IAM1348 – CEO Helps Clients on how to Crush their Cravings

From a ho-hum, unhappy, fat existence as a teenager, Vickie Griffith is now seventy pounds lighter and kept the pounds off without dieting. She will teach you how to crush cravings, manage anxiety, stop sabotage, and kept calm even through the chaos.

She is the author of Stucked UP! A BreakThrough Path to Unstuck and You Can Be Right About Everything And Still Have Nothing, a professional speaker and Certified Hypnotist.

Vickie Griffith is known for her infectious enthusiasm and deceptively low-key, casual approach to speaking and traveling throughout the country, doing keynotes, coaching, and workshops.

• CEO Story: Worked in a university bookstore for 17 years. That experience has helped Vickie to run her business today.
• Business Service: Helping clients with their mindset with a belief system
• Secret Sauce: Creating our own space. Set up an action plan. Take a step, and move in a direction.
• CEO Hack: Be the trailblazer to your business. Be creative enough, be a pioneer.
• CEO Nugget: “Perfect isn’t profitable” People aren’t looking for perfect. People are looking for you to help them  through the pain they are going through
• CEO Defined: Being a trailblazer, a decision-maker. Following through. Being flexible.

Website: www.vickiegriffith.com

Books: www.vickiegriffith.com/books

Facebook: VickieGriffithBreakThrough

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/vickiegriffith

YouTube: Vickie Griffith, Weight Loss with Vickie Griffith

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Transcription

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00:21 – Intro

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harker values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

00:49 – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today, Vicki Griffin of VickiGriffit.com. Vicki, super excited to have you on the show.

00:58 – Vickie Griffith 

Thank you. I appreciate the invitation.

01:01 – Gresham Harkless

Yes, excited to have you on. Before we jump into the interview, I want to read a little bit more about Vicki so you can hear about some of the awesome things that she's doing from a whole home unhappy fat existence as a teenager, Vicki is now 75 pounds lighter, and kept the pounds off without dieting. She would teach you how to crush cravings, manage anxiety, stop sabotage, and keep calm through the chaos.

She is the author of Stucked Up, a breakthrough path to Unstuck and You Can Be Right about Everything and Still Have Nothing a professional speaker, and is also certified in hypnosis. Vicki is known for her infectious enthusiasm and deceptively low-key casual approach, speaking, traveling throughout the country, doing keynotes, coaching, and workshops. Vicki, excited to have you on the show again. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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01:47 – Vickie Griffith

I am ready. This is awesome.

01:49 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Well, let's make it happen then. So to kind of kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit. I know it's such a little bit, but I wanted to hear a little bit more about how you got started, what I call your CEO story.

01:59 – Vickie Griffith

Well, how I got started in my business actually started with the personal mess that I dealt with my whole life which was being fat. And it was interesting how life kind of takes you on a journey and you're not even sure what the journey is. I ended up working for the University bookstore for about 17 years. And during that time I was an emblematic buyer, and I loved spending other people's money, it was pretty awesome. I actually was in charge of several people so I was manager as well.

And that experience brought me into running my business today as a woo-woo side of mindset, some would say, which is really actually very practical and very scientifically based. It was the same things that I used while I was in the Big 10 bookstore, managing a bunch of people, all different kinds of aspects and avenues and experiences, and taking care of the fires while still being creative in my job. And that's how this all got started.

03:11 – Gresham Harkless

Nice. I appreciate hearing kind of like the journey. I think so many times when you hear about how somebody has expertise, their knowledge, their zone of genius, or whatever we might call it. We sometimes don't hear the behind-the-scenes of how you've been doing that for so long. You sound to have that experience and then being able to kind of sounds like take that experience and run with it with your business and everything you've been able to do.

03:32 – Vickie Griffith

Absolutely and it is a journey for most of us. Most of us aren't born with the business growing skills. We might be in an environment where we have people around us or where we can be shown how to be a leader and it's not something that is often, we're often born with, it is something that is learned.

03:52 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, and it's always the proverbial question that entrepreneurs quote unquote born or made. And I'm a big believer in it, sounds like you might be too, there's like a combination of both where you sometimes have the skills that might be making you more entrepreneurial, but a lot of times it's the experience you have over the years and sometimes that environment that you're around that actually cultivates that success one way or the other.

