We had the good fortune of connecting with Christine Morse and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christine, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?

Our goal is to help 1 million people within 10 years. Yes, that’s right – 1 MILLION. That is a lofty goal and not one that we take lightly. I kept trying to lower it so it would be easily obtained and a pounding voice in my head and heart that told me to keep it and reach it. Lowering the quantity is for the weak – we’ve got this.

Ok, so we’ve got this very high number to achieve; the next steps were to determine how we were going to achieve it. I like to achieve goals and if we don’t reach it, I do not want my team to feel like we failed. A LOT rides on this statement so I had to make sure it was obtainable before  announcing it.

The answer (once it came to me through much deliberation, soul searching, thinking, and meditation), it was simple! Help non-profits help more people and BOOM, we will get to our number. Here’s where I want to insert “easy as pie”, right? Well, not so fast. We still needed to get the non-profits on board and help them in a way that is easy to implement so they can stay focused on their current job descriptions. It has to be affordable, and can be used on small, medium, and large organizations.

Fortunately, this work contained the same systems and processes we have been excelling at for years.  It was just a matter of shifting to helping more non-profits.  This is when I realized that all of the hard work, I had been doing for the past 14 years was all coming together.  I’ve been told that when your passion aligns with your business strategy, magic happens. And, they are right.

Here’s what was so crazy about this story…..It was the universe telling me to focus on non-profits. That’s all there is to it.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

While professionally “growing up” and learning from the best mentors in 2 amazing corporations (Amway Headquarters & Herman Miller), I learned much of what contributes to my success today. It was not an easy path to walk because I needed to prove my intelligence without stepping on toes, prove that I am hard working and focused on goals without being “aggressive”, ensure that people knew I was nice and kind without appearing soft or “wishy washy”. I had to make sure people understood my vision without being “pushy”. This is true for many women in the corporate and business world so I am not saying that I had it any worse than others.  Little did I know that this was great training for becoming a great sales person.

I learned early on that if I worked hard, hit goals, was kind, and shared ideas WITH THE RIGHT PEOPLE, they would embrace the ideas and help to convey it to the rest of the team. This is where I realized that chemistry is important for progress and was able to identify what types of people worked well and which types of personalities, did not.  Remember, these large organizations are like big ships…they are not easy to turn on a dime. The ideas needed to be small enough to implement and big enough to create positive change.

Guess what…..all of these traits are important in the success of my current Fractional CMO work. My ideas do not completely change the way the clients’ business is being done, it allows me to join the team, learn about what is working and what’s not, provide ideas on how we can move forward, and hit goals. The team realizes that I didn’t join them to remove all of their hard work but to highlight and enhance their current successes, while bringing new ideas (systems) to the table. I make sure that all new clients’ team members realize that they are the experts in what they do, I bring the systems and processes that I know work well with others. I try to never use the word consultant because that has gained negative connotations throughout the years so being part of the team makes it a level playing field.

Currently, I am always sure to not step on toes, work hard, lend ideas to people who are accepting of change, and am now able to convey my own vision to the whole team. This has taken me 23 years to learn……and I don’t ever forget the lessons learned along the way. Bumps, emotional bruises, and lessons learned are worth it when they can help you turn them into income. In other words….learn from your mistakes.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

We are fortunate to have a large city feel with theatre and arenas while being surrounded in small travel destinations within an hour in any direction, so planning a jam-packed itinerary is easy. Since I live in Michigan, we are close to some of the country’s most beautiful beaches and next to them are the unique small towns. They provide a nice walks on piers, wooded trails, and then along the small town streets for local treats and treasures. Art is embraced in our area so the shop owners sell local artists’ work which makes each store unique and inspiring.

Michigan also has numerous golf courses, museums, theatres, and since we have many seasons, there are always activities celebrating those. Currently, it is Fall so the color tours of our amazing trees is a must see. Ski hills and snowmobiling is great in the Winter, and Spring is filled with planting and celebrating the warmth of the sun.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to shoutout to Rebecca Wildeboer whose never-ending support, encouragement, confidence, and intelligence has been walking alongside me for years. She has never stopped believing in me. She is a true supporter of women and wants only the best for them. We often take a deep dive into our pasts so we can help each other figure out how that impacts us today and course correct if/when needed. All of us need someone like Rebecca in our lives.

Website: https://avidmarketingalliance.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinemorse/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AvidMarketingAlliance

Image Credits
Shelly Dean

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