- Janet Lewis

EPISODE 14 – SHAUNA ARNOTT – ON BEING CREATIVE, SHARING YOUR PASSION AND ASKING FOR HELP

Today we’re talking with Shauna Arnott, Founder of Leverage Events, Founder and Producer of Haste and Hustle and most recently Co-Founder and Producer of Listen In. Leverage Events creates unforgettable experiences for their corporate clients that grow their brand and deepen human connections. Haste and Hustle is an annual conference that was created to serve and support entrepreneurs. Listen In is a conference for enterprise level marketing teams looking to better understand and capitalize on the world of podcasting. This lady has a lot on her plate, but she is one determined and passionate person.

Shauna is able to take a big idea and bring it to life. She has created some amazing experiences and has worked with some of the biggest names out there to date. The first year of Haste and Hustle featured Gary V as the keynote speaker and in 2020 it is Richard Branson. Shauna is able to capture the attention of these big names and get them involved in her vision. She is super passionate about helping others and I am so excited to hear about her journey.

In this episode, Shauna and I discuss the following:

Actions of a young budding entrepreneur and getting your business shut down at your elementary school
Importance of being creative to deliver an experience that will make money and add value to your event
How connecting to nature and playing outdoors helps stimulate creativity and growth
What happens when you choose a traditional career to make money and have a good living
How to listen to your inner voice about what you should really be doing and then taking steps to follow your dream
Importance of staying open to opportunities when they come along and taking action on them
How to change careers, get started in a new industry and launch a new business
Value of connecting with current thought leaders, selling them on your idea and getting them to participate
Not knowing, acknowledging or recognizing when something is hard and just moving forward to get it done
Importance of being passionate about what you are doing, and sharing your passion to get buy in from other people
Developing the right name for a company or brand
Recognizing your own limitations of areas or skills that still need to be further developed or improved
The biggest challenge when it comes to running events
How external factors can impact your business and what you should do when this happens
Value of being a solution-oriented problem solver that is able to identify what is important vs. not important
What you should do when everything seems to be going wrong
How the power of relationships can work for you and how communal entrepreneurs can be with one another
Importance of asking for help so people can rally around and help you
Struggle for female entrepreneurs to ask for help and the negative perceptions associated with asking
Value of recognizing and acknowledging the amazing people that surround you
Importance of being open to asking for and receiving help
How you can put yourself in a great position to help others
Importance and value of your network to share information, to help each other and to not feel alone with your struggles
Why you should help people with the right intention and do things to be a good person not get anything out of it
How different people bring value into your business or life
Struggle of connecting with people in a meaningful way
A model for creating a successful event that will have great takeaways for the audience
Shauna’s dream speaker list
Importance of finding people that will attract the right audience for your event
Value of being real on social media and letting people peek into your life
Desire to have a female keynote speaker and seeing more women rising to the top
Identifying yourself as your biggest challenge and how to get out of your own way
Value of clear communication
Challenges and opportunities for introverts in connecting and planning events
Importance of being kind, knowing you are loved and seeing your value
Impact of negative self talk and the value of reducing or eliminating it from your thought process
Value of providing aspirational and tactical information