Embracing My Journey ~ Living with passion & purpose!

As CEO of Author Marketing Experts, Penny Sansevieri’s vision was to create a company that would help authors and foster their growth, and her best-selling authors would tell you she’s accomplished that and much more.  Welcome Penny to the “Living the Life of My Dreams” interview series and thank you in advance for sharing your inspriration.

Living the life of one’s dreams is something many people believe to be a myth….yet; you are living proof that one can achieve this goal… Tell us about the path you traveled to arrive where you are today: Over ten years ago I was laid off, not once but twice in one year. Once when our CEO was let go and his “team” was dismissed as well and the second time I joined a company and eight months later the head office shut them down. It was a terrible time of year to lose a job actually (not that there’s an optimal time…) but it was days before Thanksgiving when the world turns their attention to travel, family, and gift giving and HR departments tend to hire less. So I sat at my desk, the day after I was laid off and I said “Well, let me do this. What’s the worst that could happen?” And so I did and 10 years later, here I am. Thriving. No one is more shocked about this than I am. I say this because I didn’t have a plan, I didn’t have a small business roll out schedule, I didn’t even have any funding. I started Author Marketing Experts on a credit card and dream.

What kept you moving forward on the days things were not going exactly the way you were hoping they would? Ever since I was a child I always believed in my dreams, even if they seemed ridiculous to the outside world (ok, so I will likely never be able to say “I’d like to thank the Academy for this award…”). I believed in a better life. Not that the life I had was bad per se, but I wanted more. I have always been driven. Even as a kid when other kids were running lemonade stands I was thinking: franchise! I didn’t even know what the word meant but I can recall wanting to recruit other kids to run the stands for me. I’m sure their parents thought I was nuts.

What piece of advice would you give to someone who has decided they would like to live in a world of their own creation? First and foremost: write it down. You’ve probably heard this a million times before, and maybe it sounds corny but I’m here to tell you that it really does work. I was a feverish goal-maker. I also wrote and journaled about the life I wanted, my ideal life and I did it in painstaking detail. Did all of it come true? No, and thank God for that. What’s that old country song? Thank God for unanswered prayers. The same is true here. I have a fantastic life, not all of the things I wanted happened and there was a reason. I see that now.

What special things do you do for yourself daily to maintain your momentum and energy levels? I work out – I race walk/run but I haven’t always done this. In the last 2 years I realized that the company now had a life of its own and if I was going to keep up with it and keep the momentum, I needed to take better care of myself. Entrepreneurs are notoriously bad caretakers of their own health.

If you could spend 3 days on a deserted island with two people of your choosing, who would they be and why? I would like to spend it with my step-father, Frans, who has since passed away. I would love to spend time with him, just talking and telling him the things I didn’t get a chance to before he died. Like the fact that he was my angel and my saving grace when I was a kid.

I’d love to see my dad again and tell him what I’ve accomplished since he died. I take after him in many ways as he was an entrepreneur and I think he would be proud of me. I’ve love to be able to tell him all about what I’ve accomplished and watch him smile his big, broad, smile and say “Good going, kid, I always knew you could do it.”

What is your favorite audio material and what do you enjoy most about this material? Some years back someone gave me a set of tapes (that’s how long ago this was) by Brian Tracy. It was on positive thinking, positive self-concept, goal setting. It’s old but extremely powerful and probably one of the best audio programs I’ve ever listened to to get you motivated and focused. I now have it on CD and still listen to it whenever I need a boost.

What is your favorite reading material and what gives it that special place in your heart? Ok, perhaps silly but I keep a copy of “Oh, the Places You Will Go” (Dr Seuss) on my bookshelf. It reminds me of the path I’ve taken and the journey still ahead.

Who has inspired you and what is it about them that you found inspirational? I have two people actually, one of them a dear friend of mine who in the span of 8 months has lost her sister to cancer, her mother-in-law (who lived with them for 3 years during her declining health), and her beloved cat who just a few weeks ago was hit by a car. She’s a business owner, loving wife and dear friend and she is one of the bravest people I know. She has handled this grief with a grace and dignity that I admire and her ability to keep forging ahead leaves me in awe. I think most people, when dealing with so much loss would have preferred to hide but she didn’t. I hope I am never faced with so much loss but if I am, I would like to be as brave as she is.

