the bossbabe podcast - 357. Hot Takes On AI, Niches, Husband Hobbies, Hustle Culture, 2024 Biz Predictions + More!
Episode Date: March 5, 2024We’re starting this week with the real real BTS at Bossbabe, including laugh-out-loud mom stories, husband hobbies, and motherload moments. Tune in for our weekend moments, plus our deep dive conver...sation including our top business predictions + hot takes for 2024 and beyond. From discussing recent industry trends to upcoming niche opportunities, this episode will help you get on top of this year. You won’t want to miss out on our biggest learnings of the year so far + what we have planned for future seasons of growth. Tune in to learn what to expect and explore in 2024. HIGHLIGHTS Bossbabe motherload moments + real life BTS of running a multimillion dollar business. Unpacking 2024 business predictions, hot takes, and recent industry trends. How to choose a lifestyle that is aligned with the current season you’re in. Why we crave connections and community + how they benefit our creative inspiration. Our biggest learnings from the first months of 2024 + what we plan to carry out during the rest of the year. RESOURCES + LINKS Join The Société: The Place to Build A Freedom-Based Business FOLLOW bossbabe: @bossbabe.inc Natalie Ellis: @iamnatalie
Transcript
Discussion (0)
constantly expanding your business to stay in business, to minimize your bottom line, to be
on this hamster wheel to make more, more, more just so you can make payroll when you're not trying to
exit your business. It probably doesn't make sense like when you're not fully sure why you're scaling,
you're just scaling for scaling's sake and chasing these arbitrary goals. I think a lot of people are
becoming wiser to the fact that's not necessarily the best way to do business for them.
Oh my god, I felt like we just had to hit record, you guys.
I was just saying to Lindsay, you know, I really try and be a gentle parent
and do the gentle parenting stuff but sometimes I was saying over
the weekend sometimes your patience is just a little bit tested oh man yeah and you're in the
like twos or almost two that's a whole different the two era is coming for Noemi I think we're
there I think we've arrived there a little early and it really like I'm such a calm person but the tantrums the tantrums yeah
especially if you're worn out which you know after a long week of work and everything and then you're
home and you're like I just need quiet or I just need compliance like I just need something to be
easy I was saying I don't get any any compliance and you don't get compliance no you know it's
funny I only have boys.
So maybe like strong women raise strong girls.
I think that that's the adage.
But yeah, watching Noemi, I'm like, oh, she's got some will.
Yeah.
Oh, she's got a lot of will.
A lot.
Yeah, that's how we're going to describe it.
She's a very strong girl.
And she's got a lot of opinions,
but she throws things out just like out in a split second.
She'll go from being so happy to just like throwing something directly in my face.
And I'm like, I am a godparent.
I am a godparent.
We were just talking about the Kim Kardashian.
It's from, I don't know which episode
but it was like her and courtney talking and courtney's like i'm such a gentle parent like
you just have to be gentle and kim's like yeah i like that idea but like sometimes these effing
kids make me crazy and i just need to yell at them and i'm like yeah kim i get it i get it yeah
she's like yeah i'm a gentle parent until I told them to shut the fuck up
every mom in America is like yes exactly that you're like oh my god Sawyer was sick like three
days in a row last week and then has been out of school for two days for holiday and I'm like
can you take my child back to school now please like being out of routine plus having sibling
like I don't know wait wait until there's another sibling around too.
Cause it's the, it's the sibling dynamic that is crushing me at this age right now,
where it's just constant, constant noise, constant, like touching each other's bodies.
And I'm like, can you not touch each other's body? Like they just poke on each other. I don't know
how else to describe it. Like boy moms probably will, will feel me, but one of them is, oh,
they're screaming in the background. If you can hear it, one of them's always moving.
And it usually involves like pestering the other one, not to the point of getting in trouble with
me where, where like, obviously they hit each other, they're in trouble, but it's, it's like
little annoying things. Like they'll poke at each other or they'll make noises that bother the other
one. This is the new thing. Like Wesley learned to whistle and the whistling is, it drives me crazy, but it also drives Sawyer crazy.
And so he'll be like, Wesley, stop whistling. And Wesley will be like,
like at his face. So it's like, they're not touching, but they're just like making sounds
at each other. Oh my God, Natalie god Natalie yeah it's I'm like everybody stop
talking stop making noises go to your own rooms so anyway it's been a day already yeah well for
school my husband has decided that he's now a marathon runner and I guess rim to rim to rim
is even more than a marathon or something I don't know I don't know it's a lot of Instagram he said
46 miles is that more than marathon yeah
marathon's only 26 okay well so that's where we're at right now which is great because he's always
hopping around in pain from running so much and he's now running for multiple hours every day so
on a Sunday morning I'm just riding solo riding solo with Noemi which is often great but just
we're just learning how to do this toddler thing and I just needed like five minutes of silence to
read my book and so at the weekend she was going through all the kitchen cupboards emptying
everything out and I literally was like this is brilliant because I'm going to sit down on the
sofa with my coffee and my book and I'll deal with the mess later and I was so delighted just to let her ransack my house you're like hey Stephen
how was your run could you clean up the kitchen floor oh my god you know what actually happened
so she's just in a phase of like wanting to be held 20 I mean you know what she's like she's
yeah she's really close she just wants to be held seven. And so I wanted to go in the shower
and she did not want me to go in the shower.
I normally set her up
because from my bath,
you can see the shower.
So she sits in the bath.
She's got all of her toys, snacks,
and she just watches me in the shower chilling.
She did not want to do that.
So I brought her in the shower with me.
She did the biggest poo in the shower.
Huge poo in the shower while I was there and then steven come in the bathroom from
his run like full of endorphins he was like hi and i literally was like can you go and get a poo bag
and clean up this poo please and he opened the shower door and was like oh my god it was so big
and she was so proud of it dada poo look my poo oh my god that was my sunday morning it was
just oh my god well i i like poor sawyer i probably shouldn't share these stories but like
he over the weekend a similar experience we well we had a webinar and so i was home over the weekend
because we had our final training for Freedom Fast Track.
And I was like, you have to get these kids out of the house.
Like, this is the third day.
I cannot have distraction.
So RT takes him to the gym, takes him out to lunch.
And he's texting me on the way home.
And I'm like, we just got done.
It was great.
You know, I'm going to take a shower before you guys get home.
And he texts me.
He's like, Sawir says he has to poop really bad.
Should I pull over? And I was like, well, what do you mean? Should you pull over? Like not on the side of the road? Like, yeah, but like if there's a place you can stop that has a bathroom. And he's like, well, we're like five minutes from home. I think I'll just, I'm just going to go fast and just get home. I'm like, okay. I'm in the shower and Wes comes into our bathroom.
He's like, mom, just so you know, Sawyer pooped on the floor and it's all over.
And dad is very mad.
And I was like, OK, well, I'm going to stay in the shower.
So just tell dad I'm in here.
I was like, I'm not getting out to go deal with that.
Dad can deal with that.
And then like here comes Sawyer two minutes later just naked crying with poop on his legs he was like dad told
me to come get in the shower with you and i was like cool of course he did i'm like this is so
dad life like no just go get in the shower with mom mom will deal with it oh my god so yeah even at six years
old you guys sometimes they can't hold it he go he like lost it literally in his pants walking
into the house all over the like the front entryway got all of his new shoes that he bought
like that all that we bought him um luckily everything's washable he's just out there with
his credit card he does have a debit card. Actually, total tangent.
