Young and Profiting with Hala Taha - Lisa Bilyeu: Rewire Your Mindset to Unlock Radical Confidence | Human Behavior | YAPClassic

Episode Date: October 10, 2025

Lisa Bilyeu’s mindset was once shaped by deep insecurity and an early toxic relationship that left her doubting her worth. This lack of self-belief later kept her “stuck in a box” as a housewife... for eight years, afraid to chase her full potential. Realizing she wasn’t living the life she wanted, she embarked on a journey of personal development, built radical confidence from within, and co-founded a billion-dollar company. In this episode, Lisa shares self-improvement tips for building self-worth, reframing insecurities, and cultivating unshakable confidence while pursuing your goals. In this episode, Hala and Lisa will discuss: (00:00) Introduction (03:14) Mindset Shift: From Insecurity to Confidence (09:24) Building Impact Through Mission-Driven Work (18:23) Discovering Radical Confidence After Toxic Love (27:19) Turning Insecurities Into Fuel for Your Goals (32:20) Breaking Free from Limiting Identities (38:12) "No Bullshit" Goal-Setting for Self-Improvement (45:55) How Toxic Partners Shatter Your Confidence Lisa Bilyeu is an entrepreneur, producer, best-selling author, and podcast host. She is the co-founder of Quest Nutrition and Impact Theory and the host of Women of Impact. Her book, Radical Confidence, is a self-improvement guide for anyone ready to overcome fear, break free from self-doubt, and build the mindset needed to create lasting confidence. Sponsored By: Indeed - Get a $75 sponsored job credit to boost your job's visibility at Indeed.com/PROFITING  Shopify - Start your $1/month trial at Shopify.com/profiting.  Mercury streamlines your banking and finances in one place. Learn more at mercury.com/profiting  Quo - Get 20% off your first 6 months at Quo.com/PROFITING  Revolve - Head to REVOLVE.com/PROFITING and take 15% off your first order with code PROFITING  Framer- Go to Framer.com and use code PROFITING to launch your site for free.  Merit Beauty - Go to meritbeauty.com to get your free signature makeup bag with your first order.  Pipedrive - Get a 30-day free trial at pipedrive.com/profiting  Airbnb - Find yourself a cohost at airbnb.com/host  Resources Mentioned: YAP E213 with Lisa Bilyeu: youngandprofiting.co/Confidence  Lisa’s Book, Radical Confidence: bit.ly/RadConfidence  Lisa’s Podcast, Women of Impact: bit.ly/WofI-apple  Active Deals - youngandprofiting.com/deals  Key YAP Links Reviews - ratethispodcast.com/yap YouTube - youtube.com/c/YoungandProfiting Newsletter - youngandprofiting.co/newsletter  LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/htaha/ Instagram - instagram.com/yapwithhala/ Social + Podcast Services: yapmedia.com Transcripts - youngandprofiting.com/episodes-new  Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Podcast, Business, Business Podcast, Self Improvement, Self-Improvement, Personal Development, Starting a Business, Strategy, Investing, Sales, Selling, Psychology, Productivity, Entrepreneurs, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Marketing, Negotiation, Money, Finance, Side Hustle, Startup, Mental Health, Career, Leadership, Mindset, Health, Growth Mindset, Habits, Positivity, Human Nature, Human Psychology, Critical Thinking, Robert Greene, Chris Voss, Robert Cialdini 

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Today's episode of Yap is sponsored in part by Indeed, Shopify, Mercury, Quo, Revolve, Framerit Beauty, and Pip Drive. Attract interview and hire all in one place with Indeed. Get a $75-sponsored job credit to boost your job's visibility at Indeed.com slash profiting. Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you grow your business. Start your $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com slash profiting. Mercury streamlines your banking and finances all in one place. Learn more at Mercury.com slash profiting. Quo, formerly open phone, is the number one business phone system. Get 20% off your first six months at Quo.com slash profiting. Shop the latest trends from today's top brands with Revolve.
Starting point is 00:00:43 Head to revolve.com slash profiting and take 15% off your first order with code profiting. Framer is a designed first, no-code website builder that lets anybody ship a production-ready site in minutes. Go to Framer.com and use code profiting to launch your service. site for free. Merit Beauty is a minimalist beauty brand that makes elevated makeup and skin care. Go to Meritbeautcom to get your free signature makeup bag with your first order. Pipe Drive is a powerful, simple CRM built by salespeople for salespeople. Get a 30-day free trial at pipe drive.com slash profiting. As always, you can find all of our incredible deals in the show notes or at young and profiting.com
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Starting point is 00:03:11 We're tackling one of the biggest myths holding people back, the belief that you need confidence before you can take action. My guest, Lisa Bilyu, knows firsthand that's just not. not true. She's the co-founder of impact theory, host of women of impact, and bestselling author of Radical Confidence. Lisa went from being a stay-at-home wife struggling with self-doubt to becoming one of the most influential female entrepreneurs in the world. Her journey proves that confidence isn't something you're born with. It's something you build step-by-step through action. What made this conversation so powerful for me was Lisa's refreshing honesty about
Starting point is 00:03:45 how to face fear head-on, reframe the language you used with yourself, and stop with to feel ready. She also shares how to use insecurities as fuel, set powerful boundaries, and protect your energy by walking away from toxic relationships. Get ready to listen, learn, and profit with Lisa Bill You. My first question today for those who aren't familiar with your story is about why you're so passionate about helping other people become successful. And you specifically try to help women become more successful. So why are you so passionate? about that? Yeah, thank you. I really think that for myself, I had really struggled in believing in myself, in learning the skill sets that I needed to in order for me to show up and actually
Starting point is 00:04:34 achieve my dream. And when I look back at what were the things that were holding me back, it was, A, just the messaging I got growing up as a young Greek girl that was told time and time again that my future was going to be, I'm going to get married, I'm going to have kids, the end. and that literally was the story that I grew up believing. And when I think about the life I could have had, how far forward I could have been if I didn't have a belief system that didn't serve me and what my life could look like,
Starting point is 00:05:01 oh my God, I try not to like dwell on it, but that's kind of the thing that's like, okay, that's the gift that I wish every woman had, so that I didn't have to go through it. And so that became my North Star. And the confidence part was it wasn't even learning the business itself. I don't consider myself smart. I was put in a special class for being mildly dyslexic.
