We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Melissa Lagowski. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Melissa below.
Melissa, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
I believe that overcoming imposter syndrome is an ongoing battle. Even after 20 years in business and growing to almost 20 employees, there are times that I question my worth, my skill and my abilities.
What I learned over time is that it is critical to surround yourself with people who believe in you and help put positive thoughts in your head. When I started Big Buzz Idea Group, a lot of people I talked to said that it would never work. Luckily, my family and mentors continued to counter-balance those statements by telling me that I could do anything I set my mind to.
It is said that women don’t listen to our internal voices with confidence. We are all wiser than we realize and if we would learn earlier on to trust that internal voice, we would all be amazed at what we could accomplish.
I found that my best success came when I was too busy trying to keep up with the crazy growth of my business that I didn’t have time to think or analyze what was happening. I am certain that if I had actually thought about this growth, I would have gotten scared and held myself back.
What I will say is that at some point along the way, I learned to remove the negative self-talk. Someone told me to talk to myself the way that I would my own daughter and that was a game-changer for me.
One of my mentors shared the poem, “Our Deepest Fear” by Marianne Williamson with me at a difficult time on my journey when I was encountering a couple of people who were trying to tear me down. There are so many powerful lines in that poem, and when I learned that it is actually our fear of success that frigthens us, I started to push on in a different way. We are each “powerful beyond measure” and the thought that when we “let our own light shine” we give others permission to do the same was powerfully inspiring to me.
That was when I started talking to other people more openly, and I found out that even women who were incredibly successful struggled with imposter syndrome. I work with a lot of women, and for whatever reason, we always think we are not good enough or smart enough, but we are. I learned to say that “I am enough,” and in an effort to give others confidence and courage, I continue to work to step into my power so that I can accomplish as much as possible in my lifetime and that I can support and inspire others to do the same!
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am proud of the business that I launched in 2004, Big Buzz Idea Group. We will celebrate 20 years in business. We are focused on making a positive impact on the world by helping nonprofits and associations run like a business. We offer management, marketing and event services to our clients so that they can focus on their mission, programming and fundraising.
We bring heart, strategy and a method for success to our clients to help them achieve more than they could on their own.
Our company shrunk during Covid, but as we continue to build back better than before, we have now doubled, and we are continuing to grow. Big Buzz Idea Group is founded on five core pillars: integrity, growth, gratitude, teamwork and profitability. We believe that these are fundamentals that our clients and our team members must all value.
With a mission to stand behind nonprofits and an unwavering goal to maximize their impact. Big Buzz Idea Group was originally founded after witnessing neglect and mismanagement by a key service provider to the detriment of a Chicago NPO. Upon learning how this neighborhood organization incurred significant financial losses, we vowed to create an honest and ethical agency that would deliver nonprofit clients a viable partner, collaborating with integrity and one hundred percent transparency.
Our team of worker bees successfully deliver on our mission and our goal. Repeatedly. Over the past 20 years, we have raised more than $6 million for the worthy causes of a variety of nonprofits and associations. And we continue to work on their behalf with a high standard of ethics and transparency while delivering results, on budget and on time.
Nonprofits face many challenges, performing magic with diminishing dollars and few employees. The hours are long and the payoff can seem distant, but grinding through the endless days to keep the dream alive leads to the satisfaction of creating a better world…eventually. That is where Big Buzz Idea Group can help breathe new life into an organization.
Big Buzz Idea Group brings the whole team, a fresh perspective and proven strategies to keep the hive humming. We offer administrative and operational support so that executive directors, development directors and the board members can focus on the bigger picture to impact more lives and change the world. We are experts in providing nonprofits the time and energy to ignite, empower and foster their growth and success.
We exist to champion worthy causes and elevate the common good. We work to inspire and to be inspired in our partnerships and projects. We are working daily to leave this place better than we found it.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Ethics – I am proud that our company is based on integrity and that the culture of this company embraces values that matter in how we treat others and how we allow others to treat us. By holding integrity as our north star, we have been able to build really beautiful relationships with the level of trusts that we share with our partners, and at the end of the day, it is most important in knowing who I am at my core and being proud of the person looking back at me in the mirror each day.
Persistence – One of my favorite quotes is “Winners are not people who never fail, but people who never quit.” In the beginning I worried about making mistakes, and I thought mistakes meant failure. Over time, I have learned that it is human to make mistakes and the most important thing is to apply the lessons learned from your mistakes.
Trust – When I learned to trust that I was where I was supposed when I was supposed to be there, things changed. When I stopped trying to control everything, things got better for me. Looking back now everything was a stepping stone on the path to guide me to where I am today.
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
My parents have always believed in me. Growing up, it was always that way. I didn’t know anything different, so I didn’t fully appreciate the value of this gift.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bigbuzzideagroup.com/
- Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/BigBuzzIdeaGroup/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BigBuzzIdeaGroup/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/big-buzz-idea-group
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@bigbuzzideagroup9066
