What do you do when you have a great idea, driven by a need
you have, but making that concept a reality means stepping outside your comfort
zone?
In Kirby’s case you do your research and go for it!
Boxi came from a real need, “my son has allergies to three
different food groups. And I had a challenge as soon as he started to eat solid
food, I’d have to take food absolutely everywhere he went, he couldn’t have
anything that was packaged. I was taking lots of food in little tiny containers
in a bag, but I’d lose the lids or I’d have mismatched lids. And then I found a
really cute little bento style lunch box which I loved but I would have to put
it in another bag with an icepack and it was a bag external to the bag that I’d
have to take everywhere.
“Anyway, that’s what I started thinking about. Maybe I
should make a lunch box because I couldn’t actually find one at the time. That
was a bento style lunch box where I could compartmentalise the food and keep it
cool at the same time. And that’s how it all started really.”
Everything but the marketing was out of Kirby’s comfort
zone! She has a degree in communications, but started by Googling ‘how to make
a product’ and going from there!
One of the hardest things for Kirby was asking for advice.
But once she reached out she found that people were willing to share their own
knowledge and experiences. She reached out to someone who she knew had run a
successful kickstarter campaign, and also a person who had won a design award. Kirby
had been worried they would ignore her or even say no, but instead found
amazing help and support!
And yes, Kirby is now helping people who have reached out to
her for advice!
Kirby did have setbacks – including a significant investor
falling through just as she was about to get started. But she just knew she had
a great product. “I got my first prototype sorted before I launched it to the
public. And I showed it to a lot of people and I got my friends to take my
prototype and show their friends so it was unbiased feedback. And I think the
fact that I knew that this product was good and there was nothing like it on
the market. That is one thing that has driven me plus, by the time I had that
first prototype, which was this time last year, I really felt like I can’t turn
back now!”
Kirby is comfortable with change, but is not a big risk
taker. So her advice to others considering a similar move is to research! She
is happy to take calculated risks, where the pay off is worth it. And is more
willing now to do things (like talk to me!) that she would never had agreed to
in the past. She still fights a fear of failure, but was given some great
advice to “take longer to make a decision on the big decisions”. She realised
that it is ok to take a week to get back to someone if she needs that time to
be confident in her answer.
In Kirby’s words: “Do it. And don’t wait too long either. I
feel like I sat on this idea for too long before I took any action because I
was too scared of failing.
“Do your research. Reach out to people who are a year or two
years ahead of you in their journey and just learn from their mistakes or learn
from their experience so that you can build a relationship with them.
“So I just say go for it. Don’t wait too long. Get the right
advice from the professionals, lawyers, engineers, whoever it is that you need.
Do your research, use Google! And just go for it. I mean, really, at the end of
the day, if this does fail, which is not going to, but if it does, I gave it a
go.”
Great advice, and thank you Kirby for giving it a go!
“I’m interested in doing this because, I guess a couple reasons. Number one, I’m interested in supporting women in particular in their pursuits in the world, and them having a unique voice and having their unique voice be heard. And the other thing is that I’m always interested in discovering more about myself and I find when I do interviews like this I find myself saying things I didn’t know I was going to say. And then that’s a whole other level of reflection for me to take on board.” – Lyssa Adkins
Confession time – when Lyssa agreed to be interviewed for this blog there may have been a mini celebration in the office. We are all huge fans! Now that I have that out of the way, may I say that Lyssa did not disappoint.
Phew – now that we have that out in the open, on with Lyssa’s story.
Lyssa had a unique take on that resistance you feel before you take the step. “I think I’ve over time come to really love that resistance as a friend because if I am somehow wanting something but not making progress on it that resistance is there to say ‘maybe not yet’.
“And I find that I live with things for I’m going to make this concrete in a moment. Because right now it’s quite abstract, I realized, but I find that I live with concepts for quite a while before I’m really ready to move on them. And it takes a while for the vision to come forward. And for me to find a way to do some small experiments. And through those small experiments, prove to myself that I really am okay over here in this new thing. And then the resistance fades and my full vision can come online.”
This really made me think, it was not something I had considered before. I always try to push through that resistance as quickly as I can.
Lyssa and I agreed an example would be great.
