How You Define Yourself Determines How Far You Go

Bigg success is life on your own terms. The terms you use to define yourself can do one of two things:

They can empower you or …

… they can limit you.

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 Hear Mary-Lynn tells George how she redefined herself on The Bigg Success Show! Click the player to listen [7:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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I can totally relate to that. In my previous career, I defined myself as a Radio DJ. Others defined me that way too. It’s what I did for eighteen years.

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An industry in decline

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Obviously, now you’re here at Bigg Success. What sparked the change?

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A couple of things. First, the outlook for the radio industry was grim and it continues to struggle.

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I remember, Mary-Lynn, as you were considering your options, we looked at the financials for the industry because you were concerned about your possible opportunities if you didn’t make a career change.

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You’re right. I remember we looked at the financials for my employer. Their sales were declining about 4% a year. To make sure it wasn’t just the company I worked for, we also looked at the financials for the biggest company in the industry. Their sales were also declining at about the same rate. So I knew it was an industry-wide issue and not a single-firm deal.

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I also remember us discussing how difficult it would be for your managers to deal with a 4% decrease in sales and costs that were rising about 4% a year, which is another thing we saw from the financials. That’s an 8% per year swing. You knew that pay raises were going to be tough to come by!

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Which leads to my second reason: I felt I had reached a plateau with the position I had – both in terms of money but, even more importantly to me, in terms of creative freedom. I could have moved, but that would have meant leaving you, George.

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Well, I’m certainly glad to hear I was part of the consideration!

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And of course, even if I did pack up and move, there was no guaranteed job security even in a bigger market. That’s just the state of radio today.

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Did you see any possibilities if you wanted to stay in the industry?

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I could have moved into management or sales, but that’s not what I wanted.

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Feeling loss and lost

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So you saw no real opportunity and decided the time had come to leave the business. How difficult was this for you emotionally?

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It was heartbreaking. I busted my tail for eighteen years with a different outcome in mind. I didn’t think it was fair. I stomped my feet. I cried about it and mourned the loss. And I felt lost because it was the only thing I knew.

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Feeling empowered by redefining yourself

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How did you turn it around?

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I redefined myself and here’s why: I started paying attention to new media. People were using blogs, podcasts and video to create and promote their own brand. A light bulb went off – they were broadcasters. I realized I didn’t need radio to still be a broadcaster.

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Of course at the same time, I was going through my own career change since I had sold my businesses. We were able to combine our individual strengths and be partners in business as well as life.

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Which is exactly what I wanted – a partner! Toward the end of my radio career, I had left my job as a mid-day host to co-host a morning show. That’s the dream gig in radio.

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Yeah, getting to work at 4 AM … that’s not my idea of a dream gig!

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Then my company flipped the station and changed the dynamic of the morning show from two people to one. Fortunately, I guess, I was the one who got to keep her job. Unfortunately, I was bored to tears. I literally remember sitting in the DJ booth and saying out loud to no one, “I’m so freaking bored.”

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Well, I hope you’re not bored now?

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I’m too busy to be bored! As I said earlier, I have a partner. What’s interesting is that George and I are one of the few co-hosted podcasts in our genre.

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We also speak together. We get comments all the time about how much people like the two-person dynamic.

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Now that we’re about two-and-a-half years into Bigg Success, I define myself as an entrepreneur who happens to broadcast. While sometimes I still feel lost in this new space, I just love all of the personal and professional growth I’m experiencing.

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You determine your terms but your terms determine how far you’ll go. Use terms that empower you and you’ll reach bigg success!

How has your definition of yourself changed over time?

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00573-040910.mp3