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From Laid Off to $10K Months: This Founder's First Year Business Lessons · Your Girl: The High Ticket Sales Podcast | Scale Your Business & Get More Clients

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: From being laid off from a nine to five to having her first$10,000 month in her first year in business to then being dragged down into the dumps of entrepreneurship.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: We are talking to my friend today about her first year in business and how Business School did not teach her shit about having a real business.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get into it.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Hey y'all, welcome to Your Girl, the podcast for six to seven figure business owners who are scaling their business and ready to hit their dream numbers.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Marie.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: I am the founder of Your Girl Media.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: I have a podcast agency and I have a badass networking group called Cocktails and Clothes, where I'm helping scale people just like you.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Today we have on one of my oldest business friends, Andrea and ultimate travel party girl, to talk about her first year in business and how much of a freaking roller coaster it is.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: And even if you're listening to this and you were year five in your business, it's still good to remember that first year in business and how insanely difficult it was.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like your first year in business has the best highs and also the lowest lows.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: And we're also gonna be talking about themes that carry through our other years in business, such as how to separate your identity from your business, your ego.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: What happens when you just burn yourself out or even become your own worst boss?
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Like what you even work for yourself?
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: What happens when you peak and you have these$10,000 months, but then you can't keep up with it?
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I say let's get into it and let's hear about Andrea's first year in business that I got to experience with her myself.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: Tell us your name, your business, and if your business was a cocktail, what would it be?
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so my name is Andrea.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: My business's name is Marvay Creative Studios.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: I know I picked like a horrible name to pronounce, but it's like a French word, so I thought it was like fancy.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: And if my if my business was a cocktail, I've actually been thinking about this because I know you asked this question.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's an Hugo Spritz.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: Oh okay.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: Why?
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's very like clean, it has a very clean flavor, very like, it's not gonna be like super sugary or super sweet.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: It just feels like refreshing.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like that's kind of like the the vibe that I give off with my design, but also just like in general, I think when people come to me, like they come with so many, so many more problems than just like brand and website.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's just a lot of things attached to it.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like a refreshing, like, okay, I'm gonna do your brand and website, but I'm also gonna give you guidance on how to structure things around it.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: I I feel that as a client of yours, I feel like you've done two of my brands now, and I come to you with like just a mess.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: And you know how to like clean up not just like the space for ideas and also just be like, here's a direction you are actually thinking of going, but you don't know how to communicate that.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like both of my brands and both times I've came to you, I felt that that felt of like relief when I saw the different styles of options after what I said, and I'm like, oh my god, that's it.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I've been trying to say.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: But I brought you this like mess.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think I'm an interpreter of chaotic thoughts, and I think that's often the case with a lot of the clients that I work with.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just like taking every single idea that they have and then sorting it into like clusters, like this, these two ideas go together, these two ideas go together, and then presenting them a couple different options so they see, like, oh, like all these ideas at once don't work.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: But if I like group them, then that works.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: No, I love when you did that both times when I saw the three different versions of what I was saying, and I then it became very clear of what I was trying to say.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you're I know you do more like websites and SEO, but I do think your specialty is in branding.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I think you're really good at it.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: Really?
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: Because I always get so much imposter syndrome when I have to do brands, and like I can do it.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's just like I don't know if it's just because I don't have the confidence in myself or I don't I haven't gotten like the validation of it.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: But like the people I do brands for are happy with them and they love them.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's just like I don't think I have that faith because like I I haven't put in the years into the branding as as much as I have with the website, like I've put years into website work, so that's why I feel super confident when I talk about that.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: But with branding, even though like my ideas are good, it's like I haven't maybe I haven't had like the experience yet to be like, okay, I'm an expert.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but that's the thing is you have to be an expert, but you do you are good at it.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so if you do ever want to lean heavier on that way, like you can, you actually could.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: But I yeah, Claude was telling me the same thing.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: Really?
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: I said because when I think of you and I brag about you, I actually brag more about your branding.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Really?
