Ivy Hartman: Welcome to NAWBO 2008 in Phoenix, Arizona. I’m Ivy Hartman and I’m with only the second male to sit in the hot seat here at the conference, we’re here with Doug Sawin of Life Skills Training Institute. Doug, tell us more about Life Skills Training Institute out of Mission Viejo, California
Doug Sawin: Our focus is on supporting women who are in business or in corporate positions to provide some guidance and support, to help them move ahead especially those women who were feeling a little stock like there’s a glass ceiling or like there are women business owner they’re not quite competing the way they want to and it’s really leading them now where their strength and power is so they can move ahead.
Ivy Hartman: That is the key there’s a positive reinforcement. Talk about the strengths and focus on those but also correct some of these other things that maybe holding them back.
Doug Sawin: Well, my experience is if I can help people focus on their strengths we don’t need to worry about those other things. Most people I learned fortunately especially women in our culture don’t appreciate how much power they do have and how effective they really can be. And if I’ll just focus on that, I don’t have to focus on that difference of current working with people to somewhat role work.
Ivy Hartman: Well, being a male how did you get in to starting a company like Life Skills Training Institute?
Doug Sawin: Well, I’ve been working with people in both a long, long time. I’m a PhD in Human Development so my perspective is development and I have a second PhD in Counseling Psychology so I developed some skills and putting those together provides opportunities for growth.
Ivy Hartman: That’s a little intimidating, both of those. I was going “Wow!” Not to think about the dual dot tour degrees but there in to sitting next to him and thinking “What’s he thinking?”
Doug Sawin: I’ve actually learned more from my clients and I get all those shares of graduate school, they’ve taught me, not graduate school, they’ve taught me over the many years that I’ve been working with women.
Ivy Hartman: Give me some examples of some success stories. You don’t have to be specific with names or anything but talk about some of the—you know give us some examples of some of the women that you’ve help.
Doug Sawin: I’d love to. Woman that comes to mind specifically, she and her husband started a business so that’s pretty prosperous. They got $10 million a year. And she had the misfortune, I think committing suicide and just leaving her with the business and a lot of kids and she just struggled with that. And in part because she felt like he’s business that she was having to run and that she had this extra responsibility not to disappoint him and what I have to see was that “Hey, she didn’t have to be that at all!” She’s been one of the—unless she chose to be she could make with her, unless she made it heard she could do whatever she wants. Well, what she did was she allowed the business to become small, sort of manageable for her and she’s happy running it by herself now and not she’s left all along that history that had occurred in tide and she’s doing what she likes.
Ivy Hartman: Now, I think as a woman and as a business owner I have trouble putting my finger on what it is that’s upsetting. So when she came to you as a client, she know that it was those obstacles she was facing or you—as the expert you have to realize what it was.
Doug Sawin: She come reporting depression and in 20 minutes I said to her it’s not depression. You know she’s like she’d been depressed for years and I said “You’re grieving!”
Ivy Hartman: All right.
Doug Sawin: You’re haven’t guessed it along. And on top of that you’re carrying a sweet love.
Ivy Hartman: You’re wonderful that you helped her, that’s a great example. Thank you for being here with us. How can we get more information about Life Skills Training Institute?
Doug Sawin: Please go to our website LifeSkillsTrainingInstitute.com or LSTI.com and please give me a call anytime.
Ivy Hartman: Wonderful.
Doug Sawin: I'm readily available and I love to flaunt to women about their business.
Ivy Hartman: We’ll you’re at the right place here at the NAWBO conference.
Doug Sawin: Indeed.
Ivy Hartman: Yes, you are. Doug and I have a lot more to talk about as you can see. Why don’t you check out our continued coverage right here of NAWBO 2008 at SBTV.com, where small business is our only business.
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