This month's guest author is Patty Vogan. Miss Vogan is the President and CEO of Victory Coaching, www.victorycoaching.com and a Vistage International Group Chair. She has a Master's Degree in Psychological Sciences and is a dynamic speaker and business coach.
Her first book was published January 2005. It's a motivational book using surfing as a metaphor for life. Her second book, "Waking Up in Tonga" will be coming out in 2008.
Life and Leadership Lessons from the Tropics
--By Patty Vogan
As Jimmy Buffett would say, "Have you ever dreamed of leaving your dull existence and moving to a tropical island?" Well, back in 1991, I did just that--I picked up and moved to the tropics. Only once I was there, I didn't relax, I became an entrepreneur.
First, I got married and after all of the 'I do's' were finished and the friends and family departed...so did we, honeymoon-bound to the Kingdom of Tonga.
Where in the world is Tonga? Good question. In the South Pacific Islands close to Fiji, Tonga is 175 degrees West Longitude and 17 degrees South Latitude. The Kingdom of Tonga is the last ancient Polynesian kingdom in the world. It's never been colonized in over 2000 years! It's a third world country, and the beauty is as rich as it gets. The warm azure waters, crystal blue skies, and lush emerald green vegetation make for the perfect tropical paradise. It's a playground for scuba divers, sailing enthusiasts and sport fishermen.
After a day of exquisite diving we joined a group of salty dogs sitting in the sand bar discussing life and solving all the worlds' problems. The question arose; "If you could do what you really wanted to do in life what would it be? It doesn't matter if you have the right education or the money or any of that stuff, just what would you do?" asked Thomas, the manager of the Moorings Yacht Charter Company, where we rented our floating home for two weeks.
Thomas looked at me and said, "Well...?" I said I've always wanted to have a scuba diving shop in the tropics, where it's really warm. I remember walking down the beach with my Dad when I was 12 years old after a very cold dive in Laguna Beach, CA and my lips were still blue and I told him... "Some day Dad I'm going to have a dive shop in the tropics where the water is WARM, clear and beautiful." Thomas looked at me with one eyebrow raised and said, "Well why don't you do that here and now?" I mumbled something like, "Well. I...ahhh...am next in line for VP of Marketing, blah, blah, blah...!" "Oh I get it," Thomas said with a sarcastic flair, "you are just one of those people that talk about your dreams and never make them come true!" The hair on the back of my neck stood straight out, my posture became erect as I turned to him and said, "No that is not true!" "O.K. then, do it here and if you bring in your American professionalism and create a scuba diving business and do it up right, I will support you and give you all of our sailing clients and not even charge a percentage."
The next morning, over a hot cup of dark and steamy Tongan coffee I looked at my new husband and said, "I want to build a scuba diving business, it's my dream and I want to do it. I know we are on our honeymoon, but I'm not kidding, I really want to make my dream come true. I don't want to be 90 years old sitting in my rocking chair and saying I wish I would have at least tried!! What do you think?" He thought for a moment and said, "Why not, it sounds like fun, let's do it!"
Running a business in a third world country, (it being a kingdom no less), was a bit daunting and we wanted to get our ducks in a row before making the final commitment to move to a country we knew nothing about.
The long version of these events is in my book, "Waking Up in Tonga." Here's the "tourist version" as we call it. It took a year and a half from the honeymoon trip to get everything in order. Many lessons and stories on dealing with the government of Tonga, buying all the equipment, acquiring the needed funds, and selling or giving away everything we owned!
We packed up our life in a 20x20 container and I moved first, met the container in Nuku'alofa the capital of Tonga, cleared customs, almost went to jail (May 07 article in Entrepreneur.com), and moved into a house with flying cockroaches and no inside bathroom; the toilet was outside in the jungle!
I laid the cement slabs for the dive shop and compressor room myself, and got the business built, boat delivered, and diving customers in 6 weeks. Then my husband arrived...and left...to be continued in the book.
Many lessons were learned along this 6 year journey. Let's start with the beginning lesson. As an entrepreneur there are many new beginnings in business. When our ideas are fueled by passion it is so easy to put the cart before the horse. When we own a business we usually do not have anyone to answer to or use as a sounding board for important business decisions. Doing the research and development is so important. This lesson was learned in the very beginning in the customs process. I had no idea the Kingdom of Tonga does not allow guns in the country. The police officers don't even carry guns. I grew up in a family of hunters and peace officers and of course they taught their little sister to shoot, so I took my gun to Tonga, (that's where the jail story comes in...).