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, well, that's good to know, and that's good for my ego.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I just want to um give some clarity.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: So this Andre's gonna come on and talk specifically about like website SEO branding and get in the nitty-gritty of her specialty.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: But today we're gonna wind it back to Lisbon when we say it and listen together and had the most party summer of our lives in where we were just being a couple degenerates in Europe.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: The drunkest summer of my life.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you when we were there, you had a job.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: You had a job.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: I was still doing my freelance podcasting work, not under your girl media that you did my brand for.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: So we were in completely different places, and I was going out at any time I wanted, and sometimes you were stuck at the house having to do that job.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then bring us to that moment that you got laid off.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna talk about today, like the lessons you've learned in your first year business since that layoff.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, so take bring us back to that moment.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I for the longest time I worked a remote nine to five.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: So it wasn't even like a like I had to go into the office and like grind, like it was it was a pretty sweet deal.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: And for two years that I was like in this job, I don't think like my company knew where I was half the time.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: Because one, like I had a VPN and two, I clocked in at the same times, like uh a nine to five Eastern Standard Time schedule.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: I was still responsible, I was still delivering.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes I would tell them like I would be going on a trip, but I'm still gonna work.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but sometimes like I just didn't say anything because I didn't want them to like find an excuse for like something that went wrong to be like, oh, it's because you're traveling.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I just I didn't always say it half the time, and I was mostly going to Europe quite a lot, and that's where me and you met up was in Lisbon.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: But the thing that would always get me so much FOMO is that sometimes because of the time differences or because like I was on a very strict working schedule, you guys would go out to dinners and I'd be stuck at home, and then I'd have to catch up at cocktail hour, but then by the time I get there, y'all are way much more ahead than I was.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: Things like that that I that kind of made me want to start my own business so I can be in charge of my own time.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: And um, actually, right after me and you uh went back home after Lisbon, I got laid off like pretty like a couple weeks after I got back home.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I was like, oh shit, get out right in time, right?
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was like, well, better, better late than never.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: I might as well start my business and might might take this opportunity to actually go full on to having my own business because I was doing like side gigs at the time, but doing side gigs, working in nine to five, and traveling is actually freaking crazy.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: And for us to be also getting drunk as much as we were, that was even crazier.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: I did not sleep well, and she was cooking for us, so my children didn't know how to cook, so I had to step in.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: Full full on mom mode for real.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like I step into mom mode when I'm traveling with people that are more like I feel like I'm type B when I travel, but I when I'm with somebody that's more type B than me, then I'm like, okay, I'll be the responsible.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't realize how type B I was favored traveling in France, and Laura was like, You're not type A.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like, but then I'm learning, I just don't give a fuck anymore.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like when I travel, and it's so much that you get like, like, whatever, it's gonna work out, you know.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's always gonna work out, and like there's nothing in my fridge, there's just a bottle of vodka and some eggs, and that's how I was living until Andrea lived with me literally when I got to the apartment.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, what do you guys have to eat in the fridge to eat?
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just a bottle of wine, some cheese, and like a stale baguette.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, Oh like, I don't, I actually don't remember me or Tom cooking.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: It was a mess, anyways.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, okay, so then you um okay, so then you're like, I'm gonna dive full into my business.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I actually have a question for this.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like, when you were laid off, what did you think like this first year in your business would look like?
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: And how different was the reality?
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I was kind of sussing it out that they were gonna do layoffs because our our business, our company wasn't doing too well, and my specific department wasn't generating the income that it was supposed to.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: So, like, I sussed it out, and so because of that, I was already kind of thinking, like, if I do need to go into business, what am I gonna do?
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: I already had like some stuff already prepped.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I had my LLC, I had that figured out.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um I had some notion of like which systems I wanted to use, and like I know this is all stuff that makes your eyes roll to the back of your head because you're not a you hate systems, but like I feel like having the systems in my head makes me feel more in control and more prepared.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I I mean I had a general idea of how the how I would invoice and how I would like work and things like that, and like the brand that I had already created for it was there.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: But as far as like actually doing business and sales and where I was gonna get clients, I had no freaking clue.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like it was it was gonna be the wild, wild west for me because because I had always worked in nine to five, I've never had to like go out and source my own clients.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like even to this day, that's still the part that I struggle with the most.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I feel you.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Michelle, our coach, is listening to this, and I know she's not gonna have to say this.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: I've also been really spoiled the past three years of my business.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: I've been pure referrals, and like all my clients stay with me for years.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: I lose one client a year usually.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm realizing like I can't live like that.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like, that's not actually like sustainable.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: And now I'm for the first time in like year three, I'm I'm having to do what people in year one do, which is how to learn like marketing, sales, like a funnel.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have any of that set up because I lived off referrals, and now I'm actually in the same spot as you where I'm like, wait, how do I get clients?
