by desing | Classes, Tools
Have you ever been working at a job and felt like the work you were putting in wasn’t worth the money you’re making? Or you booked a new client for your business at a rate lower than you liked only to regret it later? Or you’ve been in a meeting negotiating a salary for a new job and you accept their offer when in your gut you know you should have asked for more?
Here’s the thing. As women, we are taught not to “ruffle any feathers” in our workplace. Many of us were raised with this mentality that as long as you work hard, people will notice and you’ll end up getting promoted and make the money you truly desire one day. All you have to do is work hard.
Newsflash! Working hard is a part of an equation to your success, it’s not the key. If you wait for people to notice your work in order to move up the latter then you’ll be waiting forever. You have to learn to open your mouth and ask.
Of course you have to start somewhere but you shouldn’t be at that same starting level for five years. Let’s face it, when it comes to talking about money, it’s hard and uncomfortable but it doesn’t have to be.
You should be able to go into any room, confidently sell your skills and walk out with your desired pay, promotion or client. But no one is teaching us how to do this in school. In my almost 10 years of experience in the industry of business, I’ve learned how to negotiate my way into book deals, powerful relationships, business deals, corporate sponsorships and more. I learned how to produce key events with A-list celebrities and key tastemakers on an extremely limited budget by leveraging and negotiating into the hottest spots all over the country.
No one taught me anything and I had to make a lot of mistakes before I gained the confidence to ask for what I want instead of constantly compromising.
You might want to make more money at work or you want a new job making a new salary or you want to start charging a specific fee for the services you offer in your business but you may fear that you won’t get it. You can do it! All you have to do is leverage what you’re good at in order to make sure that you get what you want.
So you know I got you! I’ve created perhaps the most important class yet on negotiation and getting what you want. I’ve learned that you simply have to change your approach to your relationship with negotiation and follow simple do’s and don’ts to help you build your confidence.
You negotiate on a daily basis because negotiation is simply about all parties involved walking away happy. You might find yourself negotiating not only at work but when buying a home, renting an apartment, returning a pair of shoes, buying a new car or in conflict resolution with your loved one.
So if you can negotiate with your man to take out the garbage or wash the dishes then you can get the check you want too LOL!
Negotiation doesn’t always have to be about money either. Perhaps you may not get the salary you desire but you can ask for more vacation days. You might not get paid for that speaking engagement but you can ask to gather all the attendee emails so you can add them onto your email list.
Here’s a sneak peak into what you’ll learn in the class:
- Gaining confidence in negotiation
- How to discover your value to the marketplace
- Find out what to charge
- Identify skills, assets and abilities to leverage your ask
- How to get repeat clients
- How to kill it in every meeting
- Newbie strategies to get your foot in the game
- How to get the number you want
- Confidence to charge what you deserve
Download the latest audio lesson from our Embrace Her Legacy University, Negotiation 101 and start getting what you deserve!
Download This Class!
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
by desing | Faith & Purpose
So you’ve got this big dream and you decided to share your new idea with someone close to you expecting their encouragement only to be disappointed when they tell you every reason why you can’t make it happen.
Or better yet you start dating this guy that you think could be your husband and your girlfriend tells you that “all men are dogs so don’t get your hopes up”.
Sound familiar to you?
I’m pretty sure that you’ve experienced an encounter similar to this one.
This is why it’s important for you to use discernment over who you share your vision with and even when you choose to tell them. I’m your “midwife” as my role is to inspire you to birth the dream that is growing inside of you. I like to consider us all as being “pregnant with a dream.”
But if you tell people about your dreams in its infancy or early development phase then their negative words have the power to influence you to abort your mission. There is a difference between seeking wise counsel and going to people for validation or approval of your vision. Not everyone needs to know all of your goals all of them time.
You might be expecting someone to think big like you but they may simply may not have the capacity to do so right now. If someone has never met with or come in contact with success-minded people then how can you expect them to think otherwise? If they have a “9 to 5” mentality and you have the mind of an entrepreneur then of course there will be conflict. If she believes that “all men are dogs” because she’s been hurt, hasn’t healed yet and has only been surrounded by broken relationships then how can you expect for her to be happy for you?
Are you getting mad at your turtles expecting them to be like a giraffe? As you’ve heard me share this with you before, “When you are a giraffe and you receive criticism from turtles they are reporting the view from the level that they’re on.” In essence, you cannot expect for someone who only has the limited view of a turtle to see your view as the giraffe.
