Mpowered Founder Ann Sheu On Entrepreneurship And Facing The Unknown

Ann Sheu, founder of Mpowered will soon be on stage at Local Profile’s inaugural Women in Business Leadership Symposium on June 13, 2024. As we celebrate the many women who make North Texas businesses successful, they offer invaluable advice for those advancing in their own careers. 

Local Profile’s inaugural Women in Business Symposium presented by Bank of America, features an evening of networking and a powerhouse panel discussion focused on lessons learned from successful women in business.” Drawing influential women from global enterprise, non-profit, small business, and government sectors in the North Texas community, this symposium celebrates, unites and empowers Dallas- Fort Worth’s leading ladies. 

Sheu coaches entrepreneurs and small to midsize businesses and teams to lead a better business and live a better life through her work at Mpowered Journey.

In addition to being an entrepreneur since 2004, Sheu has 15 years of experience helping organizations systematically improve as a consultant, advisor, board member and coach. These experiences, paired with both business and law degrees, have given Sheu a holistic view of business and allows her to pull from a wealth of tools and perspectives to aid Mpowered Journey clients in their journey.

Here’s what Sheu has to say about business:

What idea has impacted you the most in your field?

For the longest time as a female entrepreneur, I thought I had to do it all to prove myself to others. I perceived asking for help as a sign of weakness, and refused to do it. That is, until I came across Ben Hardy and Dan Sullivan’s concept of “Who Not How” from their book, Who Not How. Instead of getting stuck on the “how,” the “who not how” approach asks you to focus on the “who” when tackling a challenge or project. 

This approach emphasizes how finding the right people can contribute to your objectives by leveraging their strengths and fostering a collaborative environment. This concept was transformational for me because it granted me freedom and permission to seek help and delegate tasks outside of my skill set, freeing me up to focus on what I do best. Had I continued leading with the “do it all” mentality I had before discovering the “who not how” concept, I would have inadvertently held my businesses back from thriving and tanked my entrepreneurial journey. Now, I ask for help daily without shame or embarrassment and my businesses are much better for it. 

How do you deal with setbacks?

I grew up believing that perfection was the standard and making a mistake meant I was a failure. After years of trying to be perfect, and, you guessed it, failing, I realized that success isn’t born out of perfection. It’s made by making messy mistakes, and lots of them. Seeking perfection often lends itself to playing safe and being comfortable, whereas the path to success is often marked by failures and setbacks. If you aren’t making mistakes and failing, you’re not pushing yourself hard enough. Does that make it easier to deal with mistakes? Not at all. In those moments right after a big mistake or a failure, when my stomach knots and I feel jarred, I turn to the people I trust and respect for comfort, support and a reality check. They’re amazing at finding the balance between being empathetic and pushing me to get back up and try again. They remind me of the bigger picture and my why, and often, those two things will give me the courage to keep moving forward.

What do you do when an idea strikes?

As a recovering people-pleaser, saying “no” has always been my biggest challenge. I’ve adopted two strategies to help me conquer it. First, I’ve surrounded myself with a team that isn’t afraid to challenge me. My team champions my vision but knows when to pull me back from distractions. They respect my ideas while ensuring they align with our company’s North Star goal: empowering 5,000 families to set their own goals by 2029.

Second, we have set clear North Star goals in both our business and personal lives and every idea goes through a “North Star filter”: does it accelerate us towards this goal? If not, we table it. But if it propels us forward, especially with increased speed, then we dig deeper.

On the personal side, I have built out my Individual Roadmap, and my husband and I have built out our family roadmap. These two documents give me the clarity I need to know what to say yes to and what to say no to. 

Once we greenlight an idea, I journal its impact and success criteria, then share it with the team. Then, I find the “who” to make it happen. Great ideas often fail because we try to go solo. We think we can do it all ourselves, when in reality, most incredible ideas can’t be completed in a silo. Implementing great ideas requires a team effort, and learning to ask for help and delegate is crucial if we want to do ground-breaking work.

How do you respond when feeling held back?

If you had asked me this question 20 years ago, my answer would have been to fight and demand what I want and need. Now, after years of therapy and coaching, I’m better (certainly not perfect) at pausing before I respond when I feel threatened, attacked or unsupported. Taking an intentional pause before responding enables me to approach the problem or situation with curiosity, asking myself questions like “What underlying value of mine is being challenged in this situation?” or “What need do they have that isn’t getting met?” Instead of dwelling on problems, I ask myself, ‘What’s my desired outcome?’ This simple question refocuses my energy on achieving my desired result, allowing me to proactively create solutions.

What is one idea that motivates you?

At Mpowered Families, we equip clients with tools and resources to design their ideal life. Part of that is crafting their Decade Dream — a guiding light goal for the next ten years. This big goal reflects a purpose-driven life aligned with your values. It becomes your north star, filtering all distractions and guiding decisions. My personal decade dream is to help one million people define their decade dream. When this goal is accomplished, it will signify that our work is having a massive impact, that our business is thriving, that my kids have defined their decade dreams, and that communities are being transformed by our work. My decade dream fuels my inspiration, especially on challenging days when progress feels slow. It also helps me filter out the noise. By focusing only on what aligns with my decade dream, I can maintain high energy and motivation. This guiding goal informs major decisions, from starting a new business to hiring someone or joining a board. It’s a powerful tool that grants me permission and freedom to say no more often.

