January-February 2018/ENTREPRENEUR.COM/ 47PHOTOGRAPH BY GETTY IMAGES/MATTHEW STOCKMAN
I
n the moments before Ashley Caldwell landed the jump that estab-
lished her as the world champion of freestyle skiing aerials in 2017, she
was scared. No woman in history had ever landed the trick she was
about to attempt. Dubbed “the Daddy,” it entails three backflips with
1,440 degrees of rotation—pretty much a gold-or-bust risk. She was shak-
ing in her ski boots but managed to backflip her way to history.
As a two-time Olympian and 2018 front-runner, Caldwell isn’t exactly a
novice. But she credits much of her success to her practiced ability to recast
fear in a positive light. “Fear is exciting,” she says. “It means I have an oppor-
tunity to become a stronger athlete or person.”
Caldwell starts by acknowledging her fear, something she encourages
other athletes—or, in this case, business folks—to mimic. If it’s an upcom-
ing presentation you’re nervous about, prepare in advance by imagining
what it will look like to overcome the fear. Think beyond the words you’ll say
and the PowerPoint you’ll deliver, and instead visualize yourself actively
managing your emotions. Before competition, Caldwell asks herself, How
excited or nervous will I be? What will I do to calm myself down?
Your visualization might include meditating or reviewing notes moments
before the presentation. Or you can steal Caldwell’s strategy: To control her
body’s physiological response, she pictures herself dancing with her fear. “I
get the head nod going, and my breathing pattern begins to slow down,” she
says. “I’ll sing and dance until my nerves are calm, and then I feel good.”
As Caldwell closes in on the big moment, she switches from visualization
to positive self-talk, repeating to herself, I’m going to be successful. Or, she
admits, when she’s speeding down the ramp at 40-plus mph, her internal
mantra is closer to Fuck, yeah! Fuck, yeah! Fuck, yeah!...
The lesson? Fake the confidence until it becomes real. That’s when fun
takes over, and that’s the ultimate goal of success, Caldwell says. “If I’m
not having fun, it’s going to be a bad day, and it’s going to leave me, my
career, and my mental state worse off.”
t
AccordingtoanOlympicskijumper
NAIL POLISH BRANDEssie is known for its
collection of more than 1,000 shades—each just
slightly different from the next—and the cheeky
names that go along with them. To turn a sea of
same into names like Jelly Apple, Be Cherry, and
Wrapped in Rubies, general manager Carolyn
Holba and her team figured out how to capture
their own creativity.
Build a backstory.
Each collection is designed around a theme (the
’90s, New Year’s in New York) and from there
Holba’s team creates a fully fleshed-out narrative.
“From that story, we sit around and ideate around
names,” she says, which results in monikers like
Saved by the Belle and Ring in the Bling.
Diversify your perspectives.
The marketing team includes people in their
20s, 30s, and 40s, offering multiple viewpoints
on a single theme. “We all experienced the ’90s
in a very different way, but we all had things we
remember that were extremely iconic.”
Keep it human.
Essie avoids both copywriters and help
from Google during brainstorms. “I think that’s
why the consumer relates so strongly to our
names,” says Holba. “Because it actually is us—not
a machine, not an algorithm. It’s very personal.”
t
Accordingtoanail-polishnamer
GET BETTER at EVERYTHING