The Dream Manifester
Anne-Marie Lerch was pregnant with her second child when she stated, “I’m gonna build a multimillion-dollar business,” four years before it came true. She developed the Hi Tech Hui, an IT Support and Cybersecurity business, around her desire for a flexible schedule to meet the demands of motherhood. “I don’t know how, but I’m gonna make it happen,” she announced after leaving her dream job at Amazon’s Zappos.com, to follow her husband’s lifelong desire to live in the islands. When I asked her why Hawai‘i was the place where she finally plunged into becoming her own business mogul, she said, “I just knew.”
Her fresh, makeup-free face beamed brightly across the table at Bogart’s. “Avocado Chicken Salad with the dressing on the side,” she ordered, admitting it was her first meal of that busy Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Being a mom of three girls, a boss, business owner and wife, she has more than enough filling up her schedule. Managing time is one of Anne-Marie’s keys to success, as she reveals her secrets of how HI Tech Hui is becoming one of Hawai‘i’s fastest growing companies. For her, having children was a priority. While she initially thought of being a stay-at-home mom, she soon realized her entrepreneurial desires were a necessity for her happiness. This Canadian proves, “Success is all in your mindset.” She used visualization to manifest herself a position at Microsoft, which moved her to Seattle, Washington in 2005. She says dreams become reality when you make the daily habit to reevaluate your life, contemplate what you want, and choose to adjust accordingly. “Know what you want, act like it already is, be thankful, write it down, and watch it come.”
However, Anne-Marie notes the importance of having the right people on your team, the right support to help you believe your success is possible and constant communication within the family you choose. She gives credit to her mother as being a huge part of her work team, as her mother helps care for her girls ages four, six and thirteen. Anne-Marie also credits the mentors who have been in her shoes, found success and passed on their wisdom. The importance of these values is what drives Anne-Marie and her husband to take great care in hiring the right people for their company. They want to work with like-minded people who they can “have a beer with,” share in their core values and live by them.
Lastly, Anne-Marie says be gracious to yourself because the journey is not perfect. “Some days I get the kids to school late and forget everyone’s water bottle,” she shrugs. “Be okay with letting some things go as you focus on your goal of getting back to happy.” She assures that it’s the little things, the little pleasures that will get you through that imperfect process. “Because running a business is very masculine, I have to purposely breathe through the stress to get back to feminine.” Anne-Marie’s morning routine—applying face creams, diffusing essential oils, and enjoying the fifteen minutes of quiet time before the kids wake up—is full of little rituals that keep it all together. “You have to love yourself, not beat yourself up. Enough people will beat you up. Life is too short. What do you have to lose?”
