Sasha is the Founder of Sasha Talks, an educational and entertainment platform that integrates self and professional development into nurturing meaningful outcomes. As a speaker, mentor and author, she partners alongside global clients to capitalize upon their talent. She has also authored books and educational content focusing on business, self-development, and spirituality.
Please tell us a little bit about Sasha Talks – what is it all about?
Sasha Talks serves as an educational and entertainment platform that explores human development in the context of performance management. It hosts a few channels of engagement which include consulting, speaking and niche services. The platform sets the stage to explore the realms of business, self-development and spirituality.
What would you say are the top 3 skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur, and why?
- Patience – Nothing good in life thrives overnight. Good ideas take time to germinate over a healthy life cycle that ideally will deliver reliable and consistent results. Entrepreneurship has many twists and turns in its unique journey – it’s not personal, it’s life and business following its natural course of growth. Lack of patience can lead an entrepreneur to make slipshod decisions that can compromise the quality of resources, human capital and relationships in the process. Developing and applying patience can help one become a steady hand in the eye of the storm when life isn’t going according to plan. Patience is a virtue in this case, or else the entrepreneur will act upon random ideas out of impulsiveness to attract results without being strategic about their mission. Knowing oneself helps with developing patience because the individual will know when it’s time to act versus leveraging moments of silence to strengthen one’s resolve.
- Time Management – Hosting situational and self-awareness runs parallel to time management. Everyone is allotted the same amount of time in a day to prosper in their lives and businesses. Decide what your priorities are then hold yourself accountable for honoring them. An entrepreneur isn’t supposed to become a doormat in the process of nurturing ideas that are meant to serve people. Manage your day, or the day will manage you by leaving you deplete of energy and bandwidth to focus on personal & business objectives that matter. When integrating time management into one’s regimen, the entrepreneur has better chances of being more present in their everyday activities and decision making process.
- Communication – Say what you mean and mean what you say. Communication should also come with boundaries because there are people who will try to steal time without earning it nor being articulate about why they want to engage you. When people ask me questions that are already answered in an overt manner, those same questions will go ignored 99% of the time because it doesn’t deserve a custom response. On rare occasions I’ll engage in an elusive response to prompt the third party to question their motives for being negligent by not doing their homework before reaching out. I personally am indifferent to their status and tenure in their lives because some personalities rarely get told no, nor are they called out for their stupid behaviors.
This points out two things – 1. People validate through their speech and behaviors whether they are a viable candidate or not for your engagement. 2. When push comes to shove, it’s okay to reject the proposition by stating it in black and white. It’s important to differentiate between greedy people and helpless people. Greedy people will come a dime a dozen. Helpless people can benefit from slight guidance to help them along their journey. There should be no shame or ego present when helping someone who genuinely needs direction. Offering direction is different than cheating them of an opportunity to earn their merit.
Community is key. It can help you build bridges in your path, or it can help you become your own enemy when it’s not exercised in a wise manner. Make your words count by making your time count. I observe a lot of people who lack the knowledge how to initiate a conversation, nurture it and know how to cease a conversation in a dignified manner without prompting false hope. The entrepreneur must remember that niceness has to do with ‘lip service’ while goodness speaks through actions. Avoid inviting false hope into your mind, emotions and space. If people truly mean what they say, they’ll speak through becoming a client when there’s a need.
What was your first business idea and what did you do with it?
I can’t truly recall the very first idea because I’ve had overlapping ideas that unfolded organically when I was discovering which commercial path aligned with my interests. I’ve worked for private clients offering coaching and teaching services that provided resources for me to start contributing in the publishing space. I briefly worked at an art studio before I bought an art studio of my own which I also managed for three years before selling it to a third party. Managing it and producing my own works, among my commitments, became a bit overwhelming and so I ended up using my studio space for other work which helped me segway into new markets. I extended the space to commercial neighbors in exchange for rent which worked out exceptionally well. These ideas all had one thing in common – discovering and applying the skill sets that I already had to create services that can be delivered in a unique manner. The resources I earned at that time helped me bide time to craft new ideas along the way. Therefore I got to experience business scenarios through different perspectives – C2B, C2C, B2C and B2B.
What are you learning now? Why is that important?
I’m constantly learning something new if it has to do with the business realm, wellness, or simple kitchen hacks to help me efficiently manage time while serving those in my life. Last year, I was invited to attend private improv classes led by a community artist. It definitely introduced me to view human communication and perception in a new light. This year, I’m working on an outdoor engagement through a third-party partnership in which I need to produce different types of writing pieces. I encourage people to try out classes in person, engage within community circles or even take the lead in introducing a new idea/regimen to others. Learning can be an overwhelming experience if people are revisiting it after a break, in such cases I recommend taking baby steps toward implementing any new change.
It keeps life fresh from a mental, emotional, and physical perspective. Learning comes in many forms which are broken down by interests and varying degrees of investment. Anyone can start learning a new hobby or skill without a minimal investment other than willingness, commitment, and time.
If you started your business again, what things would you do differently?
I wouldn’t do anything differently because the changes in my organic learning curve aligned with my self-development in the process. Some things in life, including our goals, shouldn’t be rushed nor manipulated to seek a certain outcome. Adjusting the unfolding of events can impact the environments that have made us who we are today, for better or worse. Also when a person is devoted to their cause for the right reasons, the outcome will reflect that over a period of time. Meanwhile, pay attention to the following:
- The company you keep
- How you manage your time
- How you develop a relationship with yourself & thus life around you
- Learn your negotiables and non-negotiables in life
What’s a productivity tip you swear by?
I keep it simple by using the phone alarm app that displays only time-sensitive appointments for a given week. It’s set to timely increments counting down to the event that lets me know when I need to prep, commute, or even take a break. It’s simple with no frills.
Can you recommend one book, one podcast, and one online course for entrepreneurs?
I recommend the podcast The Diary of a CEO hosted by Steven Bartlett. Steven does a wonderful job interviewing personalities who are generous in sharing their ‘unfiltered’ life journey. Society often conditions people to believe that success comes easy for certain people therefore they must be lucky in essence. The reality is many great people who have shaped humankind encountered unique challenges that molded their characters to take risks that paid off sooner or later in time. The Diary of a CEO humanizes the guest that we forget for a brief moment what they do for a living, instead we’re intrigued to learn what type of life experiences brought them to their state today.
If you only had $1000 dollars to start a new business, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
I started with less than twenty dollars so $1,000 sounds very generous! I would apply ⅓ for professional development (learning purposes/books/courses), ⅓ for improving the platform and ⅓ to pay it forward by supporting other people’s work.
What is your favorite quote?
“Lies run sprints, but the truth runs marathons.”
– Michael Jackson
What is your definition of success?
A peace of mind that is rooted in knowing who you are because it serves as an operating system that will help you make decisions in all aspects of life; as well help you navigate through life challenges as they unfold in this fleeting adventure called ‘life’.
How do you personally overcome fear?
I remind myself of all prior experiences that I’ve managed to conquer and overcome whether they were of my choosing or not. Life is a one-way street, it’s best to focus on the present rather than anticipating what can go wrong. Remain realistic but don’t get lost in the noise of life that is meant to paralyze you from taking any risks nor making any decisions. The more you live life and keep learning, there is no space for fear. It’s similar to what I tell people, “faith and fear can’t exist in the same room”. Both of them originate from within us – figure out which one you want in your corner.
How can readers get in touch with you?
Readers are welcome to visit Sasha Talks dot com to learn more. All are welcome to visit the contact page to drop a hello.
