the bossbabe podcast - 378. I’m DONE With Transactional Relationships w/ Natalie Ellis
Episode Date: May 16, 2024From the real reasons she left Los Angeles to how to build really strong, intentional + fulfilling relationships – Natalie Ellis sits down today to share her experience with transactional relationsh...ips in both business and life. If you’ve ever felt like you’re over-giving and pouring into relationships that don’t feel aligned (anymore), this episode is for you. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Quick Catch Up 00:20 - Why Natalie left Los Angeles 00:58 - What is a transactional relationship? 01:57 - What happens when you remove the transactional part? 03:28 - Deepening relationships 04:32 - Giving without expectation 05:20 - Transactional relationships in business 06:38 - Early stages of business + networking 07:30 - Creating strong foundations 08:25 - Worthiness as a friend + beyond 10:30 - Food for thought RESOURCES + LINKS Join The Société: The Place to Build A Freedom-Based Business Get Our Weekly Newsletter & Get Insights From Natalie Every Single Week On All Things Strategy, Motherhood, Business Growth + More. Drop Us A Review On The Podcast + Send Us A Screenshot & We’ll Send You Natalie’s 7-Figure Operating System Completely FREE (value $1,997) FOLLOW bossbabe: @bossbabe.inc Natalie Ellis: @iamnatalie
Transcript
Discussion (0)
welcome back to the boss babe podcast this one's a mini one with something that has been on my mind
you come here for the real i'm gonna give you the real a big reason that i left la yes i wanted a
different kind of lifestyle that I was going
to get in Austin I loved that I knew I wanted to start a family in Austin so many of those kinds
of reasons and another reason which I know is a big reason other people that I know left too
is I was really sick of having so many transactional relationships. Now granted I did have a really
close-knit circle of best friends who I do miss and I had a wider circle where it felt like there
were a lot of transactional relationships right. Let's talk about what a transactional relationship
is. So essentially it's like interactions that feel like they're based purely on exchange, whether it's service, favors, all that
stuff, especially in business, these are really common. And I've ended a big transactional
relationship over the last couple of years. And it has been incredibly freeing. And really,
I don't feel like I'm open to have many transactional relationships, to be quite honest.
Like in that kind of relationship, it feels like each person is looking out for what they can gain and often sidelining that emotional
or deeper bond that could potentially develop because you know it's not necessarily that's
the intention but when you are networking with a lot of people when you're just kind of in and out
especially in a place like LA it's always about what this what can this person do for me and that was a very new kind of culture for me to step into coming from
where I came from so it's very much like I'll do this for you if you do that for me but what
happens when we strip away the transaction often there is not much left and if you only have
transactional relationships it can leave people feeling really unfulfilled and disconnected
and I noticed that myself and I would notice you know there were certain invitations that I felt
like I couldn't say no to and when I really dug into it it was because I felt like there was some
kind of transaction there like I had to show up for them because they came to my thing or you know
everyone was doing something for someone else they share this you share that kind of thing and I just feel like I don't have a lot
of space for that and I will say too you know a lot of you that do have a kind of following online
you'll notice people hit you up almost every single day asking you to promote their thing
to your audience to be an affiliate for them all of that stuff and if it is a real close
personal friend and I'm in a position where I can help I will but I do not love that's expected of
me just because I have a big audience in my friendships I don't have expectations of my
friends needing to support my business I have expectations of course I want to be in friendships
that are really safe psychologically and are my friends that I can lean
on personally but I learned the hard way that mixing personal relationships with business
doesn't always end well and so I really try and keep that disconnect and I don't really want
relationships with people that will get upset with me if I'm not their affiliate or promoting their
thing and I really just want
to share this because I get hit every single day there's there's this and it's really interesting
I've started to notice that when it's people that only reach out when they want something
that's nothing bad about them but it's just making me feel like I I want deeper relationships like
the deep relationships the ones that like really enrich and add value to our lives. These connections that are rooted in mutual respect, genuine emotional investment and a true desire to see that person thrive.
Whether or not it benefits you or you're maybe investing emotionally and that person only wants you to
be happy or succeed if it benefits them is really challenging and I just don't want those in my life
like I want the deep relationships that are built on principles of empathy understanding shared
experience where you really wish the best for someone. It requires vulnerability. It requires time and it requires commitment.