We signed up for the Greenlight card.
You'll have to get one for Noemi because like it's really actually cool.
They have it's an app.
And so you give them money on a debit card and then you can teach them about money.
And he actually like he has bought some of his own things based on having his own money
that he gets for his birthdays.
But no shoes, shoes I bought.
And now they i yeah
they got poop done so fun times yeah it was you and i were texting over the weekend being like
oh my god the amount of poop that we deal with as parents oh so much of it chaos but then they
smile or do something cute and you're just like so cute oh this is why they make them so cute i know like
you can go from being frazzled and overwhelmed to just like so calm and in love in the next minute
it's crazy it's a biological thing it's like nervous system regulation or something because
yeah if we couldn't manage it like obviously nobody would have multiple kids to begin with but even one to start is a lot with that can you guys
tell that we had we had a long week and we didn't have our normal meeting today I know we've both
just had like chill days which has been amazing and we didn't have a normal meetings I feel like
we have to catch up on all the stuff we'd normally catch up on yeah these are the important
conversations that we missed out on.
Yeah.
Like new hobbies.
I actually kind of love to, I'm excited to see, I know you aren't, but to see this whole like Steven as a runner thing unfold because.
Why?
Well, because I live in Colorado and we were joking about this earlier where I feel like
everybody here, everybody's husband has like some random thing that is so freaking time.
Like they're cyclists and they go out for like six
hour bike rides on the weekends or they're runners or they go skiing and it's a four hour drive.
Like my sister's husband, my brother-in-law yesterday or Friday night, we went out on
date night, Saturday night. And he was like, oh yeah, I got in the car this morning at 4am
and I was on the slopes by 9.30 and I did six runs. I was back in the car by two so I could get home by six for dinner.
And I was like, what? Talk to me about how that's worth it. Why is that a good way to spend your
day? And he's like, because the snow was great. And I got to do all these runs. I tested out my
new gear. And I was like, I just can't relate to this. You've been gone since 4am. I mean,
they don't have kids so there's that but
you know so all these like time-consuming outdoorsy sports are things that i feel like
men love it they love it and they also are like marriage challenge challenger i don't know why
i don't know someone just proposed it to him and i think just it goes back to just like him being
competitive gamer when he's presented with any
kind of challenge I think he finds it physically impossible to say no so he got presented with this
challenge and he initially thought it was rim to rim and so he said yes he was like yeah I'll do it
and then it was rim to rim to rim which I guess is so many more miles I would just like to also
say he is not a runner by any stretch not a runner at
all and he's like had previous like really significant health issues as to why he is not
a runner but apparently when you get presented with a challenge it doesn't matter so he couldn't
even walk down the stairs today oh my god this is this is like oh my god what was the other thing
we were talking about the other
day? Like these super niche motherload moments where, where you don't even have to explain it.
It just makes sense. If you know, you know, like your husband signing up for a new hobby that
keeps him out of the house for half of the day on the weekends and then being like crippled sore
from it. And you being like, yeah, what did you think was going to gonna happen like I could have told you this but
I can't tell you this because you have to learn it for yourself oh my god the other day we were
just sitting he didn't tell me about this by the way he like told me about this room to room to room
and I'm always just like there's always a thing so I'm like okay great what's the new thing there's
always a thing like he's going hunting next weekend there's just always a thing so I'm like
okay cool it's like okay so it means I'm going to stop doing more runs.
Okay, cool.
I didn't think anything of it.
And so he just leaves, comes back two and a half hours later.
So I had to sit him down and I was like, just so you know,
I feel like that does require even a heads up.
Like just say I'm going to be gone for two and a half hours.
I thought he was popping out for 30 minutes
and so I'm like just chilling thinking oh I'll go in the shower when Stephen gets back then he can
swap with Noemi two and a half hours later me and Noemi she's ready for a nap and like you need to
actually can you imagine I feel like it's just that's just the mother load signed up imagine if
we just let randomly a Sunday morning left the house and came back two and a half hours later I've never literally never once done that as a mother and this is the mother load like it's not
only that I've never like done it I've never thought to do it because I just I'm like who
they would all just be paralyzed without mom to give them their schedule maybe we should try it
just to see should Stephen's always supportive of me doing
my own thing but i think he would just be so like oh my god you just left two and a half hours but
anyway leave i mean i've gone out for two and a half hours but like leaving with no plan and no
warning of how long i'm gonna be gone i don't i don't do that i did go to whole foods over the
weekend by myself because i had to escape the whistling the whistling is something that i
you guys the amount of stimulation but then i, then I realized I was alone at Whole Foods
and Whole Foods was dead for some reason while I was there. It's normally busy on Saturday mornings,
but I was like, oh, this is actually very nice. And another mother load thing,
they had rearranged the whole freaking grocery store. And I like, I've seen memes about this
recently where when they rearranged the grocery store, like how jarring it is to your nervous system. Cause I like, I know where everything
is when I go in there. Yeah. And I was like, wait, I have to relearn where everything is,
which what it does is it forces you to walk down every aisle and then spend more money,
which is what I did. But I actually had a great time of it. So I was like, Oh,
I forgot that. Like, I wanted to look at new tea to buy and like oh this chocolate like yeah I ended up it was great I was gone longer than I thought and
I spent more money than I thought but it actually you know it was a productive use of time in that
sense I love it well that's where we're at so yeah anyway poop and sports that's that's about
these star husbands aren't golfers because i i hear that is quite
the oh mine is we have a golf like we have a membership to the country club he doesn't use
it very often because you know life but he is one and when he goes it's that it's like four or five
hours and you're like okay okay well the good thing now though i will say this is that rt like
really wants to teach Sawyer to play golf
and Sawyer loves to go with him and so it's like not productive golfing or whatever the word is I
don't know if you can like productively golf it's not like like good clean all the way through golf
because you have a six-year-old with you but it is very cute and normally he takes Sawyer so
I'll give him a pass on that one but the running thing yeah or like skiing
yeah bicycling the guys that bicycle or cycling they're gone for like six hours I'm like yeah no
I'm not here for this so funny well apparently I'm going to rim to rim to rim and I saw there
was an is it pronounced Amangiri Am Amangiri? You know that amazing hotel?
Have you seen it?
Oh, yes, yes.
Apparently there's one of those nearby
because Alex's husband has also been roped into this.
So she did the research and found there was this amazing,
so we're going to do a spa trip.
It was on My First Million that they were talking about.
Wasn't it on My First Million?
Yeah, one of Sam's friends
is super wealthy, sold a company for several hundred million. And the one luxury that he
loves with all his money is to go and stay at every one of those hotels that exist in the world
because they're the most spectacular hotel, I guess. And the experience is incredible. And he's
like, if you're a travel person
no matter how much money it costs like that is the hotel to stay at anywhere in the world
interesting yeah I've really wanted I'm a travel person so as soon as I seen that come up I thought
yep I can get on board with going and supporting my husband to do a there you go run so okay well
I'm excited to see this unfold just because it's a real life behind the scenes of like running a multi seven, eight figure business and then having like these real life things that come up every weekend.
And you're like, my child can't be gentle parented and my husband's gone for three hours running.
So that's fun.
