#129: How to Clear Your Mind, Calm Your Nerves, and Pivot Like a Pro with Jenny Blake

“Pivoting” might seem like a dirty word in business, but Jenny Blake has learned to embrace it. Not only that, but she’s built her career around it, becoming a business strategist, keynote speaker, and author who teaches others the positive value of pivoting. Blake is the author of Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One, and the creator of the Pivot Method, which distills all the wisdom she’s gained throughout her career to teach you how to change your business direction without falling on your face. Blake learned the virtues of pivoting by doing it many times throughout her career. After spending two years at a technology startup in Palo Alto, she landed a job at Google as a product trainer for AdWords. She stayed there for five years, training more than 1,000 employees and building her public speaking and career coaching skills, before she pivoted once more and set out to become a solopreneur. She now speaks and holds workshops on the Pivot Method around the world, at companies like Intuit and Pimco, universities like Yale and MIT, and conferences like TEDxCMU and the World Domination Summit. She also runs the Pivot Podcast, which started as a passion project while she was writing Pivot and has grown into a forum for world-renowned authors and businesspeople to share their advice on how to seize opportunities and pivot like pros. Jenny has so many great stories and insights to share in our interview, from the health benefits of practicing yoga to why reading will make you a better person. She also talks about how to get over your fears of public speaking, how meditation will make you a better entrepreneur, and how you can use the Pivot Method to succeed in business and improve your personal life. To learn more or connect with Jenny, visit the Pivot Method website or her personal website. You can also check out Momentum, her private community for solopreneurs and side-hustlers, or consider signing up for Pivot Coaching if you’re looking for some help to make your own pivot a success. In this episode with Jenny Blake, you’ll learn: --- How to use your job as training for entrepreneurship (12:45) --- How to conquer a fear of public speaking (15:34) --- Why meditation will make you a better entrepreneur  (23:30) --- How to use the Pivot Method to improve your personal life (36:18) --- How to make successful pivots in business and life (39:56) --- How to succeed in your career by embracing pivots (44:06) Please enjoy this interview with Jenny Blake. If you like this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes. You can also follow us on Soundcloud or Stitcher. We have an incredible lineup of interviews we’ll be releasing every Tuesday here on the Powderkeg Podcast. Check it out at powderkeg.com/itunes.