What Abandonment Taught Me about Adaptability & Success by Alyson Van Hooser

Photo by Angélica Echeverry on Unsplash

I babysat a little girl frequently when I was in middle school. Her parents went into work really early on Saturday mornings. I’d sleep over at their house on Friday night so I could spend Saturday morning playing with their little girl until her parents got off work at lunchtime. 

One Friday night, when I was 13, my dad told me I was going to go babysit for them again. Little did I know that would be the last time I ever lived with my dad. 

I didn’t hear from him for about six months. When I finally did get a call from him, it wasn’t because he wanted me back. It was because the government was forcing me to move in with someone else and he was calling to deliver the news. 

As this new season of life began, I added to the pain of it all. I was a hurt teenager and I reacted by acting out as any hurt child might do. It took me a while to figure out that I was only hurting myself by making choices that could take me further away from where I really wanted to be. 

Lesson Learned 

It was then that I figured out I needed to acknowledge my feelings instead of acting on them—a lesson that has served me well in my personal and professional life ever since. If I was going to get where I wanted to be, I needed to act differently. 

I decided to shift my focus—to adapt in a way that would keep me on the path that would move me forward, not backward.  

In this season, I learned many lessons to make me stronger, smarter, more resilient, and more grounded. And it only solidified my certainty that taking ownership of your actions and reactions is the only way to guarantee your future. 

I learned… 

• not to give up but to push through.  

• life is not fair, but you have a chance to flip the script.  

• choosing positive actions, even when you don’t feel like it, leads to positive results. 

• the willingness and ability to adapt is the x-factor for success. 

Let’s dig deeper into adaptability. 

Where Are You Right Now? 

When it comes to adaptability, where do you find yourself? Do you live your life to people-please? Or are you dead set on #DoingYou and refuse to adapt at all? 

I have to tell you, both ends are dangerous. You risk losing yourself or losing your opportunity. It’s the area in between you need to be aware of and work toward.  

If you believe you should not have to adapt, and everyone should accept you just as you are—you’re likely getting in the way of your own success. If you think acting “in the moment” means staying true to who you are—I say in love—you’re wrong. That mindset can suck all the momentum out of forward progress. If you find yourself there right now, reconsider your approach and consider owning your adaptability skill. 

Hear me carefully: adapting does not mean you change who you are at your core. It means, as things happen, you adjust your attitudes and behaviors to make sure you still win. As you adapt, you should never compromise your integrity or your character. You should never act immorally. But if the adapted choice aligns with your core values and is something you can change, do it! 

Adaptability Determines Your Results 

Most situations in your life will involve other people. And your ability to adapt to different people impacts the results you get. 

In order to adapt well, you need to be hyperaware of yourself and the people around you. This means analyzing exactly what you are thinking and feeling; what others are thinking and feeling; and how you can best interact with the person or situation in the moment. 

Now, do not misunderstand me. I am not flirting with the idea of manipulating people. First, manipulation has a negative connotation as if someone is losing. I am talking about a win-win for everyone. 

But I am talking about taking ownership of how other people treat you. If you want people to act in a way that is positive for you, then you have to adapt the way you interact with them so it is a positive experience for them as well. 

It took a painful childhood experience for me to understand the impact adaptability has on achieving success. I don’t want pain to be the teacher for you. 

So whether it’s at work, at home, or in your community—regardless of what is happening to you or around you—you control your future. Choosing to adapt is a choice for you, not against you. 

You’re adapting your style, not your heart. Make sure you don’t get stuck in an arrogant, ignorant, and defeated place where you think staying true to you means never changing for anyone else. If you take that approach, you might just get stuck never knowing how good you could have had it if you just would have owned it. 

Instead, choose to be constantly hyperaware of what is really happening in the minds and hearts of yourself and the people around you—then you will be able to adapt the right way every time. When you learn to adapt correctly, you win. 

With the grit that only comes from tough experiences, Alyson Van Hooser has learned a thing or two about personal and professional success. From her management experience with Walmart, as an elected city council member, bank manager—all before the age of 30—Alyson has wisdom well beyond her years! Her podcast, Stake: The Leadership Podcast, offers a fresh perspective on leadership and helps multiple generations successfully work together! Connect with Alyson on LinkedIn and Instagram. And get her latest book, Accelerate Your Success: 30-Day Journey to Elevate Your Performance & Fuel Your Professional Growth (coauthored with Phillip Van Hooser), wherever books are sold!

The Art of Entrepreneurship by Jim Stovall

Photo by Jenny Ueberberg on Unsplash

I once again have the privilege of having another book released into the marketplace. Having written over 50 books, you might think I would take a new book for granted, or it might not be as important to me today as it was over 25 years ago when my first book was published. But I can assure you that every book is significant to me and holds a unique place in my heart, mind, and soul. 

