Happy 1st Anniversary PurplePatch

From Conception to a Hard Labour Birth

March 10th, 2020. The day I officially launched PurplePatch. 

It was by no means a surprise birth. The conception seeds were planted nearly two years earlier at the point when I ‘knew’ I wanted to run my own business again. 

If you’ve ever started a business, you’ll have your own marker. The day you placed your feet on the edge of that springboard and looked down at the unending drop with fear stirring in the pit of your belly. 

If the fear had remained just ‘fear’, you’d have done the climb of shame back down the steps. Many do. But not you. You recognised the fear as motivation. You looked it in the eye with your ‘bring it on’ attitude – and jumped.

Head-first toward the deep waters of selling and pitching, the sea of no guaranteed income, no company benefits, unpaid holidays, and an ocean of unlimited opportunities. It’s a ‘go’ moment the likes of us never forget.

Before I hit the water, I had to be jump-ready. That meant in-depth researching, planning and developing for months on end before my hair got wet. 

In time, I had my offering, the brand – and the strategy to take PurplePatch to market. All I had to do then was start swimming.

Don’t worry, that’s all the analogies and metaphors out of my system.

Covid 19 – Ohhhhh S**t! 

I hate to throw you back there, but it dominated all our lives – and still does.

When the world started shutting down, all I could think was “what have I done?” – “why didn’t I just stay in my secure job?”. 

Sales teams, processes, and technology were about to be put to the test like never before. 

The fear was back. And it was harder than ever to utilise as motivation. Hard, but not impossible.

As you may know by now, my training methods have always run alongside a deep passion for health and wellness. That’s vital now more than ever before. If I needed anything to spur me on, this was it.

So, I caught myself. I took a hold of my doubting inner voice and said “No! There is an opportunity here to add even more value to businesses.

PurplePatch was always meant to be a ‘virtual first ‘offering, and now was the time to prove it. To show I could offer just as much value to clients whether in person or virtually.

The world was now on-screen only. Accepting and adapting to that fact gave me the knowledge, technology, tools and belief to continue to deliver my highest capability in this new normal of ours.

It wasn’t a rebirth, but the pandemic forced PurplePatch to reach its virtual vision way ahead of schedule.

The Business Power of a Solid Network

Through my work at LinkedIn and the social selling programs I have managed, those who know me, will remember I’m always beating the drum that “Your Network IS Your Networth” – and that has never rung truer than the day I started PurplePatch.

I was lucky enough to have partnered with other practitioners and friends of mine who had already introduced me to opportunities. 

This enabled me to hit the ground running with two customers, working on skills uplift programs with their Sales teams. 

I put my heart and soul into making sure these programs hit the mark. Creating an unshakable foundation for PurplePatch to build upon.

Since then, referrals, introductions, recommendations, advice, partnerships, and sponsorships have come from all corners of the globe.

Friends, family, past colleagues, past clients, even those who knew my work simply through experiencing one of my engagements. All have approached me when my name ‘sprang into their mind’ as someone who could help. 

It has been a humbling experience to see that the work I’ve delivered has been valued – and that people have enjoyed ‘working & partnering’ with me over the years. So much so, that they return and trust me to ‘deliver’ again. My greatest source of professional pride.

Exciting First Year Collaborations

Throughout our first year, we have worked on a vast range of projects such as:

Developing Onboarding Programs – Advanced Sales Enablement Skills Uplift – Defining Sales Processes

Technology and Systems Alignment – Sales Playbooks – Sales / Revenue Enablement Roadmaps – Sales Optimisation Research

Channel Partner GTM Content & Tools – Off-Sites – VILT Workshops – Bid Management Process Development, and so many more. 

We’ve been blessed to work with some incredible, values-driven, people and brands. All highly effective partnerships (and also a lot of fun). 

PurplePatch has a no ‘cookie-cutter’ approach. That would never sit well with me. 

Our methodology is all about research, collaboration, execution and desired outcomes. 

Why? Because business challenges are often similar, but the solutions are never the same.

Often, when we first begin initial conversations with a prospective customer, they already have a view of what they need.

It’s only once we start peeling back the layers through curiosity and structured research that we begin to understand what’s really needed to define the frameworks and programs – that drive the ‘achievable’ outcomes. 

Continuing to Deliver Value with Every Interaction

Face to Face in a room may have gone for now, but nothing else has changed.

We hang our ‘virtual hat’ on the work we ‘virtually deliver’. With a great team of experts around us to help and support in every area. 

Our motto will always remain: ‘assume nothing and question everything’. 

To Our Incredible ‘First Year’ People and Brands – Thank You

To close out our anniversary post, I want to say thank you to our valued clients who span so many different industries: 

A huge thank you also to our partners, extended team, and the incredible network of people I get to work with day in day out. 

PurplePatch just wouldn’t work without you all.

Proud of Our Year-Old Name

Often, I get asked about the name and brand of PurplePatch, so if you’re not familiar with the term, let me explain.

My passion is to help organisations, teams, and individuals to get to (and maintain) their own “PurplePatch”. Their ‘period of peak performance’. 

Without having your health and wellbeing in its own purple patch – the above isn’t possible. Simple, right?

As a business, like so many others, we had the toughest beginnings possible. I hope these insights into how we adapted, inspires hope that this horrible virus will never win, and your PurplePatch is just around the corner.

Whether you’re embarking on a business or personal journey with us, your success is our success – and we just love helping you get there.