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: It is like humbling, I would say that's the word.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I will say I have too a little bit because in the beginning, the way I sourced my clients was also referrals.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because at least I had like a couple builds that I did independently under my under my belt, and then those people referred me to other people.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: And then um I had family members who like which that's a whole nother topic in itself, is working with family who I've done like website work for or design work for, and they were really happy with it.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: So they went ahead and recommended me like crazy, and the added factor that they're your family and they want you to succeed helped out a lot.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: So I was definitely that first year heavy, heavy, heavy on referrals and almost to the point where it's like I'm 100% reliant on whether somebody talks about me or not.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it took a while for me to be like, okay, that can't be the only way.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: Like I have to do something else.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: And then I started attending more like in-person networking events, and that helped get the word out.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: But that also, in a in a way, is sort of a referral thing because you're depending on like the network that you you have and the people that you meet at these events to then want to work with you or refer you to somebody who who will.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: If you're relying on like the word of mouth of like Sally, who you met last week at an event, to hopefully mention you to Ed, who said he needed a website, yeah.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: That's not really a strategy.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's not.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: I yeah, I so I know this is a thing we're moving into together.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: I think we're both gonna start doing workshops.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, definitely.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: That's one of the things that has been on my mind for a while.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: But I just like whenever I get busy with client work, like all this like internal work goes out the window.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yes, funnels and workshops and things that are like evergreen, so like you're not out there like panhandling like people like, hey, you need a website, hey, you need a podcast.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: No, but literally, like that's that's not great.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I guess that was like probably one of the biggest lessons I've had to learn in after my first year of being like a full independent business was like, you need um some sort of funnel or system that's always bringing in leads through the door.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and our friend Lara is doing workshops.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and our coach Michelle, I actually just watched her masterclass on like um events that covert.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's her, that was her masterclass, and it was so good.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: There's all kinds of events, and they not all of them convert in the same way.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: And the way Laura doing it is she is doing these workshops based off her warm network, and she's like going to her warm network and inviting them to like a private training, and they're so warm at that point, and then they buy.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: And then there's like awareness events, which is what I'm gonna start doing.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's just like, hey, here's me, a lighter CTA.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like, hey, just come follow me.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: Not all events are meant to convert, and some are, and I feel like um that's what I've been learning a lot more through Michelle because I think that's the best way.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: I think for me is gonna start doing these workshops, and I think for you too.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: For sure.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: I think I didn't know enough about the buyer cycle before I started this, and that's something like I didn't expect to go to learn so much about, especially because my work is in design.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like I went into this business because I thought like I was a good designer, but when you own a business, you have to learn so much actual skill that you're practicing for a service.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like you have to do everything else.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: So learning about the buyer cycle and realizing like what's what's top of funnel, what's mid funnel, and what's like bottom funnel, all of these things are just like stuff that like would have never and it's crazy because I went to business school, yeah.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: They didn't teach shit about this.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: What did they teach you?
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: God knows.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like it was all theoretical.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: It was very, it was, yeah, it was very theoretical.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: I I think what a lot of well, I don't know, maybe it's just my business school, maybe other ones are better.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: They don't teach a lot of practical skills, I feel like, for the industry, which I guess isn't that bad now, especially when because things are developing and changing so fast.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: Probably by the time you graduate, maybe like the the programs that they teach you for like handling a sales funnel is not the same as when you graduate.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: But like back when I was in not that I was it was that long ago, but like this is I graduated college before AI, so things didn't move as fast as they were moving now.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: And by the time I got out, I felt like I had no practical skills in business.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: I knew all the theoretics behind it, all the like supply and demand and the supply chain and like management and like an organization, like how it should be structured, but like nothing about like okay, like when you go into these roles, what are you actually gonna be doing day to day and what programs are you gonna be using?
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: It probably looks at like the macro, but not the micro of like how do you actually run a business?
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't I that's why I always invested in coaches and like people who've listened to this podcast know, but in case someone doesn't, like I I was really, really, really, really broke.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: I was working like uh I was I was a busser at a restaurant, which is oh my god, I hated that.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: Only made two grand a month and I invested in a six thousand dollar coach and I made all my money back within month three, and then I was traveling, and I feel like that investing in a coach was the best decision.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: But finding the right coach for you is even harder for sure.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: I found the right coach and she skyrocketed my business.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: I want to shout her out.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: If anyone's listening, listen to the digital nomad life podcast.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: That's who you should go to.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: Her name's Krista, but um, you haven't had a coach for Michelle.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: You kind of just went full feet Yeah, I raw dog the whole business thing.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: That's why I have so many lessons.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: I've I have failed forward quite a bunch of times.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so besides not understanding like the no referral situation and sales cycle, like what else are some lessons you've been learning?
