Hi, friends! 👋🏿👋👋🏽 I must apologize for the delay in publishing a new newsletter. I had surgery and just needed to take a break. So I was unable to get a new article to you till now. I appreciate your patience. Today, though, I’m happy to introduce you to Anneliese Perez of Southern Muscle Sports Nutrition. She is a small business owner and bodybuilder from the Tampa Bay area who shares how she made a name for herself.
In this issue, you’ll learn the following:
🌴The power of “hard work,” even when you don’t have things figured out
🌴Why starting late shouldn’t limit you
🌴Using struggles to build resilience
🌴 This is Anneliese Perez, the entrepreneur who founded Southern Muscle Sports Nutrition…
IT’S OKAY TO TRY DIFFERENT THINGS, BUT BE MINDFUL OF GOING OVERBOARD WITH IT
“I’m like a butterfly… I like everything. And I want to do everything.”
From the age of 15 to her 40s, Anneliese Perez admits that she was “very inconsistent.” The small business owner wanted to do it all – and did.
And that was the problem.
In school, Perez studied architecture for a year. Then, she studied to be a lawyer – for a year. Her interest in everything applied to sports, too. She was a ballerina, then a water skier, and she also loved swimming.
THE TIP JAR (Tips provided courtesy of Anneliese Perez)
STARTING OUT: Anneliese Perez wants to get real with the many people she meets who think they can “get rich quick” without having to work too hard.
She says don’t count on it. The odds are not with you. Instead, seek sources of help. “You have even the government, the Small Business Administration, helping you to build a business. You can [go] with a plan and [take] it to these people, and they will guide you…”
“Today, you have people who can mentor you. Mentors that can help you.” She suggests you seek them out.
STEEPED IN SKILLS (mid-career): Perez advises you to not get stuck in “a life [where] you are not happy because you are afraid to do something different. Because that’s what I did.”
If you trust yourself, “if you love yourself, if you believe in yourself, you will be very surprised…” at how much you can achieve.
STARTING OVER: “Go ahead. Do it. Don’t be scared. And then get the knowledge that you need before you start.” She says that will save you a lot of money and headaches.
Most of all, she encourages you not to let anybody “scare you or stop you from doing what you want to do.”
I’LL NEVER DO THAT AGAIN: “I didn’t know how to delegate. I ended up having two stores and a franchise, managing all of them myself. I burned out.”
BEST ADVICE FROM “LA CASA”/BEST “HOUSE” ADVICE: “Chivo que se devuelve se ’esnuca (desnuca).”
TRANSLATION: The goat that turns around breaks its neck.
Perez says that adage reminds her to not look back. Look ahead.
CHANNEL YOUR CURIOSITY & INTENSITY TOWARDS SOMETHING POSITIVE
Perez gave up the life of being a farmer’s wife in Venezuela, where she had a maid and a chauffeur, to come to the U.S. with her daughter.
She says that’s when her willingness to do anything really helped her.
“I would park cars in the airport [and] sell perfumes in the mall.” She would also paint and clean people’s houses – anything to support her daughter.
REMIND YOURSELF OF YOUR INNER STRENGTH
All the while, she didn’t worry. It’s because there was something inside of her that reassured her.
“I was made for something bigger.”
At first, it turned out to be as a painter. She painted detailed artwork on the walls and ceilings of houses belonging to well-known doctors in Orlando.
For seven years, she built up her reputation and her business, booking several months in advance.
CONSISTENCY IS YOUR SUPERPOWER
But there was something she had done since she was 14 that she was consistent about: working out.
Perez was so passionate about it that she became a bodybuilder and educated herself on sports nutrition.
So, in 2007, at the age of 47, she took the $50,000 she had saved up from her painting business and opened a sports nutrition store with a man who was her boyfriend at the time.
But she still kept her painting business going.
NAIVETE CAN SOMETIMES BE A POSITIVE
Perez didn’t know how much it would cost or how much time she would have to spend at the store.
She admits she was naive.
“I just go, and I think that I can do anything… I’m never thinking negative.”
So she kept up a frenetic pace. She’d wake up at 5am to paint, then run over to the store and work there till 9pm, work out at the gym before finally going to bed at 11pm.
Perez would do it all over again the next day.
DON’T FORGET TO DO A TEMPERATURE CHECK
After about a year of nonstop work, she re-evaluated the situation.