Oh, dear me. Well, pivoting into, I was thinking what we could talk about was just some like business
predictions, maybe some hot takes about 2024, where we think things are going.
We're a couple of months in to 2024 now.
I wrote down a couple of things.
Did you see Vanessa Lau's video by chance?
You know, I did not, but I heard about it.
I need to watch it.
She like, I loved her content and then I knew she took a break. Is she coming back? Okay. Yeah. I'll
give you a update on it. So her video was her coming back and announcing why she quit her
seven figure business to go on sabbatical and what's happening now. And it was so, I mean,
she is a, as a creator, creator she is so phenomenal she's so good
and this video was absolutely incredible it was so thoughtful and insightful intelligent like just
absolutely loved watching it and she was really raw and open and honest like fully admitting all
the things like she basically talked about so for anyone that isn't
familiar Vanessa Lau is a YouTuber and she used to have a program teaching people how to grow a
business on social media that kind of thing and she'd grown it to a really successful seven figure
business super well known in the space and she decided to close down all of her programs all of
her business everything and I think she went on sabbatical for like an
entire year and then anyway she announced her comeback with this video and she talked about how
she basically was doing really well and she thought the answer to doing really well was
continuing to do really well hiring more team so she was making more money but her profit was
getting squeezed so actually although she's making more top line revenue she's actually
making less bottom line revenue having this big team and this big engine than
she was having just being a solopreneur. She talked about how so much of it became performative
because she wanted to be liked and, you know, she'd be invited into all of these rooms and
she'd want to put on a show. And I'm kind of putting words in her mouth, but to be liked and
to fit into like the box everyone wanted her to fit into or she started realizing she was emulating other people's content and was
kind of losing her own brand and her own voice and it was just so honest and I absolutely loved it
if anyone hasn't listened or watched it I really recommend it's gotten so many views and I just
think I mean so much of what she was saying summed up so much of my experience too
and why I felt like I had to either walk away or do a really big pivot so I love that and I I that
kind of comes into one of my predictions for 2024 because I do feel like more people are getting off
this scaling hamster wheel and they're getting back to what actually feels good. Constantly expanding your business to stay in business, to minimize your bottom line, to
constantly pay payroll, to be on this hamster wheel, to make more, more, more just so you can make payroll
when you're not trying to exit your business. It probably doesn't make sense like when you're not
fully sure why you're scaling, you're just scaling for scaling sake and chasing these
arbitrary goals I think a lot of people are becoming wiser to the fact that's not necessarily
the best way to do business for them for some people it totally is and I know people like that
for me it never ever was and I'd gotten I'd gotten to that place like very much just because my
business scaled so fast I didn't really have a time or a chance to
step back and think is this what I actually want am I doing it in the way I actually want to
and before I knew it I was making more than I ever had top line but my margins were squeezed
I had this huge team that I was managing I didn't love managing it was just you know I was selling
a lot of programs people I didn't even know,
like I wasn't having that connection elements with clients that I wanted to. And I think a lot
of people have gone through this transformation. So her putting it out there and kind of documenting
in real time, I think is absolutely incredible. And I think a lot of people are going through that,
have gone through that or will go through that. As a small business owner, it can be really
intimidating to know what platforms to use for taxes, payroll, HR. I have a recommendation for
you that's going to simplify everything. Our podcast sponsor, Gusto, was built for small
businesses from the start. Gusto is the exact platform we use at Boss Babe and it has grown
with us as we have grown our team. Gusto keeps everything all in one place, all online to help
you stay organized, take care of your business and manage payroll no matter where you are. The platform integrates your
favorite tools to make your life easier, tools like QuickBooks, Xero, Google and more. And if
your business is growing in a need of payroll system, Gusto works with you. It includes unlimited
payroll, even for off-cycle payrolls, direct deposit, checks you can print yourself, and handles employees and contractors.
You also get direct access to certified HR experts
and to small group health insurance options
for nearly every budget.
Gusto is truly there to help you succeed.
If you're ready to get organized
and have everything in one place all online
to take care of business employees,
head to gusto.com slash boss babe
and get three months
free when you run your first payroll. That's g-u-s-t-o.com slash boss babe.
I love a good closet refresh and I really love high quality luxury pieces that you can use to
make a capsule wardrobe. That's why I really love our podcast sponsor at Quince. Quince carries high quality affordable pieces and so many of my sweaters and matching sets that I
love to wear are from Quince. I get so many compliments on them all the time. They are
really comfortable. I love the way they look. So easy to match with so many different things as
well. Quince carries luxury clothing options like 100% Mongolian cashmere sweaters, organic cotton
sweaters, washable silk tops, and even 14 karat gold jewelry. Their selection of colors and
materials suit any style and the best part is Quince items are priced 50 to 80% less than similar
brands. They are able to achieve these affordable prices by partnering directly with top factories
so Quince cuts out the cost of the middleman and passes the directly with top factories. So Quince cuts out
the cost of the middleman and passes the savings on to us. Plus, Quince only works with factories
that use safe, ethical, and responsible manufacturing practices and premium fabrics
and finishes. I absolutely love that. If you want a wardrobe of luxury essentials that transitions
seamlessly from one occasion to the next, indulge in affordable affordable luxury go to quince.com slash boss
babe for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns that's q-u-i-n-c-e.com slash boss babe
to get free shipping and 365 day returns quince.com slash boss babe
which takes me to another prediction that i was also wanting to share and kind of put out there
and we can talk about it is there's some people who started the business and I think COVID actually
was one of those really big scaling years for a lot of online businesses and maybe they're only
now just starting to kind of come out of it and realize they may have built something they're not
aligned with or they want to make changes but it was also a time that a lot of people decided
to quit their jobs and start businesses so perhaps they're still solopreneurs and I do think we're
going to see a wave of people either making it and really enjoying what they're doing and building
something that does feel good or going back into the job world which no judgment either way I think
again COVID inspired people to start businesses
full-time and I think some people are realizing this is actually not necessarily what I want to
be doing full-time like the stress of this and that and clients and revenue isn't for me I want
to be in my zone of genius my zone of genius might be social media not like running an agency or
whatever it is so I think we're going to start to see that as a trend and I'm curious have you seen
anything like that I know I can literally think about 10 see that as a trend. And I'm curious, have you seen anything like that?
I can literally think about 10 people that I'm seeing go through this or experience one
of these two things.
So yeah, very curious your thoughts on this.
Yeah.
Well, I hadn't seen Vanessa's video, but I loved her content.
I always thought she ran her business so smart.
And so it's interesting for me to study something like that because from the outside, she didn't give a lot of indications of being burned out. Like it seemed very
controlled and very well organized. And so I think that's a lesson to all of us, especially
people that are like studying other people in the industry, the way you and I do, you know, where
you really never know, you know, you never know what somebody is going through and you never
really know what it feels like to be in their business. And it's just a good reminder of, you know, yes, success leaves clues, but sometimes
burnout and overwhelm and those things doesn't. And you may see somebody and, you know, be looking
up to somebody who's miserable behind the scenes and you would never know. And so obviously we're
super transparent for that reason, because we don't ever want to like sugarcoat the things that are hard or underplay the things that like go really well.
But yeah, I'm going to watch that.
But what you're saying about intentional scaling, I have seen that.
