The Invisible Mentor

Posts Tagged ‘Deborah Koehler’

Here are the ways in which seven very accomplished people succeeded in their careers. The interviews are very detailed, and important information often gets buried so I like to extract information for your benefit. I have deliberately not included the fields where these individuals excelled because the information can be transferred to any field. And innovation often occurs when information is taken from one area and applied to another. What are your thoughts?

What are the steps you took to succeed in your field?

Steve Spalding

I made a lot of mistakes. It didn’t stop there though, in the wake of every failed idea or half-cocked project I tried to pull out that reason that everything went wrong. I think it’s OK to fail. I think that entrepreneurship of all stripes, especially in something as esoteric as the web, is about testing and iteration. That being said, I also think that all this embracing failure stuff only works if you understand the fact that you need to use your failures to make better decisions in the future.

Sometimes people listen to folks like me and get too comfortable failing. You should never be comfortable failing! I don’t want you to fail, ever if you can help it but most of us can’t and I want you to accept that and do your best to lose the fear, minimize failures and learn from the ones you can’t get away from.

Gina McAdam

Generally, I was never afraid to try something new and see where it would lead.  I didn’t have fixed ideas and notions about myself. When I did, I knocked on the right doors. But I was lucky always to have an orbit of good and wise people around me for support.

Deborah Koehler

Paying attention to where I spent my brain time.

David Gray

To be successful in my field one typically needs empathy, compassion, a conscientious work ethic and a background in HR. However, to be truly outstanding one additionally needs a great degree of life history in a variety of business settings as well as a high degree of intuitive and innovative intelligence in order to be able to work with people from numerous diverse backgrounds who are each struggling with very individual career and life challenges. In a word, one needs wisdom. And typically, that can only be accumulated over a long period of time after encountering a variety of challenging situations in one’s own career and life.

Michael McCleary

The big thing was really to make a decision that I was going to commit to my career choice and continue to pursue it even when times were tough.  By taking committed steps of action towards a goal, the path becomes clear, even when at first it doesn’t appear to be.

Lynn Kahle

Not so sure that I have but I do keep up and change the content of a course to be as relevant as possible.

Don Martelli

Good education. Staying grounded in my beliefs and vision for my future. Working with smart people that I can learn from. Helping others learn what I know.

How can you use this information? What do you have to add to the conversation? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Photo Credit: Google via Apture

Related Posts

The Invisible Mentor Interviews Steve Spalding Part 1, Part 2

The Invisible Mentor Interviews Gina McAdam Part 1, Part 2

The Invisible Mentor Interviews Deborah Koehler Part 1, Part 2

The Invisible Mentor Interviews Michael McCleary Part 1, Part 2

The Invisible Mentor Interviews Lynn Kahle Part 1, Part 2

The Invisible Mentor Interviews Don Martelli Part 1, Part 2

How tuned in are you to what’s going on around you? I have pulled the interview responses from several interviews to give a different perspective because the interviews are rich in content so you may miss key information. I usually allow interviewees to interpret questions which has resulted in a minefield of very rich content. Take a look at the diversity of responses to each question. Which answer would be closest to yours?

What’s the most important business (or other) discovery you’ve made in the past year?

Steve Spalding

My most important business discovery has been that working more does not mean working better. In the last few months I’ve realized that you need to take some time out for yourself and do things completely different than what you spend 50-60 hours a week doing or you’ll start to stagnate.

Go for a hike, learn about Jazz, take a trip to New Zealand, do something entirely different and see how it ties back into your day job. You might not think that your career has anything at all to do with the plot of Pulp Fiction, but the lesson that most entrepreneurs really need to learn is to take lessons from everything they do.

It’s a badge of honor among entrepreneurs to brag about how many hours you work on your business, that’s great and I do it all the time myself but the truth is that success is much more a function of efficient time use rather than raw volume.

Shannon Van Roekel

I have been startled to recognize that God is not at all intimidated by business. That world belongs to Him, too. I am trying to learn to strive less and to depend on His nudges and promptings more. He is the best agent/manager anyone could ever have.

Deborah Koehler

I am good at whatever I set my mind to do.

Dennie Theodore

The best skill to have is the ability to adapt.