The Art of Entrepreneurship is special for several reasons. As a blind person myself, entrepreneurship seemed to be the only career and life path I could take that offered me creative freedom and unlimited potential. Entrepreneurship has given me everything in the world I ever wanted and more. 

This new book is dear to me for another reason. My co-author, Dr. Kevin Schneider, brings his experience and expertise as the executive director of the Stovall Center for Entrepreneurship at Oral Roberts University to our collaboration. In this capacity, he is responsible for training the next generation of entrepreneurs from around the world to bring their talents and visions to the marketplace and create value in the lives of other people. 

The Stovall Center for Entrepreneurship represents the culmination of my career goals and my life’s ambition. In addition to my time, talent, experience, and contacts, starting the Stovall Center for Entrepreneurship involved my donation of $1.5 million. This contribution is significant because when my entrepreneurial journey began, I was going blind and had only $17 to my name. Entrepreneurship has given me both the desire and the ability to make more than a million-dollar commitment to young people the opportunity to travel the road I have been on for decades and has brought me to my destiny. 

In The Art of Entrepreneurship, readers will discover who should be an entrepreneur and who should not, the truth about myths entrepreneurship, and the quickest and most reliable ways to succeed while avoiding the pitfalls that sidetrack many would-be entrepreneurs. The Art of Entrepreneurship offers real-world experience coupled with Dr. Schneider’s cutting-edge research.  

My sincere hope is that this new book will help you and those you care about to explore the gifts you’ve been given and discover how you can prosper as you package and present your gifts to the world through The Art of Entrepreneurship. 

As you go through your day today, I hope you will enjoy the practical experience and academic principles in The Art of Entrepreneurship. 

Today’s the day! I once again have the privilege of having another book released into the marketplace. Having written over 50 books, you might think I would take a new book for granted, or it might not be as important to me today as it was over 25 years ago when my first book was published. But I can assure you that every book is significant to me and holds a unique place in my heart, mind, and soul. 

The Art of Entrepreneurship is special for several reasons. As a blind person myself, entrepreneurship seemed to be the only career and life path I could take that offered me creative freedom and unlimited potential. Entrepreneurship has given me everything in the world I ever wanted and more. 

This new book is dear to me for another reason. My co-author, Dr. Kevin Schneider, brings his experience and expertise as the executive director of the Stovall Center for Entrepreneurship at Oral Roberts University to our collaboration. In this capacity, he is responsible for training the next generation of entrepreneurs from around the world to bring their talents and visions to the marketplace and create value in the lives of other people. 

The Stovall Center for Entrepreneurship represents the culmination of my career goals and my life’s ambition. In addition to my time, talent, experience, and contacts, starting the Stovall Center for Entrepreneurship involved my donation of $1.5 million. This contribution is significant because when my entrepreneurial journey began, I was going blind and had only $17 to my name. Entrepreneurship has given me both the desire and the ability to make more than a million-dollar commitment to young people the opportunity to travel the road I have been on for decades and has brought me to my destiny. 

In The Art of Entrepreneurship, readers will discover who should be an entrepreneur and who should not, the truth about myths entrepreneurship, and the quickest and most reliable ways to succeed while avoiding the pitfalls that sidetrack many would-be entrepreneurs. The Art of Entrepreneurship offers real-world experience coupled with Dr. Schneider’s cutting-edge research. 

My sincere hope is that this new book will help you and those you care about to explore the gifts you’ve been given and discover how you can prosper as you package and present your gifts to the world through The Art of Entrepreneurship. 

As you go through your day today, I hope you will enjoy the practical experience and academic principles in The Art of Entrepreneurship. 

Today’s the day! 

Jim Stovall is the president of Narrative Television Network as well as a published author of many books. He is also a columnist and motivational speaker. Follow him on Twitter (@stovallauthor) or Facebook (@jimstovallauthor). His latest book, The Art of Entrepreneurship (coauthored with Dr. Kevin Schneider, executive director of the Stovall Center for Entrepreneurship at Oral Roberts University), is now available to purchase from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other fine retailers.

“Lead the Field Literally Changed My Viewpoint on Life”: An Interview with Dr. Sarbari Gupta, CEO of Electrosoft by Jennifer Janechek

A month or so ago, I came across an article in the WashingtonExec about Dr. Sarbari Gupta, CEO of the technology company Electrosoft. In it, she says that Earl Nightingale’s Lead the Field audio program “literally changed [her] viewpoint on life when [she] first heard it in 1995 and motivated [her] to take bolder steps toward [her] goals in life.” Sound Wisdom recently published a beautiful print edition of Lead the Field, so I reached out to Dr. Gupta to learn more about how Nightingale’s work shaped her life and career. She was kind enough to chat with me over the phone, sharing many of her own success strategies as well as those that she gleaned from Nightingale’s audio program.  

