the bossbabe podcast - 130. Why NO is a Full Sentence, How to Time Block & Set Respected Boundaries with Amy Landino

Episode Date: November 2, 2020

We’re joined by Amy Landino, an award-winning YouTuber, bestselling author and international speaker. For the last 10 years, Amy has been empowering people all over the world to go after the life they want by educating them on how to leverage time, focus, and resourcefulness through her actionable and transformative “edutainment” (educational/entertaining) content.  In this insightful episode, Amy tells us how she went from being at school with no clue about what she wanted to do with her future, to realizing she was super skilled at social media. We also talk productivity and boundary setting, and Amy’s got some top tips to help you stay focussed on what’s important, and say no to what’s not. If you’re ready to make the life you want a reality, and you’re willing to put in the work but need actual, actionable steps then this episode is for you!  Links: Sign up for our free training: How to Plan & Execute Profitable Repeatable Launches with Our 4-Step Formula. https://bossbabe.com/launchformula Join Online Launch School, our 12-week program designed to take the guesswork out of sold-out launches. https://bossbabe.com/ols Get two free months of Skillshare premium membership and receive access to unlimited to over 1000+ classes: www.skillshare.com/bossbabe  Follow: @bossbabe.inc Natalie Ellis, @iamnatalie Amy Landino, @schmittastic Amy Landino YouTube

It's not that your interview is not important. It's just what are you doing to make sure that everything's really mutually beneficial for the other person and that you're being cognizant of making their time effective. We don't actually give people enough credit that people are good and it's okay. You don't have to be the one that overcompensates for everything. Hello, my loves. You know what? I've been wondering. I'm wondering where you listen to this podcast. Is it when you're driving, when you're outside walking, when you're in the bath, when you're in the gym, when you're getting ready? Let me know. Tag me and let me know because I really want to know. Anyway, so if any of you know anything about me, well you might know this one

thing. So I am known by my friends as the boundary queen in that I have really strong boundaries. I know what's a yes for me and I know what's a no for me because my boundaries honestly make me happy. I don't know if that's my Enneagram 8 energy, my Capricorn energy, whatever it is. Boundaries make me happy. So that's from I don't have Slack or emails on my phone. I don't work on weekends. I have 12 till 1 booked out my calendar for lunch and no one can book in with me on that time. I do not do coffee with people just for the sake of doing coffee with people. I don't let people pick my brain. I'm just very strong around my boundaries. I like to spend my time doing things that I enjoy

and I like to spend my time with my friends. I like to spend time with family. I like to work a lot on things that I really enjoy. So I just don't like doing stuff that wastes my time. Anyway, I don't know that many people wastes my time. Anyway I don't know that many people that have boundaries as strong as I do and I really develop them as a way of like energy management and happiness management and I don't know many people that around me that have them like that. To be quite honest with you my boundaries have definitely offended some people

before. Noticeably people that didn't have so many of their own boundaries but when I would say no I could definitely tell that some people got peed off by that like well why won't you do my podcast I'm your friend shouldn't you just do my podcast because I'm your friend no I don't have capacity right now and I don't feel like squeezing it in outside of my work and I was just because I'm your friend like I don't feel like I have to do everyone's podcasts and I know it has offended people in the past and the real true friends of mine will not be offended because they're like you know what what's best for you is best for me and what's best for me is best for you. I really believe that. Anyway getting back to my point this conversation today lit up my soul because I think Amy might have boundaries stronger

than me. So I was learning a lot from this episode and that's definitely saying something around this topic. So today we're joined by Amy Landino. She is creator of the award-winning series Amy TV, author of the best-selling book Vlog Like a Boss and an international keynote speaker. And for the last 10 years, Amy has been empowering people all over the world to go after the life they want by best-selling book, Vlog Like a Boss, and an international keynote speaker. And for the last 10 years, Amy has been empowering people all over the world to go after the life they want by educating them on how to leverage time, focus, and resourcefulness through actionable, transformative edutainment, educational entertainment content. Anyway, before social media became a thing and evolved into what it is today, Amy was already vlogging.

So she's been doing this for a really long time. And she is such a fountain of knowledge when it comes to video content, audience growth, social media, all of those pieces. So not only do I pick her brain around that, but around boundaries and how we need to get more comfortable saying no and not feeling bad about it. We talk about morning routines and things that she does to show up as her best because listen, she is an incredibly productive, high energy person. She gets so much done. And I know you can only be that kind of person if you have really epic routines and rituals. So we dive into all of that. We dive into guilt. We do everything. We even talk about what it looks like if people around you get

offended by your boundaries. So if you're listening to this and you're like, yes, I'm also like a boundary queen and I need better advice on how to deal with people that get offended, this is for you. It's also for you if you're like, I know I could have stronger boundaries, but I have no idea how to implement them and I don't want to upset anyone, you're going to love this. So as always, take a screenshot, share your biggest takeaways and Insta stories, tag me at IamNatalie and at bosswave.inc

