Irecently interviewed Lorelei Kraft, author of Anything Is Possible: What You Can Learn From a Little Country Girl Who Went From a Two-Room School to Building an Award-Winning Village From Scratch in Five Weeks and Five Days. In a minute, I will tell you how to get a copy of her new book AND her PBS documentary on DC for FREE. (The video below is a must-watch introduction to the documentary.) But first, let me introduce you to an amazing lady.
Lorelei Kraft is a Minnesota Woman Business Owner of the Year and a winner of the Governor's Entrepreneurship Award. She started out making candles in her Green Bay, Wisconsin, basement, and after a divorce, she and her children expanded her business nationwide. To scratch the surface of her amazing story, scroll to the bottom of this post, click the gray arrow, turn up the volume and enjoy my interview. You can also download the podcast to your favorite mobile device or via iTunes. If you prefer to read some, here are three pointed tips Lorelei shared, with time stamps so you can easily find what interests you most. (Scroll below the tips to learn how to win!)
- Don't let reality get in your way (13:45). Lorelei says, “Whenever I want to do something, I just look at where the goal is, and if there are obstacles in the way, I go around them, over them, through them, under them, I don't care. If I want to do it, I'm going to do it.”
- Don't be a “yes but” person (23:354). Lorelei says some people want to change and some don't — even though they say they do. For example, when Lorelei suggests some ways people can change their lives, people who don't want to change will say things like, “Yes, but ….” There's always some “yes but” reason why they cannot take the actions that will bring about the change they say they want. Lorelei says, don't be like that.
- Capitalize on what makes you stand out from the crowd (25:23). To be successful, you must position yourself differently from everyone else who offers the same things you do. Whatever you sell, you must articulate what differentiates it from the crowd, and then make everything else (packaging, brochures, etc.) revolve around that central theme.
Oh! And don't miss the part starting at 5:18 where Lorelei describes her heartbreak when a store manager belittled her efforts because she made her her candles by hand in her basement. (Grrrrr!) By the way, it took Lorelei and her team six years to get out of that basement. What a great reminder of how important it is to view your business as a long-term commitment!
How To Win Lorelei's Book and PBS Documentary On CD
To win one of three autographed copies of Lorelei's book AND her PBS documentary entitled, “Five Weeks & Five Days: A Minnesota Documentary,” on CD, do two things: (1) ReTweet this post using the share links; and (2) leave a comment below, either the FaceBook comment area or the blog comment area, sharing why you would like to win a copy of Lorelei's book and PBS documentary. To be considered, your comment must be entered no later than May 1, 2011 at 5:00pm EST. Three lucky winners will be announced early next week. I will choose winners based on the sincere nature of their comments and how they uplift and inspire everyone gathered here to learn and grow together.
About Lorelei Kraft
Lorelei Kraft is the author Anything Is Possible: What You Can Learn From a Little Country Girl Who Went From a Two-Room School to Building an Award-Winning Village From Scratch in Five Weeks and Five Days, and the producer of the accompanying PBS documentary. She is a Minnesota Woman Business Owner of the Year and a winner of the Governor's Entrepreneurship Award. She has been featured in numerous national and regional magazines. Visit Lorelei's website and follow her on Twitter here.
How to Listen to the Show
This post contains my paraphrases of the information Lorelei shared. To hear it from the horse's mouth yourself, listen to the entire 30-minute show using one of these options:
- Download it on iTunes. (It usually takes a day or two for iTunes to feed the show there.)
- Click on the arrow at the bottom of this post to listen now!
- Because I have not had a chance to load all of my shows to this blog, you can listen to hundreds of interviews from 2005 to 2010, each one as relevant today as it was when I recorded it, at my Indie Business Radio site.
Question: Why would you like to win a copy of Lorelei's book and PBS documentary? What about her insights will be most helpful to you at this time in your life and in your business?
