"What Do You Do?"

How many times a day do you get asked "what do you do?"  I typically don't like to ask this question as I prefer to get to know the person I am having a dialect with so I ask them questions about themselves.  "How long have you lived in Florida?" "What brought you to this networking event or cause?" ""Got any plans that are special this summer?"  My reaction to the "what do you do?" question is - the other person wants to qualify me quickly whether I am a candidate to do business with them?  There are some people who are simply curious of what my occupation is and they will typically ask other questions.  I used to change my "30-second elevator speech" nearly every time I am asked that question which hasn't really served me.  My coach got me to focus more on my message and my purpose so I now have it down to exactly what I do - "I listen".  Simple answer but also a complex answer as I really create a safe space for people - business owners and leaders to really discover something they want to change to make their business more successful or their life more balanced and happy.  That is my WHY - I LISTEN to people.  My point in this blog is to suggest you really get clear what your true purpose and passion is and create a simple statement describing those two keys things when describing what you do as it really is your Why (the driver behind what and how you do what you do). By embodying this message about yourself, people will believe you and want to do business with you. Keep it simple and be genuine and see what happens.