Being a founder, entrepreneur, or a business owner can have many exciting and thrilling moments. But it is also punctuated with periods of doubt, slump, and anxiety. So how does one successfully and healthily ride the highs and lows of Entrepreneurship? In this series, called “How To Successfully Ride The Emotional Highs & Lows Of Being An Entrepreneur“ we are talking to successful entrepreneurs who can share stories from their experience. I had the pleasure of interviewing Eva Martins.
Eva Martins is the founder of the Global Women Leadership Academy, a number 1 international and best-selling author, speaker, executive leader in Fortune 500 Company, and a business owner with a mission to empower women to skyrocket their lives. She started her career in a male-dominated corporate industry where she soon grasped that if you do not have power, you go nowhere. Eva understood that if you do not have a strong voice, you are not heard. That if you do not adopt a more masculine attitude you will be blocked from excelling. It took her more than 10 years of operating in many different leading roles to realize things needed to change. She now dedicates her energy to empower other women to step up in their lives through the Global Women Leadership Academy. She has trained hundreds of women over the years and up until today. Her mission is to drive gender equality at all levels of society and encourage women to raise their voices and goals, that’s why her academy for women came to life. Check http://www.evamartins.com/ to know more.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
Eva Martins: Coming from the corporate world where I have a successful career as a female executive senior leader in one of the Top Pharmaceutical Companies, I started studying Pharmaceuticals, Chemistry, Quantum Physics until I came to understand the power of our brain, how it works, and how we can explore its full potential.
While driving my career as a female leader in a male-dominated industry, for many years I thought that the only way to be successful was to follow others’ formula of success…acting like a man, being decisive, assertive, and action-driven. I almost disconnected with myself, my feminine side until I understood the bill was far too high. As I progressed in my career, I understood that the solution was not to follow other’s formula of success but find my own. I pursued my quest in understanding how we can use our brain to work in our favor, exploit its full potential, and understand that our environment is simply a reflection of our inner world.
I trained with the best experts, traveled around the world with Tony Robbins for 2 years, trained with Joe Dispenza, Mastering NLP with the founder John Grinder, and being a trainer, teacher, and coach of many other methodologies as well.
It equipped me to become a better leader, to create high-performing teams, and to allow them to flourish at their best and create a much bigger impact! I consider myself a change agent, sparking transformation and fulfillment in others. Today my mission is to continue my corporate career to better serve individuals, bring them back to life
with a purpose and aspirations, and focus on female empowerment through the creation of the Global Women Leadership Academy. My dream is to inspire and empower as many women as I can to play a bigger role in life, to allow them to express themselves freely, and take the lead of their life so they can live their full potential and have a global impact.
As you can probably tell, one of my passions in life is ensuring that I am growing and improving every day. I love acquiring new skills as well as new capabilities.
What was the “Aha Moment” that led to the idea for your current company? Can you share that story with us?
Eva Martins: Having a successful career in a male-dominated industry has not always been easy. I had to work hard, prove myself, sometimes act like a man to be respected and heard. I encountered many women struggling with the same issues, thriving to be perfect, or getting competitive with each other to survive.
As I was continuously exploring the path of my career, many women came to me for advice but my time was limited and I could not fulfill all the requests. But because of their constant encouragement and my love for facing challenges, I started writing my book entitled STOP BELIEVING THE B.S. 7 steps to awaken your feminine power.
My book aims to inspire women to stand up, to live for themselves, and to be free from others’ judgment. Writing the book was an inner transformational journey as I was afraid of others’ judgment myself. I told myself there was no risk as nobody would read it anyway, but to my surprise, it became an international bestseller in less than 24 hours. I was obviously wrong and that’s when I had this big aha moment…it was not about me but about women I could help through my message and the Global Women Leadership Academy. That’s when I looked at it differently, as a business, advocacy, and not just a hobby.
In your opinion, were you a natural born entrepreneur or did you develop that aptitude later on? Can you explain what you mean?
Eva Martins: I have always been creative, an action taker, a visionary but somehow afraid of being an entrepreneur. I could see the impact it could bring to the family as both my parents were entrepreneurs. Seeing them working really hard, they were also often mentally absent at home.
A part of me was also afraid of not being successful by myself. After so many years in the corporate world, working hard for others I understood I could simply apply the same skills I learned for my own company, and today I am happily and passionately driving both.
Was there somebody in your life who inspired or helped you to start your journey with your business? Can you share a story with us?
