Now, the easiest way to write a blog post about Permission to Try: 11 Things You Need to Hear When You’re Scared to Change Your Life by Annie Franceschi would be to list out those 11 things that you need to hear. Sorry, but that’s not going to happen – you need to discover those 11 things by reading the book and by doing the exercises yourself in order to really benefit and to make necessary changes.
First of all, are you constantly asking yourself – “What’s my purpose?” • “What if I fail?” • “What will other people say?”
These are the doubts that keep you from making a career change, starting a business, or reinventing yourself! From the other side of fear, brand creator and speaker Annie Franceschi is here to give you the answers to the questions that keep you up at night: the powerful objections that keep you from changing your life for the better. Whether you’re facing a quarter-life crisis or just wondering if there’s more you’re meant for, this is the pep talk you’ve been needing! It’s time to find your purpose in this career advice book of hard-won personal stories, funny anecdotes, and helpful exercises on how to take risks, switch careers, and reinvent yourself. Discover the motivation to begin a new chapter with Annie’s best professional and life advice from quitting her Hollywood dream job, ditching Corporate America, and starting a passionate, profitable business on her own terms. Are you ready to have permission to change your life? Find out by diving into Permission to Try.
Meet our Brand Creator/Speaker/Author, Annie Franceschi!
It would be a dishonor to introduce Annie Franceschi in any other way than her three hard-earned entrepreneurial titles of brand creator, speaker, and author.
With 10+ years in storytelling, Annie Franceschi is a bestselling author, speaker, and small business branding expert based in Durham, NC. In 2013, she quit a dream job at Walt Disney Studios to start her own agency, Greatest Story Creative®. Having branded more than 90 businesses, spoken for thousands, and released a #1 self-help book (Permission to Try), Annie is a passionate partner to entrepreneurs who want to unlock the value of their stories.
I first heard Annie speak years ago about her brilliant branding tactic of telling your story through your branding. When starting up this blog and designing my branding and logo, I kept Annie’s branding advice at the forefront of my mind and even wrote about her in my post, UNPACKING THE BACKPACK | INTENTIONAL LOGO DESIGN.
If hearing her speak all of those years ago was enough to inspire me now, I knew that her book was sure to give me the permission to try and to encourage me to continue on the path of changing my life.
5 Reasons Why You Should Read Permission to Try
Reason #1: The “one path” is bullshit.
You know the path that I’m talking about. The one where you take all of the steps in order to make it to your dream job or career. What happens when you get yourself pretty far down that path to only come to realize that it’s no longer serving you or to realize that it wasn’t meant for you after all?
When you stray off of the “one path” often your closest friends and family will freak out which only leads you to internally freaking out as well.
I think that many people find themselves on a particular career path then after living in that particular career day in and day out, they come to the realization that it is not for them after all. Even feeling this way, our parents’ generation tends to stay on that path whereas millenials have started changing paths or finding new paths.
“If you know in the back of your mind that things aren’t right, know that it’s normal for this to happen. It’s not something you have to be paralyzed in fear about; fear just keeps you going down the wrong road.”
Annie Franceschi
This book will help you create your own path just like Annie did.
Reason #2: Annie is the cheerleader that you never knew you needed.
What I love so much about Annie and her business, Greatest Story Creative, is that she helps others tell their story through intentional, cohesive branding . The belief in the importance of telling and sharing stories was one of the main factors of why I wanted to start a blog.
“If you have ever felt like your story doesn’t make sense, consider that you might be too close to the action. If I’ve discovered anything in writing and presenting more than 50 of these ‘Brand Voice Guides’ in the past five years, it’s this: Your story is powerful, and it’s going to make sense in the end. I promise.”
Annie Franceschi
It’s true, sometimes I think that you can be too close to your own story to be able to tell it in the best way. Have you ever struggled writing your bio or an “About Me” statement? Me too! This is where Annie comes in and helps you define and articulate your greatest story.
Reason #3: It will help you get unstuck.
Have you ever just felt stuck and not sure where to go or how to move forward with your career? Some of my favorite suggestions that she shares are to reflect way back to the things that you have been good at and enjoyed since childhood, to tell people about your dreams, and to take action and risk to move towards change.
When you tell people about your dream, a magical thing tends to happen. People begin to help you make that dream a reality.
Annie Franceschi
Once people offer connections or opportunities that will help, say yes and go for it! You never know what it will lead to.
Reason #4: It’s relatable.
Annie shares real stories of having to move back in with her dad, making the decision to pursue her own business venture full time, and even getting a dog that didn’t work out. She was not afraid of walking us through her failures and to show how she moved through them.
Personally, I enjoy Annie’s story because she dabbled with a small wedding business, created a blog, and ended up living back home – all things that are very familiar to me. I found myself able to relate to where she was coming from, and her stories and real life examples helped prompt my own thoughts about my personal situation so that I could easily apply them to the exercises.
She also shares situations that brought her to tears and made her feel afraid and worried. There is no sugar coating here!
“I was worried I wouldn’t make enough money and that I’d embarrass myself if I really tried this entrepreneurship thing for real.”
Annie Franceschi
Reason #5: The exercises and resources are so helpful.
Recently I had dinner with a friend and she said that when she was ready to make a career change, she took an assessment online and it gave her a list of careers that would be a good fit for her interests, personality, and experiences and then she a got a job in one of the recommended fields.
Often assessments, exercises, and putting pen to paper are successful tools.
In addition to her 11 “Take Action Exercises”, a list of book titles that she referenced in her book and her online resource library, Annie includes her personal email address in Permission to Try as well. It’s truly amazing and reinforces the fact that she is genuinely happy to help!
This book is definitely staying on my shelf so that I can easily pick it up and read it again, work through some of the exercises, and reference her plethora of resources the next time that I am feeling stuck and craving change!
Try one of her exercises out for yourself! A free exercise from the book, “3 Steps for Finding a New Direction” is available at www.permissiontotry.com
You’re Invited! Permission to Try Virtual Book Club hosted by the Back to Business Conference – Wednesday, July 8th from 12-1:15pm EST
Have you ever participated in a Book Club where the author was in attendance? Well now is your chance!
Join us for the best lunch break ever on Wednesday, July 8th at 12pm EST to discuss Permission to Try with Annie Franceschi herself. It is perfect for women who are returning to work, considering starting their own business, or have a big dream of any kind that hasn’t yet manifested.
Register for the Virtual Book Club for free and purchase your favorite way to enjoy the book – Paperback, Kindle, or Audible.
Stay in Touch with Annie!
Above all, I want to thank Annie for her encouragement and for her ability to articulate stories for those people and businesses who are unable to find the right words to express themselves. She has extraordinary talent!
Follow along with her on Instagram at @annie.franceschi and join us on July 8th to continue this conversation! I know that she will make an impact on you just like she made one on me all of those years ago.