Turn Your Passion into an Entrepreneurial Success
- BlkBld Live
- September 14, 2020
“You can’t tell me what can’t be done.”
– Sasha Simmons
You’ve got a vision. You’ve got passion. But let’s be real. In business, talent alone isn’t enough to get you there.
Sasha knows what it takes to turn a passion into a thriving business. If you want to be successful while doing what you love, this is a read for you.
We all want to do what we love, but it takes the right kind of work to soar. Sasha Simmon’s advice is simple: learn the business of your passion. We sat down together for an amazing BlkBldLive and Sasha broke it down — what it takes to be the successful entrepreneur you envision, and what it looks like to bring dreams to reality.
Sasha is truly an inspiration. This brilliant woman is a speaker and professional trainer, host of the SevenThirtyOne podcast, and author of 20 Major Keys to Establish Your Own Greatness. Sasha’s mantra is that anyone can achieve anything, it’s simply a matter of how bad they want it. And she’s living proof.
Motivational Speaker 
Professional Trainer 
Podcast Host
Sasha’s circumstances didn’t set her up for any kind of easy success. As a little girl growing up in the projects, she didn’t have a TV; she sometimes didn’t have electricity. When you hear her talk about her childhood, you may not think she’d have made it to 15 countries by the age of 20.
When she was a kid, Sasha imagined traveling around the world to the places she’d read about. And as she tells it, “It was later I ended up doing exactly what I imagined in my mind. So you can’t tell me what can’t be done. I don’t care about my circumstances. I don’t care about statistics because I know that when you have the result, you can overcome all of that.”
Here are three steps for building a business to live your passion…
1. Create Your Life
Sasha was the first person who told me you could make anything possible with your mind. Let me tell you — I’ve been doing the work. Seven years later, I am living my vision board. I’m doing photography, earning my MBA in the exact specialization from the exact school I wanted to get into, creating a business that gives back to the community I absolutely love, and the husband is on the way…
Sasha’s story is so inspiring to me. She shares more in our IGTV conversation, and you’ve got to give this one a listen.
Sasha Did It
You already know Sasha’s childhood wasn’t easy. There were many reasons being a motivational speaker was an unlikely path for her as a young Black woman. But she knew this was what she was supposed to do, she knew her passion and purpose. She told everyone. And then she did it.
When it came time to bring her vision to life, Sasha’s commitment brought her through. Today, she’s a total success doing what she loves and teaching others how to do the same. Spark your interest? You’ve got to listen to this story.
So where do you see yourself? Take some time to really see yourself there. How are you going to get there? What are you going to do to make your vision a reality?
Write it out. Make your roadmap and then act on it every day. Much of what you envision will happen and, if you’ve got conviction and commitment like Sasha, it may happen in better ways than you could’ve imagined.
2. Take Risks
“Be willing to take risks and be okay with people telling you no.”
– Sasha Simmons
Entrepreneurs have got to have guts. But it’s easy to stay in the safe lane, to go after the sure thing. If you’re going to gain ground, you’ve got to be ready to hear no. Take risks. Put yourself out there. Listen, I know it’s hard. I personally hate hearing the word no, but we are all in this together! Every no is closer to the yes.
Sasha says, “Give yourself grace to make the mistakes, give yourself grace to bomb a client call or whatever, and learn from that… You’re learning. You’re growing.” These are learning edges, not roadblocks. You’re a creative, inspired, and committed entrepreneur. You’ve got this.
3. Invest in Support
Grow your business by investing in the support you need to succeed. You can start by tapping into your network because it’s likely you know the people with the tools you need for your next evolution. Sasha’s business grew exponentially when she hired a speaking coach and booking agent. She frees up time for her speaking by using automation software for admin work. (and.co is one of our favorite freelancer tools for creating and sending proposals and invoices and for tracking your time on projects.)
Getting support opens up opportunities. It’s hard to know what you don’t know, so Sasha says, “Have somebody on your team to, one, answer the hard questions and, two, work on strategy — because you need that strategy to be able to scale your business.”
Dig into the resources that grow your knowledge, your skill, and your capacity, all while building on the vision of your dreams. If you’re craving more of this real advice, check out my conversation with Sasha on Instagram and stay tuned for another blog post about creating a podcast to level up your work.
I don’t know about you but I am inspired! If you’re looking for more real stories about entrepreneurs like you who are creating the life of their dreams, check out the BlkBld.co blog. And subscribe to the BlkBld.co newsletter to get monthly marketing, mindset, and business development tips.
If you are ready to turn your passion into an entrepreneurial success, begin now by scheduling a free consultation with BlkBld & Co.
Watch the full #BlkBldLive conversation here.
