Team Alpha 375

If She Can Do It...

When I first met my friend Carrie Wilkerson at a seminar in 2008, she was one of those people that everyone else was talking about - in a good way. I lost track of how many times I heard, "You need to meet/speak with Carrie," over that weekend.

And when I finally did get a chance to introduce myself as we sat down for lunch, I could see why. Carrie is a human dynamo, a power networker, and a wonderfully, sweet woman. Once Carrie gets to know you, she protects you like a mama bear protects her cubs.

But business - and life - wasn't always operating so smoothly for Carrie. Several years earlier, when she started her first business, Carrie admits she was going through the toughest, darkest days of her life.

As she told me, "When I started my first business I was 100 pounds heavier than I am now. I was over $100,000 in credit card debt, not counting my cars and my house. We had two small children and another on the way. I was at a point of depression in my life, qualified to do a whole lot of things, but I couldn't even get a job interview."

Today, Carrie runs multiple 6-figure businesses, using the power of social media to leverage her visibility and credibility, and to attract readers and clients into her personal space. Her business, The Barefoot Executive, coaches and provides support for people who choose to work at home, no matter what their industry, online or offline.

But what was it that allowed Carrie to make that switch? I could hardly imagine the Carrie that I know to be anything but the powerful woman she is today. When I spoke at her first Barefoot seminar in October, 2009 down in San Antonio, Texas, she had over 150 people in the audience, and today her online following tops 106,000 people on Twitter.

(By the way, if you're interested in learning from Carrie how you can have more people "following" you and paying attention to your business, please watch this short message from Carrie here.)

When I asked Carrie about those tough times, she opened up and said, "I was at a do or die situation. And I don't say that lightly. I have my journal from that point in my life when I was 30 years old and I was saying, you know, good grief, why am I here? How is the world better today because I am in it?"

"I had to change my mindset day by day to realize that I could add value, to realize that I wasn't a victim. I created that debt. Nobody created that debt for me. I created my fitness situation. Nobody else put that weight on me. I just had to kind of take the reins and do something different and it doesn't take a long time to make a change."

"You don't make these changes or build a business overnight. But there are people you can learn from to circumvent some of the painful lessons. You would be very wise to put yourself in the space of people that are doing very well and learn shortcuts from them."

As our conversation went on, I realized our discussion felt like it was an older sister mentoring her younger brother - because that is how much I value our relationship. As our conversation switched to the key factors of success, Carrie explained one of the biggest mistakes that she sees among her clients.

"I feel like everybody tends to discount their own expertise, their own knowledge, their own skill set compared to everybody else. They feel that their experience or business is not as valuable as the guy they are listening to or the girl they are looking at or the one sitting next to them."

"We tend to devalue ourselves and overvalue everyone else, when the truth of the matter is we all come from a very different place. We all are uniquely gifted and qualified and we all bring something very different to the table. You all have your own specialty, your own reach and you will draw people to you for the gift that is you.

"If you pour yourself into adding value to help others, that will make obstacles seem very small. It will make frustration seem silly, almost. It will drive you and empower you to even bigger and better things in my opinion."

Powerful words. I'll never forget that conversation.

Carrie is an incredible motivator and one of the most caring coaches in an industry so often populated by gurus selling systems that emphasize technology and sneaky tricks while neglecting the personal touch and caring that a true mentor must deliver.

That's why I highly recommend that you learn from Carrie, and today she'll show you how she went from being dead broke and facing bankruptcy to having her "stadium filled with raving fans" and owning the 7-figure business of my dreams...and how YOU can do it too.

=> Watch a short message from Carrie here

Carrie's proven system is ideal for a business owner who has a powerful message to share but hasn't been able to capitalize on the true value of social media. If that's you, then you'll love what Carrie has to say.

If Carrie's message resonates with you, perhaps because you have been in a similar situation or simply because you share the same values as Carrie, then I highly recommend you visit her website today to learn more about how she can help you build the business and lifestyle of your dreams.

Dedicated to your success,

Craig Ballantyne
Editor
Early to Rise