And they are about giving
without the expectation of receiving,
which I think just fosters such a beautiful relationship.
We all have this limited amount of time.
I would really rather pour my time and energy
into fewer relationships
and have real deep meaningful relationships
than just pour little bits of energy into a ton of different transactional relationships like is
that a recipe for business success probably but is it a recipe for happy life is it a recipe for
real deep connection I don't know I don't know. I don't think so. I think as human beings, we deeply
desire real connection. We deeply desire having those friends that have our back, no questions
asked, and we do the same for them. And I just don't think that you get that from transactional
relationships. And like I said, transactional relationships, they're definitely not just
personal. They very much extend into the business world I think it's really common among entrepreneurs and influencers and I see why some
people are like great networkers and they see the potential of that for hitting their short-term
goals but I just don't think they lay the foundation for long-term success happiness
loyalty all about it like even think about it with team members right when your team
members or business partners feel genuinely valued beyond the work that they do for you
they are more likely to really invest themselves fully like it not only boosts morale and will of
course drive growth in your business but it is a much nicer place to work and at Boss Babe I really really try and pour into my
employees from that personal level I don't want them feeling like this is just a transactional
relationship I want them to feel like being part of our team is like being part of a family and
we want to support them as human beings you know I often cheerlead my team when they're going and
getting all these different qualifications that have nothing directly correlate to the business.
It's not going to benefit me in any way, but to see them grow and be happy is something business I felt like I needed to have all of
these transactional relationships in the name of networking you know I had to be in every single
room at every single event had to have everyone's number you know I had to keep up with everyone
and it felt really transactional it didn't feel fulfilling it didn't light me up whereas I've
gotten to a place now where actually I realize, listen, the business
stuff is the business stuff and networking is great. But what's really going to fuel you is
having those deep, meaningful connections and friendships in your life. I was at a mastermind
a couple of years ago, and I think it was Tom Bilyeu said this. He said what he has realized
is the people that take the biggest swings in work and in in
their professional lives are the people that have the strongest foundations at home and this resonated
so deeply with me because that's what I feel like I've really invested in with Stephen is having
such a solid foundation that he's truly my teammate beyond you know beyond all of it he's my teammate he's my person for life
and I feel so secure in taking these big risks because I have him or you know with my girlfriends
I feel like I have now a really tight-knit group of girlfriends who were all ride or die and there's
no business expectation or anything like that and it's so much more fulfilling and I think that results in the
success. I do know people that majority of their relationships are transactional relationships and
they are wildly successful in business but it just makes me question is this is this really
the point of all of this? 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 I just wanted to come on and share as I got yet another text asking to be an affiliate and promote someone's
something and it just made me realize that I don't want to feel guilty for saying no to transactional
relationships and I don't want to feel like my worth as a friend is tied up in my ability to
promote right and and I think whether this is something else for you you don't want to feel
like your value as a friend is tied up in your ability to whatever.
Maybe you're the one that's always there and you're always holding everything together.
I'm sure this will translate for you in a different way.
So I wanted to share it because I am in a season of really reflecting on how far I've came in my relationships and my friendships and how much it has given me the depth and fulfillment that I
was looking for like transactional relationships can can very much serve immediate needs but the
richness of life I really think comes from connections that are really deep and meaningful
but in order to have these kind of relationships I've had to be really willing to put the people
pleasing aside and say no to the invitations where I'm going to build more transactional relationships and say yes to
investing time in the relationships that are really going to deeply fulfill me. And that means
I have to have fewer relationships because I don't have the time to go deep with every single person.
So I have fewer relationships but the ROI
in terms of my happiness, peace, fulfillment, connection, all of that is so much higher than if
I had tons and tons and tons of transactional relationships. So I wanted to share that because
maybe it resonates with something you're going through in friendship. Whenever I get these kind
of hits, these downloads, I always feel like, you
know what, as you process this, turn the mic on because there's always another woman out there
that needs to hear it and maybe you need to hear that you are worthy of having friendships where
things aren't expected of you and you're not expected to perform and help everyone else win
just to have those friendships. So if you feel like like that maybe it is time to reassess your
friendships so I wanted to share that I wanted to cheer you on and just drop in with a little
little 10 miniter today I hope you're having an amazing amazing day and I hope that this will be
a little bit of food for thought okay I'll see you in the next episode
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