Judi Sheppard Missett’s accountant mother always told her she would never make it in business because she didn’t have a head for numbers. The dancer grew up, earned a theater degree from Northwestern University and founded Jazzercise, the international dance aerobics phenomenon she still runs today. And she’s figured her numbers out — the company earned $71 million in revenue in 2005 and employs 148 energetic, passionate employees. Smart Business spoke with this CEO about how she runs her business and keeps it growing.
Go with your gut.
It’s about instinct. It’s about what feels right inside. In the end, I go with my gut. Inside, when you do your passion, your heart tells you the truth, and I listen to that.
I don’t always take the advice of people that think they know better. If I don’t listen to it, and I take someone else’s advice, it’s usually wrong.
Hire and empower energetic people.
I hire fantastic people. I trust my instincts. I look for caring, giving people that like to do things for others, and when you have that kind of person, you know that you’ve developed a team that lifts you up every single day.
You can move forward because you have that kind of team that brings you to new levels, and on the same side of the coin, I have to do that for them, as well.
Be passionate about your goals.
I create a vision of what I want to happen for myself and for the company in general. Then I let the people that work here go for it. I give them the time and the energy that they need from me.
When you do that, you just keep growing. It is about getting those good people in place.
Be passionate about whatever it is you’re doing. Enthusiasm is like a magnet, and if you’re enthusiastic about what you do, people see it, and they’re drawn to it, and then you get the right people.
Get moving.
When you have a lot of physical movement in your life, it puts a lot of other movement in your life, as well. Whatever other things you’re doing, whether it’s in your personal life or your business, you’re not afraid to move forward in other avenues if you have physical activity in your everyday life
Prepare employees for change.
One of the biggest things that promotes growth is change, so we change a lot. We keep changing the program, the way we do business, the way we manage.
We give our people enough time to assimilate what they have to do and understand it, and then they begin slowly to make those changes. It’s always keeping them educated and fresh and knowing that they’re always going to be moving forward.
It keeps them excited. It’s terrible to do the same old thing over and over every day and never make any changes, because how boring that is.