Jamie Walters, founder of Ivy Sea, Inc., a "small by choice" leadership- and organizational-development advocacy firm, has recently published her first book Big Vision, Small Business: The Four Keys to Finding Success & Satisfaction as a Lifestyle Entrepreneur. I have been an admirer of Jamie's work for a long time so I was delighted when she contacted me about her book.
My first reaction upon reading her book was one of awe -- it is a book that expresses many of my thoughts about small business in a clear, inspiring way. Doing it justice in a review is almost impossible. Instead, I decided that I would let Jamie tell us her story. In her usual gracious manner, Jamie consented to answer my questions, sharing her experience in building a business and her motivation behind the book.
Tell us about the book. What messages does it have that you most want to get across?
One wonderful thing about Big Vision, Small Business is that it stems from so many different interviews and conversations -- as well as other research -- with real-life entrepreneurs and business owners. It includes "the whole story," not just a narrow or glamorized version of success.
A key message of Big Vision is that there is more than one way to be successful, more than one way to contribute to the world, than just increasing the quantity of sales, employees, locations or square-footage. Too often, success is equated with a larger number, when in fact it's more a measure of one's overall ability to serve oneself and others through our livelihood endeavors -- in this case, business ownership and entrepreneurial activities. Big Vision, Small Business offers other perspectives on vision, growth, success and mindset that can create greater levels of fulfillment than a simple focus on numbers ever could.
Another key message in Big Vision is that "meaning" and "meaningful work" can't be assigned to us by someone or something outside of ourselves. It originates from within and from our own thinking, efforts and action, and is more reliant on what we give than what we make financially (although money can certainly be a terrific tool, it's not "the point"). Through our entrepreneurial efforts, we have incredible opportunities to increase both our positive contributions to the community and the meaning we derive from our work.
What prompted you to write the book? Was there some special event and/or business experience that made you feel this was the time and this was the topic you needed to write about?
Many entrepreneurs, small-business owners or people who wanted to step out on their own kept telling me there were no resources that gave the real-world small-enterprise perspective or that combined practical information with more inspiring information. Despite the vast number of business books and resources available, many people felt that the available resources just didn't speak to them or only provided a narrow or skewed version of reality. Finally, yet another person told me "you should write this in a book, because what you shared with me was so valuable," and I finally heard all of these people as if one person were shouting, "Write the book, Jamie!"
Also, I just got fed up, frankly, with the almost singular focus in almost all of the mainstream media that equated success with bigger revenues and greater numbers of employees, even when the companies in question weren't turning a profit or weren't contributing anything of real value to their communities or the world. Worse, some of them showed absolutely no integrity, no care about the negative consequences of their actions on their employees, investors or communities. All we have to do is look at the recent "dot-com" or tech-company situations to see that huge infusions of money and fast-growth don't equal success or sustainability, and what's worshipped by the mainstream media often isn't worthy of emulation. There are many other ways to work, contribute and craft a successful life.
Too often, all we hear about are the biggest of the Fortune 100 companies or fast-growth tech-companies, when in fact the smallest enterprises -- when taken together -- contribute more in just about every category than big corporations. I wanted to acknowledge these contributions, celebrate these small enterprises and let people know that it was a great option for a successful, satisfying livelihood. I wanted to provide insights, ideas and stories for small-enterprise owners and leaders that came from their peers, not from a business-school academic or big-company executive. So, Big Vision is an attempt to begin sharing that information.
See, I've become a real evangelist for small-enterprise!
Tell us about Ivy Sea. How long has it been around? What does it do? What market does it serve? Did you have challenges in starting it up? Has it changed over time?
Oh boy, enormous questions! I took the leap to self-employment in 1992, and Ivy Sea, Inc. has evolved from the seeds planted over the past 10 years. Just being in business for 10 years is something to celebrate, because statistics tell us that most businesses fail after 3 or 5 years.
