Episode 46: The Chanel Brooch Guide to Business with Terra Bohlmann

Intro (00:01): When you give smart women a five-year plan, simple business strategies and a positive mindset. It's amazing how fast your business can grow. Welcome to the fast track woman podcast with your host and business strategist, Terra Bohlmann. She helps women business owners stop winging it and board the fast track to success. When she's not making high flying dreams a reality, you can find her traveling to random destinations, desperately tracking down Chanel, broaches, or sipping overpriced coffee drinks. Her purpose in life is to help you build a profitable first-class business, smooth out the bumpy ride, and finally have more time, energy and freedom. So buckle your seatbelt because this episode of the fast track woman takes off right now.

Terra Bohlmann (00:55): Welcome back to the fast track woman podcast. I'm your host, Terra Bohlmann and today's episode is a little different for those who don't know. I have this obsession, which comes around finding my favorite Chanel broaches. So I don't collect a ton of things in my life, but I see my Chanel broaches as my art pieces. Right. And they're just like miniature. And so they're, they just mean so much to me. I, I just loved them so much and I just continue to be on the hunt for all the new ones. I don't collect the vintage ones, but I'm sure that's just a matter of time. So what is the Chanel broach guide to business? Well, it's no different than having a system in your business that takes you from coach to first class. Right? So when I first started getting broaches, like I remember my very first one and I went into the Chanel boutique in Houston and the perfect broach just screamed my name.

Terra Bohlmann (02:07): And I didn't know, like, you know, if you ever go into a Chanel boutique and if you haven't before, I really invite you to do it, even if you have no intention on buying anything, there's just something really magical that happens when you felt comfortable walking into a high-end boutique. So, you know, I had been in them before and had, you know, shopped Louis Vuitton and some other types of places like that, but I hadn't been into a Chanel before. And the first time I went in, you know, I just kind of looked around and, you know, they'd ask if, can I, how can we help you? Can we show you something? And you know, and I would just, no, no, no. Yeah. I'm just looking and I would look in the cases and just run and right out thinking, Oh yeah, right. Like I will ever have anything from this store.

Terra Bohlmann (02:52): Right. Then as I started to expand my own mindset on possibilities and things that I really wanted, and I'll tell you, like, I'm the type of person. I love nice things, but I'm also very practical. So for everything that I have, that's high-end trust me. I have like three or four other things that are from Walmart and target. So when I went into Chanel, the first purchase I made, I went in with my husband and it was for my birthday. I believe it was my 40th birthday. We had went in and I knew I just wanted something special. So I'm married to an engineer and anyone who knows an engineer is maybe married to one like me. They are very, we'll just call it thrifty. And so I knew he, I was going to be uncomfortable there knowing like, Oh my gosh, is she going to pick out like an $8,000 Chanel purse or whatever, but I had something in mind cause I had cruised the app and whatnot.

Terra Bohlmann (03:52): And so when I went in, I found the perfect, it was like a Pearl necklace with like these CCS on it. And that was really my first major piece. I mean, I think I'd had some earrings in the past and whatnot, but like these were, this was like a beautiful, like Pearl necklace and whatnot. So we got that and just the whole experience of them displaying it down to wrapping the perfect bow around it and just making you feel so valued as a customer and me going and having this to me an heirloom piece that I'll have for not just the rest of my life, but I want to be able to gift these fine jewelry. He says down to my full, my sons wives, some days I have three boys, which is funny, cause I was supposed to be the girl that had girls, but I was blessed with three boys.

Terra Bohlmann (04:49): So hopefully their wives will really appreciate this someday. So that was my first piece. And then after that I was like, okay, I mean, you can wear the necklace. Like usually you have to be a little more dressed up to have it. And you know, whether you're, I, it was, it's great with like a little black dress or whatever, or just, you know, something more casual than that Jean jacket. It totally works for that. But what I was then I completely got obsessed with brushes. And because for me, broaches can go with anything, whether you put one or three on a dress or a shirt or a white shirt or a coat or a Jean jacket or whatever, they felt very versatile. And so off, I went back to Chanel, this was fast forward years, probably a year later. And this was my very first broach purchase.

