The concept of a beginner’s mindset is gaining traction among professionals and leaders looking to foster continuous growth and adaptability. Are you open to embracing new perspectives and learning as if starting from scratch?
In this episode, you’ll explore the essence of maintaining a beginner’s mindset throughout your career journey. Our host and CEO, Porschia, together with our guest, Sean Fink, unpack the importance of this mindset for professional evolution.
They’ll discuss practical tips on how to stay curious and open to new experiences, which is vital for innovation and solving complex challenges. The conversation also highlights how adopting a beginner’s mindset can prevent stagnation and promote ongoing personal and professional development.
Shawn Fink (she/her) is a Business Strategist & Brave Leadership Consultant. She helps build vibrant businesses and energizes the visionary founders/leaders — and their teams — who run them. She also facilitates Brave YES Leadership Team Retreats.
Shawn has a 20-year history as a social justice advocate, volunteer and human rights activist — and believes that greater good practices NEED to be baked into your business just like a sales strategy.
What you’ll learn:
- The definition of a beginner’s mindset and its significance for professional growth.
- Challenges professionals face in maintaining a beginner’s mindset in established careers.
- Strategies to cultivate curiosity and openness, regardless of your experience level.
- Tips on applying a beginner’s mindset to enhance problem-solving and innovation at work.
- How adopting a beginner’s mindset can prevent career stagnation and encourage continuous learning.
- Methods for organizations to foster a culture that supports a beginner’s mindset among employees.
As a thank you for listening to this episode of the Career 101 Podcast, we are sharing our FREE master class – Career 911: Solving the Top 5 Challenges Executives and Professionals Have! It’s a training based on solving the common problems our clients have experienced to reach their goals. You can get access to the master class here!
Resources:
- Episode Transcript
Porschia: [00:00:00] Today we are talking about mindset 101, having a beginner’s mindset with Sean Fink. Sean Fink is a business strategist and brave leadership consultant. She builds vibrant businesses and energizes visionary founders and leaders and their teams who run them. She also facilitates brave yes, leadership team retreats.
Sean has a 20 year history as a social justice advocate, volunteer and [00:01:00] human’s rights activist, and believes that greater good practices need to be baked into your business just like a sales strategy. Hi, Sean. How are you today?
Shawn: Hello, I’m great. Thank you so much for having me here today.
Porschia: Absolutely. I’m excited to have you with us to discuss having a beginner’s mindset, but first we want to know a little bit more about you.
So tell me about seven year old Sean.
Shawn: Oh, goodness gracious. I love this question so much. I can’t even tell you. I’ve actually written about seven year old Sean. So seven year old Sean thought she was invincible. She even she played Supergirl a lot with her best friend Marianne on a farm. And she thought, they thought that they could, basically conquer the world.
And I, funny story, I actually, scaled a wall, like a stone wall at [00:02:00] her farm using a jump rope and she held the other end, but she let go and I fell into a pit of manure. So I guess I really wasn’t that invincible, but I definitely thought I could change the world and be this great hero. And what that looks like now is a little different than then, but that was a very imaginative.
Free spirit.
Porschia: Yes. That sounds fun, except for the whole falling into the pile thing. But yeah, that, that sounds amazing. What did seven year old Sean want to be when she grew up? I
Shawn: don’t know that she, she definitely wanted to, I think at that time, she actually probably wanted to be something like a fashion designer.
I had one of those I want to be a fashion designer, but I can’t draw. And I want to be a an, a marine biologist, but I don’t want to dive. And, I went through a lot of that, but ultimately I always wanted to be a writer. And that’s [00:03:00] I, everything goes back to that.
The other funny story about that, actually, as I tell this story a lot I was a podcaster at seven.
Porschia: Wow.
Shawn: So I, yeah, I would record these long detailed stories on my grandmother’s tape recorder back in her bedroom, her back bedroom. And I would go for hours telling these stories and the most famous story is Ralph the Bear.
I love it. I was podcasting at seven. You were so ahead of the curve, Sean.
Didn’t even know it. Yeah. So tell us about some highlights or pivotal moments in your career before you started your own business.
Mm hmm. I, everything that I know in this lifetime to a career a decade in journalism where I was a reporter who went out did a lot of homicide stories and crime and mayhem [00:04:00] and death and destruction, but I also built a pretty great beat around social justice.
And we didn’t call it social justice back then, by the way, this was 20 years ago. We caught it. Race relations. But I, there was some things locally in our local area that bubbled up. And so that taught me, asking the right questions, getting into people’s living rooms, understanding what empathy is.
Of course, you weren’t supposed to have a lot of empathy, but I did. I was the most empathetic journalist there was, and that’s why I didn’t make it. So I burned out on that that lifestyle. About 10 years in, and then I flitted around. I worked for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
I worked for a politician for a while, and it was during that. Time. I love the service piece, but I could not stand the lack of creativity and really for me, the lack of visibility. Cause I’m a talker. I want to be [00:05:00] in the, I want to be in the spotlight, not helping somebody else be in the spotlight.
That’s what I learned from that. And it was during that time I would get up early and I was blogging and I was just writing and started building a community. And eventually that community really grew. And that’s exactly, he went on to do higher office and I said, no, thank you. And that’s when I kind of leapt out on my own and decided I’m just going to see how it goes.
And that was 11 years ago. And I haven’t had to get a JOB since.
Porschia: You have had a really fascinating career. I’ve spoken with some reporters and journalists and just the things that they cover are really. foundational, I think, to presenting the news to people viewers, everyday viewers, that watch on TV or online now.
So I’m sure that brings some different perspectives to the work that you do now. What [00:06:00] motivated you to start your own business? outside of, wanting that spotlight, like you mentioned to
Shawn: us. Yeah. When you’re a reporter and I was a newspaper reporter, so I was a print so again, writing, and I actually started in newspapers because I really wanted to be in magazines.
I really want, that’s what I imagined. And you gotta, you, in order to get into magazines, you had to have bylines. I didn’t have any bylines. So I was like what am I going to do? So I started what I thought was going to be a freelancer at my newspaper, my hometown, and the editor during that conversation was like, yeah, that’s, I’m ready to hire you.
And then he put me on the Obit desk. I started, I could talk all day about, yes, I have had a very interesting life. And I think at the end of the day for me when I started my business I’m an accidental entrepreneur. I was one of the people who came up when blogging and I’m monetizing [00:07:00] your blog.
And creating membership communities was a really easy endeavor. It’s not that easy anymore. So it’s a little, it’s a whole lot of a different landscape, but at that time I saw it as a place to, to express and write without the overlords of the editors telling you, you got to do it this way. You got to do it there.
I loved the idea that I could tell stories and put information out there. Using my own expertise and life experiences in a way that didn’t have this great big oversight, which, which, still like I can make typos and it’s okay, and I do, I’m sure I make a ton of typos, but I’m telling really authentic, real stories.
And that’s what I really love. That’s what I love. And that’s what’s transformed it. My original business, which I do not have now was a membership community of about 200 women from around the world. Great. Amazing people who came together just because I was posting my writing online. [00:08:00] And it was an amazing, it was a beautiful eight year ride that I treasure like completely, I just, I still have all their cards and emails that they still send me because they were so transformed by that work.
Porschia: Yeah it definitely sounds very meaningful. So why did you decide to, shift focus in this current business and work with business owners?
Shawn: Yeah. First of all, I think I’ve always been just as soon as I found first, as soon as I claimed that I was a business owner instead of a freelancer and really saw myself as a founder and an entrepreneur, I loved thinking it, breathing it, living it.
I am still do. I’m sure you feel the same way. Like it’s just so consuming when you have that ability to create something, make something, offer something and. And people like it, like that’s so like to me, that’s a bit of a, it’s almost like an addiction. I just, I love that feeling.
I’m a creator, I’m a maker. And so [00:09:00] the original business, which I, had such great success with became more of a hustle because of the way the market changed. And it was harder and harder to get people to stay in the community and finding new people. And it just became for me, Because I really value being present.
I have two girls. And I just really wanted to be able to be a slower life. I didn’t want to do hustle and grind. And and it was 2020 and I decided, hey, that business was a mom business. I worked with moms and my kids were six that at that point, they were 16 when I decided to shift. They didn’t, they did not want me to talk about them anymore online.
