Michelle Micalizzi, Artist
All Rights Reserved
ORIGINAL WORK – SOLD | RETAIL Available Soon!
10% of the proceeds from the sale of this work benefits The Arizona Consortium for the Arts
My muse this week is Mark Herding. Mark is a Certified Financial Planner and the owner of Camelback Wealth Consultants. His broker dealer is Cambridge Investment Research out of Iowa.*
FEARLESS INTERVIEW
Mark took a few minutes out to answer the five Art of Fearlessly Doing Business Questions.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM MARK ABOUT BEING FEARLESS?
1.) Focus on What Fascinates You
When we focus on the things that fascinate us then we are not working, we are playing. Choose something that you are fascinated by and success will follow!
2.) Don’t Let the Day-to-Day Grind Get to You
Every day we have to continue to put our best foot forward. Anyone in any kind of sales job knows that there are up days and there are not so up days. Every day we get up and we get to our desk. We decide what to focus on and we do the next right thing. If we let the daily ups and downs derail or discourage us we will never reach our end goals.
3.) Know the Role that Suits You Best
Some folks are great at managing people. Some folks are better at working with the end user face to face. It is good to know which type of worker you are. There is nothing worse than being stuck in a role that is not your best fit. When we stay stuck in the wrong role, we never reach our greatest potential and we fall short. Embrace your strength.
4.) Stay on Top of the Current Climate of Your Business
Every business is changing at light speed today. The media and technology, and the rules and regulations are always changing for all of us at the speed of light. We all have to stay on top of what is current in our industries so that our clients and us are not blind-sided by lack of knowledge.
5.) Don’t Quit till the Job Gets Done
Jason Aldean says it best:
“Don’t stop ‘till everything’s gone
Straight ahead, never turn around
Don’t back up, don’t back down
Full throttle, wide open
You get tired and you don’t show it
Dig a little deeper when you think you can’t dig no more
That is the only way I know.”
Tenacity is the only way to get things done today. We all have to drop our chin and lean into getting that job done every day!
Thank you so much Mark for taking the time out to be one of the Fearless 13! I look forward to seeing you again at the Art of Fearlessly Doing Business Art Opening on Dec 18th at the {9} Gallery from 6-9PM.
Note from the Artist:
MARK’S ILLUSTRATION’S STORY:
The universal symbols of retirement are for me a hammock and a sunset. We work with financial professionals to prepare for major events in our lives. Getting married, buying a home, saving for college, retirement and long term care. We save for a time where we can relax into the sunset of our lives and be at peace. This image to me speaks to that time in our lives when we can just lay back and let our feet swing off the side of a hammock while we read a good book or just take a late day nap! I thought about the fact that I chose to focus on one person rather then a family after the fact…… I think that all of us need that time alone to be truly at peace. When we have all of our needs met and are surrounded by support – a few hours in a hammock at sunset reading a good book is just luscious. I recall feeling that way as a kid – just knowing that all that was right with the world made a book the much more mesmerizing. The hands are representative of the striving it took to get to that point and they are muted because the striving is over. Now, there is just the enjoying of life. Also in the background in pencil (hard to see in a photo) are words like apple pie, hiccup, walking the dog, etc. all to the things that make up a full life.
Some of you may know that I was a financial advisor with Edward Jones for several years before I made the decision to leave the industry (at least for now) and focus on building my Fearlessly Deliver, LLC business. I still hold Series 7 & 66 Licenses and down the road I may return in part to the industry if it makes sense. Since I have been in the industry, I knew when I wrote Mark’s blog that I had to write it differently then I did the other Fearless 13 because Mark has compliance regulations and standards that he must adhere to. Being compliant is a very important part of being a financial professional, as it should be. I approached Mark’s illustration with as much sensitivity to the compliance standards he must adhere to in his industry as I did his blog. I stayed completely away from charged emotional symbols intentionally and the lessons we can learn from him stand alone. *
*NOTE: Registered Representative Securities offered through Cambridge Investment Research, Inc., a Broker/Dealer,Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment Advisor Representative Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor. Cambridge and Camelback Wealth Consultants, LLC Are not affiliated Camelback Wealth Consultants, LLC, 2198 E. Camelback Rd. Suite 315, Phoenix, AZ 85016
STORY OF THE SALE:
I love the story of how this painting sold….. One extremely hot summer day when I owned the physical location of my gallery Fearless Art Works in Carefree, Arizona. A happy retirement age couple came in. I had an absolutely fantastic water show up at the time. The work in the gallery was just fantastic.
The couple was staying at The Boulders Resort. They shared with me how the gentleman had just retired from one of the big oil companies and they were restructuring their lives. They were people of faith and God was forefront in their mind. They felt blessed to have just built two new homes and were very excited about the art work they had commissioned for their homes.
The gentleman in particular kept coming back to my work which honestly, was very humbling to me, because the work in my gallery was truly excellent at the time. The fact that my work kept capturing his attention really well… felt validating. He felt very disappointed that they did not have a wall left in with of their home for my work. I felt honored that he felt so strongly about my work and quite frankly that was more then enough!
As we were saying our good byes the gentleman asked if he could use my bathroom sink to clean his glasses. I said “Of course”. As I and his beautiful wife continued to chat we both heard him call his wife from the bathroom. “Honey…… come here please…. you have to see this painting……” The piece that hung in the bathroom at the time was this piece. She went to see and then they both called me into the bathroom. They both said in stereo. “We will find a wall for this piece. We have to have it.”
What amazed me about this sale and the strong reaction this couple had to the piece was that they were the story that the painting depicted. As I write this I get chills…. The gentleman’s job was now done and he was actively and happily moving into their retirement prepared for the future.
As I packed that piece for the mail ….. I felt like my job has also been done too. A piece that had been inspired by one man had touched another man’s heart for the core reason the story depicted in the image. It was a moment in my life I will never forget as an artist. My heart cracked open because all of our labor is forever connected in a very special way through my work…..
It doesn’t get better then that for me as an artist!
Work was shown from December 18, 2015 – January 04, 2016 at {9} The Gallery
Thank you to our 2015 Partners: Peg Quinn | The Arizona Consortium of the Arts | Photos by Elena & Jim | Bradford Jones, Bradford Jones Photography | Jackie Wszalek, Splash Print & Marketing | Dennis Frazier, Cater Phoenix | Tony Medlock, PJ’s Florists
#Fearless #AoFDB #Entrepreneurship #VisualJournalism #Art #OneThing #Artizona #SocialPracticeArt
Entrepreneurs and inspiring stories of all kinds are Fearlessly Deliver’s muse and focus. As an artist, a business woman and a visual journalist Michelle Micalizzi paints with a purpose. The Fearless Art Projects are collaborative social practice art engagements that connect art + business + community.
THE ART OF FEARLESSLY DONG BUSINESS is an unprecedented and unique project celebrates the fearless entrepreneurial spirit by highlighting thirteen unique and fearless business leaders.