Meet Nancy Williams, Managing Partner @ Block 27 Consulting / Co-founder and Former CEO @ No More Empty Pots

What inspired you to become an entrepreneur or support other entrepreneurs?

I am inspired by the principles and practices of entrepreneurship. Over the past few years, I have come to appreciate that the mindset of entrepreneurship encourages and demonstrates resilience, problem solving and critical thinking. For many who engage as a lifelong practice, they will perform tasks in a way that leverages what they do best with a perceived opportunity. Then explore to see what impact it might have in the market and our communities. 

I love learning and ideas. Entrepreneurship is a practice that embraces lifelong learning and figuring out different ways to bring resources together for greater impact. My practice is more focused on leveraging talent and economic justice for greater positive collective impact. Entrepreneurship, whether in an organization — intrapreneurship — or in an open market is a powerful practice and mindset for transformation. I love helping people see the best in themselves and how they might use their talent and skills to fill needs.

What advice would you give yourself if you could go back in time to when you were just starting out?

The advice I would give myself has changed over time. I recognize that I tend to operate in an independent manner so I have for a long time, in some way, engaged in the practices and behavior that aligns with entrepreneurship. After 30 years of leveraging my interest and skills for organizations and businesses, both for profit and for community, I am in month 16 of leading my family’s consulting company. This endeavor has afforded me the opportunity for rest and reflection. With that time, I am learning how to care for myself first. In caring for myself first, I focus on being present and can deliver higher value with less time and effort. 

So my advice would be to take care of yourself first. It is not self-centered. It is imperative in order for you to grow and ensure a higher quality of life for everyone with whom you connect. The value of the deliverable increases by multiples when self-compassion and care are centered.

How do you stay motivated when things feel overwhelming — or stagnant?

I have meditated nearly daily since April 2019. One afternoon in July or August when feeling particularly overwhelmed, I experienced something like an ocular migraine. All I could see was blinding light and I still had at least three grant applications due within the next 24 hours. I recalled a recent meditation and how it made me feel. I found a darkened space and fumbled my way to the meditation titled, ‘softening hostility’. I listened and practiced breathing. I was able to get back to where I could see enough to see my laptop screen and get back to work. It was so effective for me in the first 6 months that I did not hesitate in getting a lifetime membership within the first year. Meditation is now an intentional practice. Since then I have logged over 2800 sessions and 513 hours with the Calm app.

I also go for walks; nature walks are soothing for me. And now, solo dance parties. I put on a favorite playlist and move to a song or two or three. 🙂

Reminding myself of my why and reconnecting or pivoting when necessary help me to stay motivated. I am also learning how to be still and do nothing. Stillness has its perks, too.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve overcome and how did you overcome it?

I am not sure of my biggest challenge that I have overcome. I realized and accepted that I am a workaholic. I just said that out loud and accepted it a few years ago. Acknowledging that also helped me to get clarity on what I wanted for my life. That clarity helped me realize a greater meaning for the statement, “How you spend your time reflects your value.” I was faced with aligning my value with my time during leadership training in 2018. I started making changes in how I lived. My close relationships began to change for the better. I listened more intently and heard the people that cared enough to share how my behavior affected them. 

It has been a long journey to where I am now. One which I now understand more fully never quite ends. All that has come with this challenge of being authentic and whole has resulted in closer connections with everyone around me, especially my children, immediate family and close friends. My behavior at work also changed, because I am working to be the same whole person everywhere; not bits and pieces in different scenarios and places. And with changes at work, conditions also changed for staff and volunteers. Not all at once, life work is arduous. But over time, I felt the changes and I personally received feedback and comments about the differences. 

How can the Nebraska community support you?

Thank you for this question. Currently I am focused on self-awareness and continuing to do my work on myself with an open-heart of grace and compassion so that others are supported in doing their work. Collectively the work can be done when we all contribute in a way that centers people with love and holds space for each of us to do our best work. I am cultivating a love ethic as a practice. The intention is that cultivating a love ethic ensures that each of us has what we need to thrive in abundance, without harming others or the environment, regeneratively and rooted in “care, commitment, trust, responsibility, respect and knowledge” while fostering justice. I learned more about love as a transformative force through bell hooks’ writing. 

Embracing a love ethic has been truly transformative for me. I encourage each of us to find ways to connect to a love ethic and self-compassion. Within us lies the power to change anything and everything, starting with ourselves. Love yourself and love each other.