#BHB2014 Pearls of Wisdom part 2

Day one at Big Hearted Business (un)Conference 2014 (BHB2014) wrapped with Fabian Dattner on stage. There is a reason leaders listen to that woman.

Day two got started with Danielle La Porte — who had flown all the way from Canada to be at the Regal Ballroom in Northcote. Some would describe Danielle as a self-help guru, others as a business coach. Her website says she is a writer/speaker. I’d say she brings a breath of fresh air to the conversation about what the hell we want to be doing each day — career, business, or otherwise.

Along with Danielle, there were others who had great things to say. Following on from yesterday’s ‘day one of BHB pearls of wisdom’ blog post, here are some of the pearls of wisdom shared on day two at BHB2014:

• ‘Get clear on how you want to feel. How do you want to feel in every area? No one at school asks you this (when career planning)’ — Danielle La Porte
• ‘People don’t give themselves permission to want what they really want’ — Danielle La Porte
• (Quoting her friend) ‘If it is not a “hell yes”, it’s a no’ — Danielle La Porte
• ‘I think you do know how you feel, you might be afraid to get there’ — Danielle La Porte
• ‘Just have 2-3 goals a year, and make them f***ing awesome’ (on setting yearly business/personal goals) — Danielle La Porte
• ‘Any time you hear “have to do”, pay attention — it is an obligation and it sucks’ — Danielle La Porte
• ‘I lost $90K not-launching a magazine that was in the can but I gained four years and learnt a lot’ — Danielle La Porte
• ‘Credit cards were started to start business. Debt is not good or bad — it is how you feel about it’ — Danielle La Porte
• ‘Money matters a lot but not as much as other things. Money is nothing — you can’t eat it, sleep with it — it just facilitates stuff’ — Cath Nolan
• ‘I am constantly stunned at how people are scared to talk about money’ — Cath Nolan
• ‘Negotiating isn’t only for the adversarial and hostile. You can be liked and still ask for what you want’ — Cath Nolan
• (On contracts) ‘There is no one-size-fits-all solution but there is always space for a conversation’ — Cath Nolan
• (On writing grant applications) ‘Be clear on what you want, or it won’t be clear to others’ — Paul Mason, Australia Council
• ‘Your business structure depends on your business — are you a sole trader? Do you have a business partner? Do you plan to sell in the future? Set up the business for how you want to continue’ — accountant Meredith Fannin, Darkwave Consulting
• ‘Just start’ — designer Beci Orpin
• ‘Prioritising happiness was a big thing for me. That’s my number one’ — singer/songwriter Missy Higgins

There were lots of great themes and topics discussed at BHB2014 and I plan to talk about some of them in future posts. Until then, I’m sifting through my notes, digesting what I learnt, and playing with a few things from the goodie bag.

*Front page photo for this post is signage art from the conference by letterer and illustrator Carla Hackett.