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: Well, one, it's like mindset was definitely a much bigger issue than I thought it was.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I always say having your business is like doing self-development on crack.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and the reason I say that is because like I am not a super, I mean, I guess I'm introspective when it comes to like personal development, but like when it comes to business, for me that's not like a in my in my brain, it wasn't like a woo-woo look inside kind of thing.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's like okay, you have a thing and you sell it and you you you grind, and it was very much in that mindset, but then I realized a lot of like my it my mental barriers came to fruition when I was like, for example, making an estimate and I was like always undervaluing myself, and like I don't know why I got so nervous to charge more money than I did.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it took me a while to even build up to the prices that I have now, and now because of that, I'm having this issue where like old clients who loved working with me and want to come back are now like, well, your prices are radically different.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: Why why is a website like twice as much as what you charged me last year?
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, Well, last year I didn't really value myself, and like this year I actually do because I did the world.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: How do you say that?
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: How do you say that nicely, like in a nice way?
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: There's it's really hard to say that, but um, also I've also invested a lot in my self-development too.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I have skills today that I didn't have before.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, AI has definitely changed my space so much, yeah.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: And I am very dedicated to trying to stay on top of it and use it in a way that's like ethical, but it's also not like giving the same AI slop everybody has, you know, by just like typing a simple prompt into like Claude or Chat GBT.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like I want to differentiate myself, and because everybody's using it the same way, I don't want the people that I work with to think like I'm just gonna give them the same generic slop.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: And also with pricing, I feel like if you look at your pricing over like in a bird's eye view, you can see how the reflection of how you're feeling about yourself and your value.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like you can see when you're like, I got this shit, da da da.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe working with a coach, you have that extra help.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then you can see the times where you totally undervalued, you don't believe in yourself, you you question yourself.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: You get your price literally reflects that.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: I notice when I stop going to or when I get too busy and I don't go to as much of like the coaching calls as like I do, if I have to make an estimate that month, uh I'm like uh a little bit more unsure.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe I kind of like underprice it a little bit.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then like when I go, I'm like, you know what?
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I do deserve this money.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm giving them so much value for this, this, this, and this.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: No, I can you can see my prices when I worked with a coach.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like when I worked with Krista, my first client was three grand.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: And then when I stopped working with Krista, my prices went down to like I don't want to say it, but I already said it on a podcast already, like 500.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then I'm like, I didn't work with a coach for like two years.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I I was just kind of like scraping by and making it work.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: But then I was start working with Shell again and now a coach and now I'm going back to those original prices.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: And some people aren't liking it, and that's okay.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: But like again, that's not my fault or their fault.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's just that I genuinely was undervaluing myself and I wasn't working with someone who was like, Bitch, what are you doing?
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: I hire coaches the same way as I hire a trainer or I go to pay for a nice gym because I won't do the right workout by myself and I won't charge correctly without a coach being behind me, being like, stop and look what's happening, you know.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: I've I've had so many dumb ideas for like packages that I thought were like super great.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: And then Michelle was like, No, like you don't have the bandwidth to deliver all this, and even if you did, it wouldn't be profitable because of X, Y, and Z.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, Oh my god, you're right.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: Right, you're right, damn it.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: And then this is so helpful because like I remember when I first started, I also had a retainer package that was like 500 bucks a month for like 20 hours of anything you want under design design work.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: 20.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: But if you think about it, that's like half a week's worth of work from$500.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: And then I also had the the issue that like clients would always like go over the hours because they felt so entitled to my time, and then like because I'm a fucking pushover, I had a hard time enforcing that boundary.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you're gonna have to pay X.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like nobody likes to have that conversation.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: So I just stopped those retire retainer packages altogether.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I am not going to do them anymore unless it's over a grand because I think it's not like that's so much.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: I was pumping out social media content, which is not something I love to do.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like social media is not my favorite kind of work to do.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: I was basically running their Instagram, their Facebook, their Shopify, their TikTok shop.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: And they were trying to squeeze as much work out of me for those 20 hours.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: And they would still go over for 500 bucks a month.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my god, that's really bad.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's really bad.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: For them, they were like, fuck yeah, I love Andrea.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah, of course they love me.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: I was I was running everything for them, but like at the same time, 500 was not enough because then it would clog up my pipeline.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I couldn't take on clients who were willing to pay more for like a maybe like a bigger project because I was so like occupied with this freaking retainer package.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember when I started going to these networking to events, I went to one that was just for designers.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: And one girl like plainly stated out out loud like retainer packages suck.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, what do you mean?
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's recurring revenue.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: Why would you say that?
