By Dr. Sarah Glova

(Ed. Note: Dr. Sarah Glova will deliver the Keynote Address at AIIP 2024 Symposium on April 19. We recently talked to her about her work and business strategies and about helping others.)

You use the term “fearless clarity” when helping people establish long-term goals. Are there obstacles or fears unique to the solopreneurs making up AIIP’s membership?

Absolutely! While every solopreneur is unique, one common challenge or fear is that “everything is important” – every email, every call, every event, every opportunity. After all, we’re trying to make big things happen – who are we to say “no” to something? Being clear on what we’re saying yes to also means being clear on when we are saying no – for some solopreneurs, permission to say no can take practice.

Getting to help solopreneurs prioritize their goals and make visible progress – what I call getting “fearlessly clear” – is my wow. It is definitely a challenge as we balance the impactful work of our business with the day-to-day management of our business. But it is absolutely possible, and demonstrating that is some of the coolest work I get to do.

You’re a big proponent of storytelling. Why is that an effective tool in personal development and business growth?

A story is powerful – it adds rocket fuel to the messages we share and helps them go much further than just the message itself. I recently saw a former student who told me she still remembered a story I told in a classroom over 10 years ago – about a curious new member on a board of directors (me) who proposed a shiny new idea only to discover the organization tried and failed at that very thing the year before.

The student said she still thinks of that story – it reminds her to show up with curiosity. She is known at work as “someone who asked good questions,” and she credited that reputation to our class and that story. Imagine if I hadn’t shared it – if, instead, my lecture had just included the science behind curiosity, the studies and statistics, and the templates for asking good questions. I doubt she would have kept that lesson with her for so long. 

You are a business owner, also. What’s your greatest challenge and greatest success, and what did you learn from something that didn’t work out?

My greatest challenge: being patient enough to work long-term on things that require long-term. I’m susceptible to “shiny object syndrome,” so I constantly challenge myself to weigh new interests against long-term goals. 

My greatest success: learning to see myself and my skills not as good or bad but just as things that are. I used to believe I needed to be better – more disciplined, more punctual, more outspoken – to get the things I wanted. Now, I put a lot of energy into learning how I work. For example, I’ve learned that I work really well with deadlines. If I’m working toward something big, I need to create lots of deadlines between here and there. I’m proud to be in a place where I’m more interested in learning how I am than in changing how I am.

Something that didn’t work out: several years ago I tried scaling my company with recurring revenue clients. That business model didn’t work, and I had to tear down the whole thing and lay off a team of really good people. It took a while to bounce back – I was embarrassed and heartbroken. But after that failure, I rebuilt my company using a different model, and the business was almost immediately more profitable – and more fun. I didn’t have to take on projects just to fund payroll, and I wasn’t nearly as stressed all the time. Since then, I’ve been much more comfortable with failure and more willing to trust my gut. 

What are some of the tech trends that might impact a business owner, especially a solopreneur, over the next five years?

Five years is tough. Think of the predictions I might have made in March 2019 – I’m pretty sure those predictions would not have lasted even one year, thanks to what 2020 ended up looking like.

We don’t encounter global pandemics every year, but I do have great respect for change – for example, how Netflix started as an envelope but is now a production company, or how social media used to feel like a billboard but now feels like a search engine. 

• The rate of change we’re experiencing makes it difficult to predict what’s coming. While I try to keep an eye on the horizon, I also think the most important thing we can do is to value our ability to learn and adapt. 

• Artificial intelligence is huge, and like most, I’m doing what I can to keep up. I love using AI as a tool – to generate ideas, help identify examples, speed up my editing process, and challenge me with questions I might not have thought of – but I try not to rely on it to generate content. Because AI is going to make our already noisy world even noisier, there’s going to be a huge opportunity for folks who can bring a distinct, human voice to their content and make it stand out. Information professionals are well suited for this opportunity.

• With customization, tools like AI and smart manufacturing/small manufacturing are making it ever easier to provide custom, tailor-made solutions to individual customers. It’s interesting for all of us to consider how that could apply to the solutions we offer and the customers we serve. 

Finally, what is your reward in helping individuals identify their long-term goals and create a plan to reach them?

When more people reach their goals – when more people put their art, science, voice, leadership, and entrepreneurship into the world – that world is a better place. I know it sounds a little corny, but I believe it with all my heart – it is my life’s work. Our lives get better when more people can achieve the big things they’re working on. The world will be a better place when your goal exists within it. 

The reward is that I get to work with potential. I’m incredibly lucky to help more people get clear about their goals and make those goals a reality. 

Dr. Sarah Glova will deliver the Keynote Address at AIIP 2024 Symposium on April 19, 2024. She founded Reify Media in 2012 and is an entrepreneur, public speaker, and business reporter.