Decision maker

Pina De Rosa has dedicated her career to coaching people how to make good choices and overcome obstacles.

The Los Angeles-based entrepreneur — who gained publicity for a popular TEDx talk in 2013, “Choices ... Choices,” which has been viewed nearly 200,000 times on YouTube — also recently realized her mission could be applied to the corporate world. Now De Rosa travels globally, coaching people about overcoming fears and self-doubt. De Rosa says there are a number of plateaus business owners and executives may encounter in a career, from a sales stall to an issue with teamwork to a missed promotion.

De Rosa spoke at the Florida 2016 Working Women State Conference, held in early September in Tampa. She also chatted with the Business Observer before her presentation. Here are some of De Rosa's key steps to overcoming obstacles:

Turn around a no: A plateau, says De Rosa, is really a series of no's nudging people in the right direction.

She cites her personal example of being overweight and needing to lose 50 pounds. After the first 20, she reached a plateau, despite working out twice a day for three months. She eventually worked past it. “Know that no matter what, whether it is business, health, a new venture, a marriage, etc., there is going to be a moment of plateau,” she says. “Your body and your mind are used to a particular way, and you have to push through that to get through to the other side.”

Recognize problems. De Rosa says some plateaus creep up, like on a cruise ship, where you may think the captain is in control, but it's really the crew underneath the ship that makes the turn. Unless the crew is willing to go left, she says, the ship won't go left. The captain and the crew have to work together.

“Say we want to triple our sales — that's the captain,” she says. “But underneath, the crew may be afraid that tripling the amount of sales might take away from family time. Or perhaps we are afraid of success because with success comes more opportunities to fail. These issues can self-sabotage the captain.”

Be willing to be different: If someone says, “but that doesn't feel like me,” that's good, De Rosa says. It shouldn't feel like you; it shouldn't feel comfortable, she says. It should feel out of your comfort zone.

“You have the results that you have because of the strategies that you have right now,” she says. “If you want different results, then you have to shift your strategy.”

Let go of control: De Rosa says it's a mistake to think control is the solution to work and life problems. It's actually letting go of control that leads back to a key point — turning every no into a yes.

“Someone may have a contract with you and they completely dishonor it,” she says. “Or your samples aren't being delivered on time. That could be a massive plateau. It can be disheartening, but you need to trust that this is bringing you to where you need to be. That rug pull is quite likely nudging you in the right direction.”

De Rosa says she doubled her income when she shifted into health and fitness. Not because she worked twice as hard, but because she let go and turned nos into yeses. She used to think, for example, she was too busy to exercise. Then she changed her mindset to she's too busy not to exercise.

“In those next 90 days, I lost 20 pounds and doubled my income,” she says. “I had no intention of doubling my income, but I had such an influx of clients because I was taking care of myself first.”