“I’m doing too much. What is the other person doing? I’m doing everything.”
Perez says she was the one who knew how to sell, how to earn people’s trust.
She took over as sole owner of Southern Muscle Sports Nutrition, an industry dominated by men.
Perez also expanded her business to include a sports nutrition meal plan service.
SHOW ’EM WHAT YOU’RE MADE OF
“Men [thought] I didn’t know anything. I’m Latin. I have [an] accent. I don’t speak good English, so they [thought] they could take advantage of me.”
They quickly learned that she was fearless and she would get what she wanted.
In 2009, Perez was competing in events as a bodybuilder. One year later, at the age of 50, she was competing at the national level.
At the age of 52, Perez placed 3rd in a national competition.
“I was the grandma of the show. I was so old compared to the girls…”
BAD STUFF HAPPENS; YOU’LL FIND YOUR WAY OUT OF IT
It was COVID, however, that threw her for a loop and almost ended her business altogether.
Perez is still recovering from the pandemic’s effects, mainly the fact that a lot of sports nutrition sales moved online.
While she chose not to continue a second store’s lease because it didn’t make sense. She says it came up for renewal during the peak of COVID.
But Perez did eventually open another store inside a gym.
She does sell products online. But her original store in Brandon is the money-maker as she builds up her second location in Largo.
YOU CAN’T KEEP A FIGHTING SPIRIT DOWN
And, even now, in her 60s, Perez still goes back to what has been a driving force in how she approaches anything in life.
“Always wanted to win… Whatever I was doing, I had to be the best.”
INDUSTRY:
Sports Nutrition
Painting
STARTED BUSINESS:
Sports Nutrition: 2007
Painting: 1999
LATINO CONNECTION: Born in Venezuela
EDUCATION: (IUNP) Instituto Universitario de Nuevas Profesiones – Degree in International Business (Comercio Exterior)
DREAM JOB AS A KID: “I wanted to be a famous architect.”
BIGGEST GOAL YET: “My biggest goal now is to continue trying to help people to improve their quality of life.”
NO NEED TO GO IT ALONE
HELP ON THE OUTSIDE...because we can all use a helping hand:
“MAKE MARKETING MAGIC HAPPEN”
Haven’t quite figured out how other small business owners are able to use various means to turn potential customers into actual customers? Learn how – in 10 easy-to-follow steps in this FREE webinar brought to you by the Florida SBDC (Small Business Development Center) at FIU (Florida International University). The class will focus on social media marketing, branding and website marketing. Here’s more info:
Florida SBDC at FIU
“10 Steps to Marketing Your New Business”
Tuesday, January 9, 2024
1:00 p.m. EST - 2:00 p.m. EST
FREE
https://www.sba.gov/event/39579
WORKING ON THE INSIDE...because we know our culture has a hard time asking for help:
GOAL TIME!
It’s almost the end of the year. Time to think about goals for 2024. And then come up with a plan to achieve them. That’s what this SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) webinar is designed to help you do. From setting goals to overcoming obstacles, this FREE course will help you apply actionable goals to your professional and personal life.
SCORE Orlando
“Gearing Up for 2024: Goal Setting that Brings Results”
Wednesday, January 3, 2024
5:30 p.m. EST - 7:30 p.m. EST
Online Webinar
FREE
https://www.sba.gov/event/39075
INSPIRATION BEHIND THIS ISSUE:
There are so many demands on our lives today. At work and at home. It seems like there’s never enough time.
Sometimes, you just need to step back and take a break.
That’s what I did.
Now, as we approach a new year, many of us are taking stock.
What did we get right? What didn’t go so well? What could we do better?
Where do we want to place our focus in the coming year?
You may not have the answers, but you’ll get there.
In some instances, the answer hits us like a ton of bricks. Other times, it’s a process we’re constantly tweaking as we push to move ahead.
Anneliese Perez’s journey took many turns.
She searched for many years.
But she never gave up on finding the path she was meant to follow.
And with her zest for life and constant quest to be her best, this grandma has shown she has gusto and a “give it all you’ve got” kind of spirit.
And that’s something we can learn from – at any age. #TheSkyIsNotTheLimit 😺
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🌴 Thanks for reading Generation Si! Wishing you your best day yet! 🤗