The Business of Being: An Interview with Laurie Buchanan, PhD
Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler with Laurie Buchanan, PhD/@TueswithLaurie
“Don’t go with the flow, or against it. Create your own.” —Laurie Buchanan
I am very pleased to feature Laurie Buchanan, PhD again to talk about her new book, The Business of Being: Soul Purpose In and Out of the Workplace, with a publication date of July 10, 2018. For those of you who know Laurie, you know that she is a respected professional life coach and a professed minimalist who dishes out pearls of wisdom about living life with intention. For those who are just meeting her, you’re in for a treat! Laurie was my guest when she published her first book, Notes to Self.
My reviews for The Business of Being can be found on Amazon, Goodreads, LibraryThings and Riffle Books.
My reviews for Note to Self can also be found on Amazon, Goodreads, LibraryThings and Riffle Books
Welcome back, Laurie!
Author and Transformational Life Coach Laurie Buchanan, PhD.
The Business of Being: An Interview with Laurie Buchanan, Ph.D.
KP: Laurie, I’m thrilled to have you back to discuss your new book, The Business of Being. Let me say for starters that the title immediately drew me in. The topic of business can be very dry, yet the “being” part intrigued me. How did you come up with this title?
LB: I was first introduced to ONTOLOGY while reading Madeleine L’Engle’s nonfiction series, The Crosswicks Journals and have been fascinated ever since. Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, becoming, existence, or reality. In my position as a holistic health practitioner, I work with people’s BEing on a regular basis. In my role as a transformational life coach, I often work with people who are interested in starting their own business. The idea of writing a book about The Business of Being was too good to pass up.
KP: You published this book a mere two years after publishing Notes to Self. That makes me think the ideas were brewing in your mind while writing your first book. I think that’s a common feeling among writers, yet you made it happen. How did you discipline yourself to keep writing until you finished your second book? Any writing tips to share about staying on track and getting it done?
LB: I took a three-month sabbatical to Darby, Montana Jan-Mar, 2017 to work on The Business of Being. During that window of time that geographic location experienced record-breaking snow storms. That foul weather kept me indoors and focused on the task at hand—getting the book out of my head and into a manuscript.
My best tips for staying on track with writing are to (a) schedule it in my calendar and honor it like it would any other professional appointment, and (b) light a tea candle when I sit down to write. When I light that candle, the flame is my “contract” to stay seated until the fire goes out of its own volition (usually about five hours).
KP: In Business of Being, you weave in three separate books —a business guide, an engaging story and a self-help guide—into one. That is what kept me turning the pages because you laid the foundation of business principles, applied business practices to the story of a group of people who started a French Restaurant (complete with recipes for each course) then turned it all into life lessons to apply to one’s own life. How did you come up with such a creative and engaging structure?
LB: As you can imagine, a business book has the potential for being dry as stale bread and who wants to choke that down? No one. As a foodie, I w anted this book to be a delicious read, so I paired twelve elements in a business plan with twelve courses in a full French meal, offering a mouthwatering recipe and wine pairing for each course.
The chapters in The Business of Being are designed like a decadent chocolate sandwich cookie:
The lightly sweet wafer on one side reviews a single business plan element.
The delicious wafer on the other side is the counterpart in our personal lives and shows how the concept can be used to make BEing even better.
The sinfully rich ganache filling between is the story of La Mandarine Bleue, a French restaurant that shows from start to finish—hors d’oeuvres to cafe’—how the elements (ingredients of a business plan) are dished up and served to perfection in real life.
KP: We all have our reasons for publishing a book. What motivated you to write The Business of Being? What is the main message you want your reader to glean from your story?
LB: I ran away from home—sunny southern California to the overcast Pacific Northwest—when I was fifteen. Lying about my age, I applied at one of those everything-under-one-roof superstores and got a job. Over the next five years, I worked my way from entry-level cashier to management.
During that five-year timeframe, I had occasion to attend corporate meetings at the company headquarters in Portland, Oregon. On a few of those visits, I had the opportunity to meet the founder, the man responsible for implementing the company’s governing beliefs.