and let me know if this resonates with you because I have a feeling that it's gonna. Okay, I want to quickly interrupt this episode because I've got some really exciting news that I want to share. So if you haven't yet heard, Online Launch School is now open for enrollment. This is one of the most exciting courses we've ever created and it's been in the works since November 2019. Let me tell you, this course has the ability to significantly impact and supercharge

your business and your life. Here at Boss Babe, we know a thing or two about launches and let me give you some insider info. So our last launch was actually our biggest launch yet and it was actually the least stressful time for me and the entire team. This is such a big reason we decided to create Online Launch School. We know that we've unlocked such an amazing formula to make our launches really profitable without the stress, without the overwhelm, and without endless amounts of caffeine. Because trust me, Danielle and I have been there. So OLS is a 12-week program designed to walk you step-by-step through a successful launch of your online product or service. We want to help you take the guesswork out of sold-out launches so that you can spend more time moving the needle in your business and doing the things that you love. So if you're ready to have the

biggest cash injection your business has ever had, head to bosswave.com forward slash OLS and let's dive in. A boss babe is unapologetically ambitious and paves the way for herself and other women to rise, keep going and fighting on. She is on a mission to be her best self in all areas. It's just believing in yourself, confidently stepping outside her comfort zone to create her own vision of success. Amy, welcome to the Bossway Podcast. So excited to be here, Natalie. Thank you. So we met about six months ago, was it, at a brand partnership event.

And as soon as we connected, I could just see how we had so many similarities, which we're going to get into later on the podcast, because I know there's a lot of things I think our audience want to hear, especially around boundaries and things that I talk about a lot. I really want to quiz you on how you've been able to implement them. But before we get into all of that, I want to talk a bit about your career as an entrepreneur. When did you decide to dive into this whole world of entrepreneurship? It was a very, very long time ago. Probably about 12 years ago or so, I started to discover YouTube. I had made a video as a gift to a bride who had asked me to be in her wedding with somebody I went to high school with. And it was just my first opportunity to find something that was a creative outlet for me. Not only that, just something that was natural to me. I wasn't one of these people that went to school, knowing what I was going to be when I grew up. I

actually had a really good friend who was an incredible artist. And all I remember about him and how close we were was how great he was and how he was going to be an architect someday. And now he's in Chicago and he's an architect. That wasn't me. I didn't know what I was going to be, but making that video, I felt like I'd found something that worked. I enjoyed it. I just filmed a bunch of people, stitched it together, and it was fun. So I was really just discovering YouTube at the time. Interestingly, when you're making videos about nothing, when you're making videos about you and your friends hanging out and whatever, and then you're posting on social media, of course, I don't even know that I was calling it social media at the time. It was like I posted my video link on Twitter. You're learning how to market something.

I didn't realize I was also learning myself a business trade. So that started happening. And I was talking to a friend. She's from the West Coast. I always say that the West Coast and maybe New York, always a little bit further ahead than us in the Midwest in terms of what the new business opportunities are and just really anything that's ahead of the game trend-wise. And I was showing her how to fix something in her Facebook settings. It was like privacy. And she said, you're really good at this.

And I was like, it's Facebook. It's the new thing. Everyone's good at it. This is like 2009. And she said, no, no, no. People do this for a living. They help businesses with their social media. And I was like, you've got to be kidding me. I could never have guessed that in a million years. And she's sitting here telling me I might be good at it. Well, like I said, I was learning this trade by creating content online, very socially unacceptable content, by the way. It was not cool to carry around a vlogging camera in 2009, but I was doing it and I was promoting it and people were hanging out with me. But as I found out about that industry, about the social media marketing industry, I couldn't get enough. I was working in

public policy and fundraising at a private law firm. I was going to school for political science, but when nobody could get a job during the economic breakdown, I quit school so I could keep my job because I had a great job. I had a 401k, I had a paycheck, I had a beautiful desk, a boss that I liked, and it was great, but I could not get enough. I would go home after work and I would just immerse myself in the internet of things and just learning what's going on in marketing, what's going on with these tools. And I asked a local magazine. It's actually, I think it's a chain magazine. It's called Edible, Edible Columbus, where there's like an Edible Manhattan and an Edible probably where

you are. They were starting it in Columbus and I went to them and I said, hi, you don't know me, but your husband knows my boyfriend. And I'm sending you this very long email to tell you that I will work really, really hard. I want you to let me manage your social media. I'm going to do it for free, but your magazine, it's a free magazine about sustainable living and farmer's markets and all these really trendy things. It's perfect for social media marketing and I will do it amazingly and you'll love it. And they said, yes, weirdly enough. Of course I was free. So that was probably part of it. And that was my first client. After that, everyone was paid incrementally more and more. It took about a year for me to finally make the jump into, okay, I can't do this as a side hustle anymore. I've got to focus my energy on it if

I'm going to have time for my clients. And by the end of 2010, that's exactly what I did. And so you started off as a social media manager. How did you then, and when did you then pivot to YouTube full-time? So it was, what's really interesting is when I left my job and it was, you get this freedom to talk about what you're doing more when you feel like you're not going to be embarrassed if your boss finds out. So it was like, okay, now I have to start a channel and I have to tell the world what I'm doing because I need to pay my bills. So I started a whole different YouTube channel about specifically social media marketing and learning about the things that small businesses could do, especially in-house.

