Life and Work with Mindie Kniss

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mindie Kniss.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Mindie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My story begins in Nairobi, Kenya. It was there while participating in a Global Health Fellowship, that I decided to leave my cushy Fortune 100 career for the adventure of entrepreneurship.

When I returned to the States in 2007, I started a professional coaching practice as a side-gig while still working full-time. After a second layoff from the same company, I left Corporate America for good in 2008.

Far from the success that I’d envisioned, within two years of venturing out on my own I was $100,000 in debt and evicted from my apartment. Soon after, the home I owned was foreclosed and I eventually filed for bankruptcy.

Fast forward to today: I am the CEO of Lucra™, a Scottsdale-based company that helps professional speakers and coaches develop both personally and professionally. I run an annual retreat in Sedona and a coach training academy that both sell out.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road to success is never smooth. My struggles were mostly money-based: eviction, foreclosure, bankruptcy, and figuring out how to offer my services in order to create a sustainable income.

My best advice is to get insanely clear on the vision of what you want to create in the world, even (and especially) if other people think you’re crazy.

The next step is to just take the next step. Never quit on your dreams. There is no such thing as failure.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Lucra™ – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
In addition to being a business and life coach, I’m known for my work with the science of Heart Intelligence. I wrote my dissertation on the topic and I use it in all of my coaching and programs.

This is also what sets me apart from other professional coaches. Instead of focusing on mindset, I take my clients a step further with the science of the heart. I’ve also had to learn the hard way how to overcome my own limiting beliefs around money and success, in addition to gaining the skills and strategies to grow my business.
I’m most proud of these two things: First, that I’ve found a way to build a successful brand after struggling so much financially in the beginning. Secondly, that my values trickle down throughout the entire company. We are big on environmentalism (recycling, limiting the use of plastics, offsetting carbon emissions, etc.) and we give a percentage of our sales to charities around the world.

Are there any apps, books, podcasts or other resources that you’ve benefited from using?
I recently discovered the AirTable app which has helped me and my team get organized and track almost everything. I recommend books all the time (so much so that I started the podcast BizReads to talk about books), but the one I recommend most often is The Millionaire Master Plan by Roger Hamilton.

My favorite blog is Brain Pickings because of its bite-sized intellectual musings.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://mindiekniss.com
• Email: assist@mindiekniss.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/mindiekniss
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/kniss
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/mindiekniss
• Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mindiekniss

Image Credit:
Wendy Yalom

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