The Snowball Effect

Have you ever heard of the “snowball effect”?

I have no idea if it’s a real thing or if I made it up.

But, I think it is the best way to describe how taking one action can lead to so many amazing opportunities.

There was one thing I did when I first started my business that I want to share with you.

The week that I launched Tarheel PGx Consulting I sent an email to the schools I graduated from (Meredith College and Campbell University) to share that I had started a new business.

This information was then going to appear in the “Alumni Update” section of each school’s quarterly magazines.

The email that I sent to Campbell caught the attention of a faculty member that worked in the Business school (she was no longer on the committee that works on the magazine but was still on the email list- see how God works)

She then reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in participating in a Health Care Fair that they were having the next month (here was my first opportunity to share about my business).

She also asked if I was interested in having an intern.

There was an international student who was getting ready to graduate and needed an internship. He hadn’t been able to do one yet because he was on the soccer team and the pandemic had interfered with their soccer schedule.

She said I couldn’t pay him because he was an international student (that was a win because I was just starting out and hadn’t even started paying myself).

The intern also didn’t have a car so he would need an internship that was remote (another win because, at the time, I was doing all of my consultations via Zoom).

While I was at the Health Fair, a professor from the business school came by my table and started talking to me.

Once he learned about what I was doing and how I was able to leave retail and start my own business, he asked if I would come to his class THAT afternoon and speak to the students about how I became an entrepreneur (keep in mind I had no time to prepare or practice what I was going to say but I did it anyway. I did it even though I was scared).

Other opportunities came from meeting this business school professor.

Because he knew me, he invited me to participate in a mock “Shark Tank” event in 2021 and 2022. He invited me to apply for the Campbell Business Accelerator Program and I was accepted into that 2 month program in 2022.

Also during the Health Fair a professor from the pharmacy school came by my table.

During our talk he asked if I would be interested in coming back to campus and speaking to the P2 students in the pharmacogenomics course.

They had never had anyone local or someone who is using PGx the way I was, come and speak to the class.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would have the opportunity to teach a lecture in pharmacy school.

But I did it.

I was scared but luckily, I had months to practice and prepare for that lecture.

I have since been invited back to give even more lectures in the PGx course.

There are so many more opportunities that have come my way but I hope you will see how one small action can change the trajectory of your business and your life.

What small step will you take today?

-Melissa