Eva Martins: Thanks to my mum Edith who was a successful entrepreneur and who always taught me to go for my dreams. Through her, I always felt the calling to be an example to other women. Many friends have been coming to me for advice since 20 years ago when I started my own professional life. I also started to mentor colleagues and friends. I ended up training myself in coaching to better support them and slowly encountered many women clients who contacted me to get support.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Eva Martins: My coaching and programs provide a deep inner transformation to my clients which allows them to see a direct impact in their lives. STOP believing the B.S. 7 week program is designed to awaken the leader inside of you and transform your life from the inside. For you to know deeply who you are underneath the masks, the labels, the expectations from others; to reconnect with your soul, with your big why in life, your life mission, and your purpose.
We go deep into your subconscious mind to uncover your foundational limiting beliefs, past traumas, and change them in minutes. It can be that easy. Then we deep dive into the relationships in your life and your career, understand what is limiting you and transform those two big pillars of your life. And we finish by redesigning your new life blueprint.
We have seen amazing results, women deciding to reset their life. Maria was feeling stuck in her career and she suddenly attracted 3 job offers at the same time within just a couple of weeks. Linda was career-driven but sacrificing herself for the family. She was so much attached to the perfect family image that she did not see abusive dynamics around her. She suddenly opened her eyes from one week to the other, deciding to divorce, taking care of her kids, moving countries, and even got promoted. Jeanette attracted the money she needed to pay for the program in simply 2 weeks…I have so many testimonials, all of them are so inspiring. That’s what gives me energy every day to pursue my mission.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Eva Martins: Besides the business acumen and experience I acquired as a visionary and strategist, the three character traits I think helped me the most in becoming a successful leader are: 1) My dedication to growth and never compromising for less. I thrive to be the best version of myself every day and ensure I am serving others with my highest standard; 2) I truly believe that we cannot be successful alone and hence, the value of a diverse team. I empower every member of my team to operate at their best by creating a safe environment where they can be themselves, which allows them to contribute without having the fear of being pushed down, criticized, or ashamed. I create a culture of transparency and honesty where I do not hold back on knowledge as a way to keep power. I actually do the opposite and share as much as I can to increase the engagement level and I would be extremely honest regarding any situation but also ensuring we have a 2-way feedback loop ; 3) I consider myself a happiness coach. The first thing I ask a new team member is how do I need to lead them in a way that makes them happy, as I believe that if we are happy, fulfilled, and passionate with what we are doing, we will always excel and work the extra mile to succeed for ourselves and the whole team.
Often leaders are asked to share the best advice they received. But let’s reverse the question. Can you share a story about advice you’ve received that you now wish you never followed?
Eva Martins: One manager once told me that if I wanted to be successful I had to comply with the rules, not dress and be too feminine. It was totally wrong but I was trying to survive in a male-dominated industry at that time, so I followed the advice for a while until I understood I was disconnecting from myself, not being authentic. It took courage to
let go, and dare to be myself despite the judgment from others, including women who would not have the courage to do the same. It is far easier to follow others’ rules than design your path, but it is also much more fulfilling and authentic. Since then, my career has been far more successful and I decided to make it my mission: inspire and empower women to be themselves in the environment where they operate.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them create a work culture in which employees thrive and do not “burn out” or get overwhelmed?
Eva Martins: I would advise creating a safe environment where we deeply care for our teams, our peers, and colleagues. We are all humans who spend far too much time at work. I would try to understand which are the main drivers in life for each of my team members, what makes them happy, which are the main skills and natural gifts, and allow them to share them freely without needing to protect themselves. I truly believe that when we operate in a safe environment we unleash our team’s potential to innovate, create solutions, and excel. Creating a culture of transparency and honesty establishes a deeper feeling of connection, increases engagement and trust which then allows the team to overcome any challenges coming their way and act as one team.
What would you advise other business leaders to do in order to build trust, credibility, and Authority in their industry?
Eva Martins: First of all, I would say speaking from experience, deeply understanding the pain points of their teams and clients, having the ability to put themselves in their shoes, speaking their languages, going in the field, and connecting
with them. Then I would not thrive for perfection but authenticity. Nowadays everybody sells perfection, performance, almost competing with AI yet forgetting the human touch; the deeper human connection. The best way to impact others is through emotions so being authentic is the only way and if needed, they can also showcase vulnerability, embrace feedback, and accept that we are all growing and evolving.
Can you help articulate why doing that is essential today?