Terra Bohlmann (05:35): And I went and looked in the case and there was one from a new collection that was like the perfect like synergy, okay. Could be casual. It could be dressed up. So it was like gold and one of the seas had a pattern and then the other one was more of a matte gold. So there were two seas and they just had a different texture to it. And I was like, this really cool. So that was my first one. Then I wanted, and you know, you need a rhinestone one and it just kind of like never stops. And then you find out that is this whole little cult following around a Chanel broaches. So, but I didn't know. So what I ended up doing is as I would travel, I would pop into the Chanels and just kind of be like, Oh, and I'd look around.

Terra Bohlmann (06:22): And, and then I, they would say, Oh, and I, anything you're looking for? I'm like, yeah, I just want to look at your broaches. And then they would bring this like secret compartment or like this display box that had all their broaches in it. And here I was the girl that thought, Oh, I thought you had to see the broach out. No, no, there's a, I'm giving away all my secrets around Chanel birches right now. But you have to ask to see them and then they bring out the trays. So then I was like, Oh, this was a whole new world for me. But each location, even in the U S it's different than what they have even in Europe or Asia or whatever. So I was like, okay, this is cool. So when I travel with my husband, my friends, or for work or whatever, this can be kind of my quote unquote souvenirs that would just allow me to remember this experience.

Terra Bohlmann (07:12): So, you know, then I started the collection and we go from there. So Chanel broaches, really, for me, I feel like everyone has their own thing that they collect or their thing that's important to them just because of, I don't know, to me, they hold so many memories because each one I have, I'm like, Oh, I remember I was in Monte Carlo with my friends and we got this when we were on a cruise. And then, you know, Oh, this one, I was in Paris writing my book and you know, everything has a story to it. And I love that. And I just make them that much more special. And then I found out, Oh, I can wear three at a time or two at a time. And why not? It's like the flair of my business. You know, if you've ever seen the movie, it was like office space or the office space.

Terra Bohlmann (07:58): And it's like, you know, Jennifer Aniston's wearing all the flares or whatnot. I think they had to have like 21 pieces of flair or whatever it is. That's Chanel broaches to me. So, but when I think of my brushes, I so think in terms of, wow, I've kind of created this little system around it. So how can that also apply and your business? So, because I am obsessed with broaches and I've created the system around how I meticulously hunt them down to a point where if I find one that I am locked on, I mean, I have no qualms around begging my friends who are flight attendants to say, please, I know you're going to Germany. You know, if you go into Munich and you get time, would you just look for this one? Or if you go to this airport in Hong Kong, can you just peek in?

Terra Bohlmann (08:47): And I've even been known to give my executive assistant, you know, one of her tasks for the week is to call as many Chanel boutiques to try to find these ones I'm obsessed with. I know it's, it's very sad and very much first-world problems. I completely understand that. So again, we all have our things. Mine is just broken. So, but the first thing I think about when I draw a parallel to having you know, finding the Chanel broach versus running your business, I think in terms of step one, which is I had to create a strategy. So my strategy was created around how I can discover the best broaches that I love. Right. So my strategy is I tend to look on the app. I will look in magazines. I have a whole strategy around the hunt of what I want, or sometimes I see them on other people and whatnot.

Terra Bohlmann (09:42): And then I just get like, where I can't let it go. It's the same thing in your business. You want to have a strategy for your business? Like, that's a step one. We've got to have a plan, a game plan. I'm a big planner, right? To a point where, you know, I'm, I'm pretty obsessive with the having a five-year plan and whatnot. It's the same thing. So a plan being a strategy, understanding what you want, that's step one and your business. So the Chanel brooch guide to business step one is you got how to create a strategy. Step two is really about getting coaching. And I know this sounds crazy, right? Cause obviously I'm a coach. I believe every woman business owner needs to coach because coaches can see the gaps that you're not seeing. Right. Often we can't see the forest among the trees and our own business.

