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Interview
With Karin
Future Daily Mastery clients often want to know more about the process
of working with me or what it entails. Below are the most frequently
asked question, put in the form of an interview so that you
can get actual answers to your questions:
Karin,
how did you become a Time Management
and Organizational Master and how long have you been doing it?
Who
are your clients?
How
are you different from other time
management consultants?
What
services do you offer?
How
do you work with your clients?
Do
you work alone or with a team?
Who
do you work best with?
What is expected of me?
How
quickly will I see results?
What
resources will you provide me?
How
long do your clients usually work with you?
Assuming
I want to work with you, how do we
get started?
If
I'm not sure I'm ready to get started,
how can I sample your work at low cost and see if it's right for me?
Are
you available for extra questions?
Karin, how
did you become a Time Management and Organizational
Master and how long have you been doing it?
Actually, I've
always been drawn to time management and helping others
be peacefully productive. In college and grad school (I have a PhD,
click here to
learn more about my background), I
pulled a grand total of
two all-nighters, and those were to help a
friend of mine meet a project deadline! Fellow students,
and even lab
staff, kept asking me how I was doing it, so I started out by helping
them. Later,
when I left Academia for Corporate America, the same thing kept
happening: I was always on deadline, work done, and would need to stay
late at work only when my work depended on someone who was late. There
again, people were asking me how I did it, and I would teach
them how.
In the year spanning 2002-2003, the birth of my son, the
untimely
death of someone very close to me and the fact that I was more and more
inspired to help people as my vocation made me re-evaluate the
perspective of working 60-hour weeks at something I didn't love, barely
seeing my son during the week. In 2003, I founded Daily Mastery and
have never looked back. Today, I am working in a field I love, making a
difference for people every day; I still work hard, but I am
looking forward to getting to work every day, and I am most definitely
not an absentee parent.
Who are
your clients?
While my
individual and group clients span the spectrum from
stay-at-home mom to executive at large companies, the majority of my
clients are in sales, independent professionals or small business
owners. Most of them are already successful,
but they know that to get to the next level, keep growing their
business or their career, they need to use their
time more productively. Or they want more balance between their
professional and personal lives. Frequently, what motivates them to
call me is a change in their lives, such as a promotion or job change,
a new child, becoming a primary care-giver for a family member. This
life change proves to be fatal to their existing time management
strategies and systems, and they need to develop new ones quickly, or
risk becoming overwhelmed by the new demands on their time.
How are
you different from other time management consultants?
Two words:
Results and customization. I'm attached to only
one thing, your results. We'll get you the results you want, period.
I
also very strongly
believe that every one has different needs, circumstances and
personalities, and that this requires different solutions. As a result,
every solution we choose or design for you is individualized. Even in
group trainings and seminars, I teach tools that can easily be adapted
to your specific needs, creating personal success.
What
services do you offer?
I offer three
types of services:
- Individual consultations and programs for
individual
clients;
- Group programs open to the public;
- Corporate training and operational consulting
for
businesses.
You will find
more information on all of them in Services.
How do
you work with your clients?
The way I work
with my clients is very collaborative. Since, while I'm
the expert in
time management and organizational matters, you are the expert in your
life and your business, we can't get you the results you want without a
true partnership between the two of us. The specific process
depends on the service
chosen:
- Individual
clients:
When you sign up for an individual program such as a Daily Mastery 360 or a Daily Mastery Quick Fix,
you receive a welcome package
containing assessment worksheets, which will allow us to hit the ground
running at our first session. We
then meet, usually by phone, sometimes in person, on a weekly or
bi-weekly basis for sessions of up to 45 minutes each. In each
session, we discuss one to three challenges and tools and
strategies for
you to
implement. In most cases, those tools are
simple, easy changes to your existing routine, that you can put in
place right away to see results. In the course of a full
individual program, we'll address areas such as interruptions,
scheduling, tasking, paper management, routines, stress management, but
may go in completely different areas depending on your needs, and if a
given area affects your use of time. I've talked with clients about
morning or evening routines, delegation, or even personal
grooming
when those
areas affected their time, productivity or stress.