Tell our readers a little bit about yourself and how you got started in the field you’re in. 

I grew up in India and came to the United States to do graduate studies in electrical engineering. In graduate school, I took various courses in what was then called “information assurance/computer security” (now cybersecurity), and several of my master’s courses focused on cybersecurity-related topics. My first job after grad school was at Trusted Information Systems. During this time, I received a postcard advertising an audiotape of this program, Lead the Field. The marketing must have been intriguing enough that I signed up for it and ended up receiving a packet of maybe six audiotapes.  

Nightingale’s delivery really motivated me and started me thinking about concepts like attitude. I started talking to contacts and discovered an opportunity to move to IBM to do some groundbreaking work in the cybersecurity arena. To some extent this tape prompted me to keep my eyes and ears open. Sure enough, opportunities came up for me to grab, including this move to IBM. But I always had this desire to be my own boss, and in many ways Nightingale’s principles helped me chart my course toward founding Electrosoft.  

Lead the Field has often been referred to as the “Program of Presidents” because so many top executives have incorporated Earl Nightingale’s insight and guidance into their management philosophies. How did Lead the Field shape your management philosophy or your work philosophy in general? 

In the first chapter, “The Magic Word,” the lesson about attitude changed how I interacted with my family and colleagues. I have continuously applied the principle of integrity, the seed for achievement, in my life. It has had a strong influence on my management philosophy, especially the idea of the person on the white horse—that whoever is the leader is setting the example; there’s no hiding. On a personal level, I’ve found “The Miracle of Your Mind” chapter very beneficial—getting out an empty sheet of paper in the morning, focusing on the most important question, and coming up with answers. It’s true, as Nightingale suggests, that when you key in on a question at the beginning of the day, your subconscious will often be at work, trying to find an answer to it. And those answers will come to you, often at odd times of the day! 

What qualities do you think are most necessary for success in business, especially as an entrepreneur and/or manager?  

More than anything else, resilience. You need to be able to bounce back after things like opportunities falling through. Integrity is another word I take very seriously. People need to see integrity to trust you. Also, goal setting—people who succeed have goals. Like Nightingale points out in one of his anecdotes, being a bricklayer might be a tedious job, but if you can envision the whole thing, then you’ll have the drive to build it. 

Do you have any advice to budding entrepreneurs about what sorts of things they should be doing to position themselves well to succeed? 

Networking is No. 1. Careers are made or broken by who you know and who respects you. Whenever you can, get to know people in your field, establish a relationship with them, and build on that. Take your work seriously. Do a good job in everything that you undertake. The impression you’re making today matters. You could encounter the same people in the future. If you give a positive impression that earns their respect—you put your heart into it, do a good job, etc.—you could meet them twenty years later and they might remember that they were impressed with you. It can make it easier to establish a business relationship later on. Demonstrate a good work ethic. Don’t ever think that senior people aren’t keeping an eye on you. Keep making a good impression, attend to matters of professionalism—dress, attitude, whatever it is. It just helps in the long run.  

In terms of readying yourself to be an entrepreneur, try to get different types of experiences. Seek jobs with exposure to the sales side of things, or the financial aspects of a business. Do this in a low-risk environment where you’re still an employee, learning on the job; then you’ll feel more confident that you can set things up for yourself down the road.

About Sarbari Gupta

Dr. Sarbari Gupta has been active in the information security industry for over twenty years. She possesses broad-based knowledge and experience in the areas of cybersecurity, privacy, and cryptographic solutions. Dr. Gupta, who holds a PhD degree in Electrical Engineering and CISSP and CISA certifications, has authored over twenty technical papers/presentations in refereed conferences/journals and several chapters in cybersecurity books. In addition, she has co-authored several NIST Special Publications in the areas of Electronic Authentication, Security Configuration Management, and Mobile Credentials and holds four patents in areas of cryptography. Dr. Gupta is the founder, CEO, and president of Electrosoft, a provider of technology-based services and solutions with a special focus on cybersecurity.

About Electrosoft Services Inc.

Electrosoft, headquartered in Reston, Virginia, delivers a diversified set of technology-based solutions and services to federal, civilian, and defense agencies. They couple domain knowledge and experience with proven, mature management practices to design and deliver the right solutions on time and within budget. Their practices include an ISO 9001:2015 registered Quality Management System and Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Level 3 assessed processes. Founded in 2001, Electrosoft is an 8(a) certified Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) and an 8(m) certified Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB). For more information about Electrosoft, visit their website at www.electrosoft-inc.com.

Get your copy of Lead the Field now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, 800-CEO-READ, and other fine retailers. Also available in the Earl Nightingale Series is The Direct Line, and The Direct Line Workbook is forthcoming in December.

