As wellness pros, we sometimes find ourselves thinking we are in a limited market, that there are only a certain number of people looking for the services we're offering, and if someone else is offering the "same" services, our market is even more limited. In this Changemaker Challenge conversation, Cate and Grace discuss how competition can be a asset to our careers.

Knowing there are others in our market doing a little (or a lot) better than we are lets us know what is possible. It also forces us recognize what sets us apart so that we can capitalize on our unique strengths. Collaborating with competitors allows us to create something that didn't exist before, something that benefits everyone involved, including our clients and/or students.

We all have the capacity to create. When we recognize and optimize our unique strengths, competition becomes a means to our success. When you merge competition, creativity, and innovation, the possibilities are limitless. When you orient from that place, you start to understand your own value, and you'll find there's more than enough work for you to do.

What you'll get out of tuning in:

• How you can generate your own market by combining your creativity with the issues you truly care about.
• How authentic connection and collaboration with competitors benefits everyone.
• How to figure out what unique value you offer.

Links Mentioned in Episode:

• Body Thrive
• Yoga Health Coaching
• Wealth Dynamics
• How to Fascinate
• DISC
• Gallup Strengths Finder

Show Highlights:

• 1:00 - Some of us love competition. It gives us a way of "keeping score" and helping us to perform better. Knowing there is someone out there doing a little bit better (or a lot better) than we are lets us know what is possible. It forces us to see where our unique strengths are and what sets us apart, and we can use that to grow our business.
• 8:00 - Collaboration with our competitors makes it possible to create something within the pro healer market that didn't exist before.
• 12:00 - When you combine your creativity with issues you genuinely care about, you're generating a niche; you're generating your own market.
• 17:00 - Even in small communities, what might seem like competition can actually be transformed into mesh relationships that benefit everyone: business owners, clients, and the community as whole.
• 21:00 - Collaboration must include authentic connection in order to be a successful two-way street.
• 23:00 - Your ability to connect and collaborate with other pro healers who offer things you don't offer adds value and depth to your services.
• 25:00 - We all have the capacity to create. When we recognize and optimize our unique strengths, competition becomes a means to our success. When you merge competition, creativity, and innovation, the possibilities are limitless. When you orient from that place, you start to understand your own value, and you'll find there's more than enough work for you to do.
• 32:00 - If we continually show up and provide value, it allows people to mature in their own way, sometimes elsewhere, and then come back to you.
• 34:00 - In order to figure out what value you offer, combine your expertise with your personality strengths, and track your interests.

Your Favorite Quotes

• "If anyone follows any kind of competitive sports, you'll hear sportscasters talk about the assets and the weaknesses on each team. And it's not that the team's not aware of their own assets and weaknesses; it's everybody's really aware of who's going to leverage what. And if we bring that into our careers as wellness pros, we can also see that." --- Cate Stillman
• "Human beings are inherently creative. We can't not create." --- Cate Stillman
• "Those of us who have been damaged in our labeling, and we label ourselves as an uncreative person, you're just out of touch with your own humanity." --- Cate Stillman
• "We are creative. We are designed to thrive. We are designed to connect. And that's always going to be emergent." --- Cate Stillman
• "More than anything, for me, collaborating is fun!" - Grace Edison
• "One of the things you'll start to realize, if you haven't already, in pro healers, is that everyone's making it up. If someone has a platform, they built that. If someone has a unique offering, they created that. We all have this creative capacity." --- Cate Stillman
• "Who you are is your advantage." --- Cate Stillman