#17: How to Clear Your Mind, Calm Your Nerves, and Pivot Like a Pro with Jenny Blake

“Pivoting” might seem like a dirty word in business, but Jenny Blake has learned to embrace it. Not only that, but she’s built her career around it, becoming a business strategist, keynote speaker, and author who teaches others the positive value of pivoting. Blake is the author of Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One, and the creator of the Pivot Method, which distills all the wisdom she’s gained throughout her career to teach you how to change your business direction without falling on your face. Blake learned the virtues of pivoting by doing it many times throughout her career. After spending two years at a technology startup in Palo Alto, she landed a job at Google as a product trainer for AdWords. She stayed there for five years, training more than 1,000 employees and building her public speaking and career coaching skills, before she pivoted once more and set out to become a solopreneur. She now speaks and holds workshops on the Pivot Method around the world, at companies like Intuit and Pimco, universities like Yale and MIT, and conferences like TEDxCMU and the World Domination Summit. She also runs the Pivot Podcast, which started as a passion project while she was writing Pivot and has grown into a forum for world-renowned authors and businesspeople to share their advice on how to seize opportunities and pivot like pros. Jenny has so many great stories and insights to share in our interview, from the health benefits of practicing yoga to why reading will make you a better person. She also talks about how to get over your fears of public speaking, how meditation will make you a better entrepreneur, and how you can use the Pivot Method to succeed in business and improve your personal life. In this episode with Jenny Blake, you’ll learn: — Why you should be listening to the Pivot Podcast — How realizing that courage is hard will help you succeed — How to use your job as training for entrepreneurship — How to conquer a fear of public speaking — Exercises you can do to calm your nerves and clear your mind — How meditating will make you a better entrepreneur — Why you should be doing yoga — How to be more successful by taking care of your mental and physical health — How to use the Pivot Method to improve your personal life — How to successfully pivot in business and life — How to succeed in your career by embracing pivots — Why reading will make you a better person ---- Download show notes and transcripts at www.powderkeg.co This episode of Powder Keg is brought to you by DeveloperTown. If you’re a business leader trying to turn a great idea into a product with traction, this is for you. DeveloperTown works with clients ranging from entrepreneurs to Fortune 100 companies who want to build and launch an app or digital product. They’re able to take the process they use with early stage companies to help big companies move like a startup. So if you have an idea for a web or mobile app, or need help identifying the great ideas within your company, go to developertown.com/powderkeg. Thanks again to everyone who has shared an episode of Powderkeg, subscribed to us on iTunes, or left us a review. It’s the only way we’re going to spread this message and reach new people and we could do it without you. We’re coming out with new episodes every Tuesday, so make sure you subscribe on iTunes or at powederkeg.co/itunes