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_01: And like I didn't want to believe her at first.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: But then when I went through this experience, I'm like, oh, oh, okay.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_01: I see why you you think that.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: And like if it's not structured correctly, it's actually gonna hurt my revenue, even if it's stable income, even if it's like okay, predictable income, but it's gonna hurt me because it's gonna stop me from taking on the bigger projects when they do come.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, this is what I want to talk about with you because I'm so curious about your business structure.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: Because mine is only retainer.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: I work with the same like five to maybe eight clients year in, year out.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like, and I feel so good.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: I feel so safe in it.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: As long as I'm charging right, I'm not overwhelmed.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: How do you do it?
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: Because there's people listening to this who don't have retainers.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: How do you structure your business to where you feel safe without retainers?
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's a thing.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think for me, the reason I I kind of gravitated towards the the retainer stuff when I first launched my business is because I was still kind of in that like employee mindset.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: I was addicted to security and I wanted to see security in in the money that was coming in.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted to know I at least had 500 bucks a month every month coming in, even though it was like a lot of freaking work.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I think that was part of it.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_01: But after that, I've kind of gotten comfortable, and this is through pure exposure therapy about the roller coaster of income as an entrepreneur.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's not it doesn't shake me as much as it used to.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: The first year it would shake me.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_01: Like the the the month that I had like very little sales, I would be like trembling, I would be like losing sleep, I would, I would definitely be like a nervous wreck.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: But now I was just like, I've actually had, and I've told you about this before as well, like two clients who kind of like said they wanted to start a project, and then like right before it actually came time to make their first payment, they completely backed out and it threw my schedule off.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_01: Threw my income off.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_01: My nervous system, yeah.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_01: My nervous.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_01: No, actually, if this was me last year, I think I would have been freaking out because I was like, What am I gonna do now?
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, now I'm just like, okay, well, if they left, it was probably for a good reason.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they probably wouldn't have been my ideal client and they probably wouldn't have valued my work because clearly they don't value my time because all the all the work I put into onboarding them, and all of a sudden they just like are like, you know what, never mind.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: And then and they clearly stated in like uh some of their emails, like one of them said, like, I've gone this far without branding, I I don't think it's necessary.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: That that to me is I was like, Well, if you didn't think you needed, I don't know why you came to me in the first place.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: But also, if a client isn't gonna value your work, yeah, from the get-go, you're all nothing you produce is an uphill battle at that point.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's an uphill battle.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing you produce is ever gonna make them happy because they already don't value the work that they hired you for.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_00: Also, just like I want to pause there.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like, if you think branding's not important, that's like walking outside completely naked.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like, that's the the branding is the fashion statement of not your fashion statement, the security blanket, like everything.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's your source, it's your mecca.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like you need branding.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: You might not need an incredible brand at first, but you need some sort of branding.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: And if you want to actually make a statement and scale and be a presence, you literally need to invest in your branding.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like you can't half ass it because it's the it's the core of everything.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's uh branding is like a multi-layered like concept.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_01: And for a lot of people, that just means a logo.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I always have this conversation all the time with with clients, is like branding is more than just a logo.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: There's like your logo, which is just like your logo mark, um, which you're gonna throw in your business cards and your sign.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: Then there's your visual identity, which is like all the visual representation of your brand, not just your logo, so like your brand colors, your brand typography, your brand photography, the way your brand represents itself visually across every single channel.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: It has to match, it has to be cohesive because you don't want people going to your website and like, oh, cool, and then going to your Instagram, and then it looks like a completely different business, and they're not even sure if it's the same business but with the a different business, but with the same name.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_00: They lose trust.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: Also, what I'm hearing from other people with people who don't have good branding is it it messes up the hire of anything else.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: So you can't hire a social media manager, you can't hire a podcast producer, you can't hire a VA, like you can't hire anyone because anything they create, they have nothing to go off of.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: So you're gonna get pissed off with them and be like, why does this not look like what I want?
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_00: Because you don't have branding.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: And so what happens is have the all this turnover with anyone you hire because you don't have the core set up.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: So that person, if you're listening, it's okay if you think that, but maybe think a little bit further down the line and you might realize that was a mistake to say branding is not important.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: And you said it exactly right because like every person you hire is gonna have their own idea.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: And if they don't have structured branding, like they're gonna take an idea and run with it and it's gonna look like a completely different business, and then your social media person is gonna run with it and it'll look like a different business, and then you're gonna have a Frankenstein of like things that look somewhat like you, but look could also be different businesses, and there's no cohesive structure around it, and that's just the visual part.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_01: If we go even deeper than that, which is what I call full branding, um, we go into what we call brand strategy, which which goes beyond just like the visual, it goes into like who is your target market, where are you positioned, what are your core values, how do those core values speak to the people you're trying to target?