Because of this, learn to have compassion for people who don’t get it instead of getting pissed off trying to explain it to them. Allow your vision to speak for itself and when the time comes those very same people will be lining up to ask you how you did it.
Sadly, the “turtles” in our lives who have the power to hurt us the most are usually loved ones in close proximity like family, friends, and even partners. I’ve dealt with this too so you’re not alone. But again, this is why I simply stopped talking and started doing.
People will impose their own hurt and insecurities onto you. Because they don’t have the courage to pursue their goals or believe for good things, they will impose that fear on you or tell you how you can’t do it because they never been exposed to someone who has. Accept people for who they are and most importantly for who they’re not.
The energy that you put out trying to get the validation and approval from others could be channeled into you realizing your top goals. That’s why I created my new audio lesson, Goal Slaying 101: 7 Steps to Achieve Your Goals. Take some time to invest into your vision and stop playing around LOL!
You will begin to feel so proud of yourself when you start taking action towards fulfilling your goals. A year ago, I had a desire of having my own podcast but it wasn’t a goal until I transformed into one. Your desires will stay desires until you create an action plan.
Well, in a few weeks, you’ll be tuning into my very first podcast episode! When I sat down to record each episode, I felt so damn proud of myself because this was one of my top goals and I took the very same steps that I teach in the class. But in full transparency, I thought I couldn’t do it because I lacked the experience until I met with my “tribe of giraffe-minded women” who encouraged me to just start and do it. And that’s exactly what I did!
For this reason, I encourage you to tune into the class so that a year from now you too can be well on your way to showing the people who doubted you, just what you’re made of.
What do you got to lose?
Get the audio lesson below:
Get the Audio Lesson
Until next time, keep shining!
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
Embraceherlegacy.com
by desing | Classes, Faith & Purpose, Services, Tools
I know it’s been some time since I’ve released a new class but that’s because I’ve been working my tail off for months creating new curriculums and programs to equip you with a framework to achieve your biggest and wildest dreams.
But here’s the thing about realizing your dreams that no one is talking about…
It’s hard!!!
I know, I get it. You may not know where to start or you feel like you don’t have the resources, money or right connections. You feel like you don’t have the time because your schedule is overwhelmed or you know you want to be successful but you need clarity on what that means for you. You need to figure out what you really want.
That’s why I’m answering those questions for you in my latest class, Goal Slaying 101: 7 Steps to Achieve All Your Goals! If you’ve been on the “hamster wheel” of life, moving but going nowhere…fast – then this is for you.
There is no way that you can listen to this teaching and not learn several strategies to help you realize each and every one of your goals. You can do this and you can make it happen.
I’ll help you:
- Gain clarity to figure out what you want
- Define your personal success plan
- Realize your life’s assignment
- Apply secret keys to goal setting
- Achieve and define your priority goals
- Get specific with your goals
- How to create a five year plan and stick to it
- Identify hidden resources that you have access to help you
- Identify new methods to help you overcome obstacles
- Create a schedule to help you work on your goals daily
Girl! The goal may be to make more money, go back to school, buy a new house, start your business, weigh an ideal weight, get over a bad breakup, quit your job, pay off debt or to finally get out of your parents house!
You know you want to be in a different place a year from now. Do something today that your future self is going to thank you for. Think about it, you can be on the beach while your online business makes money for you. You can go out to dinner and order what you want instead of what you can afford.You can send off your last check to Sallie Mae and your creditors while checking your credit rating only to see a 750!
You can build that school in India where girls can receive a free education. You can start the organization that You can march down the aisle to receive your MBA from Harvard! You can look at your bank account and have more than enough money to provide for your family without worrying. You can have the man of your dreams as your husband!
This class is part of our Embrace Her Legacy University launch where you’ll have access to dozens of online classes focuses on personal development, goal setting, faith building and realizing your dream. I’ll be sharing more details on this in the upcoming weeks.
Class is now in session! Join the Goal Slaying 101 class and listen with a notebook in hand because you’ll want to take notes!
Download and listen to the class below:
Get This Class!
by desing | Faith & Purpose
Doing what’s right isn’t always easy, especially when you feel like no one is taking notice and you feel like you’re long overdue for a breakthrough in your circumstances.
You might be killing it at work and you’ve been passed over for that promotion not once but twice! Not only that but no one seems to thank you for your hard work. You might be looking for a new job and you’re crushing every interview but no call backs. You might be giving your business all you got and your sales are still weak while other entrepreneurs you know are vacationing in Dubai.
At this point, you can be super tempted to feel like no one is appreciating your hard work so you want to give in, give up and walk out because what’s the sense to keep doing what right when nothing is coming from it, right?