Starting point is 00:05:25 So I really struggled the whole way. But learning business, for me at least, was ABC. You can read books. You can watch videos. You can ask questions. The thing that I found the hardest was how do I get out of my own way for my own belief system that I'm not good enough to get started in the first place? And I think so many women struggle with that. And that's the catalyst. So if you don't have the catalyst, you then don't actually end up going anywhere. So in writing the book and really thinking about my story, I'm always thinking about where are women now, why do we get stuck? And then how do we get out of that?
Starting point is 00:06:00 How do we build the confidence to speak up, to get out of it? And I think that becomes the first step. So we can teach business until the cows come home. But if you don't believe that you're good enough to get started, you won't actually get started. So like I mentioned before, you helped co-found Quest, which became a ability. billion dollar company. And you actually started as a housewife. And for the longest time, you thought that you were only going to be a housewife. So I'd love to just give some color about how you were able to transform your mindset to then become an entrepreneur. I was stuck for eight years. I didn't think
Starting point is 00:06:35 that I had the right, if you will, to speak up and say that I was unhappy because I felt grateful. And that's almost the problem, if you will, with gratitude. Gratitude can be beautiful. It can really pull you out when something's become a negative. It can show you the light. It can show you what the positive side of things are. But it also can keep you exactly where you are. And that's what happened to me is that I stayed exactly where I was for eight years because I felt I had to be grateful for the fact that I had a husband that loved me, that I had a roof over my head. And so when you use gratitude to hold you stuck, that's when it can become toxic. And so for me, I had that toxic gratitude, and it wasn't until I recognized that I wasn't living the life that I wanted.
Starting point is 00:07:20 I wasn't speaking up about it. I wasn't talking about it. So you have to recognize, number one, that you're not living the life you actually want. That's just step one. That's just acknowledging that you're not where your dream is, and it's okay to say that. And then secondly, what is actually holding you back from getting started. And so for me, it was believing that I had the right to say I was unhappy. Now, that was the first step. Then just talking through with Tom, my husband, who I was taking care of for eight years, I had to make that change. And so how do I tell the love of my life that I no longer want to take care of him, no longer want to cook for him, that I no longer want to clean for him? But I need him to still know that I love him. So the transition was step by step,
Starting point is 00:08:07 it was believing, A, that I am worthy enough to say that I'm unhappy. It's then coming up with ways to communicate with the people around you that you're going to change because not everyone's going to be happy, not everyone's going to like your change. So you have to make sure that you're communicating with it. You're not asking permission, but you're communicating with it. And then it becomes if you're building a business, what skill sets do you need to learn in order to grow the business because who you are today is not the person that's going to run the billion dollar company in five years. So you need to go. What skill sets do I need to adopt today that I need to do a stack in effect, if you will, that eventually allows me to be able to crush it a business, build my
Starting point is 00:08:51 career, et cetera, et cetera. But it becomes these stepping stones. And I think what people do is they want the confidence to get started. And what you don't realize is the confidence is the byproduct of getting started. And so if you recognize that, now what you do, one of my favorite movies is the karate kid, the wax on, wax off. So what you do is you just practice. You just keep waxing on and waxing off. Once you do that, as you're building your skill sets, you then become competent. And it's your competence that then leads to your confidence. But if you're waiting for confidence to get started, you're in for a rude awakening that you'll never actually get started. I love that. Competence breeds confidence. That's so good. And so one more warm-up question. And then I really just want to dig deep
Starting point is 00:09:39 on radical confidence and go through it, nook and cranny. So you and your husband, Tom, you've got this podcast network called Impact Theory. And it started with Tom Show Impact Theory. Now you've got an incredible show called Women of Impact. And you guys are changing so many lives. But when you started this, you had already built a billion dollar company. You already had built something so amazing. And so what I'm curious about is, what made you guys feel like, well, we need to build this other company now when you had such a fulfilling life already? Yes, such a great question, girl. So in building Quest, over time, it was like, oh my God, imagine what happened if we have a lot of money, right? So it's like the typical, like, oh my God, what are we going to do with it?
Starting point is 00:10:19 We want to buy a house, et cetera. But during those struggles, during those five years of falling and failing time and time again as we're building the company, we realized that we needed a mission. We needed a bigger purpose than just money. And now it becomes a common thing, right, when we talk about mission and passion, but back then it wasn't. And so at the time, it was just like, we need to tie ourselves to why we get up every day, because the second things get hard, you need that why to get you through it. And so at the time, Mother Teresa had said that not everybody's willing to fight for the masses, but everyone's going to fight for the one. So what me and my husband realize is we need to identify and tie our self-esteem and our ego and our drive
Starting point is 00:11:03 to something and someone that is going to help us get up every day. Now, my mom grew up with her being borderline anorexic and then she became morbidly obese. So you can imagine, as Quest is building and things are getting hard, I'm going back to, I'm doing this for my mom, I'm doing this for my mom because I want my mom to be healthy. I want my mom to live for like ever in an ideal world, right? So I'm waking up every day as we're building Quest with that in mind. My husband comes from a morbidly obese family. So he's got his mom in his head as he's getting up every day. Okay, flash forward now. We use our moms as our why, as our mission, get up every day. Flash forward, company gets announced as a billion dollar company. We then sell a
Starting point is 00:11:44 portion of it. And it's a lovely hefty portion. we're in our garage and we know that the money's about to come in. Now, like anything, until the money hits the bank account, nothing's guaranteed. So we're sitting there, me and my husband, we're refreshing, refreshing, right, on his bank account. And it's like, refresh, refresh, refresh. With one more refresh, my life changes forever, like ever. I don't ever have to work again at the day in my life. In that moment, we celebrated, I took a selfie photo, we kissed each other on the lips, and then we got ready and went back to work. So we went back to Quest.
Starting point is 00:12:22 That same day, we didn't tell us soul. The only people we told were my parents and his parents. Now, why? Because we were so tied to the mission. We weren't done. We hadn't helped obesity on a global scale. It still existed. We didn't help my mom.
