"Gossip" by Norman Rockwell
This morning my phone rang with an urgent message from a colleague.
“Nancy, there’s something circulating about you that you need to know about.”
Besides feeling like I just entered a scene from Desperate Housewives or All My Children, I took a deep breath and joked, “Well, I guess that means I’ve officially made it to the big time!”
But gossip isn’t a joking matter, especially when it’s a swirl of misconceptions and your name pops up.
I’ve never actually had this happen before… wait, I take that back. This did happen before… IN SIXTH GRADE which is what this feels like.
And because I teach what I’ve personally experienced (please remember that), I am called to turn this around and share it with my peeps.
So let’s start with a big clearing of the air…
It was insinuated (and I’m not really sure by whom, but the omnipresent “they” were invoked) that I took someone else’s idea and passed it off as my own. I’m more used to being the one others copy than the copying culprit.
For years I’ve had my web copy “inspire” other people’s home pages, my Facebook profile artfully “modeled”, copyrighted materials appear under someone else’s banner, and even program ideas serve as “launchpoints” for others.
And you know what I do when this happens?
Nothing.
Why?
Because I know who I am and that even if someone were to get plastic surgery to look like me and change their name to Nancy Marmolejo, there would only be one me. I know the authority of my expertise and the power that it puts into the world.
The unique fingerprint tells no lies.
I’m the incomparable combo of Mexican-Aztec-German-American genetics packed into a 5’10″ frame, housing a brand of genius that’s unmatchable.
And because I’m incomparable, that means YOU are incomparable too. Even if you’re a 5’10″ tall Mexican-Aztec-German-American dynamo who decides to name your business Viva Visibility and throw a live event in June called I Heart My Biz, you won’t be me.
Get it? Comprendes?
MANY VOICES CAN SING A SIMILAR SONG and there’s plenty of room for all of us.
Even if you use add in words to your titles like purpose, passion, profit, money, meaning, diamond, platinum, inner circle, or mastermind you will NOT be a copycat because you’re putting YOUR unique stamp on it.
Period.
Here’s what I think happened to spark all this craziness.
I shifted the focus of my business in late 2009 after having a big revelation. That revelation was that my original work being a creative force for business owners got muddied up by my intense involvement in social media and my subsequent programs teaching social media strategies.
I’d meet people who didn’t really know what I did or how I helped businesses. People wanted me to be a trainer when I’m way more visionary than that.
So I’m simply experiencing the backlash of going to social media then circling back to my bigger vision business strategizing.
Quick Nancy history so you understand the big picture:
I began my business in 2003 with an emphasis on helping creative minded entrepreneurs take their ideas to market. Check out this “about the author” blurb from a creativity article published on January 6, 2005:
Nancy Marmolejo helps creative and entrepreneurial women hone in on their core strengths to turn ideas into action. She helps both the wildly creative and the mildly creative launch innovative ideas, enter new markets and build upon natural talents.
That was in 2005 and it sure sounds like my current focus of Profitable Essence. Talk about going full circle, right?
Beginning in 2006, I used social media to get my name out there. It was very helpful- I won national awards, was written up in major magazines, life was good. And in 2008 everyone wanted to know how I did it. Enter Nancy the social media strategist.
Social media is intoxicating and fun but soon began to lose its luster. You want to be the person who knows the latest killer app or be the one who’s discovered the shortcut everyone else has been jonesing for. I decided in late 2009 that I wanted to be the person who got to rest and unplug for a while.
I also started to notice a disturbing trend among social media “experts” and highly visible entrepreneurs:
The majority weren’t making any money.
From a moral perspective I had to stand back and look at this. How am I helping people pump up their visibility if they have nothing to offer on the back end? How can I help all the people I’ve taught to be visible get some money in their pockets? I realize now, I was contributing to the “build it and they will come” fantasy by not having that firmly in place.
The Perfect Storm
My waning interest in being a social media expert coupled with the profitability problem collided in Fall 2009. I called a number of colleagues and shared that I needed to recalibrate my business. I wasn’t looking for a new brand, rather a new understanding of what I really bring to the table and how it’s unique.
My business is more than teaching visibility tactics. It’s about building heart based, profitable businesses that expertly leverage visibility.It’s about helping people discover their Profitable Essence.
That’s my medicine. Always has been, always will be. If you haven’t known me long, you’ll understand that I use “medicine” in the Native American spiritual context. It’s our gifts and how we express them in the world for the greater good.
So that’s where it stands.
But let me give you one more example because I’m on a bit of a roll here.
When I created an audio course in 2007 on how to stand out as an expert, I made it clear that there really isn’t anything new under the sun, we just each put our own spin on information. If you were to go to any bookstore and look at cookbooks, you’d find 10 titles for Italian cooking, 15 titles for low fat recipes, etc.
The lasagna recipe in one book may not be all that different than another, but each author has infused it with their own flair and style.
The same is true with business.
We are inspired by each other’s ideas, just like artists in a studio . Can you imagine if Picasso staked a claim on modern art and berated anyone else for trying his methods? We wouldn’t have any innovation.
My flair is the way I approach my work. So if I say I’m going to teach you in 3 days how to create a business that draws upon your greatest strengths and makes you more money than ever before, I mean it. And I’m going to present that to you in my style, with my hand picked experts, with my truth. I can name 5 people off the top of my head who either are or have done live events on similar themes. Who’s the copycat? Who owns massive breakthroughs for helping professionals? Are there only 100 people in the world we’re marketing to?
Insanity.
Resolution
Spring Equinox ceremony 2008
When this matter was first brought to my attention, I was shocked.
But I knew not to go on the defensive, that’s not the way for me. I’d rather come out standing tall, knowing my truth, knowing my medicine, and opening my arms to anyone who has a bone to pick with me to first have a hug.
The world is full of ideas. We are not lacking any.
Right now, there is a massive emergence of entrepreneurs like myself who are being called to drive their businesses towards the beacon of heart based, money making strategies.
Just like the star in the Bethlehem sky, it’s calling people from wide and far.
There’s no copying going on anywhere.
We’re simply witnessing a massive spiritual migration in action, unfolding very publicly, and doing a LOT of good for people all over the planet.
The Native American talking circle is a tradition where you pass a feather and the person holding it is granted permission to speak their truth. After you’re done, you say a closing phrase (in Aztec it’s “Ometeotl”, in Lakota you’d say “Aho Mitakuye Osin”) then pass the feather to the next person so they can speak their truth.
Ometeotl.
The feather is now in YOUR hands.
About Nancy Marmolejo