And if they couldn't handle it, they could hire me. Things that you can do to bring brand awareness. I started that channel to educate. And that was truly what the channel, and it still is to this day about education, but just at a different time, different things. As I'm talking about social media for years, you finally get to a point where video becomes more acceptable. Now we're talking about 2012, 2013. Okay. Yeah, we get it. You're teaching us how to use Facebook, but what about this video thing you're doing? We want to do this video thing you're doing. How hard is it? How much does it cost? What does it take? And I was like, oh. So then the conversation changed. Okay, here's how to vlog like a boss,

which ultimately ended up being my 2017 book on the topic. So the channel then changed. What does it take to bring brand awareness with video? And then how do you leverage social media to promote that video, et cetera, et cetera. So that was the trajectory there. And that was only the first pivot of, I guess, three or four. And now you're really well known for helping people go after the life that they want. That's your brand. And you're very much about routines, productivity. When did that change start to happen for you and why? When I wrote Vlog Like a Boss, it was literally like the end of a chapter for me and figuratively because I was so happy with what I had delivered and how well it was being received that people told me to write a book. I thought it was ridiculous for me to try to tell people how to

make video in a book. I was asked for that. I was speaking. People wanted the book when I got off stage. And so to me, it was, this is great. There's only so much more that I'm going to be interested in talking on this topic because the platforms change with features and things like that. But that's not really where I get geeked out.

I get geeked out about the psychology of people and why this works. So to me, it was, I'm done being the video girl on video talking about how to use video. That was for me, that was the end of it. And what really struck me, again, this always comes down to what the audience wants. Absolutely everything I do, within reason, is what the audience wants. And so at that point, I was getting comments from people saying, Amy, I just like watching your videos. I never have any plan or intention to make a video, period. Or they may not have even been a business. And so it was just, well, that's

interesting. And then if you talk to the people that were willing to entertain it, but weren't doing it yet, it always came down to one problem. And that was time. And so to me, it was like, oh, well then how have I made the time? How have I been able to have clients and make three videos a week on YouTube? How have I been able to do this? So then it became that conversation. It was very natural at the beginning of 2018. A couple of things happened. I got married. I changed my name. I changed the name of the channel. Everything was changing. It was ripping off the biggest bandaid of all time. I was like, look, we're changing the content too. Let's get to some real issues in your life now that we've gotten to this point. You can do all that other stuff.

It's in the archives. You can watch it anytime you want, but how do we break down how you're not prioritizing the time you need to go after the life you want? And that was the last pivot. Let's take a quick pause to talk about my new favorite all-in-one platform, Kajabi. You know I've been singing their praises lately because they have helped our business run so much smoother and with way less complexity, which I love. Not to mention our team couldn't be happier because now everything is in one place. So it makes collecting data, creating pages, collecting payment, all the things so much simpler. One of our mottos at Boss Babe is simplify to amplify and Kajabi has really helped us do that this year. So of course I needed to share it here with you. It's the perfect time of year to do a bit of spring cleaning in your

business you know. Get rid of the complexity and instead really focus on getting organized and making things as smooth as possible I definitely recommend Kajabi to all of my clients and students so if you're listening and haven't checked out Kajabi yet now is the perfect time to do so because they are offering Boss Babe listeners a 30-day free trial go to kajabi.com slash boss babe to claim your 30-day free trial that's kajabi.com slash boss babe and so what does that look like for you managing your time on a high level when you think about what's coming up for you

in the next month and then managing your week? What are your kind of fundamentals when it comes to time management? Number one is communication. What's probably been the most eye-opening part of this journey is, much like I'm sure you teach your community, is as you grow,

always continuing to ask for the help that you need in order to sustain that growth. And so that's where things got really sticky and interesting as an entrepreneur. Like, oh, wow, I'm in charge of other people's livelihoods and that's so scary and weird. But when you look at it and you see, oh my God, I need these people to help me do this thing. That's huge. That's something that you've got used to a little bit. And communication is massive because when I'm thinking about where I'm going to spend my time, it's not just that I get to make the decision because I'm the owner of the company and I pretty much decided that I'm going to be the owner of the company forever because I want to be able to have that freedom. But if I have deliverables that need to be done and I've got a team who is also waiting for me all the time, I've got to communicate to them what things are going to happen. That's one form of communication. How am I going to get these things done? When am I going to get these things done? And then being able to set those deadlines accordingly and those milestones. The other form, I think, is communication with those closest around you or just people who care about you in general, specifically at the beginning of

