Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Rose Gilman.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My entrepreneur journey kickstarted in 1984 when I was 18 years old. I lived on a small island off Miami called Key Biscayne. Key Biscayne was known for a lot of things back then; Cubans in makeshift, tiny boats landing after the perilous journey from their homeland, bails of marijuana floating on shore from drug deals gone bust (bails which we may or may not have dried out over slow-burning palm fronds… nobody really remembers), and rebellious teenagers—called Key Rats—bored and lulled by the quiet, island life. Me? I was a rebellious Key Rat, but I was not bored and lulled.
Two weeks from high school graduation, my best friend, Dania, and I decided that we were going to rent out the Show Queen, a large paddle boat for party passengers in Biscayne Bay. It was to be a night of 80’s shenanigans, the night after our graduation. An event like this was needed, and nobody else was stepping up. It would be THE party of the year. Maybe the party of a generation. We sold tickets for $10 each—a lot back in 1984—to everybody who wanted them. We didn’t stop to count our sales, we just kept selling tickets. The more the merrier, right?
The Show Queen Night came, and so did all the people who bought tickets. The boarding line wrapped around the dock. It appeared that THE party of a generation was about to go down! But one thing went wrong: we oversold tickets. The captain warned us we were at capacity for the boat. How could we leave our fellow schoolmates on shore? How could we watch them standing there, tickets in hand, as we sailed into our post-high school lives? We couldn’t. So we snuck them on, one by one. Some even jumped from the dock, barely holding on, as the party boat backed away from its safe harbor.
It was THE party of a generation. Everybody had a great time. Everyone still remembers that evening 34 years later. And Dania and I made a fortune of money.
The lesson? Fill a need that no one else is filling. Charge for it. Make it the greatest it can be. You may need to improvise. Or even break some “rules”.
Fast forward. After college, I founded Fusion Academy and Learning Center, a private, alternative one-to-one school. Our students did not fit into the one-size-fits-all model of traditional education. The school started humbly within my San Diego garage. It has grown to over 40 campuses in 11 states across the country. Fusion is now a leader in the education industry with over $200 million in annual revenues. How did this happen? I found a need that no one else was filling. I charged for it. I made it the greatest it could be. I improvised, and broke from convention.
I have done other exciting things in my life. I have written 8 books and have been awarded numerous honors for my achievements. Most recently, I was recognized by the 2017 San Diego Women Who Mean Business Awards, and have placed on Inc. Magazine’s 500 Fastest Growing Companies 4 years in a row. Through it all, I’ve always understood that the key to my own success, and the successes of all around me, is the power of intimate authenticity and relationships.
The lives of my students and staff have been transformed first and foremost, from within, by an empowering agency that grows from one-to-one relationships. Humble beginnings not only mark my own story but are the most fertile ground for dramatic growth. I cultivated a lot of wisdom over almost three decades of transformation in the education industry. Now I coach emerging and established entrepreneurs, bringing hope and light to those with vision, but who may struggle on their path… and who may benefit from an even greater definition of success than they have imagined?
Some other fun stuff? I am a regular blogger for the Huffington Post, and I sit on the Board of Advisors for the non-profits The Fusion Scholarship Foundation, The Ambition Program and Rock to Recovery (championed by Wes Geer, former guitarist for the band Korn). Additionally, I sit on the advisory board for Neurologics, an exciting medical technology company. I’m a lifelong artist and I own Featherpunkstudio.com. I’m a jewelry designer and own Wthecollections.com. Lately, you can find me working with Peter, my husband, on the Wanderlust Warrior Project, an empowerment project for young women ages 13-23. The book is in the works. But my most favorite things to do?
Being a mother to Noah, a wife to Peter, a daughter to Linda and loving on my flatulent Boston Terrier, Wookiee. With 30 years of business savvy, exploding growth with multiple businesses, the power to build authentic relationships, inspire a staff of over 1700 people, and leave a legacy that benefits tens of thousands of kids and families worldwide, I really want to assist future leaders to reach for their dreams, change the world, leave a legacy and have one hell of a great time doing it! It can be done. If this Key Rat could pull it off, so can you!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
An entrepreneur’s journey is never a smooth road up the mountain. I have had my struggles. Early on in my career as an educator, I was told by a male colleague that I looked too young to work with teenagers. He suggested I stick to early education.
Because of the way I LOOKED! It didn’t stop with him. When I came out to California from Florida, I reached out to some Educational Therapists to get advice and guidance from some successful women in the industry. I wasn’t met with open arms. These women either completely ignored me, told me I looked like a high school student and shouldn’t work with adolescents, or said that if I needed guidance I shouldn’t be in the industry at all. I discovered early on that if I wanted to succeed I’d have to wing it alone.
Which I did. When I opened Fusion Academy, the one-to-one alternative high school for students who didn’t fit the mold of traditional school, I was met with all kinds of folks who told me it wouldn’t work, wasn’t sustainable, and I should just stick with tutoring and basically, stay in my lane. That was 30 years ago. We will be opening the 50th Fusion Academy this year. Not only did I not stay in my lane, one might say that Fusion revolutionized the education highway!
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about The Well-Heeled Warrior Business Coaching – what should we know?
When I first open The Well-Heeled Warrior Business Coaching it was primarily to assist women in business (we now also work with men). Given my 30 years in business, I learned a lot about what it took to launch, sustain and thrive. I learned what to do and what not to do. I want to give this knowledge to ambitious women and men who may be just starting their journey, want to scale their business and who want even a great, grander vision of what success means to them. Perhaps leave a legacy and not to forget to have fun!
We specialize in the following areas: successful pre-launch and launch, marketing, sales training, website work, copywriting, team building, financial organization, time management, hiring, training, scaling, systems and processes and much more! This occurs either in our one-to-one weekly strategy sessions, our 1 and 2 days intensives and our 4 day Platinum Program.
What makes our coaching different than others is that we customize and personalize every single hour we are with our clients. We also get down in the trenches with our clients and get our hands dirty with them. No two businesses and no two clients are the same. What may work for one person may not work for others. Unlike webinars, tele-summits, and voice-over seminars, where a coach is giving the same advice to everyone, we pride ourselves on actively listening to our clients and creating systems and programs that will work for them, individually.
At the end of the day, our clients become like family! Relationships are at the heart of success, and when you have a coach that feels like family and a client who feels like family, everyone wins!
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I believe that there are two qualities that have served me very well over the years. The first one is leading with love/building relationships. People like doing business with people they like. More people like doing business with people they love. It’s always been very important to me to maintain long-lasting and authentic relationships in business and in my personal life. I do better and more important work when surrounded by people I care deeply about. I also feel that I receive so much in return. And when you love and have relationships with people you work with and work for, it’s just so much more fun!
The second quality that has served me well is my ability to take risks. Risks have never scared me. The worst thing that can happen is that I fail at something. And believe me, this HAS happened. Every failure and set back always taught me something. I get really excited when presented with a new risk or new adventure! There is a quote that I wrote that says, “The world can take everything I’ve accomplished and produced, but what they can never take from me are the things I haven’t thought of yet. And this keeps is a state of constant excitement.”
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thewellheeledwarrior.com
- Phone: 760-613-4672
- Email: mrosegilman@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wellheeledwarrior/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewellheeledwarrior/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/well-heeled-warrior-encinitas-2
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheWellHeeledWarriors/
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