Talking About Grit with Elin Barton
Welcome back Wine and Dime Listeners! This week it was my pleasure to talk to fellow entrepreneur Elin Barton. In this episode we talk about Grit. The grit it takes to open you own business, is a characteristic that Elin and I share. We talk about what it takes to be a business owner, female business owner and plenty of other topics. We dig into Elin book, "Ready, Set, Grit: Three Steps To Success in Life, Business & The Pursuit of Happiness". We think you will enjoy the conversation, and be sure to check out Elin's recommendation as well!
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If you have any questions that you would like answered on the show, feel free to email us at info@rootedpg.com
ABOUT ELIN
I’m so passionate about working with entrepreneurs for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, these are my people. I grew up in an entrepreneurial family, which means that the tendency to want to be independent, calling my own shots, playing by my own rules, and creating my own luck- all of that is (quite literally) in my blood.
Entrepreneurship is what I live and breathe. When things are going well in a business that you either started or molded with your vision and hard work – well, there’s nothing that compares to that feeling. It’s fun, exciting and a giant ego boost. You feel good and you feel like you can take on the whole world. Like every other entrepreneur, I love that feeling!
But then there are those other times, when it feels like you’re doing everything in your power to make things work in your business, but you’re just stuck. I know all too well what that’s like too, and I’ve been at my own rock bottom where funds had run out, resources had dried up, and I had no idea how to turn things around. I had two children, a husband and employees who were all counting on me, and although I was working my behind off, nothing seemed to be making much of a difference. I felt like a horrible failure. How could I be in my 40’s, be a business owner and be just inches away from having my car repossessed or from bouncing the check for groceries.
I knew in my heart that my situation was ridiculous, but I also knew in my heart that there was a reason for it. Even on my very worst days I was journaling the experience because I never wanted to forget it. And ironically, going through all of that was the exact motivation I needed to figure out an answer to my biggest problem: How do I get UNSTUCK?
I began a journey of searching for that answer. I started a pod cast and began interviewing people who were smarter than me -people who I thought might hold the key. The more people I talked to, and the more notes I took, I started to see some common themes emerging.
I wrote them down, started testing them out and hired a business coach.
I talked to more and more people and started working with some fellow entrepreneurs. Eventually, I uncovered a consistent method for a Dynamic Upwards Pivot and now I love working with people who need to make their own pivot, whether that pivot is motivated by a need for more money and cash flow, or whether it’s about becoming more aligned with a purpose or passion.
Just because you’re an entrepreneur, and by your very nature are extremely independent, that doesn’t mean you have to navigate tough waters on your own. Let’s do this together, and pivot toward a more prosperous future.
READY, SET, GRIT: THREE STEPS TO SUCCESS IN LIFE, BUSINESS AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
Ready, Set, Grit is your guide to identifying what you want out of life and how to get it. Whether you are just getting started in your career, reinventing yourself, or looking to break through barriers in your business, you MUST master the three tenets of this book:
- Mindset – learn how to crush your own self-limiting beliefs
- Foundation – preparing for success by creating your support system and framework
- Action – taking action and practicing GRIT helps to stack the odds in your favor
Learn what is holding you back and how to rewire your thinking so that you can move forward and step into your full potential and turn your dreams into reality.
When sampling grapes in the vineyard, hand pruning her cherished roses, preparing dinner for her family, practicing Bikram yoga - in whatever she does, Merry balances intellect with intuition. Each wine she makes benefits from her precision and perception of subtlety and elegance.
Merry Edwards approaches life with graceful intensity. Now in the fifth decade of her winemaking career, Merry has earned the universal respect of winemaking peers, grape growers and academicians. A self-described perfectionist, she has constantly refined her vineyard practices, wines and techniques. Merry does not rest on her laurels ― she grows. “People frequently ask what is the best wine I have ever made. I tell them it’s not made yet!”
Food was Merry’s gateway to wine. She recalls, “When I was a teenager, my mother had cookbooks produced by the California Wine Advisory Board. Wine was an ingredient in every recipe, so I started cooking with wine.”
Fascinated with food chemistry and fermentation in particular, Merry brewed beer as a simple extension of making bread and working with yeast. Then she purchased a book on home winemaking and began to ferment fruit wines. In 1970, when Merry earned her B.S. degree in Physiology from the University of California at Berkeley, her friends knew her as the accomplished amateur who made The Merry Vintners wines.
