How to get rich from your ‘Big Idea’

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Taryn’s head and a lifetime of conditioning was telling her one thing. Her gut was telling her another. If she listened to her gut, she’d be going against everything she’d ever been taught.

So she took a big leap because she didn’t want to be sixty and say, “I wish I’d done that.”

Taryn’s big idea grew organically out of her practice. Her patients had foot pain, and that meant having to wear those ugly orthopedic shoes that made them feel old and unsexy. She often heard from patients that they’d rather suffer than look like their grandmothers. It bothered her that there wasn’t a hot, luxury shoe that was both comfortable and sexy. So she invented one.

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Going from being an orthopedic surgeon to a shoe designer was a pretty big leap of faith, and it was definitely not a “good girl” move. Her parents didn’t speak to her for a year. There were many dark moments. But today Taryn Rose shoes are sold in every high-end department store internationally, and Taryn has five locations.

How did she know to trust her gut on such a major life change? Here’s Taryn’s litmus test: “If you can imagine yourself in the future looking back and feeling sad that you didn’t go for it, that’s how you know.”

By nature, anything new comes from the soul. The day you stop listening to your inner voice, the dream dies.

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An act of life
On The Big Idea, we celebrate people who have the courage and stamina to make their dreams come true. But in every case, the road to success starts with an idea.

Some people think a big idea is like a lightning bolt out of the blue that slams you in the head. You know, that “Aha!” thing. But it’s hardly ever like that. The big idea isn’t an act of God. It’s an act of daily life. Simply put, the idea that will make millions starts with an observation. It comes down to a keen awareness of your life and the lives around you. It’s the moment when you say, “There’s gotta be a better way.” It’s the moment when you ask, “How can I solve this problem?” It’s the moment when you see something and think, “Huh, maybe that will work in my neighborhood.” The real big ideas are organic. They come from life.

Look around. What are the most successful companies today — the big ideas people really admire? How did they get started? With an observation. Starbucks originated after Howard Schultz noticed on a trip to Italy that there were coffee bars on almost every corner. He loved the quality of the brew, but what really caught his attention was the feeling of a public living room. He asked the question: “Why couldn’t that work at home?”

Federal Express was started by a regular guy named Fred Smith who saw the potential for an overnight delivery service. He wrote a college term paper about how it could transform the business world. “I probably got my usual C on that paper,” he said. But today FedEx is a twenty-seven-billion-dollar company.

Whole Foods originated as a health food store in John Mackey’s garage in Austin, Texas. He saw a need for fresh, healthy foods that wasn’t being met. Today it’s the largest retailer of natural and organic foods in the country.

In each case, a need was not being met. A problem had to be solved. And these innovators stepped up to the plate and took action. None of them had a barrel of cash. None of them had a ton of experience. They started with a moment of awareness and followed it through.

Awareness is the ignition. Motivation is the accelerator. That’s when you say, “Where am I going to go with it? What action am I going to take?” No action, no story.

Most people who don’t get their ideas into being are stuck at the point of motivation. It’s easy to say, “I have an idea.” Everybody’s got an idea. But you have to do something to put faith into action.

Usually it’s a matter of taking baby steps. It could mean walking into a store and looking around. Or going to a trade show. Or drawing a picture of your idea. Or asking five friends to try it.

Every action moves you one notch further. The impediments are fear and negativity:

“I don’t know how ...”

“It’s not that good ...”

“I’ve never made anything before ...”

“I’m too busy ...”

“I don’t have the money ...”

“If it was such a good idea, someone else would have done it ...”

And on and on. There are endless reasons not to do it. Anyone can whip themselves into a frenzy of fear. That’s easier than rolling over and going to sleep. It’s those who respond to the wake-up call that make it.

What’s inspirational about our show is that viewers see people they can identify with who put one foot in front of another, and didn’t let their inner voice of doubt win. These are people who believed in themselves and forged ahead, even when one hundred people said no. I like the way one of my guests put it: “When someone says no, I don’t hear no. I hear not that way.”

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How to get rich from your ‘Big Idea’