A movie can take you somewhere else – transport you from your humdrum day and literally show you a world of possibilities. It can lift you up or inspire you to want to do things differently or show you that doing things a different way is possible.
A movie has the power to create change, to have an impact on how you feel and what you do next. Maybe most people don’t see movies as being related to business but we happen to know that loads of brilliant business owners and entrepid entrepreneurs just like you have been inspired by certain movies to such a degree that it’s literally changed their business.
Maybe the movie changed their view of the world or maybe it changed their view of themselves and what they can achieve but ultimately those changes have impacted on how they run and grow their businesses.
It’s More than a Job
For most entrepreneurs their business is more than a job but a way of life and they take their inspiration from so many different areas of their lives. If a movie has the power to move you then it has the power to change how you see things including your business.
This eclectic list of marvellous movies is a mix of romance, comedy and inspirational. Our 10 brilliant business owners explain the movie that has had the biggest impact on them and their business.
Sit back grab a large box of popcorn and possibly even some tissues and let this Pinright Movie Fest motivate, inspire and down right move you.
1. Jaelithe Leigh-Brown
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)
I watched this film during a two-year low in my business, where I felt like I was taking one step forward and ten steps back. It was the inspirational kick-up-the-bum I needed to keep on going and to keep on believing in myself. Ben Stiller is Walter Mitty who works at Life magazine. He is a constant daydreamer who is sent the latest negatives of photojournalist Sean O’Connell, including one which he wants to be on the front cover of the last print edition of Life magazine before it becomes a digital magazine. The negative for the front cover is missing, so Mitty follows a series of clues to find O’Connell and the negative.
The film for me was all about self discovery, following your heart, believing in yourself and never giving up. I had often felt like giving up on my business and after watching ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ I had a renewed sense of faith in what I can do and how I can help others and this has never waivered.
Watch this if: you need a kick-up-the-bum business style !
Jaelithe Leigh-Brown is Founder of www.mrsmojo.co.uk she teaches busy, stressed out mums how to be healthy, happy and confident so they can look in the mirror and love what they see.
2. Shari Teigman
Hands down
, this movie has literally changed how I see my business, my life and the journey between the two as I build the business of my dreams. The premise of the movie is a romantic comedy based on time travel, but it is so much more. Tim, the main character, is a young, quirky Brit who finds out his father, and in turn he, can time travel. Not in a sci-fi way, but they are able to go back to their own life experiences and can ‘re-do’ parts to affect future outcomes. In a wonderful warm and playful way, the movie’s whole message is about life and love, and making every moment and every player in that life count as though it is your last and most precious.
After many tissues and a few viewings, the ideas I honed from this darling film have helped me take risks, be adventurous, find the joy in each day, even the hard ones and to remember life is for living, not for waiting. I utilize these messages and ideas as well with my incredible clients and recommend this film to all to help them crank open that cerebral living to remember what actually matters and to allow what is possible.
Watch this if: you want some inspiration to remember anything is possible
Shari is a soul explorer, transformational coach and sparkle maker and can be found making her magic at www.shariteigman.com
3. Ashlyn Gibson
Adventures Of A Cardboard Box is a captivating piece of film making. I discovered it about 3 years ago at Wilderness Festival in the cinema tent with my daughter Olive. It struck a cord with me and reminded me of my own childhood so I pondered the creative family home…this is what it means to me…a place where imagination is valued over possessions and a space inhabited by a family who encourage creativity and individuality.
I added the inspiration of the film to ideas that I had for an interior book. In 2013 my first book was published by Ryland Peters and Small. It had a focus on imaginative and original spaces for modern family living. I called it Creative Family Home. Since publication it has been translated into 5 languages including Korean and Dutch.
Watch this if: you want to release some creativity
Ashlyn is a Art Director, Stylist and Interior Writer, founder of Olive Loves Alfie and author of Creative Family Home her second book Creative Children’s Spaces will be published in September 2015.
4. Melissa Reynolds-Lawrence
Watch this if: want to know to how to behave on the way to the top
Melissa Reynolds-Lawrence runs Honey Bee Copywriting, where she helps small businesses creative effective digital strategies.