And I think what I've seen and what we've talked about is like the consumer in this
online business industry is so much more savvy, you know?
And I think in 2020, when there was this rush to
have some sovereignty, you know, I think like it was this reaction to being locked down and told
we couldn't have personal freedom. And I was like, okay, then my expression of freedom is going to be
to have my own business or to pursue this thing I've always wanted to do. And obviously, like some
of the economic conditions and stuff made it such that things, I think, full transparency, things worked in 2020 that just won't ever work again in terms of how quickly you could grow a business online.
And so I do think people are savvy now and they're starting to realize when someone is really making money and when someone is on the hamster wheel or when there's a million dollars of, but $900,000 of ad spend to get there,
like it's not sustainable. And I watched this thing last night, I got served an ad on Instagram
and I watched their VSL about like this type of funnel that they're teaching. And, you know,
and he's talking about all the success they've had using this funnel in their business. And he
was showing their ad spend to their revenue. And I'm like, Jesus, like 80% ad spend. Like,
yeah, you're making two, three, $5 million a month, but, like 80% ad spend. Like, yeah, you're making two, three,
$5 million a month, but like that is mega ad spend. That's not, that's not an easy business to run. It's not a freedom-based business, right? Like that's a pretty heavy business with a lot of
dependency on sales calls and call setters and the DMs and like this whole model of like, wow,
that's a lot of people you have to manage. It's not really sustainable for a lot of us,
unless you want to build a big sales engine, like sales team, not even a sales engine like we talk about.
And so I keep seeing examples of that where it feels like kind of what's happening in the economy
overall, where there's this movement towards like, yeah, you're either going to do it big time and
you're going to be at the top end of the scale where you have a big investment in the business
and you are going, like you said, for the big scale because you want to sell or because you want to grow a huge team
or whatever it is. And then there's a lot of people on the solopreneur side where they're
waking up to like, okay, I don't like this mad rush to seven figures isn't necessarily
freedom if I could make 300,000 and have it be all profit and just me versus try to get to a
million but have to have five team members and spend a bunch on ads. You and I have talked about
this a lot with BossFaith. It's like, we had the same profit margin at a lower revenue level
in 2023 as we did in 2020 at a significantly lower level of revenue, but the same profit.
It's like, okay, that's a good lesson. You can have less team and less stuff and still make the same profit is what matters.
And so anyway, so I do see people understanding profit and I see people looking at their mentors
and looking at the examples out in the market and going and asking that hard question of like,
yeah, but how much of that's actually profit? Like how much of that are you actually making? And then the answer to that question, helping them see like, okay, yeah,
maybe if I do need a hundred K take home, because that's what I need to sustain my family, then I do
need to have a job, you know, back into the job market and a side hustle or kind of this acceptance
of like, what is the easiest path? Like the,est path to taking care of covering my needs? And I mean, I relate to that, you know, very much so, obviously, in this role where I'm like, I wanted to come into a role where I could make as big of an impact, but it didn't all have to be on me, you know, and there is a sense of comfort to that in the nervous system, especially if you're somebody who's been through a lot over the last few years and you, you know, you're like, I don't want to feel this amount of like urgency or force
that I have to have in my business to keep that level going. And the other thing that you said
that with the return to jobs that I think is interesting, and of course, like this is my lens,
is I do think that there's this realization around becoming a parent, whether, you know,
motherhood for our demographic or just being a parent in general, where entrepreneurship and parenting together at the same time, especially if you're the breadwinner, is so fucking hard.
It is so hard.
And we know this intimately because we are these people.
And also we have CEO Mama.
But the breadwinner conversation, you know, is such a big one in our culture. I think there's a lot of relationships that I know of too where there is significant difference in income having the parental leave policy and like the the safety
of a job where i can guarantee a certain amount of revenue i know i can take a little bit of time
off and step back in and keep the same level of business of money coming into my my family system
and not have it all be on me and that like i have mixed emotions about that i know you do too we can
talk about it because part of my ego and myself and my own experience is like, well, I fucking fought, you know, like I had two kids and I was
the breadwinner and still am and, and like had to make it work and God damn, it was hard. And I did
it. And also like my nervous system for six years was so fried, like it almost killed me and like
ruined my relationship and all these other things. And so there's two sides of that coin.
But I do think that there is this awakening to parenthood and work and balance there.
And that it's a rare person who really loves going all out in business and being the breadwinner
and becoming a parent at the same time.
Yeah, there's a lot to unpack there.
I agree. I'm seeing a lot of that also. And again, no judgment either way. It's interesting.
I feel like I went through a lot of that when I came back to Boss Babe after having Noemi
and just looking at what the role was that I built for myself and the way the company was running.
I was just like, this isn't for me. It it really isn't I would rather earn less and do less than this this isn't feeling good to
me at all and I give myself a very set amount of time to be able to figure it out and change it
or it wasn't for me and I think that's the place a lot of people are at because
when you know what your priorities are you know what you are and aren't willing to
sacrifice and for me I just there was so many things I wasn't willing to sacrifice and it just
wasn't worth it to me and I always say if that ever happens again same thing I would walk away
and I think that's why I put so much emphasis on the way that we do business and what we say yes to even thinking 6, 12, 18 months down
the line you know the timeline that we're planning I'm already so cautious of what we're saying yes
and no to I know my timeline of wanting to have another baby and I know what I'm willing to do
and not willing to do and for me it's never a conversation of like is this amount of money
worth it it's totally not the whole business has to be run in a certain way.
But I will say, I think because I had already built something, I was able to pivot probably
a lot easier than someone's like fully stuck in it right now.
And a lot of people, I think, are stuck in it.
You know, we've seen that in other ways show up for us in conversations with people in our
programs and on social media. I see that a lot of people who either they're stuck, not necessarily
that they're not making money, but they're stuck in like, is this really what I want to be doing?
And then you get the question on economic uncertainty and this is what's worked up until
now and I'm scared to change anything
because I don't know that I can recreate this in the current economic climate or like my cost of
living has gone up so much that I have to keep making this amount of money. Like all these other
kind of external forces coming in that make it so that there's just new layers of those questions.
And the other thing, as you were
speaking, I was like, that's funny that you said that we planned that far out. Cause like I literally
built us a, you know, I'm working on this internal tracking, um, planning thing for me and Natalie
to help us run 2024. Cause there's so much on in our business. And one of the things I put on our,
on you and I's board was like, plan Natalie's maternity leave.
I'm not pregnant. You I don't want to be planned
this time. But we really are that far out, you know, and thinking about this stuff because
it has such an impact on the business. And we also are so conscious of the planning,
helping to make sure that it doesn't become a nervous system burnout issue for you where you
don't want to come back in because coming back
into the system that's waiting for you is too much, you know? Which was what it was.
Yeah. Totally. And I will say too, I've had so much fun helping women in our world restructure
their businesses in a way that they can actually fully devote themselves to motherhood in whatever
capacity that looks like
for them and run a business I would say majority of them that we help are breadwinners and it's
been so much fun to help them do that I think because I went through it when I speak to them
from that place they're like oh she actually gets it yeah like this hasn't just been the easiest path
totally and I think that that brings me one of my like ins and outs for 2024
or predictions is, is simplicity. And, and I, I mean, just overall simplicity. And I think we see
it culturally with people. I mean, I know like we joke about it and it becomes this divisive meme
on social media, but kind of the, the traditional style of life, you know, where it's like
simplifying back down to fewer, fewer obligations, like whole foods, you know, where it's like simplifying back down to fewer, fewer obligations, like
whole foods, you know, like, like looking at your whole entire life and trying to just take out the
crap literally and figuratively and protecting your boundaries more saying no to more things.