What was the most difficult decision you’ve made in your career so far?

Back when I was practicing law, I enjoyed parts of what I did, but I knew I wasn’t living up to my full potential. I had spent years working to become an attorney, but after nearly a decade of practicing, I was burnt out and exhausted. Not because of the long hours, but because I knew I wasn’t doing what I was born to do. The problem was, I was scared to make a change. Practicing law was comfortable and predictable, and being an attorney had become part of my identity. If I gave it up, I was throwing myself into the scary unknown. Thinking about that change was nerve-wracking. But it wasn’t until I decided to stop practicing law and started pursuing entrepreneurship full-time that I saw the most growth and fulfillment in myself. Though it was scary, that change let me unlock my most authentic self and lean into who I was meant to be. What I learned from that experience was that our greatest growth is often on the other side of fear. When we take the leap and throw ourselves into the uncomfortable and unknown, we discover who we really are and what we’re meant to do.

What challenges do you face as a woman in your industry?

One of the hardest parts of being an entrepreneur is the sheer lack of other female entrepreneurs. In entrepreneurial peer group meetings, I’m often the only female in a room of 20-30 men. While I appreciate their perspectives and can learn a lot from them, it’s sometimes lonely! 

Who is the first person you come to with an idea?

My husband, Sunny, is always my first sounding board for ideas. We are not only life partners but also business partners. He offers valuable perspective and has an incredible ability to see the big picture. He’s great at helping me process ideas, run them through our filters and help me find the right “Who” to help implement the idea if we’re aligned. 

What is a recent challenge you faced? How did you overcome it?

One of the biggest challenges I continue to face as a working mom is feeling like I’m giving my all at work and that my family is getting the leftovers of me at the end of the day. It’s easy to feel like my business is my baby, but I really only have three babies (and they’re 6, 3 and 1). I have to remind myself regularly that my family is the most important team I’ll ever build and that business success doesn’t automatically lead to success at home. For my family to succeed, I have to treat it with the same level of intentionality and dedication as I give my work. This means getting clear about our family values, aligning our actions with those values, crafting a long-term vision and goals for our family, doing weekly alignment meetings with my husband, and carving out time with my husband every quarter and every year to reflect, realign and plan.

What is the biggest mistake you see women making when advancing their careers?

One of the biggest mistakes women make is not prioritizing their “me-work.” If we don’t take the time to pause, zoom out and reflect on who we are, what’s most important to us, what brings out the best in us, what energizes us, what we want out of life and what our long-term goals are, then we will find ourselves chugging away at work, feeling exhausted and likely shooting for that promotion simply because it’s the next logical step (and not because it’s what we truly want). When this happens, we end up in positions of power and influence, but feeling empty and burnt out. To truly live our best lives and be who we were meant to be, we have to prioritize our “me-work.”

How do you define success?

My definition of success is inspired by two of my mentors: Dan Sullivan, founder of Strategic Coach, and Gino Wickman, founder of Entrepreneurial Operating System. From Dan, I learned about the four freedoms: freedom of time, freedom of money, freedom of relationship and freedom of purpose. From Gino, I learned about the EOS life: Doing what you love, with people you love, making a huge impact, being compensated appropriately, and still having time to pursue other passions. For me, success is a combination of these two principles: Living a life aligned with my core values where I have time freedom, relationship freedom and purpose freedom, and I’m having a huge impact doing what I love. 

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

Work on “me” for “we.” We hear this idea all the time, “Put your oxygen mask on first,” but I think most of us ignore it (on the airplane and in real life). We perceive self-care as selfish, and we put aside our passions for the sake of our loved ones. We think we are selflessly sacrificing for others when we do this, but in reality, our loved ones are missing out on the best version of us. When we do the work to get clear on who we are as individuals, then we are able to show up as our full, authentic selves for the people who matter most in our lives.

What projects are you currently working on?

Far too often we see business leaders give their all to their business, leaving their family life on the back burner. This happens because success in the business is equated to success in the family. But this couldn’t be more wrong. That’s why my husband Sunny, our friend Mey Ly Ortiz, and I are co-authoring a book that challenges this paradigm and offers a better solution: treating your family like you do your business. Readers will walk away with an understanding that to have the family life you want, you have to treat family like work and they will feel empowered with mindsets and tools to make impactful changes to how they approach their family life. In addition to that, we are taking our life-changing Mpowered Families Know Thyself workshop (one of the most popular with our clients!) and are launching a virtual version this summer so that individuals outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth area can gain clarity on themselves and design their ideal life. This fall, we’re also launching a podcast to equip business and family leaders with actionable strategies for treating family-like work, fostering meaningful relationships and living intentionally. We are so excited about the impact these projects will have on families and the communities they live in!

What is the best book you read this year?

I’m a huge Brene Brown fan, and I’m currently re-reading (for the 3rd time) Atlas of the Heart. It’s so rich and helps me clarify my thoughts and emotions so that I can show up as my full, authentic self for my family and my businesses. I love it so much that I’ve been reading sections of it to my kids (and it helps that there are some pictures).

For more information about Local Profile’s upcoming symposium visit the link here. 

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