5. Joanna Hennon
I came across the Sex and the City series when I was in my twenties and I always associated it with fun. Which is something that doesn’t always figure in my business – I love what I do so much that I’m not great at taking time away from it. It’s a great problem to have, really!
6. Sandra Rios Vital
In 2000 I was living on the beautiful island of Curacao. Tuesday night was movie-night at Mambo Beach – enjoying movies under the stars. When my best friend called me one morning to tell me that the movie of the week would be The Matrix I told himI knew I had to see it. It answered many questions for me. I had always felt out of sync with the “regular” way of living. Never really fitted in. I always wondered why so many people were acting like they were puppets on a string. At the early age of 5 I had thoughts like “if I can dream, could it be that my life is someone else’s dream”.
So The Matrix also gave me many new questions in return – I started to answer them one by one, step by step. Whilst I had swallowed the red pill on a private level, I still kept living the “blue” day-job 9 to 5 life as a corporate lawyer … for a long time. I knew that there was more to life than clinging on to a mainstream image of success. Yet acting upon that knowledge took time, life got in the way…. so many times. But last year I gave in to the desire to design my own business matrix – to move into my own perfect corner office and launched my own business..
Watch this if: you want to stretch your mind
Sandra recently launched The Corner Office programme to assist legal and other professionals to create a life on their terms, you can check it out at www.sandrariosvital.com
7. Cara Chace
The Secret (2006)
8. Tonya Davis
What an inspirational movie! Based on a true story of a woman who fought for what she believed in despite her means, despite the major corporation she was battling, despite all odds. She didn’t let fear hold her back from what she believed was right. She had a huge heart that wanted to help others fight a battle for their town and their health.
I have watched this movie many times and each time I glean a new lesson that can be applied to my life and my business. There is no place for fear in our lives. Fear only holds you back from doing what you believe in and sharing your business. When you have a business that you know will help others, either through the product or opportunity, allowing fear to stand in your way blocks you from fulfilling your dreams and from providing others with a chance to change their lives. Keep your vision and goals in front of you daily so that you know what you are working for and never let anyone or anything tell you that you can’t achieve it.
Watch this if: you want to be inspired
Tonya Davis is an entrepreneur and business mentor who empowers women to be successful and profitable through running a business from home.
9. Anastacia “Ace” Hauldridge
I have always been a Whoopi Goldberg fan and I thought I had seen all of her comedy movies until one evening on HBO back in 2010 I managed to catch the movie about success and business called “The Associate”. What inspired me about this particular movie was the fact that the character Laurel Ayres played by Whoopi Goldberg is a strong headed and savvy stock broker on Wall Street who is a woman working in a man’s world of business.
Well, just like the character I didn’t stop and it inspired me to get serious with my business, never mind all the challenges because you will always have them and there will always be haters of what you do. Because of that movie I still move forward to achieve my goals and I have reached success in my business that has enabled me to travel where I want and work how I want from the comfort of my home and laptop computer.
Watch this if: you want a boost of determination
Ace runs a freedom by design blog with her partner Rich at Ace & Rich
10. Rebecca Bradley
This might seem like a strange one to relate to business but bear with me here… This film changed how I think about positivity and negativity as a whole and that impact charted the course of where I ended up today and the kind of business I wanted to create. Love Actually shows how the world is one big interconnection and that things can go right and things can go wrong but ultimately underneath it all, life and our experiences are bound by on single thing – love.
I used to see challenges as disasters but this film opened my mind to the start of the perspective that through challenges you get to learn the most important stuff and ultimately those ‘disasters’ can lead you right to where you want to be. Without those set of circumstances things might not be where they are so there is never any point in regretting anything. It shaped the way I viewed how I work and what I did with my time and life, and made me bolder in my decisions to take risks and try things out and really go for what I wanted. That shaped my business too and things all fell into the right path, because a set back wasn’t a set back any more it was a twist in the road to where I knew I wanted to be. Most importantly it made me realise that Love Actually is all around 😉
Watch this if: you need to turn some negatives into positives
Rebecca & her brother Steve run Pinright a brilliant blog dedicated to helping businesses get to grips with how to use Pinterest to increase Traffic, Sales & Profit.
If this post inspired you and you want more business and Pinterest tips to your inbox you should sign up to our newsletter now or download our FREE guide and checklist to optimise your Pinterest business account NOW.