“There’s one thing in particular that has been brewing for me for probably about 10 years now. And that’s something related to climate change.
“I became aware of our climate predicament about 10 years ago and was utterly devastated.
“And then sort of went to sleep about it as I built a business and focused on my mission in Agile coaching.
“Just recently I have realized that things have progressed in the climate realm and we’re now faced with living with climate disasters, which wasn’t true as much 10 years ago. And I now have more time to really consider what is my role?
“I’ve started to have dreams about this thing called the Climate Response Network. And I think what it is, is a network of Agile consultancies and coaching organizations around the world that are finely tuned and able to help climate responder organizations. For example, the people who might be organizing how the wildfire response is happening in Australia.
“For a long time, I was sort of thinking maybe that’s where I’m called. I’m even having dreams about it at night but still sort of not making any real tangible progress on it. And whereas I used to find that sort of unconscious or intangible resistance, that resistance underneath the surface. I used to look at it and go: ‘you don’t need to be here, I’m gonna kick you out of the way and I’m going to do this anyway.’ I’ve come over time to learn that’s part of my process actually. Because my vision is coming more clearly into focus.”
For Lyssa there is also an element of talking about it to others to help focus the idea into something more actionable. What also tends to happen during this resistance is that Lyssa finds the people and connections she needs to make it happen start to come onto her life. That helps to build momentum and reassurance that Lyssa is on the right track.
Lyssa split stepping out of your comfort zone into a couple of types – go for it if you are trying to grow, learn etc. But if you have a compelling vision then maybe sit in the resistance a while, pay attention to that resistance.
“And is the nature of their resistance about a belief that they’re not they’re not ‘blank’ whatever the ‘blank’ is – I’m not smart enough, strong enough, I’m don’t have the right connections. Because if that’s the situation as my coach friends always like to say, self-confidence can be arranged.
“If the nature of the resistance is that ‘is that you?’ So for me I’ve been in the pit of despair about where we are as a planetary ecosystem. We’re very quickly encroaching on the planetary boundaries of the planet can sustain human life. So if it’s that I would say go into the despair even more which is kind of a strange thing to say.
“Because in that depth is the yearning, the desire and maybe some clarity about what part of this is yours and what part of this is other people to do.”
I am continuously awed by the different perspectives each person brings to stepping out of their comfort zone.
Thank you again Lyssa for your thoughts!
A little about Lyssa:
I am a coach, facilitator, teacher and inspirer.
My current focus is improving the performance of top leadership teams and Boards of Directors through insightful facilitation and organization systems coaching. Making difficult decisions faster and with clear alignment, unknotting challenging, multi-department impediments, creating the conditions for organizational delivery…this is where I thrive and help thrive.
My goal for the summer break was to convert my exes ‘man cave’ into my ‘she-shed’. This involved emptying, cleaning, acid staining the floor, sealing the floor, painting the walls and moving my gym equipment in. And I had 2 weeks. And all within my skill set (or so I thought).
It started well with a trip to the tip and a new power washer to clean the concrete floor. The acid stain (actually an ethanol or methanol (I forget which) based one) was sprayed on. And I waited with excitement for my floor to turn a lovely teal. 4-6 hours they said. I waited 8 hours before realising the lime levels in my concrete were obviously too low to activate much colour. I had more pale than bright teal. But onwards I went, the option of paying more money to dye the concrete (without guaranteed results) was tempting but I resisted. It is ‘only a shed’ became a mantra.
I did my first coat of seal and visited often as it dried. Patchy. But I had a second coat to go!
I also learned something at this stage – do not seal your concrete floor in bare feet – any seal you walk in will seal the dirt to the soles of your feet for several days!
I applied the second coat (in boots and gloves), trying to make sure the non-shiny parts got more paint. It dried. Patchy. I reminded myself that it is only a shed. It would be fine. About this time, I looked at the curing time – 7 days and I was closing in on my second week of leave! I planned to paint the walls on day 3 (90% cured) before moving the gym into the she-shed on day 8 (a couple of days before going back to work).
Then I looked at the floor again the next day, and the next. And did a third coat of seal. I’ll be honest, it is still patchy. But it is only a shed. I refuse to do a 4th coat.