Starting point is 00:12:39 She was still struggling with her weight. So as we sold Quest, it was like, I'm not done yet. The money in my bank account became, right? So I pivoted. It was no longer about the money. It was about my mission. I hadn't reached my mission. I hadn't reached my goal. My mom was still struggling. And so as we started to develop quest more and more, that's when we started to realize that that was amazing for people who'd already decided they were worthy enough to pick up a quest bar instead of a Snickers bar. But what about people like my mom who didn't believe she was worthy? She doesn't pick up a
Starting point is 00:13:12 quest bar because she doesn't believe that she's enough. And in that moment, me and my husband said, okay, we're just playing and pretending that we want to help people if we ignore the mind. Because the body we got on Pat, right? I got you with a quest bar. I got you with a quest product. If you need it, your body's got it, you got the quest product. But if you don't believe you're good enough, how do I convince you? How do I encourage you? It's the mind. And so that's when we realize we have to address the mind if we're going to be very authentic in our message that we actually want to help people, not help people when it's convenient,
Starting point is 00:13:48 not help people only until I'm wealthy, but actually help people on the global scale. And so that became the catalyst for Tom to start his show and then we then walked away from Quest because we realized the mind is the start to everything. And so that's when we just went all in and we rolled the dice and we said, sink or swim, either way, we go together.
Starting point is 00:14:11 Amazing. And I mean, you guys are crushing it on YouTube. You're really just pioneered podcasting, live podcasting on YouTube. Whenever I think about people who are absolutely doing an amazing job, I think of you and Tom on YouTube especially. And I have to say, like, you're almost making me tear up because I feel like I talk to so many people. And you and Tom are two people that really deserve the audience that you have.
Starting point is 00:14:38 You are so good for the world. And I just appreciate everything that you're doing. and everything that you guys have done already, because you don't have to do it. Like you said, you could choose to never work a day in your life, but you choose to show up every day and help people. And I just really commend you for that. Thank you. And I think the key is that Tom and I now work harder today than we did Building Quest because we're so tied to our mission. So my mom ended up losing 120 pounds. She's kept it off for seven years. But I still haven't helped women on a global scale. And so until I do, until I've created different mechanisms for any woman out
Starting point is 00:15:17 there to get confidence, so whether that's my YouTube channel, my book, the audio podcast, my Instagram, I'm still not done. And so I'm going to keep going because I so believe in that mission. And the important thing, though, is to not get so dogmatic in what you do and your beliefs and your goals that it becomes detrimental to your enjoyment. And what I mean by that is That's how I got stuck for eight years. I was like, oh, well, I'm just going to support my husband. He needs my help. And then that one year turns into two years, turns into five years, and you start to sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice to the point where you end up losing yourself. So I will no longer do that. So if I feel like right now I end up sacrificing myself, I will shut my YouTube channel down,
Starting point is 00:15:58 I will stop doing what I'm doing. Because ultimately, I want to make sure that I put myself first so that I do have the energy and the strength to show up and empower other people. And up until this point, we women haven't been taught that. We've been taught you live in service of everybody else. You burn out. That's what I did with Quest. It was miserable. And so I make sure that I tap into myself every quarter, if I'm going to be honest, I just ask myself, am I happy? Do I love my business? Do I still want to be on YouTube? Do I love being business partners with my husband? I ask myself that every quarter because I never want to ever get in a place now where I'm on an autopilot and I'm not addressing whether I'm happy or not. I love the fact that even though you've built this huge thing, you're willing to, if it serves you, to walk away.
Starting point is 00:16:46 And I think that's really powerful. You believe in not doing shoulds, right? Can you talk to us about that? I will catch myself even now saying should and shouldn't. And what I've learned is in real time, I stop myself. Now, the reason why is because we have a belief system that sometimes doesn't serve us, but we don't realize it because we go on autopilot. I get it. We have to go on autopilot on some things, otherwise we'd never get anything done. And so when we have been taught over time in our lives that we should or shouldn't do something, it then blocks us from actually asking ourselves if we want to do it, if we need to do it, if we would like to do it. And so I have caught myself in real time. And so every time that I do it and I say the word should out loud, even if I do it in this interview, you'll see me in real time catch myself. And I'll stop and I'll be like, okay, I don't mean should. What do I actually mean? And I'll replace it with a word that empowers me to move towards my goals. And ultimately, that's everything that I do. I have a set of goals and I have a set of values. And every day I go, what moves me towards that and what doesn't? The things that don't move me towards my happiness, my goal, and even happiness, to be honest, isn't a permanent state, so I almost don't think of happiness
Starting point is 00:18:04 in that way. But does this move me towards my goals? Yes or no? If the answer is no, I pause and I come up with a strategy. So with the word should or shouldn't, I understand why it holds me back, I understand what it does to my psyche. I then go in real time, I have to stop myself, so that's what I do. And then in real time, I come up with a different word that empowers me. That little bit a process and that strategy is the things that I do on my mindset with everything that doesn't serve me so that I never fall or get trapped into a place. I play the victim or I have an excuse. And what I mean by that is, well, it was not my fall. Oh, well, I didn't do that. That doesn't empower you. So again, pause. How is it your responsibility? How can you take
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Starting point is 00:20:27 And it kind of can get overwhelming. And you end up just using those few products every day, especially for your daily look. And then everything else kind of goes expired, goes to waste. And the older that I've gotten, I've tried to move away from that kind of a mentality. I try to just use products that I love and that I use every day and try not to buy too much of the other stuff that's just going to clutter up our spaces. is. And my favorite brand for my everyday look is Merritt Beauty. I'm really into like glowy skin, healthy skin, having that like flushed look, especially when I'm running errands, going to the gym, working from home. I just like a simple makeup look. It's very different from my dolled up
Starting point is 00:21:04 glam look for interviews. It's like two totally different looks. And Merit Beauty is my favorite for everyday looks. They've got an amazing serum called Great Skin Serum. I love to wear that underneath like tinted moisturizer. I love to put like a little bit of concealer. And and then I love to use their flush bomb. Their flush bomb is the best cream blush that I've ever used, and the whole internet is obsessed with this cream blush. In fact, one every 30 seconds was sold last year. And if you want to make sure that you've got a skincare routine for your daily
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Starting point is 00:22:32 You can set reminders for meetings and schedule follow-ups, so nothing ever slips through the cracks. You can hook up your Gmail and you can see every single sales email that you have in your pipeline, even if you're not the one managing the deal, which is super helpful for managers. We use PipeDrive every single day at Yap Media. In fact, Eby, the lead salesperson on my team, told me just this morning that she's super
Starting point is 00:22:54 grateful for Pipe Drive because it helps keep her organized and on track. Pipe Drive is a powerful, simple CRM built by salespeople for salespeople. Join the over 100,000 companies already using Pipe Drive just like Yap. Right now, when you use my link, you'll get a 30-day free trial, no credit card or payment needed. Just head over to pipe drive.com slash profiting to get started. Again, that's pipe drive.com slash profiting for your 30-day free trial, and you can be up and running in minutes. I love that advice. And you've got so much good advice like this in your book, Radical Confidence. So you first put out this book in 2022, and now you're releasing it with a new chapter.
