people really want to work with me they do-and they kick ass!
I have had many moments of questioning myself-letting worry and nervousness stop me from taking action and pushing forward. I have wanted to give up at times but I remind myself that I created my life. No one made me do any of this. I also try to focus on being in permanent beta, as Reid Hoffman calls it, co-founder and chairman of LinkedIn. I was always trying to get to some final destination or goal. Like achieving success as if it was a resort to get too. I realized that there was always going to be the next goal and if I didn’t start enjoying the process, I was never going to be happy.
Some of the bumpiest roads have been comparing myself to others and get envious about what I see them doing. I would feel so anxious, overwhelmed and hopeless about creating my own success. Or the times I thought that there was something outside of me, that if I just learned or experienced would have me be successful-like finding an answer. I discovered that when I am being true to who I am, trust my experience and commitment to others, and surround myself with like-minded people who will lift me up, then I have everything I need to succeed! Of course, there are things to learn and skills to develop but I strive to move my business forward and not wait for something in order to help me be successful.
It’s not a smooth road and I mess up all the time! But I embrace it, expect it to never stop being challenging and keep pursuing what lights my fire, which is contributing to other people.
Mind Masters – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Mind Masters is the entrepreneur’s brainstorming team. What is that you ask?
Well, many business owners deal with challenges, regardless of the size of their business or how long they have been in business. They’re either not reaching their business goals or are dealing with the next set of challenges.
Many small business owners are on their own. Whether they are a solo-preneur, have a small team, or are a family run business. Often small business owners are “alone” without a safe place to get support, brainstorm solutions or just communicate with other like-minded business owners who understand what it takes to run a business.
I have also found in my years of supporting small business owners, they usually don’t have a sufficient structure to focus on the right activity that will have the biggest impact on their business goals. This includes the big “A” word-Accountability!! There are so many hats a small business owner has to wear. They’re in charge of marketing, bookkeeping, customer service, etc. not to mention servicing their customers. It’s easy to get caught up working “in” the business and never have time to work “on” the business. Mind Masters is their time to work “on” the business and be a business owner.
What sets us apart are not having answers! WHAT!?! That’s right! There is an entire industry of books, audio courses and seminars teaching you something that will help you succeed. Now, I am a huge personal and professional development geek so I have spent a lot of money in that industry. But I see so many people trying to find the answer to their success somewhere outside of themselves. When people are willing to tell the truth they already know, for the most part, what they need to know to succeed.
Mind Masters helps small business owners discover solutions to business challenges through brainstorming, focus, planning and action. We see small business owners accomplishing results and building whole new levels of confidence and success!
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
In all of the struggle and effort of creating a business, the one thing I realized is that the only thing that was going to have me be successful was me. There is an entire industry feeding off the vulnerability of scared entrepreneurs. Selling $10,000 courses to teach you how to earn a million dollars on the internet. Or I would see other entrepreneurs desperately reading and learning to find the answer so they could eventually achieve success.
Here is what I learned…THERE IS NO ANSWER! You have EVERYTHING you need to be successful! Now, I think there may be important skills to learn and develop but NOTHING is your way to get started or take your business to the next level. I saw so many, myself included, suffering-wanting so bad to “get there”.
It makes me so proud to have a program like Mind Masters! It gives people the freedom to stop trying to be like everyone else. There is no formula that you need to emulate! And guess what?!? When you aren’t trying to copy what someone else is doing, you get to be your unique offering and that’s what will have you stand out!!!
I believe that small business owners are superheroes! I have so many proud moments each week! Often members share their take-aways at the end of each meeting and they are beaming with power and motivation to go be a badass. Or they come back the next week excited about their accomplishments and can’t wait to share them with the group. Sometimes our members are dealing with failures and personal issues and it’s so inspiring seeing them show up to the meeting each week because it becomes a lifeline for them.
Members often say things like, “I don’t know what I would do without this group!” Or “I can’t imagine not coming to these meetings.” Or “I have accomplished more during my membership than I have in the years I have been in business.” These are such proud moments for me and this is why I love Mind Masters and the difference we are making for small business owners.
Pricing:
- Annual membership starts at $250 per month
Contact Info:
- Website: www.MindMasterInYou.com
- Phone: (805)312-8531
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: instagram.com/MindMasterInYou
- Facebook: facebook.com/MindMasterInYou
- Other: Linkedin.com/in/MindMasterInYou
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