But also like a lot of that feels like you're saying you're taking things away. To me, it's
also like adding back in intentionality and adding back
in presence and adding back in the peace, you know, like this real focus on peace. And I think
when we look at business and trends in business and trends in kind of our online
business and education industry, to me, it's like doing one thing really well and simplifying down
and letting it be okay to be known for the thing that only you can do. Instead of trying to keep up with all the trends, picking one platform and saying, I don't log into TikTok. That's fine. I'm not going to do YouTube this year, even though there's tons of opportunity there. I'm not going to start a podcast because I know I don't want to keep up with it. You know, like instead of all this, putting all this pressure on ourselves to do the next
thing in the business or be on the next platform or add another offer.
I think a lot of people like we hear this in all of our programs.
People just want one thing.
They want one thing to work and they just want to be good at like one thing and have
it work consistently.
And I relate to that so much on so many levels.
And I think it's a, in some ways,
it is a result of what we've all been through over the last four years, where it just felt like so
much came at all of us so fast. And now we're, now we're asking harder questions and going like,
what do we really want in our business? How do we want our life to feel? Maybe it is going back to
a job where things are more predictable and more calm because we're in a season of life where we
need that, you know, maybe it is changing the business model to be less revenue, but higher profit.
So to me, that's a big prediction across how our industry looks is simplicity. I also think,
I'm not a political expert, but I'm a nerd about this stuff. And I think
there's something to be said for controlling what you can control when the world feels crazy. And going into an election and all
these other things happening in our world, it's a constant barrage of external stimulation that
seems like it could be scary or it might be threatening, has this effect internally of going,
I want to know what's mine is mine and that I
have control over that. And I keep it as simple and calm as possible. And I do see that trend
happening. Yeah. I'm listening to that. I'm like, I really hope a bunch of people are going to come
and just build funnels with us and build sales engines in their business and just keep things
simple. But I agree, people want abundance abundance but they don't want at the cost
of all this complexity and their freedom being taken away and having to adjust and shift their
priorities like I just don't think that's what people want I think there are a certain subset
of people who do want that they want to build these really big businesses I know people like
this and they are willing to sacrifice having no maternity leave or having no freedom to do
xyz because what they're building is way more important to them and that's like what they feel
their purpose is in life and i think that's great but i think that is just such a subset of people
and i just don't i i don't feel like i'm one of them and i feel like our community mostly aren't
like they want to have really abundant businesses that impact their lives positively and other people's lives positively we know that but they don't necessarily want to do it at the
cost of everything the cost of their health their relationships parenting all of it and like also
you know just speaking very candidly so I've been going back to LA a lot for work as you know
speaking on stages and just really been enjoying it so it's been something that I've wanted to say
yes to and I part of me was like I kind of miss this you know when I'm there I get back invited
to a lot of events with a lot of my I will say not they're still my friends like old friends
friends that I used to hang out with a lot more in person in LA I get invited to a lot more of their
events and it's always so much fun and everyone's up to amazing stuff and I really enjoy doing that there's so much going on in LA I love the weather the palm trees all of it
and I came back and had the conversation with Stephen of like do we want to entertain moving
back to California do we want to entertain that fancy beach house life and a California lifestyle
is that something that we want to explore and we both took that very very seriously and we were like okay let's have really open honest conversations over the next couple weeks and that something that we want to explore? And we both took that very, very seriously. And we were like, okay, let's have really open, honest conversations over the next
couple of weeks. And that's what we did. And what we arrived at was actually for the stage of a life
that we're in, that is so not what we want to do. Like I love my life right now. I love how simple
it is. And like when you were saying of like all the different areas of it
that's what I fully relate to I love not having all of these invites that I feel bad saying no to
I love just being able to pick and choose when I'm going to be traveling and introverting I love that
my mornings and my evenings are just calm I'm at home in a place that I've really made into a
sanctuary that feels so amazing for me I get really quality time with Stephen with Noemi with my friends in the neighborhood my weekends are
filled parenting and that feels really fulfilling to me it feels great my diet I eat from the local
farmer like everything's so back to basics and I don't really want to change that that feels
amazing and so yes,
I'm running this like big fancy business online and I really love what I'm doing,
but it just doesn't feel like I want to put myself back in that situation where it's like
chaos and busyness and invites and yeses and obligations and all of that stuff right now.
It doesn't feel like the season of life that I'm in. And I think everything is coming back to life. Like we left LA during COVID when everything was
shut down. And I remember being in that season of full social burnout, saying yes to every single
invitation because I didn't want to like let anyone down. I didn't want to like feel bad.
I felt like I had to say yes to everything. There was so much going on, so much busyness. You know, everyone's asking for support with what they're
doing. And when you can support, you want to support. And it was just busy, busy, busy going
out to eat all the time. You know, it wasn't as healthy as, as we are here. Whereas like right now
I'm so excited about the new peptide regime that I'm on like little things where I'm just like dialing in all my health and I'm just feeling healthier happier than ever I don't want to give
that up and and move I like being able to travel but yeah maybe it's boring but that's just like
the real season that I'm in right now I just want to keep building an amazing amazing business
and loving life 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.
No, I mean, I think it's super relatable
and that's something I hear more and more from as I meet people or like people in my circles
are getting more and more successful. You know, we've worked hard for several years and now I like
we have good friends who the husband works for a big business. The guy who owns that business has
sold multiple other businesses for hundreds of millions of dollars and just keeps starting new businesses that become worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
He's like one of these serial entrepreneur people. And that guy has four kids. They live in the
Midwest. They live a very normal lifestyle. He goes to his kids' basketball and baseball games.
And that culture permeates his entire business. But this is like his third $400 or $500 million
company he started in the last 10 years. And he sold the other two. And it's like, I think we sometimes can get lured into believing
that people who make a lot of money are living these like jet-setter, fast-paced lifestyles.
But there's so many people who are like the nitty-gritty entrepreneurs who started from
nothing and have built up to multiple millions of dollars who really prioritize everything you just listed off. That is where I feel like there's this movement towards not that they are doing
something better, but recognizing that just because you're hyper successful doesn't mean
that you're chaotic or constantly committed. Your wealth can actually buy you the time freedom that
you and I talk a
lot about.
And that then with that time freedom, if you want a jet set, great.
But you can also go to your kids stuff on the weekends and like have a wellness routine
and just chill on your couch and read a book.
And that that level of freedom is also aspirational and attainable.
There's a quote I heard one time.
I'm sure you've heard.
It's like the most successful people say no to almost everything so I think we have this perception that successful people are like
getting invited all the time and they're doing all these things and that there's this like
mystique to it all I'm like actually I think the most successful people probably say no to the most
because they they want what they want and they know exactly what they want and they do what they
want and that's I think what we're all after. And yeah, it feels
like I've matured into this. I'm like, oh, simplicity is the way to get there, not complexity.
