Fear, uncertainty and self-doubt are some of the biggest roadblocks people face when starting a business and why some never end up seeing their dreams come to fruition. For years, Nancy Rizzo was one of those people, stuck working in corporate America instead of pursuing her true calling as a small business owner. But that all changed at the age of 51, when Nancy followed her intuition, changed her mindset and broke free from the fear that had paralyzed her for decades.
With first-hand knowledge about how debilitating negative thoughts and feelings can be on someone’s self-growth, Nancy knew she could use her knowledge to help others going through similar struggles. She quit her job as an administrative services manager and became a certified life coach. Soon after, she created Mindset Navigation™, an all-encompassing system backed by neuroscience and neurochemistry that has helps people successfully navigate and overcome the personal and professional challenges that hold them back.
“While coaching my clients, I realized everyone was experiencing and speaking about the same thing—the common denominator always came down to mindset,” she says. “There’s a short list of life challenges that we all experience at some point in our lives. I knew I needed to come up with a simple mindset solution to navigate through challenges that get in our way, make us settle and get us stuck. Thus, my Mindset Navigation™ was born.”
With an emphasis on reducing wasted time and ensuring clients are making honest and realistic choices to stay productive, effective and happy, Nancy helps people rewire the nasty negative mindset habits that force people to settle. “The foundation of my practice is that we are all here for a purpose and meant to be happy,” she says. “I am blessed to never work a day in my life as a coach, because it is so very much my purpose and passion to be of service.”
While Nancy’s business saw its fair share of success early on, she says things really took off when she discovered NAWBO a few years later. “I joined the brilliant NAWBO-Buffalo Niagara chapter in 2011 after a co-member at the Canisius College Women’s Business Center met me and immediately said, ‘You belong in NAWBO!’” she says. “As a solopreneur, NAWBO’s philosophy of servitude has strengthened me with additional reinforcement and being in the high-vibrating energy of my NAWBO sisters is certainly wind beneath my wings.”
It’s easy to see the impact NAWBO has had on Nancy and her small business, but the same could be said for the impact Nancy has had on NAWBO. She served two years on past president Lisa Coppola’s board and the past five years as table captain chair for the chapter’s flagship Each One Reach One (EORO) event.
“Nancy is a 110 percent all-in member of our chapter, who has shared her time and talent as a board member, speaker and via her important role in our EORO event,” Lisa says. “EORO provides our chapter exposure to hundreds of businesspeople each year in a fun, progressive dinner format where attendees change tables after each course. Nancy solicits and trains more than 50 volunteers each year who facilitate the guided conversations at each table and for each course. Her streamlined approach to table discussions ensures they’re productive, useful and fast-moving, resulting in more good content being shared. She’s a true gem!”