The Chris Voss Show - The Chris Voss Show Podcast – Alise Saunders on Entrepreneurship and Overcoming Imposter Syndrome!

Episode Date: September 1, 2024

Alise Saunders on Entrepreneurship and Overcoming Imposter Syndrome! AliseSaundersfinancialservices.com About the Guest(s): Alise Saunders is a dynamic business and mindset transformation coach, author, and speaker. She runs Alise Saunders Financial Services, which offers a variety of expert bookkeeping and advisory services to help clients realize their dream lifestyles. With a robust corporate background that includes roles such as Controller and Human Resource Director for Hilton Hotel Corporation, Alise has also served as a Regional Director of Revenue for luxury hotel brands. Now, she dedicates her time to helping business owners navigate challenges like imposter syndrome and cashflow management. Alise Saunders, along with her husband Greg, has embraced a digital nomad lifestyle, traveling extensively and sharing her expertise remotely. Episode Summary: In this enlightening episode of The Chris Voss Show, Chris Voss welcomes Alise Saunders, a business and mindset transformation coach and founder of Alise Saunders Financial Services. Alise shares her journey from a corporate life encumbered by health issues to becoming a thriving digital nomad and successful entrepreneur. Chris and Alise delve into key topics such as overcoming imposter syndrome, the benefits of a digital nomad lifestyle, and practical business efficiency tips. This episode provides listeners with invaluable advice on how to transform their mindset and business strategies for greater success. Alise discusses her approach to helping clients overcome imposter syndrome, highlighting the importance of reprogramming negative beliefs and embracing a mindset of empowerment. She talks about her varied work with different businesses, from large corporations to small local ventures, assisting them with everything from bookkeeping to goal setting and employee management. One notable conversation involves a client’s expensive audio-visual strategy and how Alise advocates for achieving success without unnecessary expenses. This episode is packed with actionable advice for anyone looking to enhance their business acumen and personal growth. Key Takeaways: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: Alise outlines strategies for overcoming self-doubt and negative beliefs, emphasizing the importance of adopting empowering thoughts. Digital Nomad Lifestyle: Insights into the freedom and fulfillment that come with a digital nomad lifestyle and practical advice for aspiring nomads. Efficient Business Practices: Tips on avoiding unnecessary expenses and the importance of focusing on strategic actions that truly enhance business success. Goal Setting and Achievement: Practical steps for setting and achieving ambitious business goals, tailored to diverse financial conditions. Embracing Authenticity: The significance of aligning business practices with personal moral codes and values to create a fulfilling and successful entrepreneurial journey. Notable Quotes: "Imposter syndrome is where that voice in your head wakes up and says, 'You are not enough. You don't deserve to be here.'" - Alise Saunders "The biggest thing is to step away from the shoulds, right? So much even of imposter syndrome is built around all of the things that society says that we should be doing as entrepreneurs." - Alise Saunders "I have stepped away from many lab businesses due to animal testing; it's not within my moral code. It's my business, I don't have to sacrifice who I am to get business." - Alise Saunders “I've never been more free, I've never been more full, I've never been more joyous and happy in my own life than traveling and running my business virtually on the road.” - Alise Saunders "Belief systems are what shape us, make us up, and help guide us through life. What we believe is what we achieve." - Chris Voss

You wanted the best. You've got the best podcast. The hottest podcast in the world. The Chris Voss Show. The preeminent podcast with guests so smart you may experience serious brain bleed. The CEOs, authors, thought leaders, visionaries, and motivators. Get ready. Get ready. Strap yourself in. Keep your hands, arms, and legs inside the vehicle at all times because you're about to go on a monster education roller coaster with your brain. Now, here's your host, Chris Voss. Hi, folks. It's Voss here from thechrisvossshow.com. There you go. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the big show. We certainly appreciate you guys being here. As always, the Chris Voss Show is a family that loves you,