Oh my God. Like if I could have back all the years that I overworked and overcomplicated things
because I was trying to get to the level of abundance I now have with a simple
model, it's like, okay, lessons learned. Amen. And also like, just because you can't afford the big fancy beach
house doesn't mean you need to move to the big fancy beach house right go rent it for a week
yeah just because you can't have something doesn't mean that you have to have it like
do the thing that makes you most happy i know it's morbid but like on your deathbed what do
you look back on the big fancy house you bought or the time you spent
making memories and being freaking happy so if you're listening and you're at that place where
you're maybe at a crossroads or you've been doing something that just isn't feeling aligned
maybe let this take you in a direction that actually feels aligned maybe if you've been
holding on to something because you've got this sunk cost fallacy oh I've done it for so long or what are people are going to think or what about
maybe let all of that go and just decide you know what for this year I am doing things that feel in
alignment for me and I'm prioritizing what feels good for me like yeah we're talking about a slower
simple lifestyle if you love that jet-setting lifestyle I used to by the way before I had
a kid I absolutely love to I now I'm just in a different season if that's what you love that jet-setting lifestyle I used to by the way before I had a kid I absolutely
love to I now I'm just in a different season if that's what you love go for it like be unapologetic
about it do the thing that really lights you up makes you feel excited because that's where your
best work will come from that's where your happiness is going to come from but when you're
constantly just chasing and you don't know why you're doing it. I think that's when we get ourselves into situations we may regret being in. Yeah. I feel like, like you said it, it's like
choosing it over chasing it. And I think if there's, I wrote that down while you were talking,
but it reminds me of this in queue, you know, the poet in queue, he has a quote in one of his poems.
It's like, I live at the beach, but I never see the ocean. And it's like this metaphor for, yeah, you can have the fancy beach house, exactly the metaphor you're
talking about. But if you're not present in what you're doing and experiencing every day in a,
in presence and in a nervous system that's attuned to being able to handle whatever comes up,
then it doesn't matter where you live. Like it doesn't, you can be at the beach and not see the ocean. So I think, yeah, no matter where you fall on the spectrum, like we're talking
about like simplicity and being home with our kids on the weekends. And, and, but we've both
been in lifestyles. Like I used to travel two weeks a month all over the world. We've both
been in that lifestyle too. And it's like, as long as you're choosing that and that's,
it's really intentional and that's the season of life you're in, then by all means, go get it girl, you know, but
if it feels like you're there because you're chasing something and you're in that constant
state of nervous system fry. So you and I can both speak from the experience of that,
like the best times in our lives, whether we were fast paced or simple are because we chose to be
at that pace. And so I just think it's a good
lesson overall of, yeah, whatever season you're in, it has to be a choosing season, not a chasing
season. Amen. Another thing that I wanted to bring up also was this chat GPT video thing. Have you
seen it? Yeah, I've been playing with it. Have you? No, I haven't played with it, but Stephen's been showing me all the videos.
Oh my God.
Yeah, it's wild.
I mean, it's still,
it's funny because some of them are funky.
You're like, wait,
that something about this still feels very AI,
like weird fingers and things.
But have you seen the one?
There was one that I think I sent it to you. Tell everyone what it is for everyone.
It's like, I haven't seen it.
So it's generative AI,
but it's chat GPT and video. So you can give chat GPT a say,
like I want, so here's the example I watched that I thought was the best example of it.
It's a car driving down a road and you see the prompts on the screen and in real time. So you're,
it's like, make it a jungle scene and it's changes. Like it's a car driving in the jungle,
make it a Lego car in monopoly world. And it's changes like it's a car driving in the jungle. Make it a Lego car in Monopoly world.
And it's like a Lego car driving through Monopoly.
And then it's like, okay, make it a Lamborghini on the Formula One, you know, and it changes.
And it's like, okay, make it a dirt road with an old 79 Chevy, whatever, you know, and it
changes it.
And so it stays on the same scene, but it can change the components of the scene instantaneously. It's like definitely the future of movie making and all of that.
I mean, it has to be right. It's crazy. And then you think of, of course, my brain's like,
okay, how do you use this in your business? Which I don't even know, but that's of course,
where my brain goes. I think where it'll go is like, make me a video of myself doing this thing. Like, you know, so like,
you just put a script in and it can put your face on a webinar and like, make it seem like it's you
or something like that. You know, I mean, we're not there yet. It's all Natalie live still. But,
but I imagine that's where it's headed, where you can kind of second brain yourself or, or put up a,
like a hologram of yourself, you know, and have it speak for you.
And it's based on your voice and your face and everything.
It's absolutely wild. I mean, think about how that kind of production was limited to just like
the biggest corporations in the world to have that kind of budget, whereas now you can do it
for yourself within seconds. And yes, it's not perfect. It's going to take a little bit of finessing.
But most people would have never had access to that kind of thing ever.
Even like think about when you're editing your YouTube videos,
you'd have to go and source B-roll online or film your own.
And it takes so much time or creating reels.
And you can literally make anything you want now in seconds with no you don't need to learn how to
edit none of this stuff it's literally blowing my mind I think about I think that I think also AI
when we're talking about predictions for 2024 watching all of this unfold I think it's going
to give us a more solid understanding of just how much we're going to be able to utilize it in our
business we're already using AI so much even with fast track i'm showing people how to literally create their sales pages emails everything with templates
we've created but plugging in chat gpt i want to take it a step further and show them some video
stuff i just think by the end of this year what what is going to be released like what is this
landscape going to look like because with every, it's not just like a slight improvement. It's something completely groundbreaking. It's blowing my mind.
Yeah. I mean, you have to start thinking about it in your business, even if you're like,
this doesn't apply to my business or I provide a service that has nothing to do with this.
There's just so many ways that it can be brought in to save you time or to enhance your creativity, give you ideas.
It's something to be paying attention to, even if you aren't interested in it or you've been like,
la, la, la, la, I don't want to know. Definitely something to start looking at more and integrating
into your business, I think. I'm so curious where it's going to go.
I have another one too, because AI is a big one. But on the opposite spectrum of AI, the other thing that I think is a prediction for 2024,
and I feel like we've said this for like the last couple of years, but this is really the
year, is more in-person stuff.
I do think people want to be back at events.
They want to be in like networking groups.
We see this with CEO Mama, the retreats, you know, people want to be in person with each other. And what's the nuance on that I want to add on this is like,
they aren't necessarily coming because they want it to be like action packed, four full days,
like crazy nine tracks going like these big old, like I come from the energy industry where we had
trade shows that were like seven days long and you could go watch 12 presentations at any old school trade show events where I just
feel like they were so busy.
I think people in person, they want to be with each other.
That's really what I think it is.
And they want to be with people who are like them and who get them.
And that's why CEO Mama and our retreats are so great.
But what I've learned from them is the women aren't
coming because they want to spend three days working on their business. They just want to
be with other CEO Mamas that get them. And so I feel like there's an opportunity for all of us to
look at not only in our businesses, how can we create an opportunity for people, our customers
to know each other, but also ourselves?
What are we craving? And like, what rooms do we want to be in? And maybe starting to look beyond
our normal radar of like, oh, this has to be a business expense. Or if I'm going to take the
time away from my business to go to this event, I have to learn something and change the perception
to be like, maybe it's a yoga retreat. Maybe it's a cooking class, like something where maybe it has nothing to do with my business, but it puts me around people that are outside of my
circle or like it puts me in new environments that are going to challenge me to learn something new.
