Kathleen Fitzpatrick isn’t your average operator.
(Source: Facebook)
A star performer all her life, Kathleen excelled in adolescence as a competitive swimmer. Having come from that high-stakes background, she was prepared to work to make her business succeed.
And that she has! From earning a place on our top performer trip to Mexico, to already having sold $250,000 worth of business this year, she is an amazing young leader poised for success.
However, like all of our operators, Kathleen had lessons to learn in her rookie year. In a recent conversation with Chris Thomson on our Leaders of Tomorrow podcast, she shared her insights from those early days:
Ask for Help
To all the rookie operators out there reading this: asking for help is not a sign of weakness.
“I had a really tough time asking for help ‘cause I was like, ‘I can do this on my own, I’m independent, I don’t need more help, I can do everything on my own,’ but in reality there’s so many people that have done what you’re doing that can [help you grow] and you don’t have to feel bad about asking for help and feel like you aren’t doing good enough because it’ll just make you better,” she revealed.
Fun fact: Our rookie operators who aren’t afraid to seek guidance are often our most successful leaders. Why? They didn’t wait until they were in the weeds to admit they needed help.
Brave the Rejection
Not so fun fact: Rejection is part of the deal whenever you put yourself out there to achieve your dreams. While initially demoralized by her experience of getting told “no” on her door-to-door marketing trips in her rookie year, Kathleen eventually realized that despite the initial refusals, a “yes” was always right around the corner!
“I thought I could do everything on my own and make it go well and not have anyone say no to me, but it was definitely the rejection that was just at the door [where people told me] ‘no painting, no painting, no painting,’ that really got to me. I didn’t want to put in the work because I had never faced that rejection ever before in my life so that was just hard … But once it started to turn around and I was more in that positive feedback loop, I went right up,” she recalled.
Just like we talk about in training, building that positive mindset is one of the keys to achieving lasting success!
Are you a student looking to further your development as a leader and enter the exciting world of entrepreneurship? Check out more stories from Student Works participants and alumni on our Leaders of Tomorrow Podcast!
