Is It Confidence That Builds a Business?

An international speaker, author, and certified image, etiquette and protocol expert, Peggy Noe Stevens has achieved significant success in the global arenas of hospitality, experiential marketing, leadership development and spirits brand building. She is the world’s first female Master Bourbon Taster and the founder of the Bourbon Women Association, the first female consumer group in the industry.

Peggy has worked with heavyweight brands such as Hyatt, Jack Daniel’s, Sonoma-Cutrer and Woodford Reserve. She has also built a 10-year old company that has created unique visitor experiences in the country’s burgeoning bourbon business. Stevens shares her unbridled energy and entrepreneurial spirit with those who wish to grow and refine their own personal and corporate image. Here she shares her thoughts on what confidence is and how it contributes to success:

1. It’s great to be driven, but do you really need to be the best?
   Focusing on being the best in any field takes focus away from being your personal best.  When I realized that there would always be people smarter, faster and stronger than me, it freed me up to concentrate on what I considered to be MY definition of success and to pursue that instead of constantly judging myself and others based on arbitrary criteria. Know yourself and what you think is important and build your own criteria. . .and confidence . . . from that.
2. Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
   Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Do something that scares you every day.” That powerful quote continues to guide me in making decisions about my life and business. My greatest satisfaction and sense of accomplishment have come when I have jumped off a cliff into unfamiliar territory. . . or been pushed!
3. Taste and Feel Failure to Build Confidence
   It is easier to get out of your comfort zone if you are not afraid to fail. As unpleasant as it sounds, failure is really just a matter of sheer perspective. Once you have experienced failure, you will recognize it and be able to learn from it. Many times, a failure provides more opportunities for success and that will certainly build your confidence.
4. Keep Your Sense of Humor Handy
   Quit taking yourself so seriously. Find the absurdity in your daily work and enjoy it with others. It puts those around you at ease to do their jobs better and helps you become less rigid and tight. Laughing at your own mistakes shows a confidence in your abilities that will help build confidence in others.  That is when confidence is at its best.

Tagged as: The TasteMaker