Write it down

This rather gloriously drawn image poked its head out at me while I was “de-cluttering” today. Now, clearly I’m not Picasso, but I do appear to be a pretty good fortune teller.

I’m not sure when I drew this, but it clearly lists three goals I wanted to achieve before I exited my 20’s (15 March, 2009).
- Baby Teresa
- Graduate MBA
- Travel Egypt

As I write this today I’m 33, so a couple of years have passed, but each one of these goals can well and truly be classed as completed (well – one is still and will always be a work in progress – Baby Teresa).

So here’s how I went:

I travelled to Egypt in 2010 (so a little later than predicted) with a gorgeous girlfriend Peta. We spent 5 glorious weeks in Egypt and Jordan and it was phenomenal. I learnt basic Arabic, I ate new exciting dishes like fuul (yum) and best of all I saw the Pyramids and Petra.

I finally (and I say finally because I was at uni on and off for 12 years!) graduated university with an MBA on August 17th 2009. Now on this one I actually did hit the time frame because I finished my last class in January of that year just missing the graduation ceremony so I had to wait until August to officially graduate.

And Baby Teresa (www.baby-teresa.com) launched in September, 2009. It’s a project I’m so passionate about and lucky to have co-founded with my gorgeous business partner Sammie. It’s a clothing line where for each romper we sell we also donate another to a baby in need. We’ve now done donations in over 20 countries world wide.

Now, looking back, am I fussed that 2 (almost 3) of these goals were achieved after the time frame I’d drawn on my piece of “art”? Not really! I was pretty close scraping them all in within 10 months of my time frame.

What’s most important here is that I set myself targets and I achieved them. I wrote down what I wanted to do and become and here I am with every one of them done.

I don’t usually goal set in this way above (pretty pictures, vision boards etc), I have a box of goals which I blogged about here in 2008. It’s super low tech, just a file card box with one goal on each card. When I achieve something I write the date I did it – and usually a little smiley face. I don’t think it matters HOW you go about detailing your goals – just that you do it?

What are your goals? Write them down. Heck – write them down by telling them to me - I want to know – head on over and let me know on
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/KirstyDunpheyEmail

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

Tiny things engender big loyalty

I picked up my little girl from gym child care this afternoon and as we were about to walk out the door one of the carers handed me this:

My first mother’s day present from my little girl. She’d decorated the heart and they’d made them together earlier in the week.

Total cost to the organization – maybe one or two dollars? Loyalty cost to the organization – (a very clichéd) priceless.

Thanks to the fabulous people at Orbit fitness for making my day and reminding me of a very important business lesson!

By Kirsty Dunphey with 1 comment

Day 3 out of my comfort zone

A friend recently posted the below image on her facebook page. I saw it and instantly it registered with me. I realized immediately that there was one aspect of my life where I was severely stuck in my comfort zone.

I am very proud to be one of the co-founders of a gorgeous organic line of baby clothing – Baby Teresa (www.baby-teresa.com) – for each romper we sell we also donate another to a baby in need somewhere in the world.


The donation aspect of the program has always been my “baby” (for want of a better word). I’m in my “comfort zone” organizing donations, conducting them, liaising with the people involved, it’s the whole reason I got involved with my lovely partner Sammie in the clothing line.

But given that we’ve just launched our organic line and our product range is substantially different (and better) to our last, where the organization really needed someone was on the ground getting us into stores.

It’s been a really long time since I’ve had sold in a retail sense, let alone walking into a store and cold-selling the owners on a new product. That I’ve never done. It was outside my comfort zone, in an industry I am not 100% familiar with (unlike my comfort zone of realestate) and an industry where no-one had ever heard of me. I’ll admit, I was doing a lot to push the responsibility further and further way. I was making excuses “well as soon as we have the packaging I’ll try and get us some stockists”.

Cut to me seeing the image above. Recognizing that I was in a massive comfort zone rut and actually getting off my butt and walking into some stores and saying hello.

Day 1 out of my comfort zone

I visited 2 stores. Neither had the correct person there that I needed to speak to. I left samples at both and walked away slightly dejected, these were the 2 stores I really wanted to stock my product in my hometown.

Half an hour later I received a call back from one of the stores, the owner was now in and could I come back and chat. You bet I could! I raced back there, had a great chat with the owner of the store and secured our first stockist in my hometown. The owner of this store “got” our product, she had a personal connection to the donations we do overseas and I knew from one minute in that the pitch was going down a treat and that we were on the same page.

