When EPM came along, the timing was perfect. I had just determined I would spend the last two months of 2018 getting my book written; it was the only way I could see to get through the bog of overwhelm I had been mired in for about four years, attempting to tackle my mission.
When my book was written, I reasoned, I would then use the material and figure out how to get it out in front of the people who need it. This was not a new idea. I had come to this conclusion—“Write my book first!”—a number of times. I was determined that this time would be different! Sound familiar?
You need to know about my mission. It was set almost two decades ago. It’s one of those missions that can’t be ignored. A mission that simply must be accomplished or one’s life is meaningless.
This sounds like I am being dramatic, but if you have ever had a mission like this, you know that this is true. Some missions simply must be accomplished and will not take no for an answer. . . Being the tenacious person that I am, I have “always known” I would accomplish my mission, but it had to wait 15 years until my daughter was grown.
Then the time was right to take it on. And the challenge began. My mission? Helping parents to help children grow up healthy and whole—specifically early childhood-aged children who lose a sibling during the crucial formative years of their childhood. Really, the only people who truly realize this mission is necessary are the parents—themselves bereaved—who must raise them to adulthood and don’t have the faintest idea how to do it.
I know how those parents feel because I was one. When my 6-year-old son died, my 3-year-old daughter gave me my mission when she said, “Mommy, half of me is gone . . . “ I was not going to let her—or any other half-missing sibling if I can help it—grow up with half of her identity missing. Believe me, I scoured for resources, but there weren’t any such parenting how to’s out there. I had to make my own way, and I do not want it to be the same for other parents like me. So, here I am. . .
And today, post-EPM, here I AM!!! No more thrashing around in the bog of ideas with good intentions that can’t quite figure out how to take shape. Joining a supportive community and being guided step by step through creating and marketing a product to sell sounded like a great way to spend the last two months of 2018. I'm so glad I decided my book could wait. Again.
Before EPM I had a mission that would not take "no" for an answer. I had tenacity. I had heart. I had SO MUCH insight, acquired wisdom to share so others would not have to struggle through raising a child after the death of her sibling and best friend as I did.
I had determination and the foundation of a lot of great training from mentors—including Marisa herself. I had ideas and formulas, plans and outlines. And overwhelm that I was trying desperately to overcome. Without success.
Enter EPM. First, there was the challenge of defining a mission that I can SEE. The idea of pain to pleasure island was not new—but the doggedness with which we EPMers were challenged to picture it and articulate it and refine it launched a 10-week ride of clarity that was exhilarating.
I went from “helping bereaved parents help their bereaved children” to giving them a solid foundation for good grief parenting and defining the four cornerstones of that foundation.
All of the essential information I wanted to present could be sorted into those four cornerstones—Good Grief Beliefs, Continuing Bonds, Essential Messages, Choice Actions—with meaningful experiences and measurable outcomes attached.
It’s been exciting to conceive of how vital information can be experencified and know what a life-changing difference that shift will make for the people I serve.
As EPM went on, the Cornerstones became Keys. Heartbeats. The Essentials of Good Grief Parenting became The Heart of Good Grief Parenting. And my mission was decluttered!
Having my signature framework gave me confidence and motivation to go out and get ahold of my target audience. But that’s much easier said than done. They don’t congregate in the usual places, and those who have access to them (grief support programs and organizations, hospitals, FB groups) are protective of them. This is the point in the EPM process where I got hung up and realized it would take me more time to reach Mission Accomplished.
But I’m not stuck, and I’m not discouraged. I’m equipped! And knowing that, I’m inoculated against the Marketing Mind*. I’m working Chatterbox, slowly but surely. It will be an arduos process for awhile.
I created a survey to get input from parents about what would be most helpful for them, and I’m identifying contacts through organizations with which I’m affiliated (National Alliance for Grieving Children, national children’s mental health organizations, local early childhood family education programs, children’s hospitals bereavement programs, etc.) to get the survey in front of parents in those networks. Not all are willing to share my information, but some are, and I’m getting some results.
Next I will put into play my campaign that is a hybrid of the Perfect Email and Fast Results campaign. I have been offering my Good Grief Guide on my website for a couple years but have not done anything with the opt ins before now.
I’ve built my sales page in Heroic and am reminding myself that although I am list-building, I will also seek out ways to see people face-to-face through one-on-one meetings, speaking, and workshops in early childhood and preschool venues. Now that my mission is decluttered, I need to be speaking it everywhere!
I've made one key adjustment: At my coach’s recommendation I pushed through my resistance to compromise my chosen target audience, and I’ve broadened the audience for my program from parents of bereaved siblings to parents of children who have lost either a sibling or a parent. I know this was a smart thing to do.
Now that EPM has ended, I’ll keep moving forward with the wealth of knowledge and insights informing everything that I do. I look forward to continuing in the wonderful, generous EPM community supporting others who are, like me, iterating their ways to awesome. And I will finish my book. No doubt that will be an easier task now.
EPM was great not just for the product creation and marketing support, but also for enriching me as an entrepreneur. Now, in the recesses of my being I own my entrepreneur servant identity—and where once there was a dream, there is now a certainty—that I will give parents the gift of good grief, and they will give it to their children, and lives will be profoundly changed.
Thank you, Marisa!
What is your biggest takeaway from EPM?
My biggest takeaway from EPM is an amalgamation of ALL the incredible no-adequate-words-for-it training and can be summed up in the simple yet profound mindset shift from "I can do this!" to "I will do this!" My biggest takeaway of many is that the Marketing Mind**** is inevitable, but it will have no hold on me because I am totally and completely equipped for Awesome!
How did EPM help you become successful?
It got me organized and motivated me and gave me great/effective ways to remain accountable and always moving forward. Marisa anticipated each and every tidbit of information and instruction I would need and when I would need it and then provided it. I experienced countless "Yes!"es and Ahas along the way.
I gained clarity and was expertly guided in putting all of my clarity into words and concepts that led the way to my goal and mission accomplishment. And best of all, it is a repeatable process, and I have all the resources I need to continue to iterate my way to Awesome.
How has EPM and your success impacted your life?
It has turned my dream into a certainty. It is simply a matter of when, not if. I have said I would do this for actually years, and I have believed it. But EPM has added the dimension of certainty to my ability to succeed.
What has been the biggest change in your business?
Organization, a detailed plan to follow. Clarity. FOCUS. And as a result, more ENERGY! Before I had so many ideas - all of them good ones - and so many potential next/first steps to take to make my ideas take shape. Now I have those ideas prioritized, organized and fleshed out with a clear direction.
What are you most excited about moving forward with your Experience Product?
Connecting with the people who need me and seeing the momentum grow as more and more parents that need me benefit, provide testimonies, and spread the word so I can reach more families and make a life-changing difference for children who are bereaved in their early childhood years. I'm most excited about fulfilling my purpose!