Interview with Jenny Galluzzo, Co-Founder of The Second Shift by Jennifer Janechek

Before I had kids, I never could have imagined how difficult it would be to try to build a career while parenting small children. As a very career-driven person, I also never anticipated the profound desire I would have to stay home with my children when they were young. This desire has often created a real tension for me, where I’ve felt a nagging pull between work and home. Luckily, I was able to find a work situation that enables me to join my two passions: parenting and working. Indeed, there are many opportunities in today’s work world for women to find part-time, remote, and/or project-based work—opportunities that help women develop their careers when they previously might have had to leave or hit pause on them.

Enter The Second Shift, a job agency co-founded by Jenny Galluzzo and Gina Hadley. The Second Shift helps women find non-traditional or temporary work situations so that they are able to have more freedom to parent, care for a sick child or parent, travel frequently, or do whatever they need to do. It is not a re-engagement platform, or one that helps women move back into the workforce after taking time off from their careers. The job opportunities that it features are top notch because they cater to women who are experts in their respective field. So, note that to use this platform, you’re expected to have a minimum of 10 years of experience in your area, which may exclude younger moms who are just starting out on their career paths. Nonetheless, this service ensures that women who have worked very hard to attain an executive position do not need to step down from it in order to have the work-life situation that they need or want.  

Recently, I talked with co-founder Jenny Galluzzo about how The Second Shift came into being, the challenges and joys of being a working mom, and the important mission her company has of encouraging gender equity and increasing support for moms in the workforce. 

Tell us a little bit about yourself. 

My name is Jenny Galluzzo, and I co-founded The Second Shift with Gina Hadley. The Second Shift is something that we needed for ourselves, but it didn’t exist at the time. I was a journalist for a really long time, and Gina was a marketer. We both needed to find a different way to work for different reasons. Her husband kept relocating, and every time she moved she needed to start over again at work. I was a journalist looking to leave the field. In 2014 we built a platform to solve for all these things—to help women identify the skills they have and find a work situation that was a better fit for them—and early on we saw the possibilities. In the first year, we tried to do it on our own—to find companies to work with women, but we didn’t know what kind of women and what kind of jobs we were really looking for. We refocused the search process to move beyond boundaries of job titles and to help women identify what skills they had that would be appealing to various businesses. This is important to us because we believe it is crucial to keep women going throughout different points in their lives. Currently, less than 5 percent of CEOs are women. We have a very high-talent member profile and a four-step vetting process. We encourage businesses to make changes to support these incredibly talented women and to benefit their organizational climate as well. We believe that companies that support these sort of project-based, part-time, or otherwise flexible work situations will thrive just as much as their employees. 

What types of jobs will someone find on The Second Shift? Are there certain types of fields that are better represented than others? 

The majority of jobs fall into three categories: HR, CFO, and market research. They are often maternity fills, or big projects with a start and end date (long-term and contract based), or quick turnaround projects, or ongoing part-time routine jobs (e.g., PR, interim COO, etc., where there’s a set amount of hours). We have moved into full-time roles, as well. We curate jobs: we take only really high-level jobs that we think we can fill. Our goal is to follow the life cycle of our members through their career journey. At least half of the jobs are remote. We are always pooling different markets and looking for new members.  

There’s been a lot of talk lately about “work-life integration” instead of “work-life balance.” What are your thoughts on this? 

I think that it’s trying to find a solution to an ultimately unsolvable balance. There’s really not a way to run everything perfectly smoothly. You just need to be more patient and more realistic and realize that every day is going to be a different setup and every year your children’s needs will change.  

What is the best piece of advice you’ve heard or would give to a new mom trying to juggle work and parenting? 

Think about the long game and just keep swimming. Figure out a way to keep going, and don’t give up because it will get easier. Sometimes parents make hard decisions based on short-term circumstances, but it’s important to see things through. There are resources that are available to help you. Even if you leave the workforce, keep networking. Keep up with every colleague you’ve ever known. Keep everything going, even if it’s just the smallest amount, because it will help you in the future. 

Do you believe that women can “have it all”? 

Yes. I don’t believe you can have it all all the time. You won’t be able to do everything perfectly all day every day. Some days you will be a perfect worker, some days you will be a perfect mother, and some days you will be neither. But go into each day with the expectation of trying, and if nothing else, you tried. Lead by example for your kids, colleagues, and partner—show that you are human and fallible but that both your work and your family are a priority. 

Jennifer Janechek is the director of content strategy for Sound Wisdom. In her spare time, she writes for her website, The Work-at-Home Mom Blog. She loves that she gets to join her two passions—reading and writing about great books and empowering working women—in both these pursuits.