this journey when you just have people who just don't get it. They're like, wait, why are you doing this? This sounds like a really stupid, risky move, or this really sounds self-indulgent or selfish or whatever. And having that conversation and being able to be confident in the fact that you get one life. And if you feel like you want to explore something, explore it. You need to reckon with the risks that do take place in your life. When I first started out, I had an apartment. I wanted to get rid of that apartment. I told my significant other, I said, I need your support right now. I need to be able to move in with you. I don't know when I can start paying rent, but it's going to be soon. I'm not going to just sit here and leech forever. And so having that

conversation was important. Telling my parents that I wasn't a slow, slow disappointment leaving a job that was cushy and fabulous. That was a conversation. The communication you need to have even today where my husband's like, Amy, you didn't answer the phone. I was like, no, I didn't answer the phone. I was interviewing Natalie for my podcast. And he's like, yeah, but these guys are coming to install the fence. I'm like, that's cool. There's this thing called do not disturb. And I don't care who you are. I'm going to have do not disturb on if I cannot be disturbed. Having that conversation in an elegant way is really important and just saying, you got this? Do you need anything from me right now?

Because I got to go move on to the next thing. And I have to be focused. Otherwise, this thing that's going to otherwise take 10 hours could only take me 30 minutes if I just go knock it out. And that's important. That's a huge fundamental. Communication is massive. I love that so much and so similar because my groceries got

delivered during this interview and they're calling me saying that I'm like, well, they're going to have to just put the food downstairs and I'm going to wait. You focus on one thing at a time and then move forward. So one thing that I do with my weeks is I have two creative days where I don't take meetings and they're very much on deep diving on projects, getting my own things done. And then the other three days I'm in meetings. It's very collaborative. Do you do anything like that with your week? I'm a huge, huge, huge believer in calendar blocking and time batching. We talk a lot about it on the channel over on YouTube. The biggest thing for me is that if I'm in a zone, I need to stay in that zone. And I also think makeup is really expensive and I only want to have to wear it when I want to wear it. So what that basically looks

like is Mondays, I don't like to give to anyone. I'm just too much in my own, like you got to get on board with the week head state. And I like to focus on some brainstorming, some creativity, just things that come natural to me on Monday. It's really great for the fact that if you ever get Sunday scaries, if you have the control to make Mondays less awful, then do that. And so that's a huge thing for me. Tuesdays are more project day. So if I'm building out a presentation for my membership group, or if I'm doing anything that's just head down sitting at the computer, cram it out. That's a Tuesday kind of day for me. Wednesdays are I got to put my makeup on. So filming, or if I have meetings, or if I have to go somewhere, thanks to quarantine, I'm not going

anywhere lately, which has been fabulous for being effective and productivity. But anything that's like face on got to do this. And Thursdays are my audio day. So I'm taking podcast interviews on Thursdays as much as possible. And I think it's funny for people like me and Natalie who are like time batching like crazy, like do our time batching days match up? Often you probably will find you don't have that problem because they're not people like me and Natalie that are taking this so seriously. But yeah, I got to stay in the zone. And I'm also trying to make Fridays pretty easy breezy, especially in the summer. So if I focus really hard in the right lanes on those three days, I feel like I've had a pretty good week and my team supports me throughout the entire week.

I love that. And yeah, it's so true. I have days when I record, I plan them out. Like I know my days from now till the end of 2020. And if someone can't make that day, then I just don't do the podcast. It's making that decision. Have you done things like that where you're like, that's just how it's gonna work and I'm okay walking away from that? Yeah, I mean like no joke. This week, I don't know what it is. People are running out of content or whatever it is.

It's like, I've gotten like 30 texts, it seems like, from people who know me. They're like, hey, I'd love to have people who know me. They're like, hey, I'd love to have you on my show. It's like, great, cool. First of all, send me an email. I don't operate out of my text messages. I know that I might be a little archaic in that way, but what I don't understand is why Apple does not give us the ability to unread a message so that we can go back and remember we have to check it and check some task off because your text is not my emergency. I'm not going to write that down right away. It's not going to happen. So first,

you got to send me an email. And then second, we've gotten to a point where if you're not in a promotional season, the interviews are not that critical. Now that doesn't mean I don't take them, but if I'm not already promoting, let's say a book launch, I was taking any interview that would have me when I had a book coming out. Right now, you're going to buy books to get me on a call. Now, not Natalie, because me and Natalie are cool. We're friends. We've got an agreement already. And this thing's been on the books.