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then do the visuals kind of match the the type of strategy that you want?
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like, obviously, for example, if you have a brand that's like supposed to be targeted to women, you want your visual identity to appeal to women.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if you want something that doesn't want to exclude men, then your visual identity should be a little bit more gender neutral.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_01: And that's just like one simple example.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like, there's so many layers to this.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: So when I go into like full brain strategy, I really go into like looking at people's competitors, what the landscape looks like locally, and like if they're a virtual business, they're probably competing nationwide, which kind of amplifies the whole thing.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_01: All of these kind of things that we determine at the beginning will then guide like your social media person.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it'll guide your ads person because they'll know exactly who to target.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_01: It'll tar it'll help your marketing person because they know the type of messaging that they need to put out to appeal to your target audience, like all that stuff kind of comes together and it all comes from the same vein, which is branding.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's like the building block, like you literally need it.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, but going back to like how your pricing, and so you're saying you're getting used to like the roller coasters, but like, don't you also try to do payment plans to stretch that out and to make that a little bit of security?
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: And then I also want us to talk about that 10k month that you had too.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_01: As far as pricing, yeah, because I figured with my bigger projects, like because I was charging more money, a lot of people, especially in this economy, aren't gonna be able to drop thousands of dollars at the drop of a hat.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought I wouldn't make it easier to have two different types of payments plans available.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: So one is like a monthly.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_01: So we break up the project price into monthly payments for up to six months.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_01: So that brings down a project that might be around$4,000 to about$600 or$700 a month, which is very doable.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_01: Especially if you're a business and you need to invest in a digital presence.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: That is phenomenal pricing because I actually have done my research and have gone to, for example, to other people to see if they would do my social media for me.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_01: I haven't found a single package that drops below$1,500 a month.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_01: And that's just for like the most basic of their packages.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_01: If you want more stuff, obviously it's gonna be more money.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I wanted to be somewhat flexible and in that way with those monthly payment plans, it does build some sort of recurring revenue because I can build their website in month one, but month two, three, four, five, and six, I still have some income coming in from that project.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_01: And by then, my my pipeline has been freed up, so I can take another project in month two.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_01: And then maybe they get on a payment plan and then those monthly payments start to stack up and create a more predictable revenue without having me being tied to a retainer.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: Love.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's so so good.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_00: And then um talk about the$10,000 month because you did that in your first year.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, some I would say like it was a year and some months, but yeah, it was it was very close after because I've had this goal of like I want to make 10k in a month for the longest time since I started my business.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: We literally have a playlist called Six Figure, what do we call it?
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_00: What's our play?
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: We're making six figures, and then Andrea made us sweatshirts that says six figure club.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, very true because I had to get in the mindset.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I I don't know why this number was so important to me.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like I just had to do it to like prove that like this shit's working.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I I actually offer one the payment plans, but I also offer a you pay in full discount.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_01: And so what I did for like my 10k months, um, I think I got it around like March or April that I made 10K.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: I forget which month, but um, I think I had two clients pay in full because they wanted to pay in full discount.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_01: And what I didn't realize at the time is that that's around like when people get their taxed returns, so people have money to drop like thousands of dollars on like a business improvement.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so two of my clients paid in full, and then I also had some recurring income from previous monthly payment plans that were still paying me out, plus like a few hourly projects that came in, like just at a random, and they didn't take much time.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_01: All that added up to the 10k that I made in that month, and I was so crazy ecstatic because it was like, okay, like this this made it real for me.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I actually have a business.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_01: We did it, yeah.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_01: But then, like, after the month after, and this is the hard lesson that uh I feel, and I don't know if people listened to the episode before this.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_01: So they talked about how like sometimes like the universal one of them said this that the universal give you something and then like test you right after, and that definitely happened to me because after I made that 10k month, then the next month was like crickets.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, what happened?
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_01: I thought I was successful.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I feel like I was expecting another 10k a month right after made that and I was like, where'd it go?
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_00: I feel it so deeply.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever I get too cocky in my business, the universe fucking puts me down in the ground.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like every time.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like I've I need to be I've learned to be confident in my business, but never cocky.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_00: Because the minute I get cocky, it's like, oh, okay, bitch, watch this.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_00: Time to learn a lesson.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_00: Time to learn another lesson.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: I feel that so deeply.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I feel that.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so then what's been like one of the hardest months or moments in your first year?