And in that newness, in that beginner mindset is where I get this inspiration for the pivot I need
in my business or the energy I need in my personal life, you know, like whatever
it might be. So there's something there that I'm seeing that I wanted to bring up as like a
prediction for 2024 is more in-person, more not just events, but a craving for more intimacy with
each other. I think people are just craving more experiences as well. And so people making it
unique and doing something fun. I'm seeing a
lot of that. Like I'm finding myself wanting to organize them with my friends. And when we're
thinking about retreats, how can we bring in really unique things and just make it a fun
experience? I think we just miss that so much. Totally. And, you know, and like, I don't think
hustle culture is dead or that hustle culture is necessarily bad. You know, I think there's this energy that's always been around in America that feels like more fervent than ever of, of like
choosing your own destiny and really wanting to create things. And, and like the energy of sourcing
energy from this place of, I want to go make something of myself. I mean, that's like the
ultimate human thing. Right. And always in our history of any type of creation of work product or creativity or bringing
something to life, an idea to life, 99.9% of the time, it's always been in community.
It's always been with people around supporting you, you know, like the old adage of the village
and things like that, where I just don't think it's in human nature to create things and
to bring an
idea to life completely in a vacuum by yourself in your home office, you know, in your sweatpants
with no other contact. And I think the other thing that happens in online business a lot is we only
hang out with each other. And then we start to lose perspective on the broader need of our
client. You know, yes yes they're coming to us for
business advice but also they want to learn about raw milk and sourdough and and like i mean those
are things that i've learned about you know so i'm using them as examples but you know like there's
these things outside of their business that make them a whole human and that if you're only spending
time around people that are just like you then then you're not seeing, you're not getting introduced to like new things out there in culture that
could enhance your business in a way that you would never otherwise know. And so I just,
I think there's a lot to be said for finding, both providing it through your business,
but also for yourself looking at who do you need to be around? What are you missing? Where,
where could you benefit from
community and connection? And yeah, maybe it's friend stuff on the weekends. Maybe it's
getting a hobby and going to a class. After we just talk so much shit about
all of them's hobbies, we're like, oh shit, maybe they're onto something.
I mean, I feel like sometimes maybe they are, although that running two and a half hours seems fairly solo but I mean it is it yeah they're probably on to something and here we
are circling all the way back to where we started and then realizing that they've been right all
along no I just feel I think that's happening in 2024 is just getting out of our maybe maybe
it's my own experience like I need to get out of my home office. You and I were talking about this. Like we need to get, get out, even if it's just getting out of your normal
routine a little bit and, and being around people, taking the coffee meeting in person,
instead of on zoom, like taking those opportunities to have a little human connection
really adds into, I think, creative inspiration. Yeah, I totally agree with you. And even just in
Austin, one thing that's just popped up, it's a co-working space that has childcare in it. And I
just think Work Castle, that's what it's called. It's freaking genius because you can meet up with
friends, you can co-work for a little bit, can maybe have a coffee then you know maybe put your
kids in the child care place for an hour they can interact with other kids you can have that it can
be this like fun experience and then go home like it's just very much drop in you don't need a
membership you just pay by the hour you don't need to like be booked up and paying like all of this
stuff in advance it's just and I think that kind of thing where you can have those experiences get
more around other people all of that I think it's It's just, and I think that kind of thing where you can have those experiences, get more around other people, all of that, I think it's just going to keep exploding.
I also think businesses like that are going to explode. So smart. Yeah. It's so smart because
we want our kids around other kids. We want to be around other people. We want a place to meet up
with friends where we maybe can actually have a conversation. Yeah. Well, it's interesting. I,
my best friend is a cardiothoracic surgeon
and she came over last night for dinner
with her three kids.
And we were talking and she was telling me about how even,
you know, she's a surgeon
and she's joined a coaching group for female surgeons
because it's such a hard, demanding,
like lonely, isolating career that now,
you know, even in those type of professions, there's
professional groups and coaching groups where, and it's like for millennials, you know, or
it's not like a professional development organization.
It's literally like surgeon moms coaching group where they, they can vent and talk about
being surgeon moms and get supported on all aspects of life that become challenging when
you're a surgeon mom.
And I'm like, this is, this is so cool to me that like, yeah, that you're seeing this stuff in the niches. Like we're also
familiar with business coaching and I, and then like executive coaching and stuff like that,
but you don't, you know, I didn't think about it until she said it, but I'm like, damn, you know,
there's every single sub niche industry like that, where you're having this human experience of
trying to balance everything in a high, in a high demand job or high demand business has an opportunity to create those
forums for people to talk about their experience and for it to transcend beyond just the job
itself. Like she has professional training for being a surgeon, obviously what she doesn't have
a lot of is like people who get what it's like day in and day out to go operate on hearts for
12 hours a day and then come home to three young kids you know and so I think that that's an example of
the trend that's moving in our culture where people want connection and they want to be
connected to people like them that but people like them that get get them beyond their job
or get them beyond their business oh and it also just goes to show, listen, there is a niche out there for you no
matter what you do. Everything. There really is. Yeah. I love it. I'm really excited to see this
year unfold. I think there is going to be a lot more stabilization for business owners. I think
it was a lot of ups and downs and chaos last year. I really do think there's going to be a lot of
stabilization. I mean, who knows how it will shake things up with the election but generally I do see a better trajectory coming in
I see people getting more aligned more clear on what they are wanting and are not willing to
accept so I'm excited as a business owner for what's going to unfold me too yeah I just feel
like there's also all of that like has created a level of maturity that I feel like during COVID and stuff didn't feel like it was there, where people were just
doing a little bit of everything and everything felt like it worked. So you were like, I'm this
coach, but I also have this business and I also do a little bit of this and all of them are making
money. And now everybody's grown up and out of that a little bit to be like, you know what?
I just, I want like, I want there to be consistency and I want it to be less chaotic. And,
and I want to take advantage of being an expert at something because expertise and authority is always going to win. Always. It's always going to win. And we, you know, we know that
better now than we ever have in terms of what we're focused on in Boss Babe. And you and I personally, we really value that. What is somebody's expertise? What are they an authority in? And let's go work with the best person we possibly can on this exact thing so that we know we solved the problem the first time. I just feel like more of that that please in 2024 and beyond I am here for it okay wrapping up and
putting you on the spot a little bit we're a couple months in now to 2024 I'm very curious
for you what you feel like your personal learning has been and what you're excited to carry into the
year already having a couple months of it because we all set our intentions for the year but when
you've already had a couple months of it I'm curious has that changed for you and what
your biggest learnings been yeah this year is interesting because I the beginning of January
was so chaotic because we moved and stuff that I feel like I didn't ever sit down to make a plan
for 2024 and then that caught up with me at the end of January when we, we moved right after the first of the year. And
then we had CEO mama week in Austin and then we had team retreat. So I didn't even really feel
like I landed back home till late January. And I was totally out of my mind in terms of, of being
able to manage all of the things like this big job that I have and kids going back to school and a new house.