The business lesson for this month is never discount the importance of Research and Development!
Her first book was published January 2005. It's a motivational book using surfing as a metaphor for life. Her second book, "Waking Up in Tonga" will be coming out in 2008.
Life and Leadership Lessons from the Tropics
--By Patty Vogan
As Jimmy Buffett would say, "Have you ever dreamed of leaving your dull existence and moving to a tropical island?" Well, back in 1991, I did just that--I picked up and moved to the tropics. Only once I was there, I didn't relax, I became an entrepreneur.
First, I got married and after all of the 'I do's' were finished and the friends and family departed...so did we, honeymoon-bound to the Kingdom of Tonga.
Where in the world is Tonga? Good question. In the South Pacific Islands close to Fiji, Tonga is 175 degrees West Longitude and 17 degrees South Latitude. The Kingdom of Tonga is the last ancient Polynesian kingdom in the world. It's never been colonized in over 2000 years! It's a third world country, and the beauty is as rich as it gets. The warm azure waters, crystal blue skies, and lush emerald green vegetation make for the perfect tropical paradise. It's a playground for scuba divers, sailing enthusiasts and sport fishermen.
After a day of exquisite diving we joined a group of salty dogs sitting in the sand bar discussing life and solving all the worlds' problems. The question arose; "If you could do what you really wanted to do in life what would it be? It doesn't matter if you have the right education or the money or any of that stuff, just what would you do?" asked Thomas, the manager of the Moorings Yacht Charter Company, where we rented our floating home for two weeks.
Thomas looked at me and said, "Well...?" I said I've always wanted to have a scuba diving shop in the tropics, where it's really warm. I remember walking down the beach with my Dad when I was 12 years old after a very cold dive in Laguna Beach, CA and my lips were still blue and I told him... "Some day Dad I'm going to have a dive shop in the tropics where the water is WARM, clear and beautiful." Thomas looked at me with one eyebrow raised and said, "Well why don't you do that here and now?" I mumbled something like, "Well. I...ahhh...am next in line for VP of Marketing, blah, blah, blah...!" "Oh I get it," Thomas said with a sarcastic flair, "you are just one of those people that talk about your dreams and never make them come true!" The hair on the back of my neck stood straight out, my posture became erect as I turned to him and said, "No that is not true!" "O.K. then, do it here and if you bring in your American professionalism and create a scuba diving business and do it up right, I will support you and give you all of our sailing clients and not even charge a percentage."
The next morning, over a hot cup of dark and steamy Tongan coffee I looked at my new husband and said, "I want to build a scuba diving business, it's my dream and I want to do it. I know we are on our honeymoon, but I'm not kidding, I really want to make my dream come true. I don't want to be 90 years old sitting in my rocking chair and saying I wish I would have at least tried!! What do you think?" He thought for a moment and said, "Why not, it sounds like fun, let's do it!"
Running a business in a third world country, (it being a kingdom no less), was a bit daunting and we wanted to get our ducks in a row before making the final commitment to move to a country we knew nothing about.
The long version of these events is in my book, "Waking Up in Tonga." Here's the "tourist version" as we call it. It took a year and a half from the honeymoon trip to get everything in order. Many lessons and stories on dealing with the government of Tonga, buying all the equipment, acquiring the needed funds, and selling or giving away everything we owned!
We packed up our life in a 20x20 container and I moved first, met the container in Nuku'alofa the capital of Tonga, cleared customs, almost went to jail (May 07 article in Entrepreneur.com), and moved into a house with flying cockroaches and no inside bathroom; the toilet was outside in the jungle!
I laid the cement slabs for the dive shop and compressor room myself, and got the business built, boat delivered, and diving customers in 6 weeks. Then my husband arrived...and left...to be continued in the book.
Many lessons were learned along this 6 year journey. Let's start with the beginning lesson. As an entrepreneur there are many new beginnings in business. When our ideas are fueled by passion it is so easy to put the cart before the horse. When we own a business we usually do not have anyone to answer to or use as a sounding board for important business decisions. Doing the research and development is so important. This lesson was learned in the very beginning in the customs process. I had no idea the Kingdom of Tonga does not allow guns in the country. The police officers don't even carry guns. I grew up in a family of hunters and peace officers and of course they taught their little sister to shoot, so I took my gun to Tonga, (that's where the jail story comes in...).
The business lesson for this month is never discount the importance of Research and Development!