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like maybe you even thought you should even quit.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_01: Honestly, I've had those moments several times, even this year.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_01: Because I do a thing, and this is not a great thing, and this is something that goes right back to mindset work, is I think I can take on more than I actually can, and I don't give myself time to like breathe because what I do is creative in nature, so I need that time, but uh like the business brain in me thinks like I can just grind through it, and um, I burn out, and I have these moments where I'm like, I haven't seen the sunlight for like a week because I've been on my computer all day, I've stopped doing my hobbies, like or things that help my mental health, like going outside, working out, um, maybe eating healthy.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just like eating junk food at my computer, locked in.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's great for productivity, but like by the end of the week, I'm burnt out.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then if I get a new project after that, I am so like blocked in terms of ideas.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I almost I feel like mentally exhausted to the point where I'm like, is this even worth it?
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_01: Because like I left a very stable nine to five with a stable income to do what to just suffer, to burn out.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_01: That's not what I wanted.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted to be able to be able to take random beach days with you guys in Lisbon.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_01: That's why I did this.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it said you have like shrimp back shrimped over your computer.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly, exactly.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_01: So I think and I got a really rude wake-up call this year because I started getting um pain in my wrist, like not pain that I can just bear.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's what happened to Rachel.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_00: She burnt herself out doing social media stuff, and she actually got like arthritis or something in her wrist.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_01: The the doctor that I went to said I have to really treat this like a sports injury and just like take it easy on my wrist because this kind of thing can turn into like carpal tunnel, and then I really can't work, and then it's gonna be a chronic thing.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_00: I I do think like just on the outside, like your biggest challenge absolutely is work-life balance because you are just like, and I mean this in every way, like you are a fucking yes girl, like you go a hundred percent all in on your friends, on life, on travel, but then also in your business.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm I'm wondering, like, if you can even just set alarms or if like we need to text you and be like, oh Andre, get the fuck off your computer right now and go outside.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like, just something to break the spell because it's not just that you're like this.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_00: I understand because anytime I've done design work, you are in a black hole.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know why, but it's more of a black hole than any other like thing I've done.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_00: When you're doing design work, you are like in a euphoric flow state and you won't break out of it.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's like a spell, it's like really deep, deep work.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't also like I'm self-diagnosing myself, but I'm pretty sure I've had ADHD since I was a kid.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_01: And um it's really hard for me to switch tasks without like having like a period of adjustment because I get very easily distracted.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_01: So, like once I do reach a flow state, I take full advantage and I dive deep and I don't take a break because if I break it, then it's that much harder to get back into it.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_01: So that's why I think I I have that tendency of like going all in until I burn myself out and then resting, which isn't shouldn't be the case.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_01: It needs to be a little bit more balanced for sure.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm thinking like I need to start either time blocking or setting timers because when I am in that flow state, I lose all track of time.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, and I it it's just I know anyone who does design work understands that because it is actually a specific thing that happens.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's just like you're in a black hole.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_00: And um, yeah, I think maybe setting timers, co-working with someone who would like like, okay, let's go for a walk, you know, like something like that's gets you out of your element.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then also you could also work with this to your advantage.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what if you worked your ass off three days a week and then you have four days of pleasure?
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_00: I've done that before too.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_00: Like you can work with it if you don't want to break this.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_00: But like I do think in general, your biggest struggle is work-life balance.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I I also struggle with that too, but I think you go even harder.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you're done.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like you take care of yourself.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_01: You have days where you're like, I'm gonna go to the lake, or I'm gonna go and I'm gonna book a massage.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I never, I never have that natural thought in my brain to take care of myself, which is a bad thing.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I know I've seen a I think I've seen too much on social media that says like take care of yourself and self-care that I've almost like blown it off and thought it was bullshit.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_01: But like, no, it's real.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_01: You do have to take care of yourself, yeah.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_00: And also just like business is just not it's not life, it gives us things, but it just doesn't need to take over our lives because you don't want to look back and be like, oh my god, I spent how much time on the computer, and I have no, I have no memories, like I have nothing to like go off of.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_00: And then just I don't know, the more I step away from my computer, and the more I step away from my business, I actually make more money.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_00: Like I was playing like poker with my cousins, got a sale, you know, went to the beach, got a sale.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, oh my god, but that sometimes when I'm too in it, nothing happens, it's crickets, and so I think you maybe reframe the word self-care, rest, relaxation, like reframe it into a word that feels better for you where you're not rejecting it.