Starting point is 00:23:32 Can you talk to us about why you decided to re-release your book? Yeah, so even when I was writing in the book, I never wanted to be an author. That was never in my list of would like to do. But I had the opportunity. They reached out to me, going back to what is my goal, to help women on a global scale. Okay, does a book help women on a global scale? Yes, should this be priority over my YouTube videos? Yes, because it's a different mechanism, because I've really got the YouTube channel. So now people that like books, I can reach them in a different place. So that's how I decided to write the book in the first place. As I was writing it, I was like, what are the
Starting point is 00:24:04 things that got in my way that really impacted me building my confidence that eventually led to me having a life that I feel like I thrive in? And in hindsight, because I think everything is a lesson. Failure is a lesson, success is a lesson. So after I wrote the book, over time, what I realized was a lot of women were coming up to me and saying that their confidence got dented by a toxic relationship and that if they weren't in a toxic relationship, if they weren't with someone that was gaslighting them for 10 years, if they weren't with someone that was verbally abusing them, or just someone that actually made them feel numb, right? Not even to that extreme. Just somebody that doesn't set you alike. That dense women's confidence more than
Starting point is 00:24:44 losing a job, more than potentially having to sell a house, all these things that we think of as being stressed, having a relationship that brings you down will be one of the top things that sucks your confidence out and erodes you. And so once I really identified that, I was like, I have to talk about my past toxic relationship before I met my husband. Now, the reason being, he, my ex, was the person that was trying to hold me down, hold me down from my dreams, my goals, I wanted to come to America, and he just used to mock them. And it wasn't kind. It wasn't even like dismissing. He would actually out loud mock my dreams. Now, that brings me down. That made me more hesitancy to go after my dream. That made me more insecure to speak my
Starting point is 00:25:30 dream because I was like, well, what if this is silly? Right? Like you start to doubt yourself. Now, flash forward and with someone like my husband who uplifts me, who contributes to my confidence. he's the one where I'm like, oh my God, I'm going to do this book. I don't know what I'm doing. And he's the one that's like, you've got this, babe. So I'm building my confidence as I'm taking off, what they say they build the plane as you take off. So it's like I'm building my confidence about writing a book as I'm writing the book. As I'm writing the book and my husband being my partner, there's two ways or there's multiple ways. He could have been the toxic person that brings me down, that mocks me, that mocks my book, that mocks the idea of what I'm doing. Or it could be him where he's like, you've got this. all the women you're going to help. Even today, when I made my book announcement, he came on my life and he was sick and he's coughing and he's sneezing and he's like, if I've got the flu and I've got the fever, I'm still going to show up for you. That's what the difference between a toxic relationship can do and a healthy relationship. And the impact it can have on a woman and her confidence, I didn't really feel the weight until after my book came out.
Starting point is 00:26:35 So that's really what the extra chapter is about. It's how to identify that you're in a relationship that isn't serving you. It's how to address it. It's whether you should stay or leave. It's how you got manipulated. And the last thing is, we beat ourselves up, right? Oh my God, it's my fault. I shouldn't have seen the signs. What I did is I definitely took ownership because I can't control how he feels, but I can control how I show up. So I took ownership over the fact that I stayed in that relationship. I took ownership in the fact that I became toxic to as a defense mechanism so that when he's coming at me, when he's yelling at me, when he's calling me names, how do I protect myself? Instead of leaving, which I wish I had done,
Starting point is 00:27:15 but I didn't feel like I had the confidence to do it, I stayed and became toxic back as a defence so that he couldn't hurt me. I have to own that that was my behaviour, that I brought that to the relationship, that that just fuelled the fire. So for me, it was about identifying all the things that I participated in, then going, how do I make sure that I don't do that in the future, how do I build my confidence back and how do I make sure that when I get into a new relationship that it's somebody that actually deserves me and how do I set boundaries and guidelines so that I never get trapped again because I wanted to hold on to my confidence and I wanted to make sure that the next person I was with wasn't going to even potentially
Starting point is 00:27:59 erode it. Now here's the tricky thing is you never know. You never know who you get with and how they're going to be. So when I met Tom, I came in with a set of boundaries. I'd already built my confidence back because that's important. I don't rely on him for my confidence. I'd built it myself. And then I sat with him and when we're dating, over time, I start to reveal these are my non-negotiables. These are my boundaries. These are my value system. This is my belief system. And over time, how does he respond? If he starts to disrespect it, goodbye. And I just told myself, This is what you stand for, Lisa. If someone disrespects it again, under no circumstances, you're going to let that
Starting point is 00:28:39 erode your confidence and you're going to have a cheat sheet, if you will, on how you're going to date in future. And so when I met Tom, he held space for me. He held utter respect for my boundaries, for my non-negotiable. And every single time I had an opportunity to be vulnerable, I was. And every single time he had an opportunity to use my vulnerability against me in an argument, he never did. And so that's how I went from having a toxic relationship that ripped my confidence,
Starting point is 00:29:09 literally shredded it to bits, built my confidence back, and then maintained and even elevated my confidence even more in my new relationship. This is so good. And to your point, we've got to figure out how to be confident ourselves before we can then work with a relationship and try to make sure that we've got the right boundaries and things so that we have a healthy relationship. It starts with ourselves first, having confidence with ourselves. So you tied to this book, Radically Confident.
Starting point is 00:29:36 What does the radical mean? Why radically confident? What does that mean to you? Yes, so people kept asking me, Lisa, where do you build your confidence? You're so confident. And it never felt true to me. I was like, who are they seeing? I look at women and I'm like, oh my gosh, she's so confident.
