84 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1
kind of branding that you want for your
business, whether it’s a big business or just
you. Then you are going to start attracting
people that are not the right people, and
there is nothing worse in your business
than having team members or clients that
are bad fit’s. It’s bad for your soul, because
they won't value you, they will nickel and
dime you. They won't be happy, they will
eventually leave. And you will have spent
time and effort and love and sweat and
tears on people that don't truly get you and
are not willing to pay you and it can ulti-
mately end up being the demise of your
business. So yes, culture is everything.
Neil: Knowing what you know now, is there
anything that if you had known it when you
started out, would have helped you to
shortcut the learning curve?
Dana Malstaff: Yeh I think one of the big-
gest things, besides getting people to sup-
port you which is big. You know, getting a
team of people even if you cannot afford it
to get into that. I think one of the things
that would have really helped shorten my
learning curve and build my community
faster, is so much more collaboration. Now
there is a big part of my business where
there are other boss moms like Jacqueline
Malone, who is in the Chasing Dreams and
Littles. She does something similar to me,
she actually has a community that is very
similar to mine. They have a little bit differ-
ences but her and I collaborate a lot, wepromote each other a lot, so you know do-
ing that sort of affiliate marketing, even if
there is not necessarily a pay part of that
affiliate marketing but you are promoting
each other. That’s huge for my business and
I know other people's businesses is that,
that growing trending phrase that collabo-
ration over competition, is so true like find
your tribe, find people who also serve your
tribe in different ways and find ways to col-
laborate with them, because they will help
get you visibility, they will help get you out
there, they will help you grow your busi-
ness, and those are vital, so I think definite-
ly the collaborations are the place to be
now.
Neil: How much does gut feeling influence
your decision in your business?
Dana Malstaff: Gosh you know, I would say,
it is at least half. I think I used to have it be
a 100% I would just go with my gut and
what felt good. And what I found, in really
growing my business and creating a good
strategy for my business, is that I use my
gut to help me create my strategy, and then
I don't have to worry about it not feeling or
settling well because everything I decide in
my business, I bounce it off of my business
plan and my vision board, I create a busi-
ness plan vision board, which is part of
what my group coaching does. So that I can
easily, visually look up at every decision I
make, and make sure it really resonates
with everything I want to accomplish this