Eva Martins: Now more than ever people need to feel connected, feel valued, heard, and seen. The world is under extreme pressure, feeling our freedom being taken away by governments, by COVID. We were all forced to adapt to the new digital world to keep our business alive. Few businesses had to close, others had to transform and adapt. The pressure is high and people need to feel supported. More than ever the human touch is critical, especially after spending long hours behind a screen and feeling disconnected from each other.
What are the most common mistakes you have seen CEOs & founders make when they start a business? What can be done to avoid those errors?
Eva Martins: The most common mistakes I have seen are CEOs & founders falling in love with their product instead of their clients, not knowing their clients’ needs and pain points which would lead to creating the wrong strategy, the wrong language, the wrong communication strategy and, of course decreasing their reach and success.
To avoid such notions, it would be best to first connect with their ideal client, spend time with them until they would understand their brain, how they work, what they need, their pain points, and their wishes. Understanding their ideal client journey is critical in establishing the right product, its value, and then of course the right marketing strategy which would speak directly into their ideal clients’ hearts.
Ok fantastic. Thank you for those excellent insights, Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview about How to Successfully Ride The Emotional Highs & Lows Of Being An Entrepreneur. The journey of an entrepreneur is never easy, and is filled with challenges, failures, setbacks, as well as joys, thrills and celebrations. This might be intuitive, but I think it will be very useful to specifically articulate it. Can you describe to our readers why no matter how successful you are as an entrepreneur, you will always have fairly dramatic highs and lows? Particularly, can you help explain why this is different from someone with a “regular job”?
Eva Martins: Having to experience both in life, I can share that the journey is quite different as an entrepreneur. The level of responsibility is felt with more intensity. If your company fails, most of the time you take it as a personal failure. While in a day-to-day job you have somehow a schedule, an entrepreneur just never stops grinding, especially if you are passionate about your business or the value you bring to the world.
You consistently thrive to improve, innovate and create new solutions. You are more emotionally attached to the outcome, to the value you provide, and any criticism is personally felt. There is no financial security, and most of the time you would value yourself through the income you co-create while in a day-to-day job you have a monthly salary, whether you work hard or not you can still survive with your salary for at least a few months.
As an entrepreneur, you see the impact of your work in real-time whether through the financial results or the value you provide. The level of commitment is generally much higher which can also create higher levels of stress but also fulfillment.
Do you feel comfortable sharing a story from your own experience about how you felt unusually high and excited as a result of your business? We would love to hear it.
Eva Martins: Maybe the most interesting story is that I did procrastinate to run my own show, to run my own business, believing I was not good enough, or I did not have what it takes to be successful or being afraid of failure and others’ judgment…so only mindset limitations. But because I love a good challenge, I started writing my own book STOP BELIEVING THE B.S. 7 steps to awaken your feminine power in order to inspire women to stand up, to live for themselves, and be free from others’ judgment.
I received hundreds of messages, testimonials from women sharing with me how it helped them. It felt like a dream, receiving love from all around the world. Whenever I have a low moment, I just remember those testimonials and remind myself why I am doing this, and feel I would betray them if I would play small and procrastinate.
Do you feel comfortable sharing a story from your own experience about how you felt unusually low, and vulnerable as a result of your business? We would love to hear it.
Eva Martins: Driving your own business is not always easy, you need to work hard, put all your heart, all your energy into serving others and when you realize the results are not matching your level of expectations or effort, it feels disappointing and we all end up wondering if it is worth the effort. It is not easy to continuously motivate yourself to move forward no matter what, to find the inner energy to overcome challenges, unknowns, to admit that we are not perfect nor experts in everything.
Based on your experience can you tell us what you did to bounce back?
Eva Martins: First of all, I decided to invest in myself, ask for help, invest in coaches who could help me in this journey, then detach myself from my business. It is not me, it is just my business. Then I would recommend detaching your sense of inner value from the outcome your business is providing but focus on who you are becoming through
the journey, through the learnings and congratulate yourself for any challenges you overcame, for any achievement. It is not about the outcome but about who you become through the path you have chosen.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “Five Things You Need To Successfully Ride The Emotional Highs & Lows Of Being An Entrepreneur”? Please share a story or an example for each.
Eva Martins:
1- Remind yourself of the value you are bringing to your clients, connect with them, hear their feedback. Every day I go back to my testimonials, reminding myself who I am serving and how I can bring more value to them.