I was on such a high, that I let the other store I’d been hoping to land that would target a different market filter out of my mind somewhat. I had been hoping to go back into the stores 3-4 days later and see if they’d looked over my samples. Much to my horror I started to make excuses again! I couldn’t go in on that day because that’s the day I was home with my little girl and it wouldn’t be possible. I could have kicked myself. Fast forward almost a week and I forced myself to pick up the phone and ask if the lady I needed to speak to was in that day. She wasn’t and she was working from home. I did however get her email and popped a nice email through to her hoping to catch up. If I hadn’t pushed myself to make that second contact I wouldn’t have received the email I did late that night confirming that this store would also like to stock Baby Teresa!

2 attempts, both first choices, 2 new stockists. What was I so afraid of?

Day 2 out of my comfort zone

The familiar feeling of dread set back in as I made my way into another shop where I’d had a personal introduction made in the other end of my gorgeous state. This meeting did not go well, again, I knew a minute in that this shop wasn’t going to take on our product (despite how well I thought it suited!) A hit and miss.

What was important from here? That I didn’t let it defeat me. That I didn’t pout because my perfect record was broken. That I got off my butt, out of my comfort zone and back out the door again.

Day 3 out of my comfort zone

This Saturday just gone I set up a bit of an epic road trip. I had my 15 month old daughter with me and we were going to hit 8 stores (recommended to us by fans of our product on facebook) along the North West Tasmanian Coast. My goal was to get 2 new stockists for Baby Teresa that day.

My first stop was less than encouraging. In fact, it was pretty unpleasant. My daughter wriggled and groaned about in my arms, I dropped my presentation kit and the shop owner was in no way keen to have me there.

The temptation to turn the car around was high!

Despite that, I kept on with the plan. I went into 7 different shops that day (one had moved and I couldn’t track them down) and had 7 really different experiences. I met lovely business owners, I met great staff and I had ups and downs.

I left at the end of the day with one confirmed order and a great new stockist and another lovely shop keen to stock our product – but the set up for the store didn’t ideally work with our overall vision. It wasn’t the 2 stockists I aimed for, but it was one great one and I did actually spot another target on the way home and although they were closed, we’re chatting online right now and I’m hopeful of another great stockists that way soon.

So that was my first 3 days really outside my comfort zone in what I’m embarrassed to say has been some time in a professional capacity. I’ve owned real estate agencies since I was 21, showing up at my “day job” at Elephant Property is so far inside my comfort zone that it’s as comfy and warm as my bed in the morning. That’s not a terrible thing! I love the feeling when I walk into work, I love that over the years I’ve put in the work to earn that feeling of comfort.
BUT (and it’s a butt as big as an Elephant’s) – if I don’t push myself outside that comfort zone whether it’s with Baby Teresa, my photography, my personal life, my travels, my adventures and in other aspects of Elephant Property – I’ll never be more than I am today.

Those 3 days outside my comfort zone are the first of many to come. One day was perfect, 2 stockists approached, 2 gained. One was a disaster, one stockist approached, one big fat rejection. One was a great end result with mixed reactions.

I guess that just goes to prove that when you’re outside your comfort zone there are no guarantees. Life is unpredictable, but I must say the smile on my face at the end of days 1 and 3 was big. The sense of accomplishment was huge. That’s where my magic happened in April, 2012. In May, that magic’s going on the road as Sammie and I head over to Victoria to find great stockists there.

Where is your magic going to happen in May?

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

Your journey will be different…

I recently watched speaker Bernadette Black
(http://www.bravefoundation.org.au/html/events/bernadette_black.html) give a very inspiring presentation. Each time I see Bernie speak, I feel the same emotion and am moved in the same way I was the first time I saw her.

Her story is extremely real and personal and she talks about her past in falling pregnant at 16 and what she chose to do with her life after that point. In short, she’s a great speaker and if you get the opportunity to book her or watch her, I strongly recommend it.

One line from her presentation really resonated with me after seeing her this last time. Upon finding out she was pregnant she went and told one of her school teachers. His response to her was: “Your journey will be different, but the destination can still be the same”.

I love this line. I love it in so many different ways. How often are we confronted with a huge roadblock or impediment in life where we think that we simply cannot achieve what we had previously dreamed?

Your journey will be different, but the destination can still be the same.

Words to remember

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments