The Philly Happening Women Series is a reoccurring feature that highlights inspirational female personalities, entrepreneurs, and women making a difference in the City of Brotherly Love!
Local Entrepreneur on constant quest to find the best version of herself.
Tagged by Success magazine as a “One-Woman Brand” and a leading “Serial Entrepreneur” by Entrepreneur magazine, Groover’s name is synonymous with creativity, innovation, and evolution. Groover is the creator of the wildly popular Butler Bag and a regularly featured business and lifestyle expert for major television networks. Groover is also the author of the book What If? & Why Not? How to Transform Your Fears Into Action and Start the Business of Your Dreams. Her Second book, Operator’s Manual for Life will be released in March and will be available through Amazon (stay tuned for pre-order offers in late February).
For Groover, entrepreneurship is about more than just creating and selling products—it’s about personal growth and pushing yourself further. “As an entrepreneur, personal development is your number one priority,” Groover says. “You should be working to be the best person you can be every day. Inner work makes the outer work less work.”
Every day Groover recites positive affirmations, meditates, and reads. “It is my learning time. I come up with ideas as I’m reading,” Groover says. “I read every day to support my brain and I exercise every day to support my body.”
Philly Happening Editor Susan Field sat down with Groover at La. Va Café, 2100 South Street, to discuss how she optimizes each day, the importance of affirmations and meditation, and the biggest lesson she’s learned as an entrepreneur.
What kinds of things can people do for personal development?
Attend workshops, read, watch TED talks, meditate, do brain games, eat and sleep well, exercise, constantly surround yourself with higher-level thinkers, set aside brainstorming time.
How do you find time to do these things throughout the day?
Schedule it! Put it in your calendar.
I create a to-do checklist every day with an allotted amount of time. If I don’t plan my day out, I waste the first half of my day creating a plan.
Why is it so important to recite daily affirmations? (Affirmations are positive words or phrases about yourself that empower, uplift and inspire).
Your beliefs define your outcomes. First you should identify what beliefs you have. A mentor of mine made me question all my beliefs. You might be operating on beliefs that you didn’t know you had. Ask yourself if your beliefs are your beliefs or someone else’s? Reciting daily positive affirmations are a way to help ingrain or reinforce the positive beliefs that you want to have.
I say “I am” statements every day. The statements have to be a statement of what you want to be—when you say them, you act as if you already are.
Can you give us some tips for how to get started with daily affirmations?
Create 10 “I am” statements and record them on your phone so you have them with you at all times. Say them three times a day. During this process, watch how your energy changes!
Why is it so important to meditate?
I meditate and pray. Meditation helps you get clear. When you meditate and pray, ask for guidance. Ask for signs of opportunity in front of you. If your eyes aren’t open, you won’t see the opportunities. Meditation helps you to be prepared when opportunities present themselves because you’re more awake and aware.
We are hearing more and more about the importance of being mindful. What’s the correlation between mindfulness and business?
Our thought leaders today are taking a very different approach to leadership and business.
We are in an era of mindful moguls. A mindful mogul is a leader who is constantly aware; someone who understands a richer belief in our human potential; someone who understands how quantum physics and neuroscience help us become better humans. Our thought leaders today are taking a very different approach to leadership and business. They are leading people with a better sense of cultural and social responsibility.
Who are some entrepreneurs that you admire?
Oprah, Richard Branson, Jessica Herrin, founder of Stella & Dot.
You’re a very busy person who is involved in so many projects and initiatives. How do you manage to balance all your activities without burning out?
So much of success is energy management. Getting enough sleep is so important. If you’re tired, you’re working so much harder because your brain isn’t functioning properly.
We have been brainwashed in our society to believe that the key to success is to work hard, work harder. We actually optimize our potential when we learn how to manage our energy.
I don’t hang out with negative people, or people who complain because those people sap your energy.
I stop in the middle of the day every day and meditate for 20 minutes. You get so much more energy by doing this than by taking a nap.
Move toward good energy. Don’t think about what you can get out of something, think about what you can give.
You mentioned that you read every day. What are some book recommendations for our readers?
- Infinite Potential: What Quantum Physics Reveals About How We Should Live, by Lothar Schaffer
- Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill
- The Code of the Extraordinary Mind: 10 Unconventional Laws to Redefine Your Life and Succeed on Your Own Terms, by Vishen Lakhiani
- Frequency: The Power of Personal Vibration, by Penney Peirce
- Clarity: Clear Mind, Better Performance, Better Results, by Jamie Smart
What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned as an entrepreneur?
Know when to push forward and when to sit back and let the right people and the right circumstances align for the right timing. Learn to trust yourself. Trust in your intuition.
To learn more about Jen Groover, or to connect with her, visit: http://www.jengroover.com ; follow her on Twitter @Jengroover; and on Facebook under Jen Groover.
