A Small Glimpse Into Natalie’s Life…

I grew up in the Colorado mountains with my Mom and three other siblings. My mom was a crazy downhill ski-racer, so life was an adventure from the start. Speaking of the start, I came into this earth “not alive.” Doctors said I would be a vegetable if they saved me. Apparently someone miscalculated. Fortunately, my dear mother decided it would be a good idea to save me and told the doctors to do so. Thanks Mom!

Life wasn’t normal growing up (thank goodness!) We had no money but so many adventures, important life lessons, and we were a tough crew.

As a little rugrat, I was always doing projects. I was an outcast. Perhaps the fact that I towered over even the tallest boy in class, or dressed up in full Halloween regalia on any given day for no reason at all, had something to do with it.

Nonetheless, I learned to be 100% content diving into my own brain for hours on end, working on some “project” of some sort. Either that, or getting dolled up in a 4 foot wide petticoat and heading down to the neighborhood BMX track to keep up with my brother and his friends.

I also kept myself busy with usual child-hood activities, taking a part the telephone, building forts, selling cookies to the neighbors, jewelry to fellow students, and other entrepreneurial activities.

Then when I was five, I met my soul. Face to face. It was about five feet tall, bright pea green, ivory partly chipped off the keys, but it was the most beautiful piano I had ever seen. My uncle wanted to store it at our house. We put it in the garage. I sat down and immediately began playing it. I would listen to the radio and make up my own versions of songs. I began writing my own music. Finally when I was a whopping six years old, my mom (thanks again Mom!) got me lessons with a prestigious classical piano teacher. All their students who didn’t get kicked out went to the Julliard.

Well, I got kicked out. Being that I had the wonderful gift of playing by ear, apparently I thought I didn’t really need to learn to read music. Or that perhaps I could add in notes or omit notes, wherever I felt like it in any Beethoven piece cause “it sounds cool!” My teacher didn’t agree.

But that’s okay. I continued to study and went on to win some local and national awards for my original compositions and classical piano performance. I was 14.

High-school was fun, but sort of lame. I never fit in, people didn’t know what to think of me, and so I just followed my brother and his friends around (guys are so much less drama!) I thought I wanted to go to medical school. I loved science and was obsessed with biology, anatomy, physiology, systems, and everything to do with all of the above.

I became a little nuts towards the end of my high-school career. Being a little too driven and forgetting the fact I was human (so annoying, I know), I decided to see what happens when you live on coffee and work 20 hours a day. Not a routine I’d highly recommend. It’s not productive.

So my Mom got a phone call from our relatives in France (my “Father” is French). How about we ship Natalie overseas! “Good idea!” I say, and off I went. I spent a lot of time in France when I was younger, but now I was a grown-up 17, so I definitely thought it appropriate to start a new life somewhere else.

And I did. I screwed my head on straight, got a job bartending (Caffe Forte in Grenoble, Google it!), and working in a Ralph Lauren Boutique. I came to know a side of the family I never really knew I had. It was amazing! And I also decided I didn’t want to sit at a desk the rest of my life, so medical school and biology were out. I could read Gray’s Anatomy if I missed it. (the book, not the tv show)

After spending most my time overseas for a couple years, coming back for holidays and what not (remind me to tell you the story about me hitch-hiking my way home on a brand new 747. That was fun) I decided to finish my college degree. Well, the only thing I learned in school was that Corporate America probably wouldn’t be my cup of tea, but I very much enjoyed being in charge. Of everything. And I was good at it.

But before I finished school, I had more important things to attend to. I called up my friend one day and said (this is, word for word how the conversation went), “Hey, let’s move somewhere.” “Okay” “Where should we go?” “I don’t know. Let’s go to Italy, they have cool clothes” “Okay” So I made the arrangements, got us an apartment, and we left.

We got jobs, went to school, and had a blast. We lived across the street from a Firehouse so we’d yell across the street and get the Firemen to help us with our homework. We got all A’s.

Back to Colorado. Then to Spain for half a year. Why not? I did my own little fundraisers giving piano concerts to raise money for my travels. It went well. So after being in Spain, I came home, finished school and said “I’m going to start an INTERNET business!” Wow. Amazing. I thought, I am doing this. I chose the internet because I said here’s my criteria: “Whatever I do in life, I must be able to snowboard, travel, play piano, and make a lot of money.” Where better than the internet, right? Absolutely.

So I found a business, but needed a good chunk of cash to make it fly. I put together a business plan and went to 20 different people I knew, corporate CEO’s, investors that I’d met while bartending my way through school. They all said no with a look like “Oh, that’s so cute! But no.” Then I got one yes. So I was off to the races.

I started my business living in someone’s basement (for real) and financed a laptop. Things started off slow as I was also finishing two degrees and bartending 5 nights a week to pay for school, but I did what I had to do, to make it happen.

Once I finished school, I began helping other entrepreneurs grow their businesses, and found I was very good at it. And Platinum7 was founded.

Several years later, with a growing team of 20+ in-house experts and 1500+ clients (the majority of which was powered by word of mouth) I knew I was onto something.

It’s interesting to see what can happen when you simply find out what people want, go get it, sell it to them, and deliver it with high-standards and enthusiasm.

But it’s even more interesting to see what happens when you decide what you want, dis-associate yourself from current circumstances, and refuse to settle for anything less than your dream.

I can’t wait to hear your story. I hope that by reading mine, you see how fun life can be, if you decide it.

Let’s Make It Happen-

Natalie Winter Stahl