The Recipe for Sustainable Business Growth: The Breakfast Parfait Effect
3 Simple Ingredients & the Essential Looked-Over Secret to Naturally Mushroom Your Potential (& Never Doubt Yourself Again)
Author Marcela Gómez, CEO of Culture Shift Team, is no stranger to wearing multiple hats as an entrepreneur. Spicing it up with her chef’s hat, Marcela is ready to cook up a storm with her secret recipe for long-term business growth.
I’m a big fan of not reinventing the wheel, or in this case, not reinventing the recipe. I rather watch for the patterns in my life, see what systems work, and shake them up a bit to make them work in my own way for me. That’s what the Breakfast Parfait Effect is all about.
After creating 11 companies and closing 10 of them in 20 years, you can consider me a seasoned risk-taking chef in the entrepreneurial field—after all, how else would I know that it’s easier to open a business than to close one in the U.S.? (Hint: It’s the paperwork.) I continue to learn how to grow, or when to call it quits on my own ventures. I am also keenly aware of how business growth and personal growth go hand-in-hand.
In all of my years imbuing Frida Kahlo’s fiercely adventurous spirit into my entrepreneurial life, I found three main ingredients for the recipe of continuous growth for your business, which will spill over into all aspects of your life. (The only type of spill I want in my kitchen and life!)
The last ingredient in this deceptively simple recipe is the most important one for a guaranteed succession of wins in your business and personal life—see if you can guess it before we get there!
Ingredient #1: Networking, or the rocky and sometimes hard-to-swallow granola
How it serves you: Networking ultimately builds community.
I know, I know. So many people cringe at the term “networking.” Alas, it is what it is. I do think there are some immediate reactions of resistance toward it, especially if you feel that networking is fake or shallow. There are other ways to view this layered aspect of your biz, and even make it as full of flavor and meaning as you want.
How it works: It’s not about what the other person can do for you. It’s about viewing networking as a muscle to strengthen so you can work it up. It’s an opportunity for people to ask questions about you and your business, and therefore an opportunity for you to see what kind of questions people ask and what services you can add to make your biz better. Creative solutions and ideas are a direct result of chatting with others and they might not have popped into your head otherwise.
Many folks have a deer-in-headlights moment when asked to network. I get this fear. It’s scary and often awkward to introduce yourself to random strangers, especially if you’re a solopreneur. The good news? It gets easier the more you do it. You learn how to interact with different people and get used to quickly adapting to spontaneous situations. You learn how to position yourself not only within your own business but in the larger context of your field and even across distinct industries.
If you’re not a natural extrovert then networking might seem like the equivalent of hiking Mt. Everest with no gear. Well, surprise, I am an introvert and I understand you! I mean, I’ve been doing this for over 20 years and it still feels exhausting at times. Whether you are an introvert, extrovert, or anything in between, I believe it’s valuable knowledge to learn how you re-energize and be able to make an action plan going into socially intense circumstances in the future.
There are other ways you can view the art of the gab and flair (naturally, what networking is called in other parts of the world, I’m sure). Ask yourself, what does networking look like for you? Where can you find the people you’d be inclined to chat with and get to know? It could be the stadium-sized conference where everyone wears suits and heels, or it could be in a quiet, local book club. I’m sure you can find at least one place you can try first and go from there—you might even enjoy it.
Remember: It really is all about showing up and being fully present.
Ingredient #2: Mentoring Others & Self-Mentoring, or the berries you plucked (and washed!) from your grandmother’s garden
How it serves you: You build a cycle of authenticity and authority through connecting with others and yourself.
Another pro of networking? This is where you find your mentors and mentees. When you network and show up in person, you get to know people personally and—if you’re lucky—sometimes you immediately feel if you’re a match energy-wise for a thriving business relationship or friendship.
How it works: Mentoring doesn’t have to be formal or specifically about business. It can be any conversation in which you are giving someone advice or sharing your experience or expertise. Some people have a narrow definition of what a mentor is supposed to be. But there are different types of mentors, one, for example, who can tell you how to start community outreach in a new city, not necessarily just how to run a business.
