Who are you and what business did you start?
I’m Nancy Burger, author, speaker, strategist and founder of The Fear Finding Project, a consultancy that helps individuals, companies and leaders better understand and navigate fear-based thought patterns that may be holding them back.
What’s your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?
I have been a writer for over 25 years. I became curious about how people navigate fear after spending much of my own life crippled by it. So I began researching the neuroscience behind fear-based thinking and learning more about how we can change our own thought patterns. After cultivating strategies to change my own thought patterns and experiencing the positive change from practicing these strategies, I became committed to helping other people do the same thing. I launched my consultancy in 2019.
Describe the process of launching the business.
At the beginning, I was targeting women in midlife because I had heard from so many of them about the struggles of empty nesting, reinventing after divorce and other challenges that I was intimately familiar with. At first, I offered free workshops and presentations to women’s groups with a focus on taking on individual coaching clients. But that soon changed as I was approached by corporate teams looking to guide employees through career challenges.
Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?
What works best is to remain curious and open. As an entrepreneur, you may think you have identified your business model. What I have learned is that we end up discovering our business model as we move forward. You need to adopt a growth mindset and an iterative approach.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
I love my work and am learning more every day about how it can serve a variety of clients. I have launched a digital course that teaches the same strategies that worked so well for me, and am thrilled to be sharing this medicine.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
I have learned that the essential first step in starting a business is to identify a SINGLE problem you want to solve and who you want to solve it for—to dig into that question and spend time fleshing it out until you can explain it clearly in one sentence. Then build from there.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?
I use Mailchimp, Thinkific, PayPal, Stripe, HelloSign, Trello, Typeform, WordPress, Later, and Zoom.
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
Adam Grant’s book “Think Again.” Carol Dweck’s book, “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.” Jeffrey Davis’s podcast, “Tracking Wonder.”
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
Spend time identifying the problem you want to solve and who you want to solve it for, then get curious. Read, ask questions, take webinars, listen to podcasts, DO YOUR HOMEWORK.
Where can we go to learn more?
www.nancyrburger.com
This interview was originally featured by Thrive Insider on October 14, 2021.
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