Starting point is 00:29:52 I wish I was like her. Like Serena Williams, right? I'm just like, that freaking badass. Like, I want to be confident like her. But I never felt like I was the thing that people would look at to be confident. So it was really surprising to me. So I was like, what are they seeing? And what I realize is they just see me take action.
Starting point is 00:30:09 They see me get in front of the camera, but they don't see all the negative mindset and the insecurities that my mind was spinning before I get in front of the camera. They just see me getting in front of the camera. And so they perceive that as confidence. And I realize that it's actually misleading to people. And it's misleading if you think that just because I get in front of the camera, just because I speak my mind that I have confidence. And it isn't. What I have is radical confidence. And to me, what that mean is, I'm freaking
Starting point is 00:30:36 petrified. I don't believe in myself. I have insecurities. I have a wild ego just like everybody else. But what I do and the ego gets in the way, right? Don't do that, Lisa. You're going to mess up. I have all of those things. But what I do is I just keep going back to what is my goal and does that mindset serve me yes or no? If the answer is no, how do I have some ability to keep showing up? and that ability became radical confidence. It means that I have no idea what I'm doing. It means that I don't have the confidence that I'm actually going to do a good job.
Starting point is 00:31:09 But you better believe I'm going to learn. And so now, anything that I tackle, I just have a mindset that says I'm a learner. And so put me in front of Congress. I have no idea what the hell I'm going to say in front of Congress. But you better believe anything I say when I leave, I would have learned a lesson. And I would have been better and more confident for it.
Starting point is 00:31:28 but it becomes the stacking stones and the bricks. And what I realized was is that confidence is misleading. I needed another word for it. And so I feel radical was just so on point for what it means to keep showing up every single day. It means you've got the radical confidence. You're going to get metaphorically punched in the face over and over and over again, especially if you start a business, especially if you're trying anything new. And so how do you keep going?
Starting point is 00:31:55 It's radical confidence. So something in your book that I love that you say is that you say we should use our insecurities to drive ourselves to fuel ourselves towards our goals. So how have you done that in your own life and can you explain to us how we can do that? Yeah, our insecurities are, it's the thing that used to hold me back, right? It's like, well, I'm not good at that, so I won't try it. I don't know this, so I won't learn it. And all those insecurities in the past really didn't. hold me back because I didn't want to be mocked, I didn't want to be teased, and I didn't want to look as stupid because when I was at school, I was teased and bullied by girls, I was mildly dyslexic
Starting point is 00:32:35 and put in a special class. And so all of these things contributed to me never showing weaknesses, failures, because the last thing I wanted was to get mocked or bullied. And so the insecurity held me back time and time again. Now, over the time, I've just assessed, why am I still not where I want to be. Why was I stuck for eight years serving everybody else except for myself? It was my insecurities. It was my insecurities that someone's going to judge me that I decided I wanted to be in business instead of being a mother. And that judgment would break me, right? So it's all these judgments, people's opinions that I thought would break me. So I always wanted to protect myself. But what I realized was, I was actually doing the opposite. I was actually
Starting point is 00:33:18 feeding my insecurities more and more and more instead of eradicating them. And so I I asked myself, what would it look like if you just had to eradicate your insecurities? Okay, it means you have to embrace them first. And so what I did was, I just embraced, what is my insecurity here? So let's just take being in front of the camera, because that's the one that we're here right now in front of the camera. So I had a mission to help people. I now really want to help women. Okay, I know my goal. I know what I'm trying to get to. And so I'm like, I said to my husband, you know what, babe, I'm going to start a podcast. This is about four or five years ago. I'm going to start a podcast. But I had insecurity, so I didn't want to go on camera and I didn't
Starting point is 00:33:54 want to interview women that intimidated me. So my response was, but I'm just going to interview women that I know, and I'm just going to do it on Zoom, and I'm just going to do it on audio. So I'm not going to release the video. I'm just going to release the audio. And he just looked at me. And he said, we have a set. So at this point, my husband's already got his show. So we have the studio that you see. We've got six cameras. We've got lights. We've got the team. And he's like, babe, why wouldn't you go on camera? That makes no sense. And I was like, oh, I can't get on camera. And in that moment, what I realized was I was putting my ego ahead of my mission. I was so worried about being mocked and about being teased that insecurity was what was holding me back.
Starting point is 00:34:37 But my mission is to help women. So in that moment, I just asked myself, with utter grace, because there is no right or wrong answer, but without a grace, I just said, Lisa, what's more important? Your ego or your mission? Now, I decided my mission was more important. okay so now how do I take my insecurity and use it to help me because it was just holding me bad so I started to listen to that negative voice I call the voice in my head the critic or the bitch right she's just mean she's cruel she just wants to ridicule me so I said okay maybe I should just
Starting point is 00:35:09 listen what is she actually trying to tell me now in listening I started to write down all right Lisa you're going to be made fun of on camera okay what do I think I'm going to be made fun on camera Well, because people mock your big nose. Okay, well, I'm not going to get plastic surgery, so it is what it is, right? And I would just keep going. And I would start to answer my own insecurities. And one of them was, Lisa, you're very squeaky. Okay, well, if I'm squeaky and I'm going to be mocked for it, do I want to change my squeak?