Terra Bohlmann (10:32): Right. And when I think of coaching, even when I'm on my Chanel broach kick, right, it could be like for me, finding people who are also other broach stalkers, and there's a lot, there's a lot of us in the world and getting advice from these mentors, what I consider them mentors, it could also be making friends with sales associates that also keep you in the loop. Hey, we just got this broken. Right. And I'm working on that, but it could, you know, for me getting coaching is, Oh, I know other people who also collect broaches. So tell me, where'd you find this one? Or how do you do it? Or, you know, do you have a sales associate that you can connect me with? Right? So it's a matter of getting coaching so you can achieve your strategy. So that's step number two, get coaching.

Terra Bohlmann (11:31): Same thing applies in your business. You've got to have a coach and somebody who's outside of your normal circle because people who adore us, our friends, our family, you know, spouses, whatnot. Remember they see us in a different light. They want us to feel good. They want us to be happy. They don't want us to feel or experienced any pain. And sometimes growing your business, a good coach is going to tell you that it's not easy. You can do it. And I'm here to coach you through it. I'm here to be your cheerleader. I'm also here to be your navigator. And I'm also here to give you your options. So you can do what best works for you so that you can fulfill a strategy, right? Some coaches out there may tell you that it is easy, right? I'm a big believer of you can get whatever you want.

Terra Bohlmann (12:24): We just have to do the work to do it right. And sometimes it's a lot more work upfront to get the bigger benefit later. So coaching must have in your business, the third step in order to achieve your Chanel broach guide for business is around having convenient tools. We have to have tools in our business. Things that help us make things easier, right? Automation, apps, people. I mean, people are tools, right? I mean, we've got to have it. People who are better than we are at doing certain things in our business, we don't have to do everything. So we've got to have tools in our business to make it easier. This time, save us energy and definitely save us money. So we've got to have convenient tools in our business when I think of drawing a parallel to okay. Tools. And what made me think of the tools in the business was really around the things that helped me with my psycho Chanel broach stocking.

Terra Bohlmann (13:33): And I say that and complete like transparency, right? What do I use as far as tools? Well, I couldn't find the Chanel broaches. I wanted, if I didn't have the Chanel app and constantly look at it to see what new ones were released, right. I didn't, you know, there's videos of runway shows and whatnot that are going to elude to what the next collection collection of broaches are going to look like. Right? I mean, there's Google maps as a tool when I'm in New York city and I need to find, you know, what, where the boutiques are. And if you are into vintage broaches, I'm not into the vintage. Like I said earlier, it may be a matter of time, but you would have to have some sort of tool so that you can verify the authenticity that the broaches a real Chanel broach, because there's so many knock-offs up there.

Terra Bohlmann (14:27): What just completely breaks my heart, but I'll do a separate podcast on that sometime. So we got to have tools in our business that are convenient and that we'll we'll we will use so that we can save that time, energy and money, the same way you would, if you were on a Chanel broach hunt, the fourth thing that comes into play is your ability take action in your business. So this is an obvious one. And you know, for me, it could be booking trips and I love to travel. Whether it's with my husband, my neighbors, my friends, we do cruises. You know, I book trips, just I love to travel. I mean, to me, if I don't go somewhere once a month, I literally feel like I can't breathe. And then I also have business trips, which is awesome. After masterminds done for the day, I can go into some boutiques and I love to layer in shopping.

Terra Bohlmann (15:25): So we, but you have to take action. If you're going to find a broach the same way you have to take action on your strategy and all the things that need to happen in your business. We can't just sit and think about it. We have to move, right. And if we don't move, we're gonna jump, just be in our heads and we're not going to get the results we want. You're not going to make the money that you want. You're not gonna be able to make the impact. You're not going to be able to do all the things that you know, you're meant to do to help the world, right. So we have to take action. So that's a serious, serious action step, right? And then the fifth thing that happens when you are, when I'm comparing my Chanel, broach obsession with my obsession with business is to join a community.

Terra Bohlmann (16:18): And I know it may sound crazy, but I mean, you can think about it actually. It's not that crazy because for anything that people are fans of, there's a community that supports it, which is really cool. So of course there is clubs and groups and Facebook groups, groups, and tweets and hashtags that are associated with Chanel, broaches and obsessions. So I'm just going to say, I follow the hashtag Chanel broach on Instagram. Right. And I love nothing more when something appears in my feed. The same thing, I don't know, maybe there is a Facebook group. I've never thought about that. That might be a very unsafe place for me to be, but there are communities that align with what we're obsessed with too. And so I stay in your business to make sure you're in a community of like-minded women business owners, so that you can share information.

