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Episode 57! Many entrepreneurs feel alone in their endeavors. It helps to create a support system. That’s what I discuss with Marcy Fortnow, founder of Engaging Play and Diana Patel, an executive coach.  We started the discussion by examining stump speeches and sprout speeches.

Stump speech is where you establish yourself as an expert while giving a sprout speech means you’re willing to grow with the help of others. Diana and Marcy loved the concept and decided to create a virtual event, or space, for entrepreneurs to come together and explore what’s possible. They shared some advice for you if you’re interested in creating your own sprout event. The first suggestion is that you collaborate with people that you admire. This usually means they’re further along on the know, like and trust path of your relationship. This helps you collaborate quicker and with more success at the event.

For an activity at your event Marcy suggests the “rose, bud, thorn” activity. A rose is something that is going great in your life. A bud is something that is going to happen in your life soon. A thorn is something that’s not going great for you. Each person journals about those three areas of their life. Then everyone shares their bud, something they want to grow a little big more. Then the audience shares their thorn. Those last two shares are essentially asking their peers for help.

We also discuss:

  • How to speak your goals and share them with people that can help you.
  • A deeper dive into how to create a safe space to share with your peers.
  • How to invite people to your sprout event.
  • What to do after your event to create lasting results.
  • …and more golden nuggets of advice!

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About The Guests

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marcy Fortnow

Marcy Fortnow is the owner of Engaging Play (engagingplay.com), a team building and training company that delivers workshops and programs through traditional training, active facilitation, and engaging play. She develops and delivers experiential learning programs for corporate groups, organizations, and boards, to raise their leadership level, improve teamwork, enable better communication and problem solving, and increase productivity.

Prior to beginning her entrepreneurial ventures, Marcy accumulated more than twelve years in the business software world, in training and development, change management, and implementation and consulting, for both domestic and European clients. She has a BS in Psychology, and an MBA from Boston University. Marcy is a certified John Maxwell Leadership Trainer and is a certified Disc consultant in Advanced Behavioral Analysis. Marcy is also certified as a LEGO® Serious Play® facilitator, working with clients around alignment, innovation and problem solving. She is an extremely involved community member, volunteers and serves in leadership on several boards, and was the Atlanta President of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) from 2017 to 2019.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcyfortnow/

https://engagingplay.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diana Patel 

Diana is founder and owner of Resonant LLC. Her multidisciplinary approach combined with her drive to make a difference in others’ lives makes her a highly impactful executive coach. She’s also a strategic development partner at Continuing Education Productions where she helps sustain cohesive, high-performance organizations through employee training.

With over a decade of experience in consulting and leadership development, Diana helps business leaders discover, develop, and share best practices. Early on in her career, she co-founded a biotech company and had the unique opportunity to cross-collaborate with physicians, engineers, lawyers, biologists, and business leaders.

Diana double majored in Psychology and Speech Communication at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and received her MBA from University of Illinois at Chicago, where she concentrated in Entrepreneurship and Executive Coaching.

She’s lived in 3 countries and 7 cities, and her mantra for business and life is “we are better together.”

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dianabpatel
Website:  dianapatel.com