BusinessLife Spotlight: Erin Udell, Palm Beach Entrepreneur

This week, we’re putting the spotlight on Erin Udell, a Palm Beach entrepreneur, philanthropist, and innovator. You may have heard Erin’s name in connection with the My Own Home Project, My Mandala, and Lux Leather Bracelets.

Let’s take a deep dive into her story, and examine what her purpose and meaning give to others.

The start of Erin

At age 16, Erin found herself without a home, safety, or security. She quickly learned how to be self-sufficient and resourceful, learning “survival skills” that would prove to be a strong foundation for her entrepreneurial mindset later in life.

In order to keep herself alive, she needed to have a strong work ethic, the ability to make decisions quickly, and a headstrong approach to challenges. She had to take life as it came to her.

From her youth, she had always wanted to be an operating room nurse. She worked zealously until she received her bachelor’s degree in nursing. She was thrilled with her new life as a nurse, but she still wanted more.

While working as a nurse, she was offered a corporate management position in Seattle. It seemed like the perfect position for a self-made girl. She packed up and moved away from her home in Palm Beach County only to discover that her new company’s culture was stagnant and stale. She knew this job still wasn’t the right fit for her, but she had just uprooted her entire life to move to Seattle. Feeling unfulfilled and worried, she wondered, What now?

After 18 months in Seattle, she moved back to Palm Beach to follow her true mission: to bring meaning to others’ lives and help them connect with the world, with themselves, and with other people.

With that, Erin decided to take action to start businesses that would close the gap between her job and her mission in life.

She started the My Own Home Project, a nonprofit that provides essentials like clean bedding, towels, and hygiene products for kids aging out of foster care. Erin has since grown her nonprofit to include a full board and a host of annual volunteers, serving about 85 kids annually in  Palm Beach County.

Erin also began her own natural lifestyle company, The Bodhi Tribe. This company comprises two businesses: My Mandala is a paint-on yoga mat and Lux Leather Bracelets offer one-of-a-kind, hand-made bracelets crafted out of recycled pins, brooches, and jewelry. She has found spirituality is a great way for people to connect with the world and with themselves.

Connection is the value

The entire focus of Erin’s businesses is connection. She believes that spirituality is not just connecting with the inner self—but with others as well.

My Mandala is a way for individuals to connect with their mat, their meditation, and their inner soul.

Lux Leather Bracelets is a way for individuals to connect their future with their past.

The My Own Home Project is a way for foster kids to connect with their new home—and for others in the community to better connect with these kids.

Erin’s growth

Erin has experienced great growth in her life, both personally and professionally. Much of that is attributed to her willingness to take risks. She starts businesses in industries in which she has no experience. She moves across the nation and back again in less than two years. She is willing to fail to get the results she wants.

Everything that Erin has experienced has been a learning process, where she has learned to minimize mistakes. Mistakes cost time and money. Mistakes are a tool for growth, but they’re a very expensive tool. There are more effective, efficient, and appropriate developmental solutions. For example, working with a coach has brought Erin success.

She attributes a significant increase in her small business growth to business coaching. Getting a business coach helped Erin hone her focus. She was able to see where she had struggled in the past and how she could use this knowledge to shape her future.

Working with a coach has helped Erin change her perspective and perception. She began to mold her thinking in a new way. She began to clarify “connection” in its many moving parts: connection with the self, with others, with business, with spirituality, with nature, and with the past and future self. Coaching helped her theorize what it was she actually wanted to accomplish, and then it gave her the resources to actualize and follow-through.

Peter worked with Erin to build the forest and the trees. For example, in the wider sense of business, Peter assisted her in sharpening her thought processes and mental clarity. In a more specific way, he also gave her tools and resources to learn how to run an effective meeting.

Erin’s results

Erin has seen significant results both personally and professionally because of her focus on vision and mission, which is guided along by Peter Marcus.

Erin’s nonprofit gets grants that are challenging to obtain. She is able to build foundational relationships that take her nonprofit to higher quality standards. She is proud of her products, her brand identities, and most importantly, her business’ values.

She has unleashed newfound growth in her businesses by making strong leadership and managerial decisions. She has learned to be both a self-starter and team player, as she continually learns from those individuals with whom she surrounds herself.

The market, the world, and humans are all constantly changing. Nothing happens without change. In this way, Erin understands that having an open mind allows her to meet the changes in the marketplace. She consistently seeks input from her peers and employees to understand what changes need to be made for growth.

Erin has found a connection with herself, with her employees, and with the market.

Growth in her businesses in tandem with Marcus Coaching has empowered Erin to create, thrive, achieve, and connect.

Looking forward

Erin will continue on with this sense of confidence as she pushes her businesses further and deeper. She has faith in herself, in her services, and in the people around her. She recognizes that growth is the key to continuing confidence, energy, and success.

She wants her companies to consistently reflect positive energy. Her businesses don’t just produce products; they add value to people’s lives on a deeper, more connected level.

Coaching with Peter has helped Erin both narrow her focus at times and broaden it at other times. Coaching has helped her understand her past while still looking five steps ahead. It has helped her step outside of her own emotions and investments to understand her businesses from a shifted perspective. It has helped expand the way she thinks in her businesses and in her own spiritual life.