5 Ways to Accomplish Your Goals as an Entrepreneur with Successful Business Woman Heather Monahan

For many in the entrepreneurial business world, entering a new year means setting sights on new goals and ambitions for the year ahead. Achieving these goals often requires new habits, routines, and a shift in mindset. 

In a recent episode of the Conquer Local podcast, best-selling author, keynote speaker, TEDx speaker, and Board Member of Healthlynked Corporation Heather Monahan proposes the idea of auditioning for the role of yourself in order to accomplish what you desire. 

In this Conquer Local podcast episode, George Leith and Heather discuss how you can go from being the person who has the capability to drive revenue and achieve goals for someone else to having the confidence to do it for yourself. Once you can do this, you’ll be able to stop building mansions for other people and build your own instead. 

#1: Reinvent Yourself When Needed

As Heather learned over the last few tumultuous years, navigating the entrepreneurship journey is nothing like the corporate world where everything is clear and defined. As an entrepreneur, you need to be flexible and adaptable to succeed. You have to jump on opportunities and adjust as needed. 

Heather Monahan started out in corporate America but was fired from her job four years ago. She had to reinvent herself at that time, and that’s when she wrote and self-published her first book. That led to her podcast, which led to her speaking career. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and shut down everything. She had to reinvent herself yet again. She became a sales consultant and then a virtual speaker — because she had to. 

When all of her speaking engagements got canceled when the pandemic hit, she asked herself, “OK, what problem can I solve from home and how can I charge for it?”

She goes on to say, “I’m continually reinventing and transitioning into these new arenas…it’s become my new norm.”

Understand when you have to pivot and have the confidence to take the leap. If you don’t keep reinventing yourself when required, you risk becoming irrelevant in a short period of time with how quickly things are changing these days.

#2: Lean in to What You’re Good At

In the beginning of the entrepreneurship journey, imposter syndrome can be very real and scary. When you’re trying to start a digital marketing agency (or another type of business), none of it is easy. How can you achieve your goals despite feeling like an imposter? 

“Lean in to what you’re good at,” says Heather. 

Take stock of your existing skills. What are you good at? 

For Heather, it was sales. She explains, “Sales is my thing, and I did it for more than 20 years, and the more that I brought that skill, unique attribute, and style with me into this new space, the more success I found.”

When she wanted to get Gary Vaynerchuk on her podcast, for example, that meant putting on her sales shoes and figuring out how to add value and how to separate herself from everyone else out there. She took out a Google alert on his name, and she was soon alerted to the news that he was launching a wine company with a partner. She reached out to that partner to offer free advice on what works and what doesn’t work during wine launches. In return, she got Gary to agree to be the first guest on her podcast. 

#3: Get a LinkedIn Profile (and Start Creating Content)

When asked about how to build your brand with content, Heather goes on to explain, “Consistency is really important. You have to show up every day. You can’t disappear for a while, or you’ll lose the community.”

At the same time, though, she cautions that you have to remember your time is valuable. 

When it comes to effective social media and content creation, “desperation is not a strategy,” says Heather.

When creating content, she suggests looking at the ROI. How much time do you have to put into doing something and what is the return or potential return?

#4: Find Ways to Add Value

Whether you’re trying to get an influencer on your podcast, find a mentor, or achieve any other goal as an entrepreneur, you should always go back to this key principle: Add value. 

“Always find ways to add value…instead of always sucking it from someone else,” explains Heather. That’s how she found her mentor. She started bringing him coffee and bagels in the mornings until he finally decided he had time to talk to her and answer her questions. 

#5: Never Underestimate How Others See Your Value

When Heather was asked to be a guest lecturer at Harvard she was blown away and asked, “why me?”

The professor explained that it would be helpful to have someone who’s currently in sales, who’s a female, who’s younger, and who has a different perspective to talk to the class. It would add value for the students. 

If you don’t have a lot of confidence now, consider how others might perceive you. Your skills and experience mean something, even if you don’t see it yourself. “Real-world experience has massive value. Never underestimate how others see you and see your value,” says Heather. 

About Heather Monahan

As a former C-suite executive in media, Heather was named one of the most Influential Women in Radio in 2017, and Thrive Global named her a Limit Breaking Female Founder in 2018. She was also named one of the Top 40 Female Keynote Speakers of 2020 and Top 50 Keynote Speakers in the World 2022 by Real Leaders. 

Her podcast Creating Confidence is a Top 100 show in the Business category on Apple Podcast. 

Follow Heather on: LinkedIn