but doesn't judge you, at least not as harshly as your mother-in-law, because, you know, she liked Bob anyway. She was hoping her daughter would marry Bob, and you just didn't turn out as good as you wanted. But get on her good side. Go to goodreads.com, fortune.chrisfoss, linkedin.com, fortune.chrisfoss, refer her over to the show so that she can have some laughter

and enjoyment in her life, as opposed to just wondering where she went wrong with dealing with you. No, I'm just kidding. That's not really true. Anyway, guys, we don't loan you money either as the Chris Voss Show family. We have an amazing young lady on the show with us today. We're going to be talking about her insights, her business, how she built it, and give you guys some ideas on maybe what you can do with your lives and your financial services.

Elise Saunders joins us on the show. She is a business and mindset transformation coach, author, and speaker. Her bookkeeping practice, Elise Saunders Financial Services, offers a variety of services to help you create your dream life. Elise is a former controller and human resource director for Hilton Hotel Corporation and regional director for Hilton Hotel Corporation and regional director for revenue for other luxury hotel brands, but today is helping business owners to overcome everything from imposter syndrome to investigating cash flow or navigating

cash flow. She and her husband, Greg, have two sons and have spent over 100,000 consecutive days as digital nomads. There you go. Traveling the U.S. one year in Greece, mastering the digital CEO lifestyle. Welcome to the show, Elise. How are you? Great, great.

Thank you so much for having me. Thanks for coming. We really appreciate having you. Give us your dot coms. Where do you want people to find you on the interwebs? Sure. EliseSaundersFinancialServices.com. There you go.

And so give us a 30,000 overview of what you do there, Elise, in your words. Yeah, so I opened up my bookkeeping practice several years ago, and I absolutely love my life because I get to help coach business owners, not only about their business, but also about their life, help them elevate their business to all the things that they had hoped and dreamed of in such a variety of ways, budgeting, forecasting, but also that coaching element that I mentioned earlier. There you go. And so you help people with financial services.

Then what do you do on the business side? Do you do bookkeeping or do you help other people learn the business? Yeah, so it's both actually. So I can come into businesses and help streamline, create efficiencies, solve problems. But I also can do the bookkeeping so that we're looking at the financial aspect of the business and what the financials, what that story of the financials are telling us so that we can begin to make more strategic decisions about the business and determine if there's additional revenue streams that we can implement,

efficiencies, et cetera. There you go. There's always got to be efficiencies. There's always a way to make a business better and everything else. Now you've been doing the digital nomad thing. How long have you been doing that now for? Yeah, several years. You said in the intro, my husband and I and our two cats traveled over a thousand consecutive days across the U.S. We spent one year in Greece traveling north, south, east, west, all of the islands just about. It was absolutely amazing just really embracing that digital CFO lifestyle. Wow. That's going to be a lot of fun and a lot of craziness. Did you do that over COVID or was it after COVID or? After. Yeah. No, we just got back from Greece a couple months ago. Nice. I mean, I've got a few

friends that do that and it's pretty wild. They can travel around the world. They can do everything virtual and they just kind of live by the seat of their pants. They can travel around the world. They can do everything virtual. And they just kind of live by the seat of their pants. They don't really have a house anywhere. It's kind of crazy the way to, crazy way to live. Yeah, absolutely. It is incredible. I really feel like I've never been more free.

I've never been more full. I've never been more joyous and happy in my own life than traveling and running my business virtually on the road. Who would have thunk it in 2024 that we'd be able to do all this sort of stuff? I mean, can you imagine being our IBM parents and you're just like, yeah, we're just going to travel and work at the same time. They're like, what? What is that? So tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you grow up? How did you get the entrepreneurial bug?