Second, but not second in my heart is my best friend, now boyfriend, who I have known for eight + years. He has had enormous challenges to face in his life and he has faced things that would have flattened most people. There were times during our friendship (before we became involved) when I would sort of wince and almost want to hide my eyes. Sort of like watching someone cross the street in heavy traffic, you suck in a breath and pray they don’t get hit. He is my hero, he has surmounted incredible odds and as much as I like to say that I am proud of what I’ve accomplished in my life, I don’t know if (in the same situation) if I could have been as brave. He faced his life’s challenges with integrity, dignity and grace. He also always did the right thing, even to his own detriment at times. How lucky am I that he is in my life? It’s incredible.

What do you see in your future? Happiness. What more could a girl ask for? At 44 I finally have the life I have always dreamed of. No, scratch that. Because as I said before all my dreams didn’t come true and thank God for that. I have a fantastic life and in ways it’s been surprising, more than I could have ever hoped for. I am also thankful I didn’t get this life when I was in my 20’s, I would have never been able to appreciate it.

Where is your favorite place in the world to spend time, what is special to you about this location? I love the South of France (the Provence region) – I spent 10 years in Belgium when I was a kid and my family and I traveled there a lot. Life is slow and easy and the sun is always shining, the air smells of lavender and everywhere you turn there’s a quaint little village just waiting to be discovered. It’s an amazing place…

Who has been your greatest support system and how have they shown you their support? I am grateful for my stepfather, Frans. When I was just a kid my mother and I moved to Belgium, I was lost and Frans (who had never had children before) just loved me when I felt unlovable. He also taught me that anything was possible, even the impossible if I wanted it bad enough.

Years ago I met a man named George who passed away earlier this year. The story about George is posted to my blog http://amarketingexpert.com/ameblog/?p=777 but George found me when I was lost and set me on the path I am today.

Then, my boyfriend who I met just as I was dipping my toe into being a business owner. He’s got a strong business and entrepreneurial background and he really guided me, almost from day one in my company. There were days when I didn’t feel like I could keep going but a swift kick in the pants (which all biz owners need from time to time) really kept me on track. I’m not sure if I would have kept going if he hadn’t come along.

These are my angels and I am grateful for them.

What / who are you most thankful for and why? I am thankful for my “angels” as I mentioned above and I am grateful everyday that I get to do the work that I love – and I do love my work. So much so that it feels like a hobby (which is good and bad since I work so much…but that’s another story…). I am grateful that I get to live in my wonderful home and travel to amazing places like New York. Sometimes I can’t believe this is my life.

What is your favorite way to contribute or give back? I love working with authors and while I do this for a living, there’s a big element of “give back” that I believe in. So I try and contribute a lot of my time to teaching, coaching, and consulting. There are so many people with great stories and not sure where to turn, I like to help them when I can. Many of them can’t afford to work with a marketing company and that’s ok, that’s not what it’s about. It’s about helping them get their stories out. You never know where their journey will lead or who they will help along the way.

I am also a big supporter of animals and helping the elderly. I think we treat senior citizens very poorly in this country so I try to help out when I can.

Please share the top three things you feel people would benefit from doing if they truly desire to create the life of their dreams? Be grateful. Even when you wake up feeling like your life is a mess find just *one* thing to be grateful for and revel in that. If you can’t find one thing to be grateful for and think your life is beyond repair, take a drive down to skid row (wherever that is in your town, these days unfortunately it seems they are everywhere) and watch people pushing all of their belongings in shopping carts. It may sound drastic but it’s an eye-opener. My dog, Cosmo stays at this day care/doggy lodging place when I go out of town called Camp Diggity Dog, I have to go through skid row (or a small part of it) to get there. At first it creeped me out but now I’m sort of glad. I watch these folks sitting by the side of the road or waiting in line for feed and gratitude washes over me.

Set goals. If you have no direction any direction will do. Set clear, focused goals and write them down. Writing goals down is important.

Dream big. Each morning before I start my day I write a few things that I want to happen that day, like an exciting new author coming our way or getting asked to speak at a conference I’ve been trying to get into. I will jot down 5 or so things, dreams perhaps, but I find that 80% of the time they come true. Try it it’s really amazing.

Anything I missed that you would like to share? There are a lot of books out there – tons in fact. I love the Brian Tracy: The Psychology of Achievement. That and a journal is all you need. Well, that and an angel or two…

Thank you Penny for a wonderful share!

In gratitude,

Caryn

Caryn FitzGerald is a motivational columnist, speaker and written, been featured in and published several books, including “Tulips in the Sand: A Riley Matthews Mystery.”  Read more from Caryn at her website CarynFitzgerald.com.

If what you just read inspired, motivated or touched you in any way, don’t miss another post...click here and be sure to subscribe to Caryn’s RSS feed.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 11th, 2010 at 6:00 am and is filed under Caryn's writing, Living the life of my dreams. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.