In February/March of 2018, I joined a training network - The John Maxwell Team. I was at a point in my life where I wanted to extend my skills. Skills that were already there, but needed augmenting. I wanted to be able to relate and market myself beyond the field of education. I had been wrestling with what my next step was going to be. Prior to making the call, I ran into two people who were already a part of The John Maxwell Team. One of them was someone I knew and the other was a random person I happened to connect with. Through hearing their stories, I decided to give it a try.
When I initially enrolled, I was overwhelmed with the enormous amount of resources made available to me. There was curriculum on speaking, coaching, and resources for training on John Maxwell's philosophy. Additionally, I had access to recorded calls with teachings from members of the John Maxwell Leadership Team. As I continued to explore resources, I discovered the social media group. There were various Facebook (FB) groups formed with people from the John Maxwell community. I searched through - looking for people that I knew, or that were from Florida, or that had something in common with me. As I searched, I was able to see the date that members joined the John Maxwell Team. I ran across the name, Dana Thorpe. I trolled her FB page and saw that she had hosted several training events. I decided to reach out to her. We spoke over the phone for the first time on March 27, 2018. It was an instant connection. We both were women of faith, active in our church community, both passionate about helping others. Although we were both working full-time, Dana had recently started her own consulting business. I knew nothing about starting a business, but I got my motivation to do so through my interaction with Dana.
Over these last three years, we have served as accountability partners in the most formal sense of the word and informally. Here's how: Formally, we scheduled time to meet and exchange our goals for a specific timeframe and then followed-up with each other. Informally, we're both just a phone call or text away. Many times we've called each other to share strategies and resources... "here's what I'm using and here's how it's going"...whether it was a booking scheduler or an email marketing platform. Sharing each other's lessons learned with tools has been a tremendous help. It has been comforting to have a friend to bounce ideas off of each other about contract language, selling tips, workshop topics, and event planning from a space of authenticity and transparency.
Although we've never met in person, I consider Dana to be a friend (across the miles). We both have grown so much as women, leaders, business owners and in our faith. God has shown both of us what He can do through us if we allow ourselves to be used.
In the third episode of The Growth Matters Podcast, I talk with Dana! We met virtually for the first time via Zoom. Check out our conversation - March 27, 2021.
Having an accountability partner like Dana has been mutually beneficial. We both know when to click into coaching mode for the other. An accountability partner adds value, knows you well, answers when you call and gives you access to their network/resources. Dana has been a true accountability partner to me.
Across the miles, we have encouraged, empowered, and held each other accountable.
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