Creating, Chilling and Leading with Kindness with Danielle & Creator Series

Welcome to our new series Creator’s Creations!

We are sharing highlights from transformation stories and how we are creating FIT Life Creation and the community. In this feature, we are talking creating, chilling and leading with kindness with Danielle,

Highlights of Story and Creations:

By learning to listen and speak vision, I have created, chilled and lead with kindness.

My name is Danielle Erickson and I am Business Strategist and the owner of Big Chill Mobile Cooler & Freezer rentals, and follow a Lead with Kindness attitude. I help women who are struggling with challenges in their business to overcome them by assisting in clearly mapping out their vision. Most of all, I am a cheerleader!

I have been blessed with a pretty amazing life! I’ve traveled around the world. I’ve been married to my high school sweetheart for 25 years and we have 3 incredible children. I also live in my dream house on 80 acres. But like everyone else, challenges came up along the way that took me off course and left me staring at a rocky road. I had no choice but to learn some things the hard way.

Beginnings

I started my family when I was 19 years old. My career had to wait for a long time! I would work random jobs here and there between my pregnancies but at the end of the day, raising my family was and still is the most important thing in my life.

When I was 33 (and done having kids), I started at an organization at the entry-level position. The industry is comprised of older males and I was a new young female that decided to jump into it! I had to work twice as hard as anyone else to prove that I should be there. After 3 years I worked my way up to an Assistant Manager position and 2 years later received a Director position.

When I was promoted there were very few, if any female directors out of 39 available positions! Thank goodness that has now changed! Being a new director of 150 employees came with a lot of issues and responsibilities. I inherited a negative, and at times hostile work environment that I was determined to transform.

Here I was, the only woman in upper management, without a lot of experience, trying to promote positive change! But I had a vision, and knew exactly what the department needed to become. Numerous changes and tough decisions were required which tested my resolve. I knew these decisions would be tough and not everyone would always agree with my vision.

But the department would benefit from the changes, and time would prove this. I have learned many things in my career, and accomplished more than expected. But some help and guidance along the way sure would have made things easier. Without management or HR experience, the thought of having to fire or discipline someone never even crossed my mind. I wish I had had someone to confide in, or discuss things with when it seemed like no one believed in me.

During these years I realized what my biggest strengths were:

● The ability to have conversations with people.

● Listening, and I mean really l