I hadn’t thought about that employment experience in decades until my husband and I relocated from twenty-three years in the greater Chicagoland area to the temperate climate of southwestern Idaho and I saw one of the stores. I pulled into the parking lot, entered the doors, and a flood of good memories rushed in. As a businesswoman, I wondered:
Does this superstore—that has since been bought by a megastore but operates under the same name—still practice its fundamental governing beliefs? Have the original principles been expanded? Have they been compromised?
But more important, as a transformational life coach I wanted to answer this question,
“Can implementing business values improve personal lives?”
To get the answers, I applied for a job. During the interview process, I explained the purpose of my application for employment—to get back in the trenches so I could answer those questions honestly and write a book from a present-day perspective that would benefit my clients.
As a holistic health practitioner, I was an ideal fit for a position in their nutrition center. Thus began my two-year, behind-the-scenes investigative look at what moves the current-day business forward—and what holds it back.
KP: Marketing is always a challenging aspect of publishing a book. You have been marketing this book for a while—well before your publication date– through book announcements, advanced reviews, blogging about your writing process. I’d love for you to share some of your marketing tips that you have found to be effective.
LB: In my experience, consistency is the key. Each morning I change the pinned Tweet on my Twitter account to something fresh—usually a meme I’ve created with a quote that is positive, uplifting, constructive, and healing. It might be a quote from one of my books, or it might be from an inspirational person whose philosophy I respect. I then post that same meme on my personal and author pages on Facebook, and on Instagram. If it’s business related, I’ll post it on LinkedIn, too.
But it doesn’t stop there. If we want people to reTweet, reGram, or share our posts, we have to do the same for them. I invest the time it takes me to enjoy two cups of coffee each morning sharing other people’s social media posts.
KP: Thank you, Laurie, for sharing your writing process with us. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
LB: Kathy, THANK YOU so much for having me as your guest. It’s always a pleasure to visit with you and your readers.
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Thank you, Laurie, for sharing your writing process and your life experiences that led to you writing this book. You have served up a feast for us all to enjoy!
Author’s Bio:
Board certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners, Laurie Buchanan is a holistic health practitioner and transformational life coach. Her areas of interest include energy medicine, inner alchemy, spiritual awareness, writing, and laughter. Definitely laughter!
Embracing the belief that life is an expression of the choices we make, Buchanan is a teacher and student of purposeful living. With tremendous respect for the earth’s natural resources, she strives to leave the slightest footprint on the planet while at the same time making a lasting impression on its inhabitants—one that is positive, uplifting, constructive,and healing.
A minimalist by intent, she lives a beautiful life with fewer things—simple yet full.
Please visit Laurie’s blog, Tuesdays with Laurie, at www.tuesdayswithlaurie.com.
Synopsis of The Business of Being:
This book isn’t just about being in business; it’s about the business of being. But when you stop to think about it, each of us is like a small business. Successful business owners implement strategies that improve their prospects for success. Similarly, as human beings, it serves us well to implement guiding principles that inspire us to live our purpose and reach our goals.
The rich ganache filling that flows through the center of this book is the story of La Mandarine Bleue, a delicious depiction of how nine individuals used twelve steps of a business plan to find their vocation and undergo a transformation (with some French recipes thrown in for good measure).
From a business plan and metrics to mission and goals with everything between—investors, clients and customers, marketing strategies, and goodwill development—this book clearly maps how to create personal transformation at the intersection of business and spirituality. Merging the language of business and self-help, The Business of Being will teach you how to enhance “profitability”—body, mind, and spirit.
Amazon link (available on July 10, 2018)
The Business of Being: Soul Purpose In and Out of the Workplace is a Finalist in the Self-Help: Motivational category of the 2018 International Book Awards:
http://www.internationalbookawards.com/2018pressrelease.html
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How about you? Can you see how applying business principles to your life can help you live with intention?
We’d love to hear from you. Please join in the conversation below~
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Next Week:
Monday, July 16, 2018:
“The Annual IWWG Summer Conference 2018 Recap.”