We started out as an organizational-communication consultancy that helped people in organizations -- big, small, for-profit and non-profit -- communicate more effectively with one another at work and with their customers. Because we bring a strategic, "whole-system" start-to-finish focus - versus just a focus on doing a nice-looking newsletter, for example -- our clients started relying on us more to help them figure out what they needed, what gaps existed between the "spoken vision" and the actual day-to-day reality in the company. Once we figure that out, then we can create a leadership and communication strategy and communication tools that are effective at increasing awareness and helping people work more effectively and enjoyably together. So we've evolved into a management- and organizational-development consultancy. We're real advocates for respectful communication and inspired leadership. We continue to work with organizations of all sizes, both non-profit and for-profit, in various industries. A typical client might bring us in to help engage all of the stakeholders in a new initiative that changes the way they've been working; or a client might have had a bad year where they laid off many employees, yet have to engage the remaining employees in the organization's continued success. In another case, a client has lost touch with their vision, and comes to us for a customized "vision revitalization" program where we help them renew, recharge and redirect. We've also helped clients make web sites and newsletters much more effective communication tools. We love the variety.
That said, we've decided to remain a small enterprise by choice, so we're only able to work with about 812 clients per year. Because of that, we created Ivy Sea Online to share resources more broadly with other organizations, and also will be developing additional books and a series of "big vision" workshops.
Regarding startup and maintenance challenges, I've had many over the ten years since starting and evolving the business. We've navigated all of the usual challenges: cash flow, financing, unexpected expenses, clients going out of business or canceling projects at the last minute, having the economy crash and soar, taking the wrong projects, having to turn away or refer clients because of so many referrals, staying true to our vision and making the adjustments to realign with that vision when something has taken us off path, etc. That's why I've learned to see the business as an evolving entity, an organic journey, because that perspective allows for the inevitable "up and down, in and out" cycles and also allows us to integrate new experiences and ideas instead of being too narrowly focused.
Tell us about yourself. Were there experiences in your early life that led you to form this company? Write this book? What did you dream of doing with your life when you were a kid?
Well, no one who knew me as a kid seems surprised that I own my own business, so I guess my entrepreneurial nature has always shown itself! My father and stepmother share a telling story: They came across a poster from when I was in fifth grade, where I was asked by my teacher to write all of the things I loved doing. I listed "playing with my cats" and "hiking in the hills" and "reading" -- but ended with "but most of all, I just like to work." My parents laughed for hours! I still love to do all of those things.
So, I was enterprising from a young age, from having a paper route to organizing lemonade stands to being the class fund-raiser in high school. It helped that my parents, after working for years for other people, ultimately ended up being self-employed. And as soon as I could, I got part-time jobs and really liked working in small businesses. I've always gotten incredible satisfaction from doing a good job, serving customers and making people feel really good about their interaction with whatever business I was employed by. I wanted my employers to feel that the money they paid me was money well spent; it never occurred to me to want to get more than I gave! I continue to feel this way with my own clients or people who might buy the book or come to a workshop.
I worked for other organizations for about 12 years in public affairs, legislative affairs and marketing, before feeling like I had enough experience to provide some value as a self-employed person. And of course I've learned even more as a business-owner these past 10 years. All of that experience helps me run my business and serve my clients, and what I learn today I inevitably put to use tomorrow.
Regarding the book, writing has always been like a close friend to me, and I've always appreciated both its therapeutic qualities and the craft and power of it. So my journal, articles, web content, and even the book, are all just containers for my writing. They're also a practice, a discipline. Writing the book, particularly, required real perseverance and discipline. Because conceptualizing, researching and writing a book takes several years, in many ways it was just like starting and maintaining a business. There were days when I thought, "Oh my gosh, what was I thinking?" and then I'd just have to say, "Okay, just write for 15 minutes," and then I'd write for another 15 minutes, and so on. I'd have to hit the wall and stick with it even though I didn't know what to do next -- just like owning a business. That's why there's a great sense of satisfaction at seeing the book done, because I know what was required to create it. Again, just like owning a business.
I was also always a very spiritual person, even as a kid, so connecting my livelihood and my business with living a spiritual life seems the most wonderful, natural thing in the world to me. You don't get carried away with your successes, and you don't view challenges or difficulties as the end of the world. You look for the lessons in both, and learn to appreciate both as teachers along the journey of life. I love saying to others, when admired or asked how I do it, "I'm just a normal person; You can do this, too -- here's how!" That's a form of spirituality in action.
Ivy Sea, Inc, Ivy Sea Online and Big Vision are all avenues for me and my Ivy Sea colleagues to spread this word and help share resources with other people to help them create a livelihood and life that makes them happy and allows them to be of service to others. How great is that? I'm blessed (and I work at it every day)!
You can email Jamie directly at jwalters@ivysea.com.
