10 Entrepreneurship Lessons from Walt Disney

This is an AI-transcript of episode 276 of the Purpose and Pixie Dust podcast. You can listen wherever you listen to podcasts or listen at the player below.

Speaker 0 (00:00:00) - Hey girl. Welcome to the Purpose and Pixie Dust podcast. The podcast where we dive deep into our passions, our purpose, and really unlock our potential With the pixie dust thrown in, what is pixie dust? You might ask. It's the fun and joy that gets unlocked when you're creating and owning your magic. I'm Lindsay Dollinger, dog mama, Disney lover and high school Spanish teacher who has used my magic to grow my businesses while also working full-time. I'm on a mission to help other women create and own your magic by building not only the business of your dreams, but also the life of your dreams while still juggling life, your full-time job and all the things. So if you want more than this provincial life, let's use our glass slippers to break those glass ceilings and sprinkle lots of pixie dust into our lives and businesses. Let's do this.

Speaker 0 (00:00:50) - Hey, hey friend. I am popping in here to make sure that you know about the best kept secret membership that exists for women entrepreneurs and shocking. The name is The Magical Membership for Women Entrepreneurs. So what is this Magical Membership you might ask? Well, it is a super fun place that I have curated. Uh, there's a Facebook group component to it as well as a website portal. So if you're not on Facebook, no worries, you can still be a part of the membership, but there is amazing community accountability, challenges, trainings, templates, done for you, uh, social media, calendar content, all all the things, literally all the things, and I don't talk about it nearly as much as I should. So here is your open invitation to join the magical membership for Women entrepreneurs. The information is in the links, or you can definitely send me a DM and I can get you all of the deets.

Speaker 0 (00:01:45) - I hope I just realized that rhyme. I'm, oh my gosh. Well, I hope you go out there creating on your magic and I will see you inside the magical membership for women entrepreneurs. Hello. Hello. Welcome back to The Purpose and Pixie Dust podcast. I'm Lindsay Dollinger. Before we dive into today's episode, I wanted to read a review for you guys, so reviewer of the week. This is from Personal Trainer Mom, and it was actually left on my birthday, which is so fun. And the title says Little Pixie Dust. Love the message and energy of this podcast. It's easy to get lost on your purpose and really believe in it when things get hard. I love the positivity and hope this podcast provides. So thank you so much, personal trainer. Mom, if you would like me to read your review of the show, well then you gotta leave one.

Speaker 0 (00:02:28) - So take a second right now. Go ahead and scroll down and leave the show a fivestar rating I review. I would appreciate that so much. Also, while you are there or after you were there, I suppose make sure you check out the show notes. I'm going to try to remember to start leaving a link to a fun freebie that will help you move your business forward. Um, may or may not have to like pertain to the episode of that day, kind of depending on what the theme is. Um, but the freebie that I'm leaving for you that you can download today is my most downloaded freebie. Thousands of people have downloaded it and it's a daily task list for your business. So make sure you head to the show notes. It'll say like, click here to download freebie, I think is how I will probably word it.

Speaker 0 (00:03:14) - Um, and I wanna make sure that you get that because I've gotten a lot of great feedback from that. Okay, today we are ta uh, talking about a really fun topic. I think, you know, we're all about Disney on this podcast in addition to building our businesses, living the life of our dreams. And one of the people who once I was old enough to realize it, that I really look up to in business and honestly every time that I am at one of the Disney theme parks especially, but I mean the Disney brand, the Empire is everywhere, right? There is Disney characters and licensing and pretty much every store you go in in the us, um, you know, Disney movies, we grew up on it, Disney songs. And then when you're at the parks, I just look around and I'm like, oh my gosh, like every single family here is wearing something Disney.