Don Martelli

The most important discovery I’ve made is pretty simple — social media is great, but it doesn’t replace the human aspect that’s needed to close business deals. Yes, clients like the fact that we are on the cutting edge of social media, but if we don’t vibe well with the client, we won’t win the business. Relationships and personal, face-to-face interaction is key to bringing in new business and keeping current clients happy.

What’s one of the biggest advances in your industry over the past five years?

Steve Spalding

In the realm of Social Media (where I work most often), the biggest advances are coming as large companies start to care less about the number of people coming to their sites and start to care more about the quality of those people.

Almost every client meeting I have starts with the person wanting to get millions and millions of hits, as if traffic alone was somehow going to drive their business forward. I have to tell them that if that is all they want, that’s not too hard but no matter how many million people show up to see whatever stunt we devise to attract them, none of it matters at all unless those people eventually turn into customers.

I think companies are getting a more sophisticated understanding of how to read their own analytics and this understanding is translating into making discussions about “quality over quantity” a lot easier.

Shannon Van Roekel

I write contemporary Christian fiction; the biggest advance in that field over the past five years has probably been the growing interest in reading about real life issues, including international crises.

Deborah Koehler

Of course the movement of natural and organic products.  Nepal is ideally suited to deliver wonderful products that are non-chemical, utilize wise water usage and zero carbon footprint – all the new buzzwords. My business works to support new business opportunities in these areas.

Dennie Theodore

Women seen as necessary in leadership positions to move projects and business forward.

Don Martelli

That’s simple — social media. It has greatly impacted the way we think about our business and our client’s business. Every program we develop is run through a digital prism. The lines of advertising, marketing, journalism and PR are blurred because of social media.

What are the three threats to your business, your success, and how are you handling them?

Steve Spalding

Unfortunately, when you are in an information or knowledge based business like mine you only really have one threat — obsolescence.

Every day you wake up and your industry has moved forward a step, if you aren’t keeping up then it won’t be long until you have nothing to offer your clients that they can’t just read on the Internet.

I think the hardest thing about working in this field is the fact that not a day goes by where you can be complacent. If you are not constantly improving then you’re dying, and that death will come suddenly and without warning if you aren’t paying attention.

How do I handle that?

Well, mostly, I use the Internet a lot. I also try to avoid the trend lines. I am more apt to observe early adopters rather than be one myself, if you spend your time too deeply tied to the hot new trends you start to lose the forest for the trees and when you make your living off of the trees, that can be a serious problem.

Shannon Van Roekel

Three threats to my business and success would be

1. Not placing God first.
2. Lack of discipline
3. Getting distracted (can you spell f-a-c-e-b-o-o-k?)

I handle these threats, more or less, depending on the day, by starting it with God, keeping a day planner and working through the tasks I set for myself one at a time. Keep on doing the next thing.

Deborah Koehler

Local corruption, unskilled staff, and lack of testing facilities.

1. Local corruption: I face it without a Nepali present.  Usually corrupted officials are unwilling to ask for bribes directly to foreigners.
2. Unskilled staff: I teach in a college, train my own business staff, and offer suggestions where I can.
3. Testing facilities: I find existing documents and then talk to different labs and see if they can create a similar testing program or request that the testing be done in the clients home country.

Dennie Theodore

The usual… Similar Circles is run out of my kitchen with no funding, no time and is too GTA-centric. I’m handling them by asking my community to pitch in and they’ve been giving with both hands.

Don Martelli

There really isn’t three threats. It’s just one — social media. However, it’s also an opportunity. Social media has all but leveled the playing field for agencies. We are all “experts.” We are all going after the same budgets. It’s created a very intense and competitive environment, even more so than it was before. So the key is to stay on top of the trends and develop programs that are so forward thinking that the work you do speaks for itself. Clients hire on experience.

What’s unique about the service that you provide?

Steve Spalding

I think the most unique thing we provide is that we try to avoid stunts. A lot of Social Media tactics can devolve into pet projects that look great in a case study but don’t provide real client value.

At our core, we are educators, I want our clients to leave us, not only able to use the infrastructure we’ve built up for them effectively, but to also use some of the intuition that’s necessary to grow.

Shannon Van Roekel

I like to weave a story around a real issue, not normally in our radar, that will hopefully, not only inform and entertain, but also lead readers to compassion and empathy. Information dumps have caused us to shut down to the need, because we are intimidated by the enormity of the situation—especially in the third world arena. I believe touching hearts through the power of these stories can pull one out of that inertia into a state of true identification and hope.