Starting point is 00:35:38 Or do I want to embrace being mocked? But either way, I'm going to get in front of the camera. And so as I started to process that, I said, okay, well, what would it look like if you weren't squeaky? And I said, well, that's just me. Okay, well, you want to show up authentic, you don't want to pretend, you are squeaky, so I guess you're just going to have to embrace that some people call you squeaky. Great. So I just started preparing myself for what my insecurity was telling me
Starting point is 00:36:05 and how I could eventually turn that critic in my head into my coach. And that was the final piece where I was like, oh, the bitch in my head is actually my BFF. she's helping guide me. She's telling me what I'm weaker. She's pointing out all the areas where I may get trapped, but she's pointing them out ahead of time so I can preempt and have a plan in place. Thank you, negative voice, for helping me process this in order for me to show up in true authenticity on the path of my mission. It's so good what you're saying, like how you can use your insecurities to then help drive you do the things that you need to do. Even though it's uncomfortable, there things you need to do to accomplish your mission. The other thing that you got over was your
Starting point is 00:36:51 identity. So you had basically drilled this identity of housewife, mom in your head, and you were very laser focused on that. And that was something else you had to overcome to then accomplish your dream. So talk to us about that. Yeah, identity is what I call like the velvet handcuffs. So it makes you feel good, right, when someone says, oh, you're a great fill in the blank. So you're a great stay-at-home wife. Now imagine, I don't want to be a stay-at-home wife, but they've put great in front of it. It's like, oh, well, at least I'm good at something, right, because I didn't believe in myself again, this is before Quest. So I don't believe in myself. I'm being told time and time again, oh my God, you're such an amazing wife. I can't believe how much you take care of
Starting point is 00:37:33 Tom. I got that from Tom. I got that from my mom. I got that from my dad. I got it from everybody that even, every couple that met, they would turn to Tom and we go, my God, you're so lucky. Your wife takes care of everything. What a great wife. So I started to identify with being a great wife. But I didn't want to be a stay-at-home wife. And so here I am tying my validation to my identity and the identity wasn't even something that I wanted. So you can see how your identity can actually trap you. And so what I do right now is I reassess what my identity is and if it still aligned with the person I'm trying to become. And if it doesn't, then A, I go, cool, how do I make sure I now no longer get my validation from this identity that doesn't serve me? That becomes a
Starting point is 00:38:20 skill set. What do I need to do? Okay, if I'm feeling great about people saying that I'm a great stay-at-home wife, what can I do that's solely based on me and my own ability to validate myself? All right, well, I really like working out. I really want to do 50 push-ups. So you know I'm just going to build my validation on the fact that right now I can only do two push-ups, but I'm going to promise myself that I'm going to show up at the gym every single day in service of trying to get better at push-ups. It's abstract. It has nothing to do with work, but I'm building the validation within myself because I said I was going to do something and I'm working every day to achieve it. The same with the book. I said I'm going to write a book.
Starting point is 00:39:00 I'm going to build my validation every day in working on the book. I said I was going to write it and I freaking wrote the book. I need to be proud that I wrote the book. And the problem is if you start to identify as, let's say, I want to be number one New York Times bestseller. I do want to be that. But if I tie an identity to only that, now you can see I'm not even happy of validating myself that I wrote a book. I'm actually invalidating myself that I didn't hit New York Times number one. So be careful of what you identify, whether that's the title, right, where it's just a job description. So right now, my job description technically is I'm president of impact theory. I love that. But I want to make sure every quarter I go back to Lisa, do you still want to be
Starting point is 00:39:50 the president of impact theory? Because the identity I know too well will keep me trapped and the validation of being in front of amazing women like yourself where you're like, oh my God, impact theory so great. You mean that as a wonderful compliment. I take it as a wonderful compliment, but you can see how that could potentially trap me in the future to never leave that position because I've got amazing women like you giving me compliments that I'm president of a company that maybe you admire. So talk to us about why it's so important to not have validation externally, why you say it, no one's coming to save you, right? You've got to validate yourself. Why is that so important. Yeah, because now you're dependent on other people. You're dependent on how they feel what their
Starting point is 00:40:34 mood is, what they're going through, what their hormones are, what's happened in their life. So I was relying on my husband to absolutely validate me. But he would go to work. He would come home. He would have a hard day at work. He would be miserable. He wouldn't want to talk about work. He wouldn't even ask me about my day because he's miserable. Now imagine I build my validation on how he greets me every day. If he comes home and he's like, babe, you're amazing. You're such a great wife. Look at all this. On those days, I feel amazing. On the days that he feels terrible, that he hasn't slept well, that shit hits the fan, work isn't going well, he's had employees, people have quit, and he comes home and he doesn't even notice that he's got his food cooked.
Starting point is 00:41:14 He doesn't even notice that I've cooked and clean. Then I interpret that as my validation of maybe I haven't done a good job. But it's all reliant on him and what he does. And so I realized over time that I cannot rely on him in that way. I think a partner is super important. Having a loving partner that supports you and uplifts you, I wouldn't trade that for the world. My husband is the most important thing to me in my life. I would burn my company to the ground
Starting point is 00:41:42 before ever doing anything detrimental to my relationship. So I'm very clear. But even in saying that, it isn't fair on him and it's not fair on me that my validation and identity is built on anything else other than something that I choose to. And once I realized that, I spoke to him about it because sometimes he's just like,
Starting point is 00:42:04 but I like being your knight in shining armor. And so here's the difference between, I'm like, babe, you are, but I can't turn to you to save me. I need to be able to get up myself and then we can ride off on the horse together. But I have to have the ability to get up. And I appreciate that you're standing next to me
Starting point is 00:42:21 and you're there to uplift me and help me. But what if you're not? what if you've got a bad day? What if? What if? What if? I can't rely on that. So discussing it with the people around you and then making sure that you're always going back to oneself. I can't control what other people do. I can only control how I show up. It became the biggest hack, if you will, on how to feel great about yourself. Build it yourself. Don't rely on anyone else. This podcast is brought to you by Mercury. that helps entrepreneurs do more with their money. I've been using Mercury since the start of the year,
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Starting point is 00:43:41 your finances and focus on growing your business, visit mercury.com to join over 200,000 entrepreneurs who use Mercury too. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. For important details, check out the show notes. What's up, Yap, gang? If you've ever had to hire, you know the stress of waiting too long to fill a roll. Projects slowed down, workloads pile up, team members get frustrated, and it just becomes a hot mess. That's why when it comes to hiring, Indeed is all you need, because you need to hire fast.
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Starting point is 00:44:55 Just go to Indeed.com slash profiting right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com slash profiting. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring, Indeed is all you need. Yap, gang, the origins of this podcast were once a dream seven and a half years ago. And that dream became a top 100 podcast that you're listening to now, which has since grown to an eight-figure thriving.
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Starting point is 00:46:02 Want to sell globally? They'll help you sell in over 150 countries. Plus, their checkout is the best converting on the planet, so you'll never miss a sale. Turn those what-ifs into and keep giving those big dreams their best shot with Shopify. Sign up for a $1 per month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com slash profiting. Go to Shopify.com slash profiting. Again, that's Shopify.com slash profiting. Something else that you discussed in your book is having a well-defined goal or plan towards your dreams, right? You say hazy, foggy, goggled dreams, stay floating up in the clouds. And it's so true. If you don't define your dream, if you don't know what direction you're going, you're going to go nowhere, right? And so one of the things that you and Tom do, you play this
Starting point is 00:46:50 game, which I loved. It's called No Bullshit. What would it take? Right? And that really helps you understand. What do you actually have to do? Talk to us about this game and when you guys play it. Yeah. So identifying the goal is going to be super important because so many people are like, oh, I haven't reached my goal yet. Oh, what's your goal? To empower people. Then how do you know if you reached it or not? Because you haven't actually drilled down into what that means. So what does empowerment mean? I want someone to interact with a piece of content of mine and then they make a change in their life to better themselves. Oh, right. Now you've actually drilled down. You said you're doing a piece of content. You said that when someone watches it, they change.