They didn’t want, so I had changed a lot and I think that’s something that people need to understand that once you get to a certain point in your first business. You do get a point where you might outgrow it and that, people had told me I was outgrowing it, but I didn’t believe that for a while.
I was like, no, I didn’t. I’m gonna, it’s [00:10:00] just fine. I love, and I did love it. But personally, I really had outgrown it and I was ready to do other things. And so it was a natural shift for me to start coaching and really talking about business strategy with other people.
Porschia: You said a lot of great information there that I think, people really should Take note of right.
It’s okay to perhaps outgrow a business or want to change what they’re doing, right? If they don’t have a business, maybe outgrowing something is maybe changing careers. And it’s okay to do that. I think that’s a great segue into our topic today on mindset. And before we get too deep with mindset, Sean, I want to know what is your definition of mindset?
Shawn: Yeah, for me, mindset is that set of beliefs that you are operating on right now. And a lot of times your [00:11:00] mindset is so ingrained, you have no idea it’s there. And unless you are being very intentional with the thoughts that you’re having the beliefs that you’re living by, or leading by, or running your business by, you may not even know There’s this reel in the back of your head that is just telling you to that.
No, you can’t do something or, oh, it only has to be this certain way, which is really what was going on for me with my first business for a while. Again I just felt like, oh, I can do this. I can do this. was so afraid to try something different. Which, and I’ll, as we talk about the beginner’s mindset, I’ll explain a little bit more about that, that mindset of no, everything was good.
So it’s going to, no reason to change. It did need to change. And we have to be open to that, our mindsets can keep us back.
Porschia: I love that. I love what you said. And [00:12:00] I completely agree. And mindset has become, I think, a more common topic nowadays. People talk about mindset, which I think is great.
I got my undergraduate degree in psychology, so I was always interested in mindset and how people think. I really love the point that you mentioned about the subconscious thoughts and beliefs that people have. That affect their mindset. And then they’re also conscious thoughts and beliefs that people have when it comes to their mindset and both are at play as we just move through our days on autopilot.
Important things to note. I think that having a beginner’s mindset is vital for entrepreneurs and professionals. So for those who don’t know, what is a beginner’s mindset?
Shawn: So yeah, beginner’s mindset. There’s a couple of, ways to look at it, but, if you approach anything, and I try to approach life every day, like I’m a [00:13:00] beginner, just in how I want to show up and have a fun day, right?
But a beginner’s mindset is that mindset that you have when you’re starting out and it’s okay to make mistakes and it’s okay to be learning and it’s okay to have that growth mindset in place. And it’s okay that I don’t know everything, right? Especially when you’re starting a business, you don’t know everything.
The problem becomes when we don’t let go of our beginner’s mindset. And that’s the work that I, I do with my clients who are not new in most of the time when they come to work with me.
Porschia: To that point, when do you think someone should let go of the beginner’s mindset, John?
Shawn: Yeah, good question. The beginner’s mindset starts to, when it starts to take over and you’re not making progress, You’re not moving along and getting that momentum that you want. And it’s usually because in begun and beginners [00:14:00] mindset, again, we do need that level of beginner’s mindset at times throughout the journey of being an entrepreneur.
But If all you’re doing is learning. And I always add, this is my common Sean ism. If you’re trapped in beginner’s mindset and you’re only learning, you’re not leading. And if you’re not leading, it’s really hard for your visibility to be taken seriously and to put yourself out there and attract new people to your business.
But a lot of times what I see often, so often, I need to get more education. I need to get a certification. I need to go through this program. I need to take this course. I need to learn this new thing, this new gadget, this new software, and they stay in that place. And if that’s All that you’re in and you’re only copying what other people are doing or trying to learn what other people are selling you, [00:15:00] which is a lot these days, you’re not advancing your business in the way that you want.
So when should you, I think it’s very intuitive. Like you have to have that wait, and usually it’s like when I speak, Oh yeah, you’re right. Like literally, I think sometimes people don’t even think about it because you just think I’ve just got to learn all the things. And I did that too. That was, that was my own story.
That’s how I know this is to be true is when I had my first business, I was in, I was probably, six figures. Easily third year. And I was still signing up for all of these programs, all of these courses, all these things. And every time I did that, I was like I know this material. I know what to do.
But the courses weren’t really teaching me anything new, but I was still signing up for them because I had the beginner’s mindset. I’m still new. I still don’t know what I’m doing. [00:16:00] I absolutely knew what I was doing. I didn’t believe that I did. I didn’t trust myself. I thought everybody else knew more than I did.
They actually didn’t. That was like the punchline, right? They actually didn’t. So I think when really depends on the person, if you really truly are signing up for things and to learn a lot of times too, education is a big one. I’ve got to get another degree. I’ve got to get another, take another course.
That’s not usually needed. To actually do well in your business sometimes. Yes, but a lot of times, no, you have to really ask yourself, do I really need, or is this another excuse for me to not being out doing the work? Because let’s face it, the doing the work in a business is actually a really hard.
That’s the hard part.
Porschia: Yes, I loved what you said about stepping back, right? And thinking, are you only learning and not leading? I think [00:17:00] that was really powerful. And I think that’s important for people to remember as when they might be Need to shift out of the beginner’s mindset. But I want to talk more about when someone is in that place where the beginner’s mindset could be helpful for them.
In my time, coaching entrepreneurs and executives. I’ve seen how embracing the beginner’s mindset can help them be successful. In your opinion, how does the beginner’s mindset really support an entrepreneur or a professional with being successful?
Shawn: [00:18:00] Yeah. First of all, it gives you that opportunity to be open and to understand that you Have an opportunity before you to learn and to grow and to meet, meet people and be mentored by people.
I tend to be somebody who operates in a kind of a naive, not in a bad way, but in a, Hey, I don’t really know what I’m doing. I’m okay with that. And I’ve, I often tell my clients, say yes, before you’re ready. Because in business, you have to be ready to say yes to something that you don’t feel ready for and be open to learning and figuring it out as you go, which is again, goes back to, [00:19:00] you don’t need to take a course.
necessarily to do it. Trust yourself. Put your work out there. Do the things that maybe scare you, which is why I do courage coaching. And embrace that beginner’s mindset. I’m always like, Hey, I’ve been going around doing a lot of in person networking lately because I’ve been an online entrepreneur for 11 years.
Yeah, I’m a little like awkward at it. And I’m just being really honest with people like, Hey, I’m really new at this. I don’t know what I’m doing. Like I’m good at talking to people socially. I’m good at speaking to a room of 200 people. I am not good at sitting there, getting to know people. It is just very uncomfortable.
So I’m just telling people, Hey, I haven’t done this in My whole career, really, I’ve never had to do networking, except for through the computer. Telling people like, Hey, I’m really new at this, that can be really helpful. And people do want to help you. That’s the thing when you have a beginner’s mindset, and you’re willing to try things and do things differently.[00:20:00]
It can be fun.
Porschia: Yeah. Yeah. So something else, Sean, I want to talk about, I have seen many entrepreneurs and executives not embrace a beginner’s mindset because they think it will make them look inexperienced or like they don’t know what they’re doing. What would you say to someone who feels that way?
Shawn: Yeah. I just talked with somebody recently who’s experiencing this. So there’s a couple of things I would say, first of all, why do you think that you should know everything when you’re brand new in any space, in any situation, you could fake it till you make it, but people are going to see that.
I’m a big fan of transparency honesty is my top strength and anytime a client comes to me and they’re like, what should I say in this situation? And Where I’m feeling, I don’t know what I’m doing. Be honest, just be like, I’m new. I’m new at this.
[00:21:00] I don’t know what people will respect that far more than they will if you are faking it. If you’re trying to act like you, you do know and I know it’s okay to be the new person or the person who doesn’t know everything. It really is okay. We learn more when we are in that space, when we’re asking good questions.
Cause we’re, cause we don’t know everything. Cause that’s how I, that’s how I approach a lot of things. My husband’s the same way. Like we’re just big, we’re big question askers. People want you to be able to share information with you. They really, and that empowers them too.
Porschia: Yeah, I agree. And with the speed of technology and innovation, whole fields are changing really quickly.