You might think that you can’t be a mentor because you’re not an “expert” in your field or you’re not “good enough” to guide someone else's life in the “right” direction. You don’t have to have it all figured out to be a mentor. In fact, the key to mentoring with empathy and compassion is to not believe you know it all or that you have all the answers.
As a mentor, the greatest gift you give is investing your time into and having open conversations with someone else, even if that person is you. The more you listen, the more your mentees will tell you who they really are and where they are right now, so that you can meet them there. As you listen and receive more, you are then able to give more. It’s a beautiful cycle of information and connection.
Remember: You have to be open to missing the mark, as this is key to growth. And we know that when we, as individuals, grow, then the capacity for our businesses to grow blossoms with us.
Ingredient #3: Collaborations, or the sweetest drizzle of strawberry syrup on top
How it serves you: It builds you up as you build others up. Everyone grows.
Collabs are a great way to grow your business tremendously, not to mention probably the most fun way to do it. I learned early on that having a piece of the pie is bounds better than not having anything—or having it all. If you ever wanted the whole pie to yourself, have you asked yourself and answered honestly if you have the capabilities or bandwidth of serving the whole pie? Or can you have just a piece and serve from there? Sharing the pie is where other people can come help and lift you as you do the same to them.
How it works: Together, you can create, give and get more than you ever can yourself. Of course, there are fears like worrying that your partner won’t hold their end of the deal—these are normal. In every type of relationship you have a risk, but you have to go in knowing that the value proposition is going to be higher than the risk. Even if you don’t consider yourself a risk-taker, you know that the life knowledge you’ll gain from experimenting with someone is invaluable, and can’t be found outside of having that experience.
Remember: You grow and learn as you experiment and connect with others.
I know what you’re thinking. I’ve forgotten an ingredient! You’re right, and it’s not the cherry on top (seeing as that’s usually reserved for ice cream sundaes and this is the—ahem—healthy version of that). It’s none other than the arguably most bland ingredient in a parfait: yogurt.
The Most Looked-Over, Essential Secret Ingredient: Your Philosophy, or the Greek Yogurt
How it serves you: You build out sustainable confidence.
Yes, it’s a total coincidence that famous Greek philosophers the likes of Aristotle are thrown into our delicious foundation of Greek yogurt. But it doesn’t hurt to drive my point home. These great philosophers were secure in their beliefs and thoughts. This is the part where your raison d’etre, the bigger picture, the larger-than-life secret goal you have comes to play. It’s the foundation of how to sustainably and continuously run a successful business.
My personal philosophy? No one left behind.
How it works: Your philosophy is what drives you and all your goals behind the scenes. It’s the reason why you do what you do. Usually, your personal philosophy is bigger than yourself and can seem monumental. For example, I am passionate about sharing what I know with others. I strongly believe everyone should feel included and really don’t like it when I feel like people feel left out.
You have to dig around a bit inside yourself to find your philosophy, and it may even fluctuate a bit from time to time. I’ve been blessed that by networking, finding my current partners at our company Culture Shift Team, mentoring others and collaborating that others were able to tell me what they saw underlying everything I do: no man left behind actions. I do what I do because of this.
For example, I see mentoring not as a formal action, but as a no-man-left-behind action. I share what I know with others. Networking provides me a space where to do that and collaborating allows me to take it to another level. At Culture Shift Team, the multicultural marketing and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) firm I co-founded, we live by the philosophy to treat others how they want to be treated. It’s our core value as a company and it’s built on the value of culture that all three of us co-founders share.
Although this is the biggest aspect of creating a thriving, sustainable business, many people look over it or pay no attention to it, just as everyone flakes over the bland Greek yogurt in a parfait even though it’s the core ingredient of what makes a parfait exactly what it is. It’s the strongest structure for your business and personal expansion and growth, as well, as anything can be built on an unshakeable philosophy.
Remember: Keep it simple. Your philosophy is your guiding light.
At Culture Shift Team, we value your business growth just as much as we value our own. Building a lasting relationship with you for continuous business growth and success is what we stand for. Let us know how we can help you, or how we can collaborate and help each other thrive.