- Group
programs: When
you sign up for a Daily Mastery
group program, you receive a welcome email with all the
information you need to attend the classes, as well as the material you
will need. The
group meets by phone on a weekly basis and discusses, sometimes in a
very
lively fashion, the topic of the session and the corresponding tools
and strategies. You then have the whole week to put in action the
solutions we talked about. You and I also meet by phone twice, for a
one-on-one, 30-minute
session. This allows you to further customize your tools and strategies
to your specific needs.
- Corporate
training: Once
you have hired us to provide training
for your company, we choose together the
content and format most adapted to your needs. We then meet
to
discuss the
specific needs and challenges of your company in those areas, both with
you and with some of your employees. This way, I get a full
picture of the
situation and can customize the presentation or program to your
specific needs.
- Operational
Support: This service,
offered
to micro-businesses only, is completely customized to
your needs. We will discuss them in detail, then develop a plan of
action together to address them. The plan my involve analysis and
optimization of some operational processes and procedures, staff
training in time management and organization, individual training for
some key employees, or a combination of all of the above.
Do you
work alone or with a team?
My clients get
my full attention. In addition, I provide a network of
skilled professionals to address a wide variety of needs, and I don't
hesitate to refer you
to the expert who will be able to most effectively help you in any
given area. Again, what counts is your results, first and foremost. To
give you some examples: I have referred clients to an electronic time
and contact
management tools specialist, a Microsoft Office specialist, an
ergonomist and a specialist to help them blast through the emotional
blocks that prevented them from making the most of their
time.
Who do
you work best with?
My best
clients are active, easger to move and do work, but are stuck
not producing the result they want. My best clients are also often
people who are interested in
many things beyond their work and/or family, who have some life
experience and professional accomplishments; they are truly committed
to improving their situation
and making the changes it entails.
What is expected of me
when I work with you?
In order for
the work we do together to yield results, you need to be
committed to the process, since it is impossible for
me to live your life for you. I further expect you to take
action on the tools and
strategies we discuss, to be an active participant in the process, but
I'm also there to support you every step
of the way.
How
quickly will I see results?
How quickly
you will see results depends on the program we work with
and the extent of your challenges when we start. This being said, most
of my clients already see results
after the first session, and see a huge difference in their lives and
work
after a couple of months.
What
resources will you provide me?
You will
receive worksheets, assessments, articles, websites, books to
read. Also, I will provide you with outside resources, or help you find
them, if you need support
in areas outside of my area of expertise.
How long
do your clients usually work with you?
My clients
usually start by working with me for 6 to 25 sessions,
depending on the program they chose and the extent of their challenges.
After this first round, some want more of the good results they got and
keep working with me for a second round of sessions. Others take a
break after the first round, but then something changes in
their lives and priorities, and they
want assistance in adapting their systems to the new situation. Others
use our operational consulting services on an on-going basis to assist
them in areas of business management where they lack skills or time.
Corporate clients use on-going Daily Mastery training for
all their new hires. I thrive to give all my clients the tools
and
knowledge they need to never need me again, but it's sometimes easier
and faster to go back to the expert.
Assuming
that I want to work with you, how do we get started?
If this is the
case, congratulations, you are on your way to a more
peacefully productive life. All you need to do is to
call or email me so that we can finalize the details of your program.
Before your first session, you'll receive your welcome package by
email. If you fill the assessment part and return it to me at least two
days before our first session, we can hit the ground
running.
If I'm
not sure I'm ready to get started, how can I sample your work at
low cost and see if it's right for me?
Two very easy
ways to do so are to explore the Free
Resources section of this website, and to sign up
for Daily
Master, my semi-monthly newsletter. Also, find out about my
upcoming seminars,
talks and workshops, an excellent way to sampling Daily
Mastery at low cost.
Live events happen either in person in New York City or as teleclasses,
accessible from anywhere in the world, so chances are that you will
find something that works for you.
Also, know
that working with Daily Mastery is a no-risk proposition for
you. On all individual and group programs, I offer a money-back
guarantee: Should you find that the program doesn't work for you, even
after giving it your best shot, just let me know, and I'll refund you
your entire investment. Incidentally, no one has taken us up on this
offer so far.
Are you
available for extra questions?
Of course!
Everyone should feel free call me at 201-484-0263 or email
me.
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