But if someone straight up, I'm saying, you got to buy 10 books, man. Because right now, my time is so valuable. I just bought a house. I'm loving being in it. Me just sitting down and enjoying my life is worth it. So I don't want to get on a call that's going to ask a bunch of questions that I don't want to answer. It can be in an email. And I don't want to get on an interview if you really didn't make it worth my time. It's not that your interview is not important. It's just what are you doing to make sure that everything's really mutually beneficial for the other person and that you're

being cognizant of making their time effective? Oh, everything you said, especially, I don't want to be on a call if it could have been said in an email. You can answer in your own time at the end of the day when you don't have other stuff to do. I am serious about that. And my team knows, just send me a loom video or a slap. Do not try and get me on a call to answer a few questions. Like it's much more effective that way. And I also time block my lunches. My blood sugar is important to me. I'm not going to like time block, take meetings all over my lunch that I hit a crash at two or three. And then my afternoon's written off. Like I know that by having really stable blood sugar

and manage that throughout the day, then I have enough energy from the minute I wake up, the minute I go to sleep. And it's getting to that point though, where you're really comfortable with your boundaries, I think can be really difficult for people. They might feel like, oh, if I say no to this interview, then it's going to ruin the friendship

or networking relationships are really important to me. So I should probably go to the event. How have you dealt with that in a voice of the shoulds and probablys and things? Oh my gosh. I just can't with the shoulding all over ourselves. I literally, it's gotten to a point where I'm so bad about that word that if I hear it come out of someone's mouth, I'm not even taking seriously what's in their head. If you tell me I should do something, I'm already like, I'm off. But if I'm telling myself I should do something, that's the same

thing. You should sit down. Oh, you should. Sitting down and looking at why are you thinking that and what pressure are you feeling? It's so fascinating how hard we as women will work for the things that we want and how hard we brace for someone to tell us no and that it's okay. We keep telling ourselves it's okay. It's okay. It's a no. It's a not right now. We'll work toward it. We got to keep going, keep going. We brace so hard for that. And yet we're so afraid to do it for ourselves. And I guess the advice that I would give is what I typically do is, sounds cool. I'll have to get back to you when I check my calendar or my manager, my assistant handles this for me.

I've been asked so many times to speak for free, but things don't work like that anymore because now I have an agent that will go to bat for me. So I can't get guilted into that anymore. Having those things in place, and they're really just systems. And if you have no other system, especially I always tell people this if they're selling their first product, just say like, this is how I typically do things. When you say that, it's immediately the boundary that you need in place to be like, listen, I've already got a system for this.

So don't ask me for a discount. Don't ask me to do it a special kind of way. And don't ask me to do something I don't want to do. And that's where the shoulds start to fall away because you've actually put something in place for you to guide you. If you go in blind, then you're going to come out blind. And that's where planning is really important. But yeah. And the other thing is if someone asks me to do something, I don't remember where I heard this. Someone asked me to do something and it's like three or four months away. It's so easy to say yes to that stuff, right?

It's like, oh yeah, that's fine. By the time it happens, like great, we'll do it. I try to ask myself, you know what? If they asked me to do that, it may be four months out, but if they asked me to do that and it was tomorrow, would it be a hell yes or would it be a no? And the reality is if it's a no tomorrow, it's probably a no four months from now. Oh my God, I love that. Yeah, there's so many things where they get in your calendar and it slowly gets closer

when you're like, why did I say yes to doing this? I'm not sure. So have you ever found that any relationships have been negatively impacted through having your own boundaries like this? I wouldn't really know. Actually, that's not true. I would know. But it's like the good news is you wouldn't know if you just grew apart and that was just not going to be a relationship that was going to serve you. But I think we get into trouble if we're always thinking like, oh, that guy's not going to be a relationship that was going to serve you. But I think we get into trouble if we're always thinking like, oh, that guy's not going to say hi to me at the networking event because I

turned down his interview or I turned down his brand thing or whatever. We don't actually give people enough credit that people are good and that people are also saying, oh man, she's so busy right now. I should have thought of that. And it's okay. You don't have to be the one that overcompensates for everything. Now, that being said, I've absolutely, as a matter of fact, Natalie, when we were in that beautiful resort recently for that deal, I was having a really crappy time in my hotel room because I got a text from a friend who was making it sound as though I only had time for my Instagram and not my dear, dear friends. And it was just a miscommunication of the fact that we're cut from the different cloth. We think differently. And the way that I've shown up as a friend might

be my love language and that maybe we're just crossing, we're not crossing lines very well in terms of what their love language is and how we need to be doing a little bit better. And having those conversations in an adult way is so important. And I just, at the end of the day, when I'm in those situations, I really, really, really don't get defensive because I know it's only going to make me sadder later. I just say, I hear you. I hear you. I get it.