The delayed painting day arrived. Not something I have done much of. I stirred my paint, lay down plastic drop sheets, with some old towels as extra protection. I found a roller and tray that fit. I used a brush to cut in one panel of the wall and started rolling. Paint went on the wall. And on me. The screws I had chosen not to remove meant more brushwork. Some rolled parts were patchy (theme?) and some had so much paint they dripped. Lines appeared from the edge of the roller. This was not going well! I stepped back to contemplate my technique and how to fix it… onto the edge of my paint tray! Thankfully I only clipped it and it didn’t spill. But it did tear my drop sheet. And finish my journey into painting walls. I was done!
I logged onto airtasker. I will skim over the next 36 hours other than to say that sometimes I am too trusting and the person who accepted my job and then delayed for over 24 hours (with legitimate sounding excuses) before no longer responding to me did not deserve that faith that people try to do the right thing. I was played. (Will I ever understand the pleasure someone gets from doing stuff like that? Probably not.)
Fast forward to lunch time the next day and a different person is out there painting the walls… He showed up 😊. He may have been (self-confessed) the worlds slowest painter, but by 2am I was driving him to the station and the walls were done. OK, so my acid stain spray technique may mean that there are teal patches bleeding through on most of the lower parts of the walls… but it was done!
So how do you go from being a really shy kid to wanting to speak in an auditorium? Beresford has taken that very path!
As an example of Beresford’s starting point, at about age 20 he was the best man at his cousins wedding, and as we all know part of the best man role is to give a speech. Despite preparing his speech, and knowing his cousin quite well, Beresford “just froze and I couldn’t even open my mouth. I just stood there, and it seemed endless. I just didn’t say anything. In the end I ended up saying ‘the bridesmaids look good’. And I walked off. Those are the only words that came out of my mouth. And it was really embarrassing.”
At this point many people would just decide public speaking was not for them! But Beresford was motivated to improve. His dad was an excellent and sought after public speaker – both rehearsed and off the cuff. After some research it was suggested that Beresford try Toastmasters. And a mere 15-20 years later he joined.
Through Toastmasters Beresford has not just gained confidence, but also skill. His first speech “didn’t come out the way I wanted it to, it was kind of bland. There wasn’t a lot of energy.”
Beresford is working on bringing out his personality more when he speaks, he is motivated to keep getting better and better at public speaking, as well as his goal to speak to an audience of over 1000 people.
Part of the motivation for Beresford, aside from wanting to improve himself, is to help other people develop as well. “I’m one of the mentors for the Melbourne University programme. I’m one of the panel members, helping young people develop their capabilities and skills. It’s not only for myself, but it’s also for others that I try to share my knowledge.”
Beresford also spoke to me about how building his confidence in public speaking has made him more confident to take on other challenges.
In 2019 Beresford was one of the new Ways of Working coaches at Telstra, a role you had to put in an expression of interest for. “Being a coach involves changing people’s mindset. Which is not easy to do. It’s a different aspect of your confidence, because previously it’s being confident to go up and speak in front of a group of people, but now it’s actually speaking to a person individually, and changing that person’s mindset.
“The way I’ve handled things in the past was someone’s got their mindset, and I just told them what my opinions are. And it’s up to them to change if they wanted to. But now being in the Agile ways of working, and the company has gone in a certain direction, it’s more that I have to make sure they are moving in that direction.”
The rewards of coaching can also be more delayed than giving a speech – one example Beresford gave me was working with someone for 6 weeks before having a breakthrough “After six weeks, they said ‘oh yeah, I can start to see the benefits. Now even though we are building code, we can still talk to our colleagues every day for about 15 minutes. And at least try and understand what the blockers are and we can remove those blockers’”.
Beresford had an interesting take away from that experience “And what I realised was, if you tell someone once, it kind of goes in one ear and out the other. But if you keep telling them the same thing, they start to believe it. So, if I tell someone, ‘you’re an idiot’? First time, it’s just goes in and out. But if I keep telling them the same thing over and over again, they start to believe it.” Makes you think about what messages we are putting out there.
