109 An Inventor Reinvents Free Publicity To Drive Business Buzz

Inventor and PR For Anyone Founder Christina Daves puts on the “Advice Wings” to share her tips on how to play the “pinball” game of entrepreneurship, from staying true to your passion to “me time” – and what’s inspiring her right now.

Melinda Wittstock:         Welcome to Wings, Christina.

Christina Daves:               Hi, there. Thank you so much for having me.

Melinda Wittstock:         It’s wonderful to have you on, too, and I am so intrigued always with what is inspiring all my guests. What is inspiring you right now?

Christina Daves:               You know, this has been an amazing year where people have stood up for what they believe in, and I think that women and teenagers and anybody, it’s okay now to say what you feel and what you believe and I really think we’re in for change. I really see it and feel it, and as a mother of an 18-year-old daughter and a 20-year-old son, I’m really excited. I just want to see how everything we do is going to change in the coming years.

Melinda Wittstock:         Isn’t it wonderful how people are standing up and speaking their truths?

Christina Daves:               It really is. It really is. And I really, I have this feeling that we are going to see a lot of change, and that’s really inspiring to me that one person really can change the world.

Melinda Wittstock:         It is exciting. It is what democracy is all about and what our country is founded on, and I get little goose bumps on my neck just thinking about that. So, it is very exciting. Of course, there are always challenges in life as well, so what are the challenges or blocks rather you’re facing or you see your clients facing?

Christina Daves:               I’ll tell you what I’m struggling, and my clients, too. There just doesn’t seem to be enough time to get everything done. Like, I love what I do. I love my job. I love my clients. But I can’t do it all. I was just thinking about this past month has just been overwhelming for me, and I’m not a person who gets overwhelmed, but it was like, “Wow, how am I going to get all this done and help all these people in this finite amount of time?” So, I think we’re all in this day and age of speed and emails, and text messages, that it’s so fast, and we need to get so much more done in the same amount of time.

Melinda Wittstock:         Yeah. It’s true. We do put a lot of pressure on ourselves, and women in particular tend to want to do it all. Like, we want to do it all ourselves and it’s true, you get to the point where, especially if you’re growing a business, you can’t. So, you’ve got to let go of some things and figure out what are the things that only you can do and kind of let go of the rest. But yeah, time. Oh, my goodness.

You can’t, you can always … if you lose money, you can always earn it back. If you lose time, it’s gone.

Christina Daves:               Yeah.

Melinda Wittstock:         What are your top three go to pieces of advice for women who are either about to take the leap into entrepreneurship or are already in it, at any real stage of their … I’m going to say, I’m just going to wager on roller coaster journey, because it is for everybody, what are your top three pieces of advice?

[tweet_box design=”default” float=”none”]Stay true to your passion. Whatever that was that inspired you to start this business and grow this business, hold onto that, because that’s what got you going and that’s what’s going to get you over the humps. #WingsPodcast #WomeninBusiness @medifashions[/tweet_box]

Christina Daves:               You say roller coaster. I call it; it’s like a pinball machine. You have a plan and it’s never going to work the way you think it’s going to work. So, I always say stay true to your passion. Whatever that was that inspired you to start this business and grow this business, hold onto that, because that’s what got you going and that’s what’s going to get you over the humps. Remember there’s no such thing as failure. Even if you lose all your money, you’ve learned something. And you can get it back. So, don’t give up when it doesn’t go the way you think it’s going to go.

I had a business plan completely, it was perfect on paper and it didn’t work that way. So, I had to, like a pinball, go a different direction. So, you just have to be open to that. And then my last piece of advice is always do something for you. Like I try to exercise every single day. That’s my brainpower; that’s my Christina time. I throw in my iPod and even if it’s only 30 minutes, but that’s for me and nobody else. So, I think that’s really important to have something, whether you read a book, glass of wine … something that is just you time.

Melinda Wittstock:         That is so important. I mean, all those pieces of advice, but particularly with the ‘me’ time. I find that I need to put it in my schedule to make sure that I do it. It’s just there, just like a client appointment or a sales call, or like any of the other things that I might be doing, working on product, whatever. It’s in there. And it can’t be moved.

Christina Daves:               It cannot be moved. Right. That’s a red appointment.

Melinda Wittstock:         Exactly. So, Christina, how can people find you and work with you?

Christina Daves:               Everything is at PR for Anyone, or ChristinaDaves.com. Everything connects to everything I do through either of those. PR for Anyone is all my social media handles as well. And yeah, just reach out through any of the websites and I would love to talk to you more.

Melinda Wittstock:         Wonderful. Thank you for putting on your wings and flying with us today.

Christina Daves:               Thanks.