Terra Bohlmann (17:18): You can, you know, get knowledge, you can do all kinds of things so that you can fast track. And that's what this podcast is all about is fast tracking. Right? And then the last thing I wanted to share with you is you want to be able to make a contribution. And I know that sounds probably a little crazy like, Hey Terra, I'm just running my business. You know, what, why would you say I need to make a contribution? It makes us feel really, really, so it really is one of those human needs that we have, and it's to contribute in a bigger way. And, you know, from a, a broach standpoint, me like even telling you that you can go into a Chanel boutique and ask to see their broaches and they bring out depending how big the boutique is. Maybe anything from one trader.

Terra Bohlmann (18:12): I think I've seen three or four trays in Paris once, but to all the broaches so that you're just in one place and you're not trying to, you know, look at all the different cases cause they'll do all kinds of displays. And honestly, in the displays, there may be only showing four or five of the current collection broaches. Anyway, they have all kinds. So by me telling you that I'm helping, if you ever want to get a broach on how to do it and make it easier. Right. So it, you know, that is it. And it makes me feel good to be able to contribute for anyone who didn't know that. Cause I didn't know. And I had to learn about it and till I did, I was like, Oh, this is huge. And now I can just go in and be like, huh, hi, nice to meet you.

Terra Bohlmann (18:53): I'd like to see all your broaches, boom I'm in and out faster. And I, it just saves me tons of time and energy. So think about in your own business where you can continue to make a contribution as well. So for me, I mean, I have an idea around my fast track accelerator program, you know, to be able to give one of my clients abroach after the program's completed, you know, based on milestones and stuff like that. So, you know, I want to actually be able to give back to my own clients and you know, you can think about how can you also make a contribution to another way I contribute. As I support a organization called hope Haven has a private school for students in Rwanda Africa. And it's an amazing school that is completely funded by donations. So, and I'm a big believer.

Terra Bohlmann (19:51): One of my core values is education. So I want to be able to make as big of an impact as I can. So where can you make a contribution in your own business? And it'll pay back 5 million times. I can promise you that because you get so much joy. I love it. So those are the six steps and the Chanel broach guide to business. So just to recap, the first one, you want to create a strategy for your business. You, second step is you want to get coaching, right? You want to get coaching. That is not somebody who's close to you, not like a friend or a family member or a spouse or whatever. Remember it like get professional coaching. It's a huge mover on how you can fast track. The third thing is to use convenient tools. We need to use tools in our business like no other.

Terra Bohlmann (20:44): And there's so many amazing tools that really, really help us make things easier, which is what we need. We don't need more on our plate as women business owners. Right? So use convenient tools. One thing I will say is to do an audit of your current tool. So if you've been in business for awhile, you know, go, go look at your credit card statement and see what tools you're paying for and really get clear. Am I using these? So we want to use the tools that really move the needle for your business and save you time, energy and money, not just have a tool to have it and have it just be an expense. So if you're like, Oh, I have all the tools go. I invite you. Okay, cool. If I were coaching you, I'd say go to your credit card statement and see what tools and subscription services are hitting your credit card every month and really ask yourself, you know, what am I using this?

Terra Bohlmann (21:40): Cause I, when I, I try to do this at least a couple of times a year, because I fall into the, Oh, this is cool. I need this tool, you know, trapped just like everyone else. And then you, sometimes I had tools that were, they did the same thing, but they were just different tool, you know, different subscriptions. So, and then, you know, when you can then turn them off or unsubscribe or cancel them, you could save hundreds of dollars a month, right? So use convenient tools, but use them, don't just buy them, actually use them and they will help you. The fourth step was really around taking action. So you have to take action in your business. You can't just have this awesome strategy, have a coach that's telling you, yep. I would navigate this way and do these steps and whatnot out. And you've got the tools, but if you're not taking action, you're not going to get the result.

