Lessons from Dragons Den
I appeared on Dragons Den in 2013, 25 years old and so confident with my pitch idea there was no way I wasn’t walking out of there without the investment.
Until that point, I’d run my magazine with ease, starting it with nothing and becoming Leeds’ most talked about Fashion Magazine within two years – no-one had ever told me ‘no’ before…until I stepped in to the Den!
If you ever need to be brought back down to earth, I recommend doing it on national TV in front of millions of viewers. I’d particularly recommend having Peter Jones annihilate you to the point that you start crying in the lift, which, by the way doesn’t even move.
It was a huge learning curve for me, and here’s the top three things the experience taught me…
1 – Sometimes you need to be told no
If you are running a business and things are going smoothly, everybody says yes and nobody challenges you, you’re probably living inside your comfort zone – and we all know that nothing grows from there.
Having people tell you no will make you try harder, fight more for what you believe in, and ultimately make you raise the bar.
2 – You can make a positive out of any negative situation
No, I didn’t get the investment, but I did get exposed to a mass audience meaning that I not only gained a load of really supportive followers, I also got offered a whole host of opportunities. I’m still dining out on the fact that I appeared on the show and it’s so many years ago! People still recognise me from it (I blame my huge curly blonde afro for that) and opportunities still come in the back of it.
3 – It’s so rewarding to prove people wrong
My company, House of Coco, is living proof that the Dragons didn’t get it right with me. As the third largest seller out of 4000 titles on newsstand.co.uk, stockists that include Harrods and Selfridges and now available on Readly to their nine million subscribers, we’re doing pretty good!
It’s a platform that has allowed me and #TeamCoco to live our best lives in every single country around the world, and gain experiences that I could only have dreamed of back then.
]]>The best bit? I did what people told me I couldn’t.
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MEET SALLY ODDY Business, Marketing & Mindset Mentor
Sally works with soulpreneurs, pouring over 20 years experience into their hearts, minds and businesses.
Passionate about living life on purpose, Sally is all about honouring and accepting the fullness of self.
In-powering her clients to experience life in beautiful, bold, expansive ways is how they create and attract abundance and success into their lives.
Guiding her clients to dive deeply into their vision and mission, Sally shares her aligned approach to building online businesses that have a deeply positive impact in the world.
Sally is a Yorkshire Lass who grew up in 80's South Africa and is on a mission to inspire you to fulfil your dreams and potential in order to create a more in-powered and happy world.
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