Natasha Bazilevich, founder of ChangeView Academy, draws lessons from running a marathon in Venice to explain how creativity and business both require endurance and flexibility. She believes creativity is a trainable skill like a muscle, and that Henry Ford was right: if you think you can or cannot, you're right.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode. Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. Today I have Natasha Bezalevich with us. She's a teacher, business trainer, and founder at ChangeView Academy. So welcome to the show, Natasha.
Hi, I'm really happy to be here, Tyler Wagner.
I'm really happy to have you on as well, and we'll dive right in. The first question that I have for you, Natasha, is What's the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Okay, so about 6 years ago, I started running races, half marathons and full marathons. And you know, before that, I would never have thought that I'm able, that I'm capable of running such long distances. And then like 2 years after my first marathon, I decided to start my own, like I got an idea of starting my own business. And see, that first marathon was in Venice, and it was raining time, and I was running with an injury, so I was basically limping for like 5 hours. And so, you know, after such experience, when you would never have thought that you could do that, and then you actually accomplish this, I was, it's like I understood that there is a connection between running marathons and running a business. And then I now, I see that there is such a huge connection between these two. And like, for example, in running marathons, you need fuel, you need nourishment, you need water, you need encouragement, you need support of your family, of your team, the same in business. And after running this horribly difficult marathon, I actually realized that there is nothing I cannot do. And all I need is just determination, support from my team, you know, and a lot of training. So basically what I want to tell to everybody is there is nothing you can't do. You just think you cannot, but just try to run a marathon. If I could do it, I know that you can do it too.
Yes. And you are speaking to the choir. I have to chime in here because I am an avid runner and running has changed my life. I think it really helps your mindset as well. So yes, I'm with you 100%. So the next question I have for you is, what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that is within your expertise or industry?
So I'm an expert— my expertise is in education and business trainings and personal development courses, and my favorite topic is creativity. And you know what's interesting? I work with a lot of people, I have a lot of different students in different countries, and a lot of people, maybe even like most of my students, think that they are not creative. And that was just unbelievable to me. People don't think they are creative. And what I want to tell to everybody is that we all are creative. It's in our nature. We just need to develop this quality. We just need to tap into that, tap into our creativity. And it's like a muscle. You just train it. You just use your creativity more and more, develop it. There are techniques. There are ways of developing your creativity. And it's not just about art and music or, you know, writing books or anything. If you're an accountant, you are creative too. I have one student and she's in accounting and she actually now just started her business. And she first came to me, she said, "I didn't think that I was creative." But now, like, after taking this course, she was like, "Yeah, I can see it's possible. I can actually develop this and use it." And now in her business, she's using her creativity. So believe me and remember, you all, All of us are creative. You are creative. Just develop this quality. Just learn how you can develop it more, how you can use it more, and it's like a muscle. You can get better at it.
Agreed. And what's your best piece of overall business advice, so not necessarily industry-specific?
Yeah, I guess I would want to give advice to people who are thinking of starting their own business. Or maybe they are just now at the process of starting. Maybe it would work for everybody else too, but be ready for changes. Because you know, we write a business plan, we have our strategies, we have our vision, but then life happens and it's like, I knew that. It's not like it's something totally unexpected and new, but just being a little bit of a control freak that I am, You know, when things change, you kind of, you have to change with them and it is difficult. So for people who are maybe thinking of starting their business, be ready to change your plans along the way and to be ready to change your vision, maybe even some strategies and be okay with that and not really worry too much.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
So if I could go back and talk to myself like 20 years ago, I would probably tell myself, be more courageous, be more even bold in looking for some connections and some opportunities. And mainly I would say to meet with people, to approach people who I know that they're really good at something, like they're experts, maybe they're gurus in something, and like to be bold to approach them and ask them questions, to learn from them, pick their brain as much as I can. And make more of such connections. Because I remember I was really shy and timid in my 20s, and now I see that maybe I lost some of the opportunities because of that.
And in your opinion, so kind of going a little bit of a different route, but in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
Well, I think that the key to happiness is just the person's decision to be happy. There are so many people who or negative and pessimistic and just, you know, they're just living their life in this depressed state and like, what was that? I read that phrase somewhere just yesterday. They look at their life as at a funeral or something like, always like funeral. Well, it's up to us, it's up to you. It's your decision to be happy, to be content. And then basically it's just a state of this peaceful mind with no anxieties and with the conviction that you live a purpose-driven life. You have a purpose and you are excited about it and you just, you just decide to be happy. You decide to look at your life positively.
And I agree. And, uh, what's the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
So yeah, this is always hard. It's always a hard question about books, right? Because there are so many and I decided to just I'm going to pick one that for many years I wrote as one of my favorite books. Everybody's Normal Until You Get to Know Them by John Ortberg. So the lesson, he talks a lot about relationships there. And the lesson that I learned is that everybody's normal until you get to know them. That, you know, we all are weird in our own ways. And you know how sometimes we just, we try to judge people or we don't try, we just, judge without even thinking about it. We think, oh, that one's weird. Oh, that's really weird. But we all are. We all have this. And you just think that the person is normal until you get to know them, and then you understand that they also have a thing. So it's okay. And it's much easier to build relationships when we understand that and when we can accept people with their weird things. And we're just this bunch of weirdos living on this planet. I love that. And just enjoying our weirdness in each other. I love that.
I have to check that book out then. And what's your favorite quote and why?
Yeah, again, another thing that, like, yeah, I have a lot of them, but this one is the one that I repeat the most. So I was thinking, okay, which is the quote that— which quote do I repeat the most to my students? And that's the one by Henry Ford: "If you think you can or you think you cannot, you're right." So I'm pretty sure you're familiar with this quote. It's that— I already said something like this before. You can do it, just believe it. Just, just know that you can, because if you think you can't, then of course you won't be able to do that. But just focus on the fact that you can. You just need to learn, you just need to ask for advice, you need to look for opportunities, and then you will be able to do that. You'll be able to accomplish that goal. But if you keep whining and saying that, no, you can't do that, of course you won't achieve it. So believe you can and you will be there.
Yes. And Natasha, thank you so much. I love your energy and so much value in this episode. The last question I have for you before we let you go is where's the best place for people to find you online?
Well, Facebook, I guess. I'm on LinkedIn as Natalia Bazilevich, and then Facebook, my personal page is Natasha Bazilevich. And I have several other pages, but changeview.org, maybe it's easier to remember. Changeview.org. That's my website.
Perfect. Thank you again for coming on, Natasha. We really appreciate it.
Thank you for inviting me. It was my pleasure.
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