And what got you into running your own business eventually? You know, honestly, it was one of those things that was just communicated to me in a variety of ways that just wasn't for me. It was just communicated or indoctrinated that I was just going to work for somebody for the rest of my life. That was my lot in life. And there just wasn't anybody in my life that was like, you can own your own business. And so I just got into a job. I got incredibly sick. I had multiple sclerosis, early onset arthritis, digestive issues. And it was just all a wake up call to go, you know what, this is your job. This is not for you. And so I worked really hard, overcame those illnesses,

fully recovered and made the decision, you know what, I need to take these skills that I have and I need to put them to use for myself. And that was when I decided to take the leap without a single client. You know, my husband, Greg, and I made some downsizing decisions, but I decided to take that leap of faith and hung out my own jingle, as they say. There you go. The leap of faith. I mean, that's how you have to do it. And was this your first exploration into being an entrepreneur? There you go. The leap of faith. I mean, that's how you have to do it.

And was this your first exploration into being an entrepreneur? It was, actually. I had started another job previously, another business, but I was waiting on the trademark. There was a trademark issue. And I was like, well, that's being worked out. Let me see what else I can do. And that's really how the bookkeeping business was birthed and how it's just metamorphosized into something so much bigger. Some of my favorite conversations now with clients are overcoming imposter syndrome, because I just don't know a single entrepreneur that hasn't struggled with imposter syndrome. And it seems like at various

levels of our evolution as entrepreneurs, we continue to struggle with some type or some level of imposter syndrome. Let's talk about that. What is imposter syndrome? Yeah, so it's where that voice in your head wakes up and says, hey, you're not enough. You don't deserve to be here. You don't have the skills. Nobody's going to listen to you. Or it's already being done somewhere in the world. What makes you so special? You just need to pack up. You just need to go back to whatever you were doing and not do this. You need to quit. You're not good enough. That's what imposter syndrome really is. Wow. There you go. And I guess a lot of people suffer for it. Why do people suffer for it?

They just don't think they're good enough? Is it a self-esteem issue? Is it just low self-esteem i guess really huh it's honestly a variety of things you know to go back to our childhood where everything stems from you know just think about how many times we were told as kids don't be messy don't make us feel don't you know be a problem and so many ways that communicates to us, everything has to be perfect. And so as we are creating our first business or second or third business, that is really coming in and triggering us saying, oh my gosh, it has to be perfect. Everything has to be spot on. And so we spend so much time feeling like we're not enough. We're triggered any time that somebody ever rejected us or said that something wasn't up to their expectations. Plus it's fears, right? Fears of being rejected, fear of being laughed at. Oh my gosh, did you hear what they just said? That was so

stupid. This is all the fears that are running in the back of our mind, even in our subconscious or conscious level of thought. And so these are the things that are just coming to the forefront. And you're absolutely right, Chris. If somebody is struggling at any level with confidence or self-esteem, it's really going to be triggered in these moments where we're about to step out into the world in a different way and show up like we never have before. And we're afraid. We're afraid of falling. We're afraid of being successful. That comes with its own fear of success, fear of failure. It's all of these things are really being triggered for us. And so I just love those opportunities to be able to help clients overcome those fears and retrain that brain into having

some thoughts that are going to empower us rather than weaken us. So what are some ways that you help people overcome that? Absolutely. So first of all, we dig into what are their specific challenges around imposter syndrome? What are their specific thoughts, right? And we reestablish those beliefs. If the belief is I'm not good enough, we need to disengage ourself from that belief and say that belief no longer serves me. I'm literally going to wake up today

and choose a belief that empowers me. So my belief is, is that I am fully capable of doing anything that I put action to today. That's just one belief out of many. Right. I'm just creating something here on the spot, the conscious or subconscious starts to seat back in with. You're not enough. Just pack up and quit. This isn't going to work. We need to start training ourselves to catch those thoughts.