2- Celebrate the wins, every step, every achievement, and see failure as a learning and a necessary step towards a higher level of success. The only failure is not taking action. And have fun. The more you feel excitement, joy, and passion the more you will convey it to your team and your clients which will create a positive magnet around your business.
3- Do not fall in love with your product but with your client’s needs. We all go through this transition, opening a business because we have a great idea and then understanding that actually, it does not fly. Before creating any product it is so important to deeply understand our clients, their needs, their language, their frustrations, and pain points so we can meet them where they are at in life and match their needs.
4- Surround yourself with a team of experts, a team you care about, with who can have fun and connect. When I started my business I thought I could do it all alone, and almost feeling guilty for investing in it. It does not work especially if you want to scale! The best investment I have done was being in a great team I could trust and delegate certain tasks. It also helped me feel I was not alone and I could debate ideas and strategize the next steps.
5- Create a network of people supporting you, whether through a mastermind, whether through people encouraging you each time you break through a new level of achievement. It is so critical to overcoming the highs and especially the lows. Having a group of people you can connect with, speak the same language, feel understood is a must if you want to succeed and keep moving forward.
We are living during challenging times and resilience is critical during times like these. How would you define resilience? What do you believe are the characteristics or traits of resilient people?
Eva Martins: Resilience is the inner flexibility and ability we have to withstand adversity and challenges. It does not mean we do not go through stress and emotional turmoil but it means we can handle it and eventually reach the top,
feeling stronger along the way. It is the ability to focus on the end goal and not allow ourselves to be distracted from it. Resilient leaders develop skills of resourcefulness, being solution-driven, they have emotions but know how to manage them in such a way that it does not distract them from the outcome they want to achieve. They can manage their stress level and even see hurdles as excitement.
Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Would you mind sharing a story?
Eva Martins: I have been raised to focus on the outcome I want to achieve instead of the effort it takes to achieve it which allowed me to develop my persistence but also my resiliency. Thanks to my parents I believe we can achieve everything in life if we believe in it and put in the necessary effort. Setbacks are only necessary steps towards a higher level of success, they do not define us, they just give us the opportunity to learn and develop new skills.n your opinion, do you tend to keep a positive attitude during difficult situations? What helps you to do so?
I tend to be a positive person because I always see an opportunity to learn and grow. I believe life does not happen to us but for us — creating a platform for growth and continuous improvement. From the moment we look at life as a growth journey it cannot be negative. I also tend to look at opportunities and solutions instead of problems, it allows my brain to be more creative, resourceful, and innovative instead of feeling stuck with the problems. The one skill I had to develop was only to ask myself the right questions to get the right answers and solutions for any situation.
Can you help articulate why a leader’s positive attitude can have a positive impact both on their clients and their team? Please share a story or example if you can.
Eva Martins: I truly believe that whether as a corporate leader or as an entrepreneur, my main job is to be a happiness coach, creating a safe environment for my team to operate at its best and excel. By creating a safe environment and ensuring that they are happy they will for sure overperform and feel fulfilled, they will feel safe to be themselves, which then allows them to be fully creative and innovative as well. This in return creates a positive vibe around the business, felt by our clients, and partners functioning as a magnet. Like attracts like, so by creating a happy environment to work you also attract happy and loyal clients.
Ok. Super. We are nearly done. What is your favorite inspirational quote that motivates you to pursue greatness? Can you share a story about how it was relevant to you in your own life?
Eva Martins: My favorite quote, quite well known, is from Gandhi “Be the change you wish to see in the world”. I believe our environment is only a reflection of our inner beliefs, our inner state of mind, the inner story we tell ourselves subconsciously. The world around us is nothing else than a mirror projecting back to us the beliefs we need to change, the fears we need to release, the situations we need to solve. I also believe that life does not happen to us but for us. I had difficult situations to overcome in the past such as the loss of a baby, a divorce…today I understand why it happened and I am grateful for the lessons. I understood that those unfortunate events in my life were wake-up calls from the universe and we have the choice to learn and solve them inside of us or avoid them but they will grow inside of us until we face them.
How can our readers further follow you online?
Eva Martins:
You can follow me through IG: @shesgothepower or my Facebook page: @evamartins where I share a lot of content daily to support women in their journey of self-empowerment.
I have also prepared a special gift for you to better understand which are the limiting beliefs keeping you away from your success, go and download it here https://www.letgoofthebs.com
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with
this. We wish you continued success and good health!
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