04:13 – Vickie Griffith

I absolutely agree with what you're saying. A lot of the environment has to, has to do with how we are maneuvering through it. But we have decisions we have to make too. We have choices along the way. And I could have easily, being a shy reserve person, stood in the back corner and just spent a cashier, which there's nothing wrong with being a cashier. I did that for many, many times to put food on the table. But instead, I made a decision to step out, let it be known that I was interested in something else, that I had the availability, And because of my flexibility because I let people know what I was looking for, was able to work my way up.

And as I said, all of those experiences in that bookstore, I've owned several businesses on top of it. All of that together has brought me to now. And I'm so excited to be able to say that many times our life experience, makes the most out of whatever life experience you're in. I clean toilets for a while. So Make it part of what you do, do the best that you can, and then learn from it and move on. So you can really grow yourself, and as you grow yourself, become better leaders. I truly believe in that. Leadership comes through personal development, and take your experience and learn what you can to grow your business.

05:38 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. I appreciate you again, you know, drilling down and, you know, sharing so much because I think so many times we think that, okay, when someone decides, hey, I'm gonna start a business, it's just that moment right there is another, never anything that you did in the past, it's not the experience that you have, but in reality, it's a buildup of all those things. And sometimes those things that we think have nothing related to what it is that we're doing often, especially when you start a business, you end up using so many skills you didn't even know yet you had in place.

06:07 – Vickie Griffith

That is so true. But then there's also looking for and not being ashamed to ask for people who have the experience that you're looking for so that you can learn and grow into the business owner and CEO you want to be. So asking is a big part of this development process because we're not going to know everything. And there's going to be something that triggers for you that you want to investigate. Maybe it's a different type of advertising, social media, YouTube, networking, speaking. There are all kinds of ways to grow your business and you look for those experts. And if you're having trouble with overwhelming frustration, and procrastination, you also look for an expert to help you move through that. And so you can do the tactics, which is what I was talking about before the social media, the speaking, those types of things that will also grow your business.

07:04 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. And it's so important as we kind of talked about that environment, it's great to have that environment around you, but you want to make sure that you're also asking for that help, that guidance so that you can ultimately get to where you want to be. And I know you've accrued a lot of experience and knowledge as well too. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more, hear a little bit more about how you're serving your clients, how you're making their impact for them, and also hear more about your book and what you feel maybe even sets you apart and makes you unique as a result.

07:30 – Vickie Griffith

Thank you. So how I work with my clients is I do help them with their foundation, which is their mindset, their belief system, I call it the BS that's running and running in life. And a lot of times it's very, very stinky, but it is their belief system that is running their life. And it's actually ruining their life. And they're bumping against them, and it's making it hard and they're struggling because these belief systems are many times so sly, you don't even realize they're there, They're all subconscious. They're written there sometimes when you're really young, sometimes before you're born. I have one friend who was told before she was even born, we don't want you.

So even as an adult, she's bumping and she's very successful. So none of these things can stop you if you're willing to move forward, but this bumping against us, we don't want you. You're not basically the interpretation to a child is, I'm not lovable. So when you're starting to grow a business and you're trying to talk to prospects and you have that I'm not lovable in the back of your mind, which again, it shows that thinking that then causes stumbling blocks, and thank goodness she moved past that. So that's where I work from the book. The latest book that I wrote was from seeing a live-in-action belief system that was, the person really was a friend of mine who was willing to die to prove it was right.

And I was like, this is crazy. We all do this. We all try to prove our belief systems that are not serving us that they're right. And we do that through stories we tell ourselves. I call them fairy tales in the book. We do that: through our habits and our traditions. So habits and traditions are basically the same thing. It's the repetitive action that's not giving you the results you want. And we keep doing it over and over again. So we keep proving that belief system correct. So I appreciate you saying that creating the space. And we have to do that for ourselves too, especially as leaders and CEOs. We have to create the space to look at ourselves and review ourselves.

There are so many ways to do that. Again, to set up our own plan as far as taking action. Action is the biggest step that you can take. I can tell you Many times I've taken the wrong action step, but I took a step and that's all that mattered. Move in a direction. It doesn't. It doesn't. And I love the word trailblazer. Don't we want to be trailblazers or pioneers?

I like that one too. My husband said to me at lunchtime, those are awesome, I'm an incredibly lazy pioneer, those are awesome words, and what do they mean to you to be a trailblazer or a pioneer? What would it mean for your business if you were free from the limitations and could unleash your creativity? And maybe you have this amazing new way to attract clients that nobody else has brought to our attention yet. Be the trailblazer and bring it out to the world.