It's not changing my answer at this point. Like right now, you're not changing my answer by making me feel bad. We can get there. We can figure out where the common ground is and where we really hit our stride together. But we have to respect the rest because I refuse to apologize for who I am. And I refuse to apologize for, quite frankly, time management that has served me really well over the last decade. And I refuse to apologize for, quite frankly, time management that has served me really well over the last decade. If I were not doing what I'm doing, waking up at 530 in the morning to drink some freaking lemon water, if I weren't doing all this stuff, I hugely believe I would not have the success that I have now. And I would be sitting in a law firm in downtown Columbus and not thrilled about where I went

for those next 10 years. So yeah, you just got to be able to be selfish enough that you know yourself and you're not willing to compromise that. So true. And it's really interesting to hear how you deal with that communication in that you can hear them and you can have compassion for how they're feeling, but it doesn't necessarily need to change your answer and you don't need to be guilted into something like that. All right, I hope you enjoyed the episode so far. Stay tuned as we share a bit of info about who supported this episode. So this podcast episode has been brought to you by Skillshare now Skillshare is an online learning community with thousands of inspiring classes for creative and curious people and you can actually explore new skills deepen existing passions and get lost in so much creativity on the website

now every single month I've been diving into one of those courses. Now this month, I actually decided that I wanted to test my filmmaking skills from home. So as you guys know, we've been really leaning into video content at Boss Babe. And I was like, what better way to learn about video than by diving into a Skillshare course on there? So I started filmmaking from home, turned found footage into compelling video with Penny Lane. And it has been so much fun. I cannot tell you, I'm starting to understand what goes into video production has just been completely mind blowing, but also enlightening. And I really feel like it's going to not only help my own skill sets, but help me

actually work with my team more. And what I also loved is it even went down to the simple things I had no background in video and so just even being taught how to do simple editing pieces has been really helpful for me and they talk about the programs that you can use and why choose different ones so it's just literally been a game changer and I'm really really enjoying learning this creative process and this is really what I love about Skillshare is that these classes are so creative and they meet you at whatever skill level you're at and right now members get unlimited access to thousands of inspiring classes with hands-on projects and feedback from a community of millions on there and best of all most of the classes are actually under 60 minutes with short lessons to fit into any schedule so you can literally pick them up wherever you are any any spare minutes you can get, you can dive right in. So if you're like me and

you're really looking to get those creative juices flowing and learn new skills, head to skillshare.com forward slash BBP. Okay. So that's skillshare.com forward slash B for boss babe, another B for boss babe and P let's say for power okay bbp and the first 1000 people to use our link will get a free trial of skillshare premier membership okay you're going to receive free access to thousands of classes for a limited period of time so be one of those first to sign up like i said at skillshare.com forward slash b for boss babe b B for Boss Babe, P. B, B, P. And we're back. Let's jump straight into today's episode. One thing that I've heard you say, which was on your most recent video, was no is a full sentence. Now, I can't tell you the amount of people that me just saying no full stop has upset and yet I still

continue to do it because I know whatever they're upset about it's not because I said no it's perhaps the way that they interpreted it or it's some story that they're telling themselves and so it's often led to some really nice conversations afterwards where they've said that really upset me that you said no and I try and understand that tell me more. Like I try to understand why. And it's very much, very often something about themselves that was triggered by me saying that. And often it's, well, I would never say that to you. Well, how are your boundaries? Let's have that conversation. So how have you found that? Oh my gosh. There's just like so much to unpack there. But I think the biggest thing is, Natalie, we got to keep saying no as a full sentence

because we as women are looking for the excuses or the make you feel betters that come after the no or the kinder way of saying no. And we need to get used to hearing the word no. And we hear it all the time. And guess what? We hear it from men. And men don't usually have to explain their no. And if they do, then it becomes a conversation of men versus women. I hate to put it that way. I'm not trying to be super divisive here. But this really is an issue significantly among women because we just want to make sure that we didn't rock the boat.

And even though I think it's okay to rock the boat a little bit, I totally get that perspective. Just because someone told you no doesn't mean it's the absolute end of the world. It's just a no on this particular thing. And that means you have the right to say that too, not just to your significant other or your kids or whatever, whoever's closest to you that we've gotten really comfortable with, but to whoever the PTA wants you to show up to chaperone something. I don't know. If they say it and you're just not here for it, the answer has just got to be no. Because guess what? They've got to figure out another plan. So the more you hem and haw over something that you're not going to eventually do because you're too busy trying to launch your business and that's like engrossed you and they can judge you for that all they want, but you're still a good parent at home and so you're good.

You just got to say no because it's just going to move everybody along quicker. And we need to progress our ability to use some basic language with each other like yes and no. So true. There can be situations where someone says, will you do this for me next Friday? Oh, sorry. What if it was Thursday, but I can't do it on Friday? Okay. Well, we'll move it to Thursday. Oh, but I can't do this Thursday. You end up going down this full rabbit hole that you could have avoided had you just said, nope, I don't want to do that. Very, very clear and simple. Okay. So we've got to pivot to this question because you are the morning routine

queen. You have a book about it. Tell me what your morning routine is. I want all the details and specifics. Okay. So to start off, I roll out of bed very begrudgingly. I don't get excited about it. I am not jumping for joy. I am not just dancing down the hallway to start my life. That's not what my mornings are like. Very important first distinction because to leverage the morning, I call myself a morning optimizer more than I do a morning person because I don't think that you have to be a morning person to leverage them. So I drag my feet to the bathroom where I do my skincare regimen. I usually don't like wash my face first thing in the morning, but I tone, I use a little bit of