Go. Nope, I'm not going to allow that. I'm going to go back to the belief that I'm trying to integrate and really embrace that into our being and say, okay, nope, I've got this. I can do this. I'm not going to give into those thoughts and continue to focus on the actions that are moving the business forward. It's a

little bit more involved than that, but that's the general process. There you go. There you go. Belief systems are really what shape us, make us up and help kind of guide us through life. Really, what we believe is what we achieve, some people say. Absolutely. You are 100% correct. There you go. I've always studied belief systems that have gone through life and why people believe the things they do, why they keep believing the things they do, even in the face of obvious, seemingly obvious proof otherwise. And so it's interesting the attack people take. What are some other things that you help clients with that we haven't talked about yet so far in the show?

Sure. I mean, building a business, determining what they are good at, what I'm working with a client right now overseas who is trying to establish a digital nomad life. And she's, I'm not exactly sure stepping away from my corporate life, what I should be doing. So we're going through a process to help her determine that. I'm also working with another client in California to evaluate their business, determine all of the goal setting and goal planning. They want to make a million dollars in the next 12 months. So putting together the plan of action in order to achieve that goal, and then putting in the individual steps on a daily,

weekly, monthly basis, evaluating their marketing strategy, et cetera, in order to be able to achieve that. Of course, there's the bookkeeping, right? Helping people clean up their books, be IRS ready, as I like to say, cash flow analysis, budgeting, forecasting. But yeah, I mean, it's just any need that a business owner has. And, you know, I have the skill set for you. I always like to say you're getting like multiple people in one, being that I was a controller for Hilton. I was also a human resource director. So just yesterday, I was on the phone with a client in Texas who was wanting to look at their employee base, create a employee handbook, increase their employment staff, handle some employment challenges as all entrepreneurs have to do from time to time. And so it's really just a myriad of things. Anything that that business owner needs or wants from a personal or professional development standpoint, Elise Saunders Financial Services is here.

There you go. And you guys offer free consultations so that people can handshake with you, schedule an appointment, talk to you, see if you guys are a fit and how to onboard with you. Is there a minimum financial level client that has to be in to work with you? No, I serve clients that are generating revenue

in the millions of dollars, as well as say a local photographer is one of my clients as well, you know, and he's making an average American salary as a photographer. It's really no max, no min, which is fantastic. No max, no min. There you go. Put that on your coffee cup. Put that on your t-shirt. There you go. Well, it's interesting. What is some advice you give to people that want to build, start their own business and build their own business? The biggest thing is to step away from the shoulds, right? So much even of the imposter syndrome is built around all of the things that society says that we should be doing as an

entrepreneur. I was just speaking with one of my clients the other day who was really spending a lot of money on audiovisual, being filmed, having it professionally edited. The revenue generated from those videos isn't quite where we would like it to be, given how much the client was spending each month. And he's, oh, but I have to have this super duper professional level of photography. And I'm like, no, you really don't. There was a woman on YouTube, very famous, millions of followers. And she was filming her videos with a little tripod with a cell phone sitting next to a doorway or a garbage can or in her kitchen. You know, it wasn't this high quality, high professional type audio visual. I'm like,

don't get caught up in the, it has to be this way because it doesn't. I've seen a lot of businesses and business owners struggle with spending more than they really can afford to, especially in the beginning, because they're caught up into that perfection that I was referencing earlier in the show, you know, where it's like we were just always taught. Don't be messy. Everything has to be perfect, perfect. And that's carrying over as a business owner of I have to show up at this million dollar level when I might only be making a couple thousand dollars a month. And so we need to give ourselves some grace. We need to remember that throwing money at things isn't always the solution. And it usually isn't the solution. We need to be creative. We need to be strategic and we need to step away from the that are trapping us from really being able to be successful, from being able to be creative, from being a wild, from being our true

self and stepping into our business authentically. There you go. Step into your business authentically. What does that mean for you when you say that? What is the stepping in your business with authenticity? What does it mean exactly? I love that question so much. Thank you for asking. Authentically for me means showing up with my own moral code into my business, being who I am. I got a call from a lab