So even if, someone considers themselves to be an expert with the research that’s happening all the time with, these [00:22:00] advancements, I don’t think that, not learning, to some degree and not being aware of what’s on, um, is helpful or beneficial to you, in your business or your career because things are changing, right?
And so that’s why, also, there are certifications and other publications or associations to keep up with things. So I liked what you said there about, being honest, but, two people who feel like, Oh, I’m afraid to have the beginner’s mindset. I think they should take some of that pressure off of themselves to have it all together, appear perfect, appear like the quote unquote expert.
If that makes sense.
Shawn: Yeah, absolutely. I really do believe that and this is something I think I learned right after I graduated from high school. I think I don’t think any adult really knows what they’re doing. I think we all are pretending like we do, right? Even at the top, like they’re all like just winging it.
But yeah, I think that you’re right. And, everybody brings forth [00:23:00] experience. And, I don’t know everything about business. I’m a really good business strategist, but I don’t know every industry. I know a lot of them. And, but I have a strength that I can bring into my business and my coaching that nobody else is going to have, because it’s just through my life, my experiences, and you always bring that to any situation that comes with you.
It just walks in your body with you. You may not know all the what’s and ifs and how’s. But you can still be a very strong leader. And I talk a lot. I have a new sub stack newsletter called braving leadership lab, because I’m so passionate about this idea of Being a brave leader. You don’t have to fake it.
You can still be a brave leader and not have all the answers and not know everything because again, you’re just showing up as you and bring your expertise, your experiences, and then also bring everybody else in and their expertise and their experiences. And that’s how you come to some kind of a beautiful collective [00:24:00] power where everybody’s contributing.
You don’t have to be the know it all. I, there was a point in my life where I thought, I would be the know it all. The queen, right? That’s what I thought. I wouldn’t be in charge. I don’t feel that way anymore. I really don’t. Like I, let’s bring everybody’s voice in and learn together.
Porschia: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You said a lot of great things there. One thing that kind of stuck out to me from a business perspective towards what you were saying at the end, I heard someone say, Recently, and I guess multiple times different people, but a lot of the most successful business owners, they’re collaborating.
A lot of the business owners that are just getting started or have plateaued. Those are the ones that are more competitive, or focused on, um, being the one and only expert. So to your point about, collaborating and bringing everyone together, I think that not only is [00:25:00] it great for like building relationships, but I think it also helps you get better results in your business and in your career as well.
Shawn: Yeah, I definitely see that as a thing. A turn of the tides that collaboration is definitely not only a good way to go. It’s survival. If you’re gonna, if you’re gonna survive, you’re gonna have to be collaborating and building relationships and working with other people and helping to lift everybody up because it is, it’s a hard market.
It’s a really hard market for every industry. So yeah, I, I completely agree. In fact, you and I got to connected through one of those very collaborations our mutual friend, Rebecca we have a little cohort of business owners who just started meeting and we help each other, we support each other.
Porschia: Yeah, that is great. That is great. I think for people listening, that’s another takeaway, to [00:26:00] not only embrace the beginner’s mindset, but, to build relationships, you can form some of these collaborative groups, or, maybe join some associations where they’re doing those sorts of things to Sean’s point.
Sean, what are some tips that you’d give executives and entrepreneurs who want to focus on improving their mindset?
Shawn: Yeah. The number one thing I always say, and this is, I’m partial to it because it’s how I start all of my coaching clients off is really applying to your unique core strengths. Your mindset, I actually don’t call myself a mindset coach at all.
I’m much more interested in the skill sets of entrepreneurship. And entrepreneurialism because I know that, whatever your mindset is, if you’re not doing the work, you’re not going to see the results. And so doing the work is putting yourself out there, talking to people, building those [00:27:00] relationships, making the offers, making the pitches, all of that is like the stuff that I really work with my clients on, but to build your mindset, first you have to have that self awareness.
That, I was the first homework I’ll give a client is start tracking those thoughts and, it’s like it goes from subconscious to conscious, right? It’s Oh, you know what? I didn’t even realize that I’ve had that same thought for 30 years. I say I’m 50. I just turned 50. And I have 50 years of thoughts that I have to sometimes undo.