oil. I moisturize and I put my sunscreen on. I don't care if it's dark outside, sunscreen goes on. Then I go downstairs and I've not only been having lemon water first thing, but I've also been having a hard boiled egg because my husband and I have been trying slow carbs. So that's been lately. And I'm really enjoying that. Even if we don't do slow carb, it feels good to just like get protein in as the very, very, very first thing with my lemon water. I start the coffee, but that doesn't come until later. Take the dog out, get the dog fed and all that. Lucy's eating while I go upstairs and I do my morning pages. So Julia Cameron talks about a practice called morning pages in the artist's way, her book. And it's just stream of consciousness writing three pages, and that's it. I don't judge myself. I don't think about what I'm writing. I just take whatever

gook is on my brain and get it out through pen on paper. And I shut the journal and I'm done with that. And it really does clear a lot of space for the creativity that I need on many days of the week and what I do. After that, I open up the five-minute journal, which is great for just a little bit of gratefulness, reflection, and a couple of other things. I'll open up my Good Morning Good Life planner, which helps me plan out just a couple of priorities for the day. And I will also read the daily passage of The Daily Stoic. I really believe a lot in Ryan Holiday's work with what he's done to teach stoicism on a level that's a little bit more understandable. If you don't read the rest of the day, which I think reading is so important, but just having a page a day book that teaches

you something every day is really powerful to start the day. And that is the one I would recommend. I'm rereading it for the second year in a row and I'm making more notes and highlighting new things. It's cool to see like where you were that day, the day before. So I like starting my day with that. And then I stamp, I have a little pink date stamp, a pink date stamp for my bullet journal. Cause that's where I keep all of my tasks that I write down or ideas that I have. I like to write them down as much as I can. I'm not great with tasks digitally unless they need to be synced up with my team, which is why we have project management systems for that. But yeah, my bullet journal is the place where I just fluidly write things, keep a lot of my notes so that I can keep it in like a chronological index order. That is when I leave and I go to my office and I start

my mastery for the day. So I always have three things, mindfulness, movement, and mastery. And the mastery for me is usually writing something. So whether I'm writing a video for YouTube, an idea for a podcast, a caption for Instagram, by the way, captions for Instagram are definitely the place to start before you take the photo, come up with a good idea that's worth reading about. So your photo goes home even further with people. That's my mastery for the morning. And then I dive into what I got to do. And do you do any workouts in the morning or do you do later on in the day? So lately I've started doing just a little bit of strength training in the morning, but it's only every other morning and it's right when I'm done eating my hard-boiled egg.

Now, I don't like working out first thing in the morning. I would prefer to do it like either mid-morning or in the afternoon if I need like a jump on the day. And a lot of this has to do on like, did I need to get makeup ready that day? Wednesday mornings, I'm definitely not going to be working out. on the day. And a lot of this has to do on like, did I need to get makeup ready that day? Wednesday mornings, I'm definitely not going to be working out. I'm going to be getting ready and just moving forward with the day. So my workouts have to be planned throughout the rest of the week based on how dirty my hair is. I plan so much around my hair washing days. I really do. It's a whole thing. And do you have an evening routine?

Yeah. So in terms of evening routine, I give myself like this. We talk about it in the book where that really slow movement in the morning is the end of my sleep buffer period. And the beginning of that sleep buffer period is about a half an hour to an hour before. And the reason we talk about this in the morning routine book is because if you want a good morning routine, you've got to get enough sleep. But we typically don't get enough sleep because we don't get to bed on time. And getting to bed on time is not the same time as falling asleep for many people. So I give myself 30 minutes I need to fall asleep, which by the way, I fall asleep in five minutes. I'm not somebody who doesn't get a lot of sleep. I sleep really easily, but I still want to be in bed about 30 minutes before like the deadline to be asleep. And so I have to reverse engineer that. So getting

Lucy ready for bed and all that thing, giving her her final treat of the day, doing my skincare regimen. I'll do a little bit of reflection in terms of what were my wins for the day. Go back to my five minute journal. What were some of the moments that were that stood out to me today? And I have my Kindle and oh, I take my vitamins at night too, by the way, because I'm always afraid to take them if I don't have a full stomach. So I always take my vitamins right before bed because it's after dinner. I feel good about that. And then I read in my Kindle, sip on my ice water and my hydro flask, call it a day. I love it. So do you try and get eight hours sleep? Yeah, I'm right around usually between it's usually seven and a half. I will say like, if I'm like cutting it close, it's seven. But sometimes I feel like eight is almost too long for me. So if I don't wake up

