Meet Chivon John!
/
Chivon John, speaker for our January 30th event
We’re excited to announce that Chivon John will be the speaker for our very first event of 2020! Chivon is the founder, well-being coach, and speaker behind Hustling with Intention, as well as the Global Wellness Specialist for Shopify. She’ll bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to this month’s topic, Failing Forward. We can’t wait!
In advance of our Network & Learn event, we asked Chivon a few questions to get to know her better. Here’s our interview;
You describe yourself as "on a mission to help ambitious women realize their boldest ambitions without losing themselves to cycles of burnout". Can you tell me a bit more about how you arrived at this focus?
Losing my way ignited my purpose because I arrived at my focus to help individuals hustle with intention after recognizing that my life was on an infinite loop of striving.
After a lengthy struggle with my mental health, I made the decision to pause my ‘hustle mode’, which included stepping away from my business for over a year to reflect on my identity beyond my work and accomplishments.
Taking this purposeful pause helped me recognize the ways that we allow work to define our self-worth and ignited my purpose to help others not to fall into the same trap.
I want women to know that you are more than the sum of your titles and accomplishments and it’s time you experienced a version of success that makes space for your self-care, health, and happiness. Chasing our dreams is important but the price of your ambition shouldn’t be your wellbeing.
How has the concept of 'failing forward' impacted your own professional life?
Anyone who strives to accomplish great things in business and life is bound to “fail” along the way and through my professional life I’ve come to learn that this reality is something to be celebrated.
Failing forward is a sign that you’re taking action and has taught me that progress is not possible without failure. Strength is built in times of challenge and tension and failure has strengthened my resilience.
Why is it important to look at our failures at the beginning of a new year? Shouldn't we be thinking about 'fresh slates' and positivity?
There’s a popular saying that says ‘success leaves clues’ and although looking at the achievements of others can offer inspiration, our personal experiences and even failures are ripe with lessons.
There’s a lot of pressure to have everything figured out at the beginning of a new year but sometimes taking a look back at our missteps and the things we perceive as failures can help us identify what we want, teach us what we can do differently in the future and serve as evidence of our perseverance.
What would be your #1 piece of advice for a young professional woman who is or has recently experienced failure?
Give yourself permission to feel the emotions that come up but don’t let them paralyze you or internalize them.
Failures are guaranteed along your journey, but it’s a sign that we’re taking action instead of sitting on the sidelines.
What matters most, isn’t the fact you stumbled. What matters most is what you do immediately after.
Author and entrepreneur Marie Forleo has a great reframe for failure which is the acronym FAIL which stands for a Faithful Attempt In Learning.
When we see your failures in this way, you’ll realize that there is nothing to avoid or fear when it comes to failure so instead of shrinking from your missteps choose to seek out the lessons for your personal growth.
Want to learn more? You can follow Chivon John on Twitter, Instagram & Facebook at @chivonjohn