Starting point is 00:47:28 Now you've got a way and a mechanism to know how many people have seen my video. If I want to do it on a global scale, I want 100,000 people to watch 10 of my videos consistently for the next month. Now you've got metrics that you can hold yourself to know if you've got there or not. Okay, that's the first part of why you need to hold a goal. Because I'm Otherwise, for your own sake, you will never hit it. A fuzzy target is hard to hit. Make that target super freaking crystal clear. Now, the second part is so many times if you set a goal, you'll be like, well, I can't do that.
Starting point is 00:48:03 And you'll dismiss it and then you'll move on and then you'll wonder, unfortunately, years later, why you never actually hit your goal. So what time when I do is we play the game. No bullshit, what would it take? And what that does is it removes all reason and excuses of why you can't do something. So let's say, for instance, I just said, I can't remember how many videos, so 10 videos, 100,000 views within 30 days, right, is what I just said. Okay. Now, instead of me going, I can't do that, that's a lot of videos, that's a lot of people, right? And then I move on,
Starting point is 00:48:32 I go, no bullshit, what would it actually take for me to make 10 videos? That's the first step. All right. Maybe I have to cancel date night. Maybe I have to say no to hanging out with my friends. maybe I can't afford to go on that Starbucks run that I do every day because I need to save the money to make the video so I can afford an editor to cut my video. That's how detailed I get. In no BS, what would it actually take to get 100,000 people to watch 10 of your videos within 30 days? And now you just ask yourself, am I willing to do it? Am I willing to not take the Starbucks? Am I willing to not go on date night? Am I willing fill in the blank? then you can just remove your blinders and if the answer is no actually I would rather live a life
Starting point is 00:49:17 where I get my Starbucks and I enjoy my date night amazing then you know that's why you didn't reach your goal you don't be yourself up over it you just acknowledge that that's what it takes to get to the goal you've assessed it you said that's not the life you want and that should be celebrated that notion that you know actually the goal you set doesn't lead to the life you want. So, so good. Such good advice. And so one thing that happened recently is that me and you met in person at podcast movement. And my business partner, Jason, after we met, it was really funny response that he told me. He goes, wow, have you ever met another successful business owner that's like your height? You guys are so cute together because me and you are both like five foot tall,
Starting point is 00:50:04 both wearing super high heels. Five one. Five one. I'm like, yeah, I'm like five and I'm about five one. We look like we're the same height, right? And we're both very petite, both very successful female entrepreneurs. And he was like, have you ever really met another female entrepreneur who's your size? And he was like, dead serious. And I thought about it. And I was like, I guess not really, but I wasn't really thinking about it because I don't walk around thinking about, like, I'm a five foot woman. I just walk around thinking I'm halitaha, you know, and I don't think about it. So let's talk about our external appearances and what we can do to build our confidence because you're petite, but just like me, you don't walk around like you're small. What's interesting is I've got a question for you then.
Starting point is 00:50:45 Have you always not thought about your height and do you think it has zero impact on your capability and your personality? This is such a good question. I feel that when I'm in spaces where people know me, like if I'm at a podcast conference or something where I've made it to the top of my field. When I'm in those spaces, I feel big and powerful. But then if you take me to like a family wedding or something where nobody gives a crap about anything, then I might feel small again. I might feel like nobody knows who I am, especially if it's people that don't know about the personal improvement space or podcasting, then I feel small. So unless people know my company and my background and everything I've built, I feel small. And that's really, pal, thank you for being so honest, because for me,
Starting point is 00:51:34 I acknowledge that growing up, I was the chihuahua. And what I mean by that is chihuahua is a freaking tiny, and they bloody yap the loudest. Have you ever seen those videos of chihuahuas with dobermans? The doberman is just sitting there super freaking chill, just commands the room. And the chihuahua is like, chuanels to insert its authority to the doberman. The domberman just looks down. I was a chihuahua. Growing up, because I was little, I was pushed around a lot.
Starting point is 00:52:01 I think that had to do with partly why I was bullied and mocked was for my looks and for my height. I go to any crowd. People don't see me. So I get stepped on. People don't apologize. And so growing up, I was very aware of my height and how small I was. And I would use my voice and aggression, aggression, just like a chihuahua, as a protective mechanism. And what I realize is, that isn't a good strategy, Lisa. So over time, I just built my confidence. And I actually don't think about my height at all anymore. At all, no matter where I am. Or actually, that's a lie. Unless I'm in a shopping mall and I can't find my husband, because I'm so short, he can't see over like the aisles. So we have like a whole family whistle so that we can locate each other.
Starting point is 00:52:47 That's the only time that I am aware of how short I am now because I've just built my confidence. Because to be honest, I'm so damn strong willed now and I have such a solid, concrete, codified brain mind and how I think. That doesn't mean that I'm great at everything. That doesn't mean that I'm perfect. It just means I am so strong in the way that I think that now any insecurities I just process in all time. I'm not perfect by all means. But I realize that my aggression and my behavior and feeling small came from the fact that I was small. So I can't change my height. Obviously, I can wear heels, but I surely can change how I feel if I'm in a room with someone that is either physically taller or feels bigger than me. But I was very aware of that. And then same with my
Starting point is 00:53:35 looks as well. I use my hairstyle as a calling card. I use jewelry, just like Wonder Woman puts on her cuffs. These are all little tips and tactics that I deliberately lean into to build my confidence so that I have the confidence whether I'm Fife or not. Totally. And that's how I feel too. I feel like if I'm dressed in the way that I feel comfortable, not in the way that other people want me to dress, if I have my hair and makeup and the way that I want, then I feel the most comfortable and powerful. So I'm totally with you about having your own style, embracing it. So let's move on to your new chapter of your book and dig a little deeper on that. So you define what a loser is in your book. You say, number one, a person who is incompetent, constantly fails and is destined to
Starting point is 00:54:21 disappoint. And number two, somebody who wrecks your confidence and keeps you from finding the person who actually deserves you. So how does dating or marrying a loser quickly shatter our confidence? If you're with someone that's truly toxic and my ex was verbally abusive, there's so much manipulation that goes on where you don't know what's up or down, you don't even trust your own thoughts, your own feelings. And when someone can mock your dreams, right, said this earlier, if someone's mocking your dreams, you start to question, are my dreams silly?