Speaker 0 (00:04:04) - Like what an amazing, amazing businessman to create this household brand. So I wanna dive into 10 lessons that we can learn from the man himself, Walt Disney. So, you know, Walt Disney was a visionary, an entrepreneur, a creator, and he created this whole empire based on his creativity, innovation, and perseverance. So in no particular order, here are 10 lessons that we can learn from him, model in our own lives, in our own businesses, um, and hopefully really make a huge impact on the world. Like he has Lesson one, follow your purpose and your Passions, which is what we talk about a lot on this podcast. But Walt Disney was so passionate about animation and storytelling and everything that that Disney does, they do it right, right? So that passion and that purpose is in everything. It's in their theme parks, it's in their movies, the brand everywhere, and he pursued the animation storytelling really as a key thread throughout his entire career.

Speaker 0 (00:05:15) - So as women entrepreneurs, I think this is a really great reminder for us to follow your passions, your purpose, even if it means taking risks and going against conventional wisdom, which Walt Disney did many, many times. Lesson two, embrace innovation and creativity, obviously. So while Disney was a true pioneer in animation, theme parks, entertainment as women entrepreneurs, how can we embrace innovation and creativity in our own businesses? This is, you know, kind of the pixie dust part of this podcast. And what I like to encourage my clients to do in their businesses and in my own as well, you know, what can you add in your business that is truly you, that is fun, innovative, so you don't get burned out? And so you can stand out from the crowd of people. Lesson three, build a strong brand and reputation. So, you know, what are some words that come to your mind when you think of Disney?

Speaker 0 (00:06:10) - Anything Disney related, right? You think of quality, you think of creativity, imagination, innovation, fun, family. So I am a huge proponent, I talk about it on here all the time of building a strong brand and knowing what your brand values are, what your brand stands for, because the really cool thing with with building a brand like that is that you can pivot, you can add things, right? So obviously the Disney company has added many, many, many, many, many things to their portfolio over the years, but what is persistent in all of it is their strong brand and their reputation. You know, you're going to get quality, you know, you're going to get an entire experience when you do anything Disney related. Um, and you're gonna fall in love with it. So what can you do in your own business, your own branding, your own reputation so that what you are creating is really, is really you, you know, it's really going to be the magnetizer to bring people to you.

Speaker 0 (00:07:14) - Lesson four, be persistent and don't give up. Um, I'm actually reading, I should have looked at the name of it before I came down here. I bought several Walt Disney like biographies and um, business books probably in the fall. And there's a lot of stuff that I did not know about the many setbacks and challenges that he faced throughout his career. But one thing that I am learning is that he, he obviously never gave up because he ended up creating this amazing empire. So as women entrepreneurs, I think that's a really great reminder to be persistent in pursuing our goals even in the face of obstacles. And we're all going to have them, we're all going to have failures, setbacks, obstacles, but we get to be persistent. Like this thing is gonna happen no matter what. Less than five. Surround yourself with talented people. So I don't know the exact numbers either.

Speaker 0 (00:08:09) - I should have, I should have prepared for this podcast maybe a little bit better, but there are hundreds of thousands of employees in the Disney company, probably millions to be honest. And so clearly Walt Disney did not do this himself, right? It started out himself, but it wasn't what it is now when he started out. So I think this is a really important reminder along your journey as you are growing yourself and your business to surround yourself with those people who are going to lift you up, who are gonna support you, who are able to be an extension of you and your brand. He surrounded himself with talented animators, artists, designers, engineers, to help him create some of the most memorable characters and stories of all times. So he did not do this by himself. As women entrepreneurs, we also need to start focusing on building our strong team now and empowering those around us to contribute to the suc to the success of our company.

Speaker 0 (00:09:09) - Lesson six, embrace failure and learn from it. So as we, I already kind of mentioned this, but Walt Disney faced lots of failures, you know, fired from jobs, um, having no money , and he didn't let that define him. Instead, he learned from all of his obstacles and use them to become a better entrepreneur. As women entrepreneurs, we get to do the same. We're gonna embrace all of our failures, learn from our mistakes, and use them as opportunities for growth. Lesson seven, and this is when I think that Disney did really, really well, think outside the box. So Walt Disney was known for his ability to think outside the box and come up with innovative ideas. As women entrepreneurs, we should strive to think creativity creatively and come up with new and innovative solutions to the promises that we are giving to our clients, those solutions to the problems that we are facing.