right at eight, I'll feel even more groggy than usual. Seven and a half seems to be where my sleep cycles do pretty well. I wish I could be that seven person. I'm an eight to a nine kind of person. But I'm the same. I reverse engineer so that I get up early. I reverse engineer. I fall asleep pretty quickly. But yeah, I love my sleep. Oh my God, I'm obsessed with sleep. It's so, so good. So what's this slow carb thing? I have to ask. I've never heard of this before. So this is going to be such a fun little rabbit hole. During quarantine, I was like? I have to ask. I've never heard of this before. So I, um, this is like going to be such a fun little rabbit hole during quarantine. I was like, I have been saying, I read the four hour work week by Tim Ferriss in like 2007 or whenever it was like a year after it came out or something. I think it was written in oh six. And it was like, so hard to read for me. Cause I

was nowhere near the headspace of being an entrepreneur. I was like, wow, you can work four hours in a week. That was basically where my head was. And I have so much respect for Tim and what he's done. I was like, you know what I should do? I should reread the four-hour workweek. So I did that during quarantine. And I was right.

So many epiphanies I never would have had that many years ago now that I I've been in business for 10 years, just land differently, different ways to scale, different ways to think of your time. Even my batching got more strict after reading that. So I have this thing where if I read something I loved a lot, I hate leaving the author because if I can't continue the book, I can still continue with the author. So I was like, you know what, I never really gave four hour body a chance. So I picked up four hour body. And that he talks about slow carb in the four hour body. Essentially, I don't know even know why it's called slow carb, because it's basically no carbs, you're not allowed to have fruit, you're not allowed to have carbs. But the key thing is the cheat day, the cheat day on Saturdays, you have to have at least six days of no carbs whatsoever, really focus on your protein. But sounds like Atkins. But on Saturday, it's cheat day. And me and my husband were like, well, we can get on board with that. Like if there's actually a day where you don't feel bad about eating something, which I think all of us can relate, we have our different relationships with food. And I don't want that to be triggering in

any way. But it's like, yeah, I just want a day where I don't have to think about it because I'm going to be very focused in how I think about it on the other six days per week. And so, yeah, we did that for a couple of weeks that really helped us with that quarantine 15 that definitely happened. I'm just kidding. Maybe not that bad, but no, it was like having a new relationship with specifically white carbohydrates that he even said in the book, I guess, like literally give lab rats diabetes on purpose. Like they use white carbohydrates for that. It makes you think about what you're putting in your body all the time, something you're no stranger to. And yeah, so we just say, you know what, we don't need this many potatoes or sweet potatoes or even rice. Get more creative with the proteins and the seasoning and the greens and the other options that you have available to you. And then you get your cheat day where you get to forget it all. I love that. Yeah, you've made me think because I read the four-hour work week as well, way before I actually had a chance to be working four hours a week.

And so I might reread it again and see what I could implement. I remember a few concepts that he's talked about, but it's probably a really good time to go back and read it. And so for anyone listening, maybe we'll do that. And I'm the same when I read one good author, I'm like, give me everything they've got. I'm not ready for this detachment yet. I love it. Oh, one more thing about slow carb. This is how he won me over. You can still have red wine throughout the week because it apparently does not affect fat loss the same way that the other wines do. So if you're someone that I ain't doing this whole 30 thing because I don't want to give up my wine, this might be a good option.

But yeah, you should totally do book club with four hour work week because it's just going to resonate in a totally different way. Yeah, I'm excited. I've been doing dry farm wines because it's organic, it's keto, there's no sugar, no carb. Yeah. Just brought this new elderflower spritz sitch and it's like, I think it's three or 7% alcohol. So really low alcohol. Really? Yeah. And it's keto as well. I'm not keto, but I'm always in for like a lower carb, lower sugar, organic. And I can drink a pretty substantial amount of dry farm wine without getting a headache the next day. Good to know. I have to look into the elderflower thing. I just bought

an elderflower cordial for a gin drink that I like to make in the summer. And so I'm gonna have to look into that and see if there's like some commonality there. Yeah, I think it just got brought out yesterday. And I instantly ordered three bottles because I do like a wine. But if it can be a lower alcohol, yeah, I'm definitely in for trying it. So check it out. I'll put the links for everything anyway below for anyone listening. Well, Amy, thank you so much for being on the podcast. This has been so fun. It has been so fun for me too. We went down so many different little rabbit holes. So fun been so fun. It has been so fun for me too. We went down so many different little rabbit holes. So fun. Thank you. I love it. Well, where can everyone find you and find your book as well? Yeah, thank you. You can go to goodmorninggoodlife.com. All

the details about the book are there. And you can find me on Instagram at Schmittastic. You should just link to that because it's very complicated. It's my maiden name and I still love it. And then Amy Landino on YouTube too, right? That's right. Amy TV. YouTube.com slash Amy TV. And I'm excited for Boss Babe to be on YouTube someday. That'll be fun. It's happening.

I know. I'm starting the studio setup. So it's coming. I'm ready. Yes. If you loved this episode, please subscribe, download a a few more and please leave us a review i really want to hear what you enjoyed what your main takeaways were and i also want to know what you want to hear us talk about next to say thanks for leaving us a review we'll send you a copy of

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