What Awesome Looks Like

I just got done reading the book "What Awesome Looks Like. How to excel in Business and Life" by Author Amy Rees Anderson which was published last year.  In today’s blog post I thought it would be fun to share some excerpts of her book with you. Today I’ll be sharing her intro to the book Enjoy! 

 

I get it. You’re busy. We’re all busy. I mean, seriously, who even has time to read a book these days? I’ve got attention deficit disorder (ADD) myself, so if a book doesn’t have big print and pictures I am typically out unless there is a genuinely compelling argument why I should be in … so here goes:

 

I am an ordinary person who was able to accomplish something extraordinary. I became an entrepreneur when I started my very first tech company at age twenty-three, and, at forty, as founder and CEO, I sold MediConnect Global Inc. for over $377 million cash. BOOYAH!

 

How did I do it? The answers to that question might surprise you. They aren’t the answers they typically teach in college courses, but that would make sense since I dropped out of college—not because I didn’t value education; I just couldn’t afford to finish back then—however, I did go on to receive an honorary PhD, so feel free to call me “Dr. Amy,” since my family refuses to (at least not with a straight face).

 

Early on, I learned most things the hard way—trying, failing, learning from my mistakes, and trying again with the wisdom I’d gained. I went from bouncing so many checks at age seventeen they had to fly my father in to meet with the bank’s president, sinking a ski boat, spending hundreds of dollars on a snow shovel, and typing clients’ data into the computer manually because I didn’t know data could be transferred electronically—to having an investor hand me a check for a million dollars based on my word alone, leading the development of complex web-based software systems, raising two children as a single mom and sole financial supporter, selling a company for $377 million, launching an angel investment firm, founding a charity to promote entrepreneurship as a pathway to self-reliance, and accomplishing every goal I’ve ever glued to my Goal Posters.

 

Along that journey I learned invaluable lessons, but I realized that if I wanted those experiences to benefit others, I would have to share them. So as CEO I began writing a daily blog to my employees. Interestingly enough, the more I shared in a completely open, authentic way, the better our profit margin became.

 

After successfully selling the company, I continued writing my daily blog, now making it accessible to everyone in hopes of helping others excel even faster and easier than I did, which led to Forbes and the Huffington Post asking me to be a contributor to their sites, and eventually to ForbesBooks reaching out to me to write a book, and voila … here we are!

 

It’s lucky for you that I have ADD (yes, I take meds for it … no shame), because it helps me cover a lot of ground quickly, get right to the point, and be ALL KINDS OF FUN! Obviously, I won’t fit everything I’ve learned in this one book (especially if it’s going to fit the big print and pictures), but I’ve included several simple, tangible things that taught me WHAT AWESOME LOOKS LIKE! 

 

She is great! A wonderful book to give to anyone contemplating starting a business or improving their work environment.  

 

Con amor,

Vero