Terra Bohlmann (22:30): And I know it's so like obvious, but there are so many women business owners that get stuck in that ability to take, can take imperfect action. I'll say because when you wait for everything to be perfect, you've waited too long. And this is coming from a recovering perfectionist myself. I've, there's been certain things that I wish I would have just taken action on faster. And it would've helped me tons down the road, you know, but I'm also a believer of everything happens for a reason. And I couldn't be telling you that taking action is important in your business. If I hadn't have experienced what it was like to not take fast action. Right? So we've got to take action. And then the next thing is to join a community, some community of like-minded women, business owners. This is why I think community is really important and I've built it into my own business model with my clients.

Terra Bohlmann (23:26): Community is everything in a world where women who are not business owners or they're professionals, you know, or working professionals are career professionals or stay at home moms, or, you know, what have you, us women business owners need to stick and be able to help each other because it's really going to be what moves the needle to help raise how the world views women business owners. So we have to help each other. We have to, you know, not feel like we're in competition and stuff like that. That's why I have a community because at the end of the day, when I'm done working with my clients, and I'm not one of these coaches that want to hang on to you forever, I am a catch and release coach. I'm very clear on that. People come to me for what they need. And then off they go.

Terra Bohlmann (24:17): My goal is actually to, out to out coach people and like to a point where they can move on to their next coach, right? I am not a hanger on her. And, but what I do know for sure is I've had plenty of amazing clients that have graduated from our programs and working with me, but they continue to have the most amazing relationships and friendships with women who have also been part of my community. And if I can help do that, there's again, nothing that more early, that brings me joy than to connect amazing women business owners together. And then the last step around the Chanel broach guide for business is to make a contribution. So it could be something small. It could be something huge at the end of the day, what I can promise you is reciprocity will kick in. And when you do good, it comes back to you 10 times.

Terra Bohlmann (25:16): And I even use a thing whenever I get into a funk or I see a client that, you know, sometimes we we've got those dips. I mean, let's be honest. And when I see that happening, my thing is, okay, go contribute, go do something that's bigger than yourself, right? Whether it's going and volunteering at a pantry for a day, or being able to give a free coaching session or scholarships, somebody to work with you or what have you, it could be simply going and helping with your children's classroom for an hour, right? When you go and you make a contribution, it allows you to get out of your head too. And also just helps you just get back on track. So the fast track is the fast track, but if you do get on track, trust me, go make a contribution in some way, big or small, and you'll get right back on the track.

Terra Bohlmann (26:14): So those are the six steps to the Chanel broach guide for business. What I can tell you is, as long as you have a system, just like I laid out the six steps of the Chanel broach guide, but it could be the Chanel broach system to your business. When you have a system in place or you follow a system in your business, it really does help fast track you because there's no reason for you to reinvent the wheel. There isn't people like me as a, as a business coach and strategist, I've been down those paths for 10 years and worked with hundreds of hundreds of women privately and in my groups and whatnot. And I've been able to say, Oh, that doesn't work, but this does. And wow, you can really get a result faster if you just do this. And then these step by step by step.

Terra Bohlmann (27:03): So I've completely laid that out in my trademarked fast track accelerator, which really does incorporate my business map method, which is my step-by-step strategies to build your business. And if you want to have a conversation around what that can look like for you, I just invite you to go to my website and apply for a 30 minute conversation. I don't even like to call them consultation. It's literally a conversation. So at Terra bohlmann.com/consult, C O N S U L T. And I do the consultations. As of now, I haven't gotten to a point and maybe I will, where I'll have someone else on my team doing them, because I really enjoy talking to women business owners about what's going on in their business and giving them their next best step. So that's my promise to you, terrabohlmann.com/consult. We can have a conversation about your business and we'll give you my advice. And if you want to work with me, you'll ask, I'm not going to sell you anything on our call because that's weird and icky. And I don't like that. So terrabohlmann.com/consult. And I look forward to talking to you soon, take care.

Outro (28:16): And there you have it. Another jam packed episode of the fast track woman podcast. Don't forget to visit terrabohlmann.com where you can get more business tips and strategies learn how we can work together to accelerate your business success or access this podcast. Episode show notes with a full transcript and links to resources mentioned today. And if you enjoyed this podcast, I invite you to leave a review so that we can help serve more women business owners to like you until next time here's to owning your time and valuing your word.