The best businesses, the ones that make the most impact are those that are in complete alignment with their owners. Essentially, the businesses that make the greatest impacts are the ones that are a direct extension of their founders. In order for a business to flourish, it must remain resilient and authentic to what it was when it first started. A great example of this is Detroit Body Garage, founded by Terra Castro.
Terra is a former professional Iron-Man athlete who moved to Detroit for a fresh start. That fresh start led to her to develop her own business, starting with a simple hashtag: #BeBold.
Below is a portion of my conversation with Terra on our THINK Business interview, specifically when Terra speaks about authenticity, resilience, and alignment—all of which are necessary for personal and professional growth. There is great wisdom in Terra’s thoughts to kickoff 2020!
Jon Dwoskin (JD): Hey everybody. I am really excited…to talk about how to live your dream…
So let’s dive into that… I love the connection that you [Terra] have, it seems to be what you’re completely in alignment with, which you figured out at a very early age. …I find when I meet people, that’s where the boldness really starts…are they in alignment with what they’re doing? So how did you figure it out at 19? Because I think a lot of times people are still trying to figure it out in many different age brackets.
Terra Castro (TC): I grew up in a sport household…They let me grow into who…I was created to be. And so, for me it has been a blessing and a curse because it’s like a lot and it’s hard to explain that I love to move and I created a job around it. But also, I wake up every day knowing I’m pursuing what I was made to do. And, that is inspiring. It’s motivating. Even on the hard days, I can keep going because I am, like you said, I’m in alignment with what I’m supposed to be doing…
JD: …What I love hearing about you is not only do you identify where you’re in alignment or identify that you need to move, but then how to bridge it to actually building a career out of it. So, how did you realize that you could actually monetize a characteristic about yourself?
TC: …So when I moved back home to Detroit, I started working at a gym in Corktown, working out to just kind of heal and figure out what I was going to do with my life…Working at this gym I saw gaps and I said, “this is silly for the amount of time that I’m working at a gym. I can do this better.” And I started to think about what I was good at and I’m good at loving people. I’m good at breaking it down and just getting you to love movement, whatever that is…
…And so I left that facility and I did it as a pop up gym. And once you create a foundation of a community, people in that what we call Be Bold Crew, you have this following and all of a sudden you create, at that time, small revenue, but I was able to pay my bills and I was able to do something I really, really love. And that’s contagious. And when you are in alignment with what you’re supposed to do and you know your product and what you’re providing and you believe in it 100%, it’s amazing what grows from that…
JD: …So to that person…who maybe has all the pieces but can’t make the jump, what are the first couple of steps that they need to take to start the process, to get on their journey of alignment?
TC: You know, the truth is, and if you follow my Instagram you will see, I am very real and I do not have it all together. And there are days where I have no idea what I’m doing and what I have learned is that’s such an awesome place to be. And that step one is to recognizing that we’re all there and we all go through it; that being vulnerable, this is the first step saying, “okay, I want to climb that mountain. How the heck do I get up it?” …Life happens and it’s not going to be easy, but it’s going to be worth it.
JD: Just because when you’re in your alignment doesn’t mean it’s easy. Nothing’s easy…But everything requires a good dose of resilience.
Terra Castro has us reTHINKing authenticity, resiliency, and alignment. She reminds us that:
- There is no comparison to doing something with your life that is in complete alignment with who you are as a person.
- Even though you may be in alignment, you’re going to need a good dose of resiliency to get through the rough patches.
- Nothing is easy, but chase whatever you’re in alignment with passionately.
To hear the rest of my conversation with Terra on my THINK Business podcast, click here.
Think Big!
Jon