Starting point is 00:54:56 They feel good, but he keeps saying it isn't. So maybe because you love them. So if you love someone, hopefully you show respect for them. If you respect someone, you hopefully listen to what they say. Now, when that's not two-sided and you're doing that and you're just listening to what that person's saying over and over and they know you're listening and they know that they can somewhat control you through the manipulation, then they're going to lean into it.
Starting point is 00:55:23 And so what I did is I respected him, I listened to him. He was mocking my dreams. It made me doubt whether my dreams could be achievable or not. He would mock my weight. He would pinch my thigh and be like, oh, you're getting a bit of fat, aren't you? Now, imagine I'm completely insecure. He's my first boyfriend. I'm 16 years old. My validation comes from him, and he pinches my way saying that I'm putting on a little fat. That spiled me into bad relationship with food. Now, look, there's a lot of other reasons. I had a mom that was borderline anorexic, so I don't just want to pretend it was just him. But it absolutely contributed to me putting validation to you get love, affection, appreciation when you're skinny. What does that
Starting point is 00:56:07 do to an insecure 16-year-old? You better believe it doesn't help her build a confidence. That damages confidence. That makes me eat less. That makes me look at my body more. That makes me focus on appearance more. That makes my confidence go down. Because if you eat one thing that makes you bloated that day, that made me feel badly about myself. And so over time, it's the drip. And the perfect analogy that I've realized I've come up with is a water dripping on a rock. If you ever seen over time what happens to that rock, the rock ends up changing shape. You do years and years of something that's water, soft. Over time, starts to erode the rock just enough that it loses its shape. That's how I feel about our personalities and our self-esteem and our confidence
Starting point is 00:56:54 when you're with someone that doesn't serve you or is manipulative. And so those are just a few examples. He thought I was cheating on him when I really wasn't at all. He confessed that he cheated on me, but he did it in a way that he lied to me and so he actually just dumped me, didn't tell me what he was doing, made me question myself. Then I started to beg, which of course, that's Lisa that didn't have the confidence. I just thought my validation was tied to him, so I need him back so I can feel good about myself again. So I would beg for him to come back. A week later, he confessed that he cheated on me with 10 different women. Now, at the time, it was just kissing, but still at 16, that's still a very big deal. Ten people is a big deal. And even the way he told me. So he
Starting point is 00:57:40 dumps me first, so he makes me needy. I then am desperate to get back with him. He then drops this bomb and guess what I do? I'm like, oh, it's fine. I just want you back. So the manipulative tactic that was played in the strategy to keep me, even though he cheated on me, you do that enough. I was with him for almost four years. So you can imagine by the end how I felt about myself, how I saw myself, my insecurities, my unworthiness. And so once I left him, it took me a good year to assess, rebuild my confidence so that when I met someone like Tom, I was very confident in laying out my ground balls and my non-negotiables. So I'm with the other women that talked to you when you were telling me about you releasing this chapter. You said a lot of
Starting point is 00:58:30 women told you that their confidence eroded from a bad relationship. And when I think about the worst times in my life where I didn't have a lot of confidence, it was in a bad relationship. So I totally agree. And I know we're running at a time. So my Last question for you is what words of encouragement would you have to a woman out there who believes it's impossible for me to find a perfect partner who could uplift me, who can support me, and there's no perfect person out there for me. And I just got to settle with who I have right now because I'm never going to find somebody who loves me like him. Like, what are your words for encouragement to get out of a bad relationship? If someone came to me and said the exact
Starting point is 00:59:08 words that you just said to me, my response is you're right. Now, the reason why I say you're right is because you just said it's impossible. So if you think it's impossible, then of course that's where you're going to end up in that type of relationship. What you need to do as a words of encouragement is you need to start changing your freaking words. Tell yourself that it's possible because if you don't believe it, it's not going to happen. It is possible but the first step is you have to understand and believe it. Otherwise you won't act in accordance. Our actions are a reflection and an echo of our belief system. So if you believe it's impossible, yes, you will end up in a relationship that is terrible,
Starting point is 00:59:48 that will ruin your confidence. Obviously, I don't hope that, but I'm just saying if you don't think it's possible to find someone that's going to uplift you, then you're going to settle. How do you make sure you don't settle? You've got to tell yourself, and I have a husband that is generously supportive. And so if nothing else, proof a concept, it does exist. I'm not going to say it's easy. You have to work on yourself. That person has to work on themselves. a whole load of things that need to go into having a healthy relationship. But never, ever should anyone think that they have to settle for what is in front of them. You freaking deserve more and you have to start believing you deserve more. And that all starts with telling
Starting point is 01:00:31 yourself that it's possible. Amazing. Well, thank you so much, Lisa, for joining us on Young and Profiting Podcast. Again, her book is called Radical Confidence. She's re-releasing it with a new chapter. if you guys are in a relationship that's hurting your confidence, I highly recommend that you go check it out. We did not cover nearly as much of the good gems that are in that book. So there's so much more to learn from Lisa. Lisa, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. And I just want to take one moment to let your audience know. Like when I met you in person, homie, I was so freaking impressed. And I love to surround myself with empowering women that uplift, that think positive, that have huge goals because you are the epitome of the five people you surround
Starting point is 01:01:13 yourself with. And so in meeting you and what you stand for and what you're doing, homie, I freaking applaud you and I'm so damn impressed of what you've built and what you're doing in the world. And I just want to encourage you. And I'm a freaking cheer leader of yours and I hope you feel it because I've got my pom-poms for you, girl, and I'm cheering you on. Oh, you're the best, Lisa. Thank you so much. I love spending time with you. You're always welcome on Young and Profiting Podcast. Thank you so. much for dropping all this wisdom today. Thank you, my homie.

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