Deborah Koehler

Traveling to and living in Nepal for 25 years, as well as working outside of my own culture has made be astute to cultural dynamics and my communications skills help me to facilitate new transactions.  I am accepted on both sides of the transactions.

Dennie Theodore

I’m not trying to offer a 10-step “how to” process, but rather open discussion on “why to”. By creating an emotional/mental comfort zone, folks feel better about mentoring and networking.

Don Martelli

Our unique perspective on this business stems from the mashup of the PR world before the web and since eruption of the web 2.0. We have experience that runs the gamut and fusing that experience with the knowledge of the digital space, truly gives our clients a 360 view of their brand and how we can help them move the needle.

What are your thoughts? How would you answer the four questions? Which interviewee do you identify with? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please comment. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

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Tell me a little bit about yourself.

I am in the prime of my life, putting all my life experiences together to do the impossible.  Living in Kathmandu for 3.5 years and running my own business that provides an income generated in internationals sales into the hands of the people that labor to produce the products.

What’s unique about the service that you provide?

Traveling to and living in Nepal for 25 years, as well as working outside of my own culture has made be astute to cultural dynamics and my communications skills help me to facilitate new transactions.  I am accepted on both sides of the transactions.

What do you observe most people in your field doing badly that you think you do well?

I don’t assume I know.

What’s an accomplishment that you are proudest of?

That I have lived an interesting life way beyond my expectations

How do you integrate your personal and professional life?

I keep in touch with my friends 100% of the time.

What’s a major regret that you’ve had in life?

None

What are five life lessons that you have learned so far?

1. Feel the fear and do it anyway
2. I will understand sooner or later
3. Life is like water, impermanent
4. I need empty space in my life.
5. Being loved by someone keeps me young

When you have some down time, how do you spend it?

Writing reflective emails to friends

What process do you use to generate great ideas?

Mind mapping, talking over my ideas with others, ask myself what I do know, not what I don’t know.

What’s your favorite quotation and why?

They have varied: I find them I put them up on my computer.  My current one is “Security is an illusion.”

How do you define success?

Wanting to get out of bed every morning to embrace the day.

In your opinion what’s the formula for success?

Doing the best you can with every opportunity you are given.

Which one book had a profound impact on your life? What was it about this book that impacted you so deeply? Did you have an emotional or intellectual attachment to this book? Why?

What had a more profound impact on my life was being without books and learning to deal with the empty space where I could not occupy or distract my mind with a book.

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what are five books that you would like to have with you and why? Summarize the book in two sentences.

I would not take a book, but I would open my life to a monk’s life and being present to the gift of the absence of everything and be present to the senses.

Have you read any books that inspired you to start a business, service or invent “something”? If yes, which book?

I believe my brain seeks integrative thought – so a book would likely cause me to link to another idea.  Now I am reading Water for Elephants and love the vitality of the mind of the 93 old narrator. He writes about how his life in the assisted living home is designed to render him mindless.  It makes me think about how there are many structures in life that remove the grains of sands that could inspire us all.

What one music CD and movie would you like to have with you (on the deserted island) and why?

None: Don’t want the distraction.

If trusted friends could introduce you to five people that you’ve always wanted to meet, whom would you choose? And what would you say to them?

I have met many famous people; I would just be present to what is in the moment.

What excites you about life?

Coming up with new models that make business possible that incorporate and respect the obstacles.

How do you nurture your soul?

When I can, I will trek and I will walk for 12 hours a day, and completely exhaust my mind and body so that my soul can soar.

If you had a personal genie and she gave you one wish, what would you wish for? Or, if I gave you a magic wand, what would you use it for?

The elimination of human greed and that we each seek to make another’s life easier.

Complete the following, I am happy when…

At the end of my day, I can say I did the best with what I was given.

Which aspects of this interview can you apply to your situation? What do you have to add to the conversation? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab your personal copy by clicking here.

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Today, the spotlight is on Deborah Koehler, CEO and Founder of SEHBO Pvt. Ltd. (Sustainable Environmental Himalayan Business Opportunities). Choosing to challenge herself against all odds, Deborah established her own business to support small to medium size companies in Nepal.  SEHBO provides assistance with marketing, finance, and production process improvements.  In addition, SEHBO makes its own herbal body care products and produces garments using natural fibers and herbal dyes.  SEHBO’s mission is to find international buyers for the quality products it promotes so that there is job creation for economic development in Nepal.