And just the way you’re, the way you were conditioned, the way you were raised, your culture all of that. And you get to decide if you want to keep them or not, if you want to change them or not. And if you want to change them, you got to first identify the ones that you no longer want. I think sometimes the work that I do is best described as unlearning.
I feel like we’re just unlearning or unlearning a whole lot of things in coaching. So yeah, [00:28:00] starting a thought log number one is the best way to start understanding what your thoughts are. Cause I was somebody who, I really didn’t, I would have thought I was a positive mindset person until I started recognizing, Oh, like there’s a deeper level there of fear of playing small of, Oh, I’m not good enough.
I have a, I’ve had a mindset of who do you think you are? That was like a voice that in the back of my head who do you think you are to do that? And that would keep me from trying things and trying different things and doing different things. I always say, playing to your strengths, though, is so important with your mindset.
If I just don’t believe that We have to fix all of our flaws. You’re, you’re an amazing person. You have your zone of brilliance. I have my zone of brilliance and really playing to that. And instead of trying to say, Oh, I’m amazing. And I can do anything. No, you actually can’t do anything.
There’s going to be some things that you’re really good at and some things that you’re [00:29:00] probably not so good at play to your strengths, build your bat, your mindset around your strengths. So that you can really talk about yourself and your work in a way that feels positive, energizing, so many of my clients come to me just thinking they’re, they’re bad at time management.
They, they don’t have, they can’t follow through. There’s just so many things. You got to work with what you’re good at and build on that because then you’ll build yourself up easily. The other thing I’ll just say is, I’m sorry, I don’t want to cut you off. It’s just getting the support, having other people to brainstorm with or talk to, to help zoom out, I can sit there and spin around and around on the same thing and not see my own blind spots, but I’ll have a conversation with a coach of mine or with a peer.
And they’ll just call it out for me. And I do that for my clients, right? Oh, [00:30:00] there it is. Did you even see that? And they didn’t see it. They, and for years they didn’t see it. So it’s sometimes we cannot always find those mindset issues that we need to really address on our own need to have them put out on the stage and shown a light
Porschia: right.
Yeah, I agree, to your point playing to your strengths. Creating that thought log and getting support. I think all of those are really helpful when it comes to working on your mindset. So Sean, tell us more about your business.
Shawn: Yeah, so I’m a business strategist and a courage coach slash leadership consultant.
I really love to geek out on the actual like building of a business. So offers, pricing, strategy, marketing, all of it. I can, I really love to get into all of it. But I also really love to work with the founder to be a braver, bolder leader to put themselves [00:31:00] out there and their business out there in the world so that they have more visibility.
And that they’re taking. Good, good intentional risks. Because that’s what it takes in business to take those risks and not play small, which is what I did for so long. Yeah that’s.
Porschia: Basically
Shawn: it.
Porschia: We’ll be providing a link to your website and other social channels in our show notes so that people can find you online.
But what is the best way for someone to get in touch with you?
Shawn: If they want to contact me directly, LinkedIn is the best place. That’s where I usually do a lot of Chatting. But yeah they can also get on my email list and that would be another way. You can just reply to any email.
Porschia: Great. Great. So now Sean, I want to ask you our last question that I like to ask all of our guests.
How do you think executives or professionals can get a positive edge in their career or business?
Shawn: I think. In my experience, [00:32:00] and I’m, we didn’t get into this yet here today, but to have a, what I call a brave. Yes. Mindset and your brave. Yes. Mindset is you’re open. You’re open to possibility. You’re open to new adventures. You’re open to what what might be something that makes you feel uncomfortable.
But you’re open to it. And I think the more that we become those kinds of leaders. The more change, good change we’re going to see in our world.
Porschia: I love it. And we are definitely aligned with our affinity for the word brave. Our community members know that’s the title of our newsletter. And our membership is called the Brave Bird Career Alliance.
So I love that you embrace the word brave in your business. As well Sean, you have shared a lot of great insights with us today, and I’m sure that our listeners can use it to be more [00:33:00] confident in their businesses and in their careers. So we appreciate you for being with us. Thank you so much.