Speaker 0 (00:10:06) - You know, there's never a door that closes that a better one doesn't open. And so what could that look like for you in your business? Lesson eight, be persistent in pursuing your goals. Mention this one a little bit already as well, but Walt Disney pursued his dreams relentlessly, even in the face of rejection and criticism. As women entrepreneurs, we need to be persistent in pursuing our goals even in the face of adversity as well. Lesson than nine, stay true to your values and your purpose. Walt Disney had a career that was really based on his strong sense of purpose and the values that guided him. As women entrepreneurs, we should stay true to our own values and purpose, even when faced with difficult decisions or competing priorities, which when I wrote competing priorities, it that has a lot to do with work-life balance, with boundaries, with us saying yes to all kinds of things that maybe don't need to be priorities, but in our mind when we agree to doing something, we make it a priority.

Speaker 0 (00:11:14) - So what are those competing priorities in your life and how do you get to stay true to your values and purpose to come out on top and less than 10? This is a huge one for us. As women entrepreneurs believe in yourself and your abilities. Walt Disney had an unwavering belief in himself and his abilities, even when others doubted him. This can be really hard for women, especially I have found in conversation and just obviously I am a woman. So have some confidence in yourself, in your ability, in your business, even when faced with uncertainty and doubt, and this is a muscle, this is something that we get to practice. Um, I have lots of techniques for building up confidence that I have learned and kind of filed away over the years, but believe in yourself and your abilities, cuz you can do it. You are the woman for the job, you are the expert.

Speaker 0 (00:12:08) - Believe in yourself like Walt Disney believed in himself, and I hope you guys can't hear my dog in the background. We have a neighbor dog and my Bella really does not like the fact that there is a puppy in my neighbor's yard. Okay, so in conclusion, there are so many lessons that we as women entrepreneurs can learn from all Disney. These are just 10, but there were so, so many. And when I get done reading, um, this biography that I'm reading, I'll have to do another episode and kind of sum some things up because there, like I said, were so many parts of his story that I had not heard before. Um, and I was just like, oh my gosh, this is incredible. Like this totally makes sense because every piece of our story is really how we get to become the person, you know, this complex, amazing person who we are by the little pieces of our story that add up during our journey over time.

Speaker 0 (00:13:05) - So in conclusion, there are many lessons that women entrepreneurs can learn from Wal Disney by following our passion and purpose, embracing innovation, creativity, building a strong brand and reputation, being persistent and not giving up, surrounding ourselves with talented people, embracing failure and learning from it, thinking outside the box and staying true to our values and purpose. Believing in ourselves and our abilities, we can achieve our own success stories just like Walt Disney did. All right, my dear friend. I hope you loved this episode. I hope you had some aha moments and I hope you dive into, you know, really who was the man who was Walt Disney? Because I think when we study those people who have gone before us and had a lot of success doing, and I mean maybe you don't wanna build an empire like Disney, but I bet you want to have customer service like Disney and make an impact like Disney has, right?

Speaker 0 (00:13:59) - So I think it's really cool when we go back and look at the stories of people who have done something like that and just see all that they went through and all the times they could have given up, but they didn't and how they pivoted and how they ended up coming out on top. Because it's a really, really huge motivator. I know, at least for me to keep living the good fight, , keep going. You know, you're making a difference and you're doing amazing things. So go out there, create and own your magic. We'll talk soon and that's a wrap on today's episode. I hope you're leaving today Inspired Princess to create own and spread your magic to the world. If you found value in this episode or Noah girlfriend who needs to hear it, would you screenshot it and send it to her? And if you're feeling really generous, pop it up on your IG stories and tag me at Lindsay Dollinger so I can see you loved it and tell you thank you. I appreciate you. Now let's go do some amazing things. Bye-bye.