The More You Say No, The More You Grow with Michelle Charpentier

Self-reliance. Determination and grit. Treating others the way you want to be treated.

These are some of the most noble traits our society says we can possibly have, attributing people who exude them as being the product of a good upbringing and the kind of person we should aspire to be.

These are also the traits than can bite you in the ass and f*ck everything up when they come back at you like a boomerang and whack you upside the head just when you think you’ve done it all right and everything’s fine.

This is Michelle Charpentier’s story.

She was raised with the “Golden Rule” by hardworking, self-relliant parents who always came through for her, one way or another. Her dad was a school teacher and a musician who got by just fine by living this same value system. Her mom was always busy doing something.

Michelle embarked on a successful management career in the jewelry industry, where she discovered a few things that really stood out. Like the time a meeting coordinator asked Michelle to be liaison with the cleaning lady rather than approach the woman directly because Michelle seemed to get along with her so well. Or that some managers were assuming everything was fine with their employees and not taking the time to get to know their likes and dislikes.

Eventually, Michelle was offered the kind of major promotion you don’t say no to. For a while it involved a long commute from New York City to New Jersey, but she was able to get transferred to NYC and everything seemed fine.

But FINE is a 4-Letter Word.

Michelle burned out, but it wasn’t just the commute and the long hours that come with being in retail that drove her to leave it all behind and start her own consulting firm so she could have more flexibility to start a family.

Remember that boomerang that comes around and hits you back? Michelle felt it when all of a sudden she had nobody to manage. Then she found those traits of self-reliance, determination, and grit became a problem when employees weren’t around whose specific job it was to help her.

And that Golden Rule thing? She found out in the “silence of solopreneurship” that it played a huge role in burning her out and cost her a fortune in life.

In a moment, when you meet Michelle, you’ll find out how all those admirable traits f*cked things up – and some new values she developed that actually made her an even better person than the fine human being she already was. It may come across as contrarian, and it may shock you. And that’s exactly why you need to listen.

Michelle’s hype song is "WOW" by Post Malone.

Resources:

• Michelle Charpentier’s website: https://www.charpconsulting.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleccharpentier/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/charpconnections
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brooklyn_pioneer/

Also, check out Episode #135, Pull The Weeds When They’re Wet with Kris Ward, for even more on the topics Michelle shares with us today.

Invitation from Lori:

In my special guide, 5 Easy Ways to Start Living the Sabbatical Life, you can discover, step-by-step, how you can stop settling for “fine” and look at your life with a fresh set of eyes. Even if, like many people in today’s high-speed world, you’re not in a position to take a month or year-long sabbatical.

You know how you normally hear the disclaimer “Don’t try this at home!