Confidence was a common theme throughout Beresford’s chat with me, but he also talked about being genuine. “People need to be able to trust you. Because you can have all the confidence in the world, right? If you go to a car yard, the car salesman has got a lot of confidence, but I don’t trust them. So you may have the confidence but you still have to be genuine. People can pick that up pretty easily.”
If you are considering stepping out of your comfort zone, Beresford has some advice for you: “Know your weaknesses and don’t procrastinate – commit!”
About Beresford: Beresford is a fellow Ways of Working coach at Telstra. He is also passionately involved at Toastmasters
Once all the paying jumpers were on the ground floor Troy
leapt spectacularly from the roof to the ground – 100% faith in his son to stop
him before he hit the ground. The sight was awe-inspiring in the truest sense.
Another nervous jumper and I received wonderful hugs from
Troy, as a congratulations and well done. I will be honest – it felt great!
Then it was back up to the roof for jump 2 of 3. I was looking
forward to it.
Until Troy told us he was upping the ante!
Jump 2 we were given the option of jumping off a standing position,
on top of the wall, toes hanging over, leaning forward 45 degrees… oh my
goodness!
Then, we were told we could walk down to the first of 3
flags then push off from the wall, loosen our hands and jump to the next flag!
This time around I waited further back in the group, until I
realised my nerves were getting worse.
Troy must have sensed my fear as he called me up. To my shock
he didn’t ask if I was going to stand, we laughed about the fact that there was
zero chance of that happening. I also decided not to do the jumping. It seemed
like a complexity I didn’t need!
Round 3 was the fun round. Nothing new to learn. I applied
my learnings – don’t wait too long (I went third) and I also decided to do a couple
of jumps. It is possible I was motivated by having sore hands from holding on
so tight, but regardless of why – I jumped down a section of the wall! Twice.
The high from all the adrenaline lasted longer than the hour
Troy predicted.
I apologise publicly to everyone I spoke to in the few hours
following – I may have been a bit hyper and spoken a few too many words per
minute!
If you are thinking about stepping out of your comfort zone
may I suggest Rap Jumping? The feeling of achievement when you have done it is
amazing – but doesn’t beat the joy of walking down a wall!
Troy and I were in agreement that I had to go next before my nerve deserted me entirely, so I stepped up to the bottom of the steps. My harness (all three buckles), my gloves and my helmet were checked. The brake and the rope were attached, and I held the rope loosely (possibly…).
Troy checked the previous person was out of the way and then
it was time for me to walk up the stairs.
I did that kind of mindlessly, and then when I got to the top I realised I was not going to be able to proceed.
There was no way I was going to be able to even sit on the
edge, and go over? No chance!
I told Troy I was sorry, but I could not proceed. He told me
to take my time, and I think I tried to explain that I didn’t need time, I was
not able to do it. What I actually said may or may not have resembled that! Troy
was the epitome of patience. I had time.
Then he deployed his masterstroke (he told us later that he had studied neuroscience) and asked me what story I wanted to be telling in an hour – that I walked down the wall or that I didn’t walk down the wall. Troy was unaware that I had written a blog committing to jumping, that I was going to have to tell a public story one way or the other, but that question apparently made me think about the future and took my brain out of its hijacked state.
I decided that I did want to proceed after all. So slowly I
put my left leg over the wall, sat down and then (with Troy’s help) put my
right leg over.
At this stage terror was again my main emotion. I was
sitting on a wall 7 stories above the ground, attached to a rope and Troy’s
hand on my harness. And I was going forward, not back to the safety of the
roof.
And forward I went. As I went off the wall Troy made sure I
was in control and I was off. Walking down the wall!
That felt amazing!! I was walking down a 7 story building, loosely
holding a rope. I thought (and possibly yelled) “I am so glad I did this”. I
could feel my grin.
Near the bottom I stopped on instruction and tried to jump
towards my catcher (Troy’s son). He helped me the final few metres and unhooked
the rope.
Then I sat down, quite suddenly I think. I was pleasantly surprised how easily the cross legged position was to get into!
Those who had gone before me were full of compliments and
reassurance. They were unaware of the delay at the top as they could only see
once I sat on the wall!
Apparently, my technique was pretty good.
This story does not end here! Come back tomorrow for jumps 2
and 3 where they upped the ante…