Dream It, Believe It, Achieve It: Suzi Dafnis – Ep 131

Are you struggling to cast a vision for yourself, your art, or your business? Has imposter syndrome taken hold? Do you feel confident that you can make your dreams a reality?

Suzi Dafnis walked into a room with 30 other business owners about to start the art class I was offering our mastermind group, admittedly incredibly nervous. Though confident in any business environment, she felt like she shrunk into her feet when she walked into my class.

Yet she came out of the class having created something she’s proud of and found that she enjoyed the process. Today, Suzi joins me in the studio to talk about her journey in business. She firmly believes that if you have a dream that you believe in—and get a plan in place to make it happen—you can achieve it.

But just like you have to take your brush and make the first mark on a canvas, you have to take a step toward creating the business of your dreams. Join us to learn how to take that first step.

Listen if you are interested in…

• Compelling question or topic, written to elicit curiosity [1:18]
• You have to start somewhere to make progress [4:16]
• The concept of differences and contrast [7:56]
• Embracing work-life integration [11:45]
• Suzi’s trajectory in business [13:51]
• How Suzi helps her clients [17:09]
• Calculating what your time is worth [25:10]
• Casting a vision for yourself [27:49]
• Why community is key to success [34:43]
• Running an in-person events business [42:05]
• How to connect with Suzi [46:56]

How Suzi helps her clients

Everyone can get to a point where they’ve used all of the tools in their toolbox and don’t know how to move forward. Suzi helps women set a vision for themselves that’s bigger than anything they’ve set before. She encourages them to believe that more is possible for them.

Embracing that belief can be scary. When Suzi decided to be a successful business owner, she found a mentor who had done what she wanted to do. She surrounded herself with people who also wanted to dream bigger, step outside of their comfort zones, and grow their businesses.

She learned the principles of marketing, how to create business plans, the art of vision setting, and mastered numbers. Over time she realized that if she had the right mentors, surrounded herself with the right people, and honed her skills, she could upgrade her life.

Suzi holds that vision for her clients until they can hold it themselves. She helps them take what they have and turn it into dollars in the bank so they can keep doing what they love.

Finding your “why” is the key to clarity

Suzi was once interviewed and asked about her “why.” Suzi answered that she loved education and loved creating environments for women to learn. The woman asked the same question again and again, trying to dig deeper.

Suzi started to well up with tears. The woman gave her a poster and a Sharpie and told her to write down what she was feeling. Suzi wrote, “I want people to be free.”

Suzi’s heart is to give women the tools and support they need to know that they can be free. Free of salaries, free of employers, and free of limitations. She wants women to know that their business is their vehicle to be free. Sometimes it takes a slight push from someone else to help you uncover your why.

Suzi’s Hawaiian Retreat

Every year, Suzi offers a retreat in Hawaii. They start with reflections on the good, the bad, and the ugly. Then they work on the process of casting a vision. Suzi helps people find their “Big Kahuna” vision for the next year. Is it a money goal? A new product or service?

If they did that thing in the next twelve months, how would it revolutionize their business or life? Then they line up what they do every week, month, quarter, etc. to reach that Big Kahuna goal.

Who and what do they need to connect with to make it happen? Who do they need to be to step into their vision for themselves? To be a million-dollar business, you have to be comfortable with being that kind of person.

Suzi believes that what you want to have will determine who you need to be and what you’re going to do. You have to step into that way of being—and you get to make it up.

Connect with Suzi Dafnis

• HerBusiness
• The HerBusiness podcast 
• HerBusiness Network
• Follow on Instagram
• Free Facebook Group for Women Business Owners

Connect with Nicholas Wilton and Art2Life

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