10:49 – Gresham Harkless

And I love that, you know, building the plane while you're flying. And I don't that sounds like it could be like the CEO hack. I usually ask for an Apple Book or have it that you have and make people more effective and efficient. But do you think that's your hack and being able to kind of, you know, take that leap? I don't even know if it's a leap. It sounds like it's sometimes just a step that you're taking just to put it out there and then get that feedback and then you can start to build that plan as you said so well.

11:12 – Vickie Griffith

Right, exactly. So don't spend your time sitting down and outlining and writing every action step in your course. Put the idea out there first. Cause I'm pretty sure that when the course comes together, you have the expertise and experience. The idea wouldn't have come to you unless you did to put the course together.

11:33 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely.

11:35 – Vickie Griffith

A mentor said to me once, perfect isn't profitable. And I went, ooh, and that's when I stopped doing that. They are what they are. They were done live. You might hear a dog bark in the background. I mean, you might hear silly stuff like a washing machine going off, whatever. But the idea that I was holding back on my success because it had to be perfect, and People aren't looking for perfect. They're looking for you to help them through the pain they're going through. So stop trying to be perfect. It isn't profitable. Get your stuff out there so that you can help that person who's looking for you because they are looking. Do Google searches and see what they're looking for. And I bet you they're looking for something that you have to get it out there. Stop hiding.

12:20 – Gresham Harkless

I love that. And that might be like your CEO nugget because I almost asked for words of wisdom or a piece of advice. And you might have already said something because this something I usually say you might tell your younger business self or you might tell your client, your favorite client, but is it, you know, making sure that, you know, perfect is unprofitable, making sure that you put it out there? Is that something that you would consider to be that word of wisdom?

12:41 – Vickie Griffith

Absolutely. It changed the direction of my business because from that moment on, I would get in that mode of making it perfect. You know, in my first book, my first book, people still come to me, you know, you have a word misspelled on page 62. Oh, thank you so much for looking for that and letting me know, you know what? I left that for you. Because I knew that you would be all excited about finding an incorrectly spelled word.

I didn't, I had 4 editors on that book and they're still in this correct book. Am I gonna change it? Nope, I am not gonna change it. It's done, it's complete, could I add to it? Sure, but it is what it is. And it is, I've had a lot of people come back to me and say, that was amazing. Thank you so much for sharing that information. And I made some really magnificent changes, both on my books, even with the misspelled words.

13:39 – Gresham Harkless

I want to ask you now my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on this show. So what does being a CEO mean to you, Vicki?

13:49 – Vickie Griffith

It's a great question. So what does it mean to be a CEO to me? So that means being that trailblazer, making decisions, and being a decision-maker. Sometimes a decision can be that I don't want to make a decision today and I am okay with that. I'm not going to make a decision on that right now. That's okay to make that decision, but being the decision-maker, it's also about following through, which a lot of people have a problem with. They move on too quickly to the next thing, or they don't put it back on their calendar.

I am a very strict calendar blocker. So I have my calendar blocked out for certain days to meet with my clients, certain days I am doing email lists, I might be reading something, I might be researching, so I have time blocked out. So it's that too, but being flexible, like you mentioned earlier, so that I can meet with somebody if they want. So if someone calls me and says, I really want to talk to you today, and it's a Thursday, being flexible enough to go, okay, yes, and making sure they realize that they're important as well.

14:55 – Gresham Harkless

Well, I appreciate that. Of course, I appreciate your time even more. So what I wanted to do now was pass you the mic, so to speak, to see if there's anything additional, you can let our readers and listeners know and of course, how best they can get a hold of you to find out about all the awesome things that you're working on, get a copy of your book, listen to those audio downloads, all that awesome stuff that you're working on.

15:14 – Vickie Griffith

Here's what I know about everyone who's been my clients and those who work with me. They are very smart people. They work hard and they just aren't getting the results that they want. And that's because of these belief systems. If you are craving food, you don't want to crave and you want a quick way to release the cravings while you're working on the other stuff.

Crush cravings.com. You can go there and get a video download series that will show you how to crush cravings and then do reach out to me. So go to vickigriffith.com. You can find out how to sign up for an appointment with me there. You can email me. You have all kinds of ways to get in touch with me. I'm on LinkedIn and Facebook and all of those places. You can find me. Vicki Griffith Breakthrough is the name of my company.

16:07 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, thank you so much again, Vicki. And to make it even easier, we'll have the links and information as well in the show notes so that everybody can follow up with you. Appreciate it so much. Of course, appreciate your time today. And I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

16:18 – Vickie Griffith

Thank you. You as well.

16:20 – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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