Page 103 of The Billionaire's Shrubbery

“And then what happened?” I ask her.

She looks at me like a deer in headlights. “Really?”

I nod.

“Will, Mr. Power, covered my beautiful dress in the jacket he was wearing. I wore it home and found a golden ticket to his executive coaching program in a secret pocket, and …” She pauses, her eyes are wide; I pick up the story.

“And she bluffed her way in, folks! She stepped up and owned her potential, claimed her place, accepted the opportunity that was put in her hand. Had she earned it by regular methods? No. Did she prove she deserved it? Yes, she did, one hundred percent.

“Virginia, what fueled your confidence to step into that space?”

“Um … I figured I had nothing to lose by taking the risk.”

“Yes, and,”—I look out to address the crowd directly—“if you’re not convinced that affirmations work, try repeating this one every time you face a situation that makes you question whether you’ll succeed.”

I look back at Virginia. She gets it. She pulls the mic to her mouth and looks out at the crowd.

“You all know this one. Ready?” Virginia pauses, then raises her fist and says, “I am a winner.”

She holds the mic toward the audience, and a thousand people repeat the phrase.

“I am making shit happen!” Her enthusiasm and belief in that statement are contagious.

The echo from the auditorium is twice as loud.

“Nothing will stop me from success.”

The roar of people yelling these words is accompanied by clapping and foot stomping.

Not at all what I was expecting or shooting for, but I know this enthusiasm will drive more applications to the coaching program, which will keep the board happy, which is great since I’m about to go even farther off-script.

I raise my arms above my head, and the crowd settles.

“Virginia, Ms. Beach, mentioned a ‘golden ticket.’ For those of you not familiar with Willy Wonka, that is her charming way of referring to my gold business card.”

Laughter and applause.

I take off my jacket and nod to Virginia to turn around so I can help put it on her.

“Does she look better in my suit?”

The unanimous consensus from the crowd is no, she does not.

“Power Family Industries, formerly Will Power & Bros., was founded by my great-grandfather over sixty years ago. My father passed on the leadership to me and my three brothers. And we’ve been growing this enterprise for over twenty years, following the same market model that was created in the 1950s, when society deemed the best jobs for women were in the home, supporting her husband.”

I turn from the crowd and address Virginia. “As a successful entrepreneur who had a goal of doubling your business income to live a more comfortable life, how well did our coaching program do? You can tell the truth.”

“It was amazing at first. I was able to achieve that goal within three months and was really happy.”

“And then?”

“And then my coach insisted my business had the potential to grow to twenty times its size. But I didn’t want to be that big. I didn’t want to lose contact with the part of the work I love most, getting my hands dirty with my clients’ plants.”

“So …”

“I quit the program.”

Gasps, followed by a few men who call out they’ll gladly fill her spot.

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