Jesus Christ, there's boxes everywhere still to this day. I didn't even have a goal that I then
have had to pivot away from. I just have been catching up with myself and being like, oh shit,
I'm normally way more on top of stuff than I have felt lately. And it's because I set the year in
motion from a place of chaos, I feel like. And, you know, some of that was
unavoidable with moving houses. It was just, it's chaotic, you know, but now being in, in late
February, it's like, okay, now's my, my chance to get back on top of it before the year gets away
from me, you know? Cause like I could, I could perform from chaos pretty damn well. And not a
lot of people other than you really, really see it,
you know? But then I work for you and with you. And I think we have very similar brains and you're
like, I see it. Like I see a little bit of chaos lens and it's such a good.
You ain't hiding this very well.
Yeah. But I think that's like, that's the learning is, and I said this to my coach
the other day, you know, I still have a one-on-one coach because like, I still need to be coached even at this level. And I was like, this isn't,
this is asking of me a whole new level of how to show up every day and how to manage my energy and
how to stay on top of things. And like, I'm absolutely capable of it. When I set myself up
for success, when I even get slightly dysregulated, it is almost impossible to keep up at this level
of performance. And I've never had this level of demand on me before. And so while I know I'm super
capable of it, it requires high performance, like oil in the machine kind of thing. And that is a
new level of demand on me and discipline on me. And so it's really interesting and new it's in the nuances of
it's not that like, I don't have the skills or I need to be learning new things. It's like,
I have everything I need. I just have to stay at this like hyper refined level of discipline and,
and performance. And I've like, ultimately what I'm learning is I love that. And it's calling
me into this whole new level that I've been craving for a really long time. And I like, I never, very frankly, was capable of keeping myself at this
level of performance as a, as an entrepreneur, because when you don't have an external pressure
for me anyway, I cut corners or I, you know, I I'm okay with something not being
perfect or at a high level, but working inside of a company like this and having people that
work for me and like wanting to do such a good job has really put the mirror back on me to be
like, okay, it's, it, it is a level of discipline and a level of organization and energy management
that has never been demanded of me before, but it feels fucking good. And so it's cool. It's now,
it's just learning day to day. What is it? How do I adapt
when I have a sick kid? How do I adapt when we add new people to the team and my management
responsibilities go up? How do we adapt when it's launch week versus an off week? And a lot of this
stuff is the first time I've ever done it. So yeah, it's not necessarily like a change from
what I was expecting in January. It's more like every day I'm getting more and more self-aware of what it takes to
really keep up at this pace and what I personally need to do that. And it's prompted some hard
conversations and also some new boundaries and ways of being in my life where I'm just like,
I'm not here for this anymore and take it or leave it. So yeah, as it continues to unfold, I'm sure we'll talk more about it. But yeah, it's, it feels like it's not mid late February. It feels like we're already
like at least a quarter into 2024. But also we have so much ahead of us. So don't want to rush
it. How about you? Well, I love the honesty in that. I completely agree. And I love the way that
you framed it. That's really, really powerful. And yes, also to have a coach. I feel like everyone should have some form of coach. I have a coach
and I freaking love it. And I don't think that I would be where I am without it. Like it's so nice
being able to have that person to go to that really calls you forward. So I love all of that.
My biggest lesson I would say is that I have to be proactive
in putting in the calendar the things that really matter to me
and are my priorities first.
Like block those things off first.
The trips that I want to take, the self-care,
all of that, put it in first and protect that.
Time that I want to spend with Noemi, put all of that in first and protect it.
Because otherwise it's just so easy to go into a week with, that time that I want to spend with Noemi, put all of that in first and protect it because otherwise
it's just so easy to go into a week with you know things unplanned and then by the end of it not
feeling like you got done what you wanted to or you took care of yourself in the way you wanted to
so I'm just making a real proactive effort. You know I had my assistant block off all day Tuesday
and all day Friday from now until the rest of the year
and things like that feel really really good because I'm actually intentionally blocking time
off and my intention has always been to have so much spaciousness in my calendar and I know that
that's where me as an individual as a mother as a wife as an entrepreneur leader co-worker that's
where the best part of me comes
from is having that spaciousness but when I don't put it in and I'm not proactive being reactive
doesn't get me where I want to go so I'm just being a lot more intentional about that I just
knew I wanted to hit the ground running in January I was like okay let's hit the ground running
and doing it has been incredible and jeez I feel like in terms of revenue wise,
we might as well be halfway through the year. It's been insane. It's been incredible. And I'm
like, okay, cool. Let me just be proactive about the time that I want to block off and know what
we want to get accomplished by then. And I really love to like, it sounds so woo woo, but like
protect my vibration. And I know that comes from protecting my space. So that's fine.
No, I think we're on the same page. It's the, it is ultimately boils down to like protecting your
energy, the vibration. And, and that's, that's exactly what I said to my coach. I'm like, I,
I feel like I'm at this whole different level of vibration in this role and just everything that
around me and the fact that I manifested a lot of this stuff. And so I'm like living in my own manifestation and I see the evidence of that everywhere all the time. And I'm like, shit,
oh my God, like four years ago, me, this is it. And like the level that this, I mean, if you know,
you know, like there's this level that you get called into and you almost don't recognize
yourself sometimes. And when you're first in these new levels and it feels edgy and it feels uncomfortable and you, you fuck things up because you're like, Ooh,
this is uncomfortable. I want to go back to comfortable place. I'm going to like,
I default back to old patterns a little bit in, in the transition phase. And then you hit stride.
You know, it's like, I always equate things to flying airplanes. Cause I don't know,
it's a good metaphor, but it's like, once you get through the turbulent, you know, the climb, there's all that turbulence. And then you get up to the cruising altitude and
you're like, Oh shit, I'm like way up here. Okay. Like this is, we can go fast here. And then,
you know, and then you have to come back down and you're always like having to fly the plane. But
that's how the last few months have felt is like, I've been in the turbulent climb up and now I'm
like starting to level off and it's getting to be clear air.
I'm like, oh, okay.
Like I want to stay here.
This feels good.
This feels like we could go fast
and like really get a lot done
and have it be fucking awesome up here.
So yeah, here we go.
2024.
Love doing these pods with you.
So fun.
Me too.
My headphones are really, it's mom life. I'm wearing
my glasses today and my headphones squeeze my glasses into my face. And I'm like, oh my God.
Wait, why is that mom life? Because like my eyes, oh my God, I don't want to scare you, Natalie. But
when you turn 40, your eyesight after having a couple of babies, all of a sudden my eyes, like
they get tired. And we had three webinars and a ton of screen time over
the last week and i'm like my eyes are freaking tired so i'm wearing my glasses but then headphones
and glasses are not a great combo and also last bit here to be completely honest you know i've
been watching so much suits like we have this is the real stuff this is the real stuff our I have been like binge watching Suits till like 11 or 12 o'clock at night,
which is not normal and not okay for our poor, like our aura rings are screaming at us to
like go to sleep and stop fucking up our sleep scores.
By screen time, Lindsay's literally like, I'm addicted to Suits.
I'm addicted to Suits.
And so I like my eyes, I feel like my eyes are a little strained from
too much screen time. From not the webinars, it's from suits. Not from mom life, it's from suits.
Mom life. Well, another little niche motherload thing though, is like, there's sometimes where
late night is the only time you get to yourself, you know? No, that's true. I want to steal these
hours and like give myself something back
and for me it's my obsession with suits right now so it is what I get yeah so anyway that's
that's what's going on behind the scenes the real real here I love it all right well we will be back
next week bye everyone bye you