#15 Resilience and Discipline in Business: From Athlete to Entrepreneur with Gabija Adele

In this episode of Business Savages, Olya Grovel sits down with Gabija Adele, a former professional swimmer turned entrepreneur, to discuss her journey from the pool to founding a tech-based sales agency, Capital Boost. Gabija shares how her experience as an athlete taught her resilience, discipline, and stress management, all of which she applies in her entrepreneurial ventures. The conversation touches on the importance of setting goals, using visualization techniques, and staying consistent to succeed in business. Gabija also opens up about the challenges of negotiating as a young female entrepreneur and the pressures of building a business in a competitive market.

Learning Takeaways:

1. Resilience and Discipline in Business:

   Gabija explains how the lessons from her athletic career—discipline, resilience, and stress management—are key to thriving as an entrepreneur.

2. Visualization and Goal Setting:

   Visualization isn’t just for athletes. Gabija discusses how imagining future business success, down to the smallest details, can help you reach your goals.

3. Overcoming Entrepreneurial Loneliness:

   Gabija shares candid insights into the isolation that comes with entrepreneurship and how joining communities or co-working spaces can help.

4. Strategic Negotiation as a Female Entrepreneur:

   Gabija talks about the difficulties of negotiating with clients, especially as a young woman, and how she is working to develop stronger negotiation skills.

5. Building on Strengths:

   Identifying your core strengths in business and life is crucial to success. Gabija advises focusing on these strengths to build a solid foundation for growth.

Homework:

1. Practice Visualization:

   Spend five minutes each day visualizing your business or career success. Imagine where you want to be a year from now and visualize the steps you’ll need to take to get there.

2. Stay Consistent:

   Pick one small task related to your business or personal development and commit to doing it daily for the next week. Track your progress and reflect on the results.

3. Identify Your Strengths:

   Make a list of your top three strengths in both your business and personal life. Reflect on how you can build on these strengths to reach your goals.

4. Learn Negotiation Skills:

   Research and read one resource (book, article, or podcast) on negotiation strategies. Practice using one of these strategies in your next business interaction.

5. Join a Community:

   Whether it’s a co-working space or an online group, find a community of like-minded individuals to help combat the isolation of entrepreneurship and gain support.