the other day and they wanted me to potentially do their bookkeeping. And the first thing I said is I've worked with other labs before. I have one question for you. Do you do animal testing? I said, because I don't want to waste your time. I have stepped away from many lab businesses who do animal testing because it's not within my moral code. It's my business. I don't have to suck it up, go along to get along, sacrifice who I am in order to be in my business, to get business, I get to stand within my moral code, right? And say, I'm not going to do business with anybody who does moral testing. And I just love the ability to show up and be me, you know, to be candid and honest with people, to share my soul with people in these relationships that I've created with clients, which is just a level of living of authenticity that I never experienced when I was in the corporate world. There you go. It's being your own boss, man. It is so self-actualizing. It's really nice.

I can't work for other people anymore after all these years. Of course, I've been doing this since 18. You know, it's just heaven. It's great to have control of your life, et cetera, et cetera, and all that good stuff. Do you help anybody become nomads like yourselves and teach them the nomad way? I do, actually, yes. I have a variety of resources for the digital nomad entrepreneur as well.

And like I said, I have that client right now overseas that I referenced before that she wants to create that digital nomad lifestyle. So we're hitting it on all fronts, how she can begin to travel, where to go, how to get started with that, the decisions and choices to make, especially if you're traveling with pets. And then, like I said, creating that business that's going to help her get out on the road

and have the life that she really wants. So I absolutely help the aspiring digital nomad as well. Yeah, I used to have a best friend. I think, I think we're still best friends, but he's, but yeah, he was traveling the world.

He's been doing it for almost a decade plus. And I remember when he said he was going to do it, I was like, you're crazy, man. This is 10 years ago or something. And, but Mike Elgin and he,

he's been doing it ever since COVID was a bit of a wrinkle, but other than that, for a lot of people, absolutely. Yeah. For a lot of people, it was kind of half laugh about it. Now.

I don't know the, it was for everybody pretty much. I think, I don't know if there's anybody who's, I haven't really been affected by this at all. I mean, I was staying at home before COVID, but everyone kind of joined me.

I was like, Hey, why do you don't get to do what I do. What the hell is this all about? So there you go. As we go out, give people your final thoughts, how they can onboard with you, any final pitch out to people to sign up with your services or reach out to you and see if you guys are a fit together. Great. Yeah, I would love to give your audience 10 free 30 minute coaching sessions for first come first serve. Right. The first 10 who email me at support to EliseSaundersFinancialServices.com and take advantage of that free consultation. Literally free, no charge at all.

There you go. Free consultation. You can get to know her better and see if the services fit and do all the good stuff. Yeah. I think we need more digital nomad stuff because because i need to do i didn't do more of that where i digitally nomad i was gonna right before covid i was gonna buy one of those mercedes runners and we looked at those yeah we did yeah we were in love with the the mercedes sprinter i think it was called. We were going to look at one and turn it into a mobile podcasting van.

I love that idea. I think you're so good. Back then we did a lot of events like CES and so we drive out to shows, Southwest, NAB show. So we were always on the road and I have two Huskies and I get tired of leaving them home. So I'm like, I can take two huskies and i get tired of leaving them home so i can take the huskies with me we can have a podcast studio on the on the roll and then i can just drive to places that will i don't have to do that jump an airplane get there on a red eye leave town on a red eye try and get back for the dogs you know still thinking about doing that so

there you go although we don't do events really anymore know and still thinking about doing that so there you go although we don't do events really anymore kind of covid kind of killed that so there you go but you know traveling enjoying the world seeing you know stuff i mean it's everything thank you very much elise for coming to the show we really appreciate it my pleasure thank you so much for having me there you go give us your dot coms one last time as we go out elise saunders financial services.com there you go and thanks a lot for tuning in go to goodreads.com fortress chris fuss linkedin.com fortress chris fuss chris fuss won the tiktokity and all those crazy places on the internet thanks for tuning in be good to each other stay safe we'll see you guys next time