These interviews are meant to teach you as well as give you a glimpse of some very accomplished people. The second part of the interview is presented tomorrow. What are some of the ways that you can use the information.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.

I am in the prime of my life, putting all my life experiences together to do the impossible.  Living in Kathmandu for 3.5 years and running my own business that provides an income generated in internationals sales into the hands of the people that labor to produce the products.

What’s a typical day like for you?

Engaged with virtual clients, pacing myself, and enjoying the beauty in which I live.  Looking across the valley at Monasteries and watching parrots fly through the trees.

How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?

I have natural energy that has always been with me.  Awareness of self of what gives and takes away my energy, choosing not to stay stuck.

If you had to start over from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

I would have believed in myself more.

What’s the most important business (or other) discovery you’ve made in the past year?

I am good at whatever I set my mind to do.

What’s one of the biggest advances in your industry over the past five years?

Of course the movement of natural and organic products.  Nepal is ideally suited to deliver wonderful products that are non-chemical, utilize wise water usage and zero carbon footprint – all the new buzzwords. My business works to support new business opportunities in these areas.

What are the three threats to your business, your success, and how are you handling them?

Local corruption, unskilled staff, and lack of testing facilities.

1. Local corruption: I face it without a Nepali present.  Usually corrupted officials are unwilling to ask for bribes directly to foreigners.
2. Unskilled staff: I teach in a college, train my own business staff, and offer suggestions where I can.
3. Testing facilities: I find existing documents and then talk to different labs and see if they can create a similar testing program or request that the testing be done in the clients home country.

Describe a major business (or other) challenge you had and how you resolved it.

Not knowing what to do.  Knowing is a big part of western culture, knowing the answer and being smart is something, as a women, that gave me promotability.  However after leaving my husband and moving to Nepal, I did not know what it was that I should be doing.  I was needing to refine my “self” on so many different levels.  I do believe that my biggest business challenge was how to form my very diverse life into a life that I loved living.

What lessons did you learn in the process?

1. Each day is interesting,
2. Being present to each situation, being it familiar or unfamiliar brings about change that brings up new learning.

Tell me about your big break and who gave you.

I have had many big breaks and there were many people that went out of their way to give me opportunities.  I have never pretended to be more than I am, only that I am. Those that were in the position to help, helped and I have never forgotten them, and when I am in their city I make sure to stop and thank them for the great gifts they gave me.

Describe one of your biggest failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?

Failure has not been part of my life.  In 1978 I got off the plane in Denver, Colorado with $40 in my pocket.  I lived on the streets and learned that I survived with nothing. I learned I was resourceful and that I did not need to stay in bad situations, or situations that I outgrew – it gave me faith that things worked out.  Failure for me was being rejected for something that I thought I should have, but what I learned was, I was not ready for it yet.  Everything has a time and place and if you really want something it will come when you are ready.

What has been your biggest disappointment in your life – and what are you doing to prevent its re-occurrence?

That intimacy eluded me for a long time.

What’s one of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make and how did it impact your life?

To leave my marriage. I was married to a wonderful man but in spite of all I had, I was drawn to test myself in new directions.

What are three events that helped to shape your life?

1. Being part of a cult
2. Going to MIT
3. Living in Japan

How did mentors influence your life?

They made all the difference in the world. They believed in me when I doubted myself.

What’s one core message you received from your mentors?

You know what you need to do within yourself, trust yourself and move toward where you are pulled.

As an Invisible Mentor, what advice would you like to give to readers?

Seek information from those that you trust and then ask your heart what you believe or want.

Which resources (books, movies, training etc.) did your mentors recommend to you?

Best was Diana Krall music, a suggestion by Ben Cannon who died of cancer in 2006.

What are the steps you took to succeed in your field?

Paying attention to where I spent my brain time.

What advice do you have for someone just starting out in your field?

I don’t have a field – I am a generator of new opportunities and I think that this “field” is not possible until you have experience.  So my advice would be, do as many interesting things as you can in life and they will add up to something you never imagined possible.

Which aspects of this interview can you apply to your situation? What do you have to add to the conversation? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab your personal copy by clicking here.