Wrong!
Someone is always watching and your hard work will always pay off.
How do I know?
Well, when I was in college, I landed an internship at Atlantic Records. I was super excited to be pursuing my childhood dream of working in the music business to become a top female music mogul (obviously God had other plans for me). Nevertheless, I ended up interning in a department for managerial level women who I thought would look out for me because we were all women, from similar backgrounds and we were all women of color.
Boy was I mistaken! These women were catty, cutthroat, condescending and weren’t really interested in moving my career from intern to employee. I was killing it as an intern as I was committed to excellence. I worked my tail off and focused on giving my internship everything I had. Soon people started to take notice.
Unbeknownst to me, I had a job lined up for me immediately after graduation. The job came from a major senior executive who heard about me through his assistant. He made one call and in an instant my new life began.
He had more leverage and power than the women that I was working for so although they tried to keep me down, there was nothing they could do.
What if I would have allowed their negative behavior to deter me from striving towards excellence? What if I would had a bad attitude, stop giving it my all and let my work ethic take a hit?
I would have missed out on one of my greatest breakthroughs! I wasn’t getting paid for my internship either and I was literally down to my last in my bank account so I had every reason to quit but I knew in my gut that if I kept on pushing that I would get a breakthrough and I did.
Someone is always looking even when you may not think so. But it’s up to you commit to excellence and keep doing what’s right. You never know when or where your next opportunity will come from. You might be mad because your business isn’t growing but you might be one phone call away from the biggest client in your life. A better promotion is on its way instead of the one you got passed up for.
When you wait for God to open doors for you and for good things to come to you then you’ll experience opportunities greater and bigger than your mind can imagine.
I know how it feels to feel unnoticed but don’t be fooled! You are doing such a fantastic job and you should be proud of yourself. Every time you do the right thing, you are planting little seeds of goodness. Those good seeds are going to harvest into so many good breaks for you. Don’t give up on yourself or your dreams! Don’t stress about it anymore, sit back and let the show begin.
Your time is now.
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
by desing | Faith & Purpose
There are certain things that we do that are normal because everyone else around us does them but that doesn’t mean that it’s helpful.
Engaging in certain behaviors that may seem “normal” could be the very thing that delays your success and today I was reminded of that.
One thing that will hands down delay your success is complaining.
OMG!!
Have you ever been around someone who complains about any and everything? I’m kind of ashamed to admit that I’ve been that person before.
At the office, everyone complains about your boss or the pay or that Friday isn’t coming fast enough. In your circle of friends, everyone is complaining about not having enough money. Your single friends complain about not being married yet or if you’re planning a wedding, you complain about how stressful it is. Trust me when I say that I know planning a wedding is stressful but do you know how many women would love to be in your shoes right now?
You complain about the weather, not having enough vacation time, your promotion not coming quick enough or your business not having enough clients but you don’t know that the only thing that complaining does is delay the process.
Why?
Because a complaining attitude is one that lacks maturity and one that will never be satisfied. So if God were to give you that promotion, you’ll eventually find something else to complain about in your new position.
You will be just as happy now as you’ll be when you receive whatever it is that you’re hoping for. When you shift your mind from complaining to an attitude of gratitude then you will find yourself experiencing joy, peace and happiness.
And that’s when you’ll stop the delay of your progress and you’ll experience the acceleration of your dreams.
Don’t stop complaining just to get something to happen in your life but stop complaining because it’s toxic. How many complaining people who are successful have you ever met?
None.
Because complaining is ungrateful and you can always find something to be grateful for.
How can you start to shift that attitude?
First, make a commitment to stop complaining. I heard success coach, Terri Savelle Foy, share that she made a commitment to stop complaining for 30 days and in those 30 days she saw breakthroughs happen in her life, finances and businesses like never before! From her books being translated to French to saving $5,000 to having her television show confirm 8 time slots at a TV network instead of only having one.
So that’s the challenge I’m presenting to all of us, #30DayComplainFree challenge! Let’s all make the commitment to not complain about anything for the next 30 days and let’s see the differences in our lives, especially in our attitudes.
At the end of my day, I write down five things that happened that I can be grateful for. So get a journal and start this exercise to. When you do, take a pic and feel free to tag us on Instagram @embraceherlegacy and use the hashtag #30DayComplainFree.
Stop the complaining so that you can stop delaying all the great things that God has in store for you.
Ready, set, go!!!
XOXO,
Maria I. Melendez
@embraceherlegacy