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, I think so.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_01: It's the word that kind of gives me the ick.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know if it's just because like I come from an immigrant family, and self-care is like a negative thing.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_01: Don't mention like if you if you tell my my immigrant parents I need to do more self-care, they're gonna be like, that's what lazy people do.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna get your ass roasted.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I would maybe reframe the word, be like me time, I don't know, nature time, I don't know, workout, just say workout, but you're not even gonna go work out, you're just gonna go outside.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_00: Just reframe the word at that point.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, what is this business?
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_00: You are a slave to your business, you are your own worst boss.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like, would you work for yourself?
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_00: Seriously, like, would you work for yourself?
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_00: Or would you like quit immediately?
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my god.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_01: And when you put it like that, yeah.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_01: There's times I've looked at myself in the mirror and be like, you did this to yourself.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_00: How would you talk about yourself as a boss?
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_00: What would she be nuts?
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, she's nuts.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, describe her.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's how would you describe boss?
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_01: She never takes a freaking break.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_01: She thinks all day like is work and like that.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_01: And this is the hard part for me to realize is like no one's gonna care about my business as much as I care about my business.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because it's personal, like I tie a lot of emotion into it.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_01: It it's like my source of pride, it's my source of like fulfillment.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_01: And because I tie like all these emotions of self-worth to my business, I think when it's not going good, then I feel really bad about myself, and that's not good.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_00: No, yeah, it is emotional, but it is it is so emotional.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like, because we put so much sweat equity into it where it's like yeah, it feels like a spinning wheel that doesn't stop.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like, which is why I do want to take some time away from my business, like I want to start breaking away from it a bit, and I don't know how yet, but I want to start like separating my identity from it and just more treating it like it's a job that I log in because it is very emotional.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and and business, your business doesn't have to be a personal reflection of you.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's also another mental thing I've struggled with.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_01: And I know for anyone who has a business, it's like their baby, especially if it's like their first one and they're just starting, and it's you tie so much of your self-worth to it.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_01: It's your literal child, and if whether it works out or not, because a lot of people do fail the first time around, and that's totally okay because that's normal.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like you are going to something you don't know any, there's no like written playbook for this, as as much as like there are tons of self-help books on business, there's no specific one written for you.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like you will make your own mistakes, you can listen to all this advice, but you're still gonna have stuff that you have to experience for yourself.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_01: And whether it's successful or not, I think not tying the your value to that success is super, super important.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_01: And it's something I still struggle with too.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm kind of speaking to myself as well.
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that like next time you try something new, you're not like, well, like if it fails, that's like because of me and I'm because I suck.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's not like it can be a million different things.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_01: There's the economy to factor in, there's new technologies coming out that can completely wipe out your business.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like, yes, your effort does play a part, so it is important to recognize that, but also.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_01: Also, like look at the bigger picture, don't like be so in it that you can't see all the factors that are also affecting it.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_00: Well, how would you define success now?
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like since you started, like what what defines success now for you?
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_01: I've gone through like a big revelation in like the last month with my business, where like before I would succeed success, uh the amount of money that was in my bank account coming in for my business.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_01: Now I'm very much looking at it from the lens of like, is it helping me build the ideal life that I wanted?
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_01: Because I started this business for that very reason.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_01: I started this business to have the flexibility of time.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I do have that.
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_01: When I do, when I do look at it from that lens, my business is super successful because I was able to take not months off, but like at different points in time in the year, I was able to take time off for important family matters that like otherwise like nobody else would have, because they would have had to ask their boss for permission to take off work.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_01: And because I travel internationally so so much, like I have the location freedom as well to do that.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_01: So when I look at it from from that lens, I am so successful because I was able to be there for every single big moment that I needed to be.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um the revenue could definitely be better.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_01: But if I'm using that to measure my success, then yes, I'm very successful as of right now.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_00: I love I love that.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_00: I think I need to transition away from it's really bad.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_00: I have gotten a really bad addiction at looking at my projections.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like my number one app on my phone is my sheet with my Google Sheets where I keep all my money and my projections.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like really gotten bad.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because I think I am extremely focused on the numbers.
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_00: And whenever I get down that rabbit hole, like nothing comes to me, like nothing flows to me.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_00: But I I do I do like the whole like time, yeah.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm very we're both very successful when it comes to like time success.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_00: Cause like we got to go travel to France and like you got to take off time for Peru.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like I got to go to the lake last week, and I didn't talk to anyone, I didn't let any clients know.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, I'm going to the lake today.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's it.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, so time, and that is actually the bit the biggest currency, it more than money.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_00: So we actually winning.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you can always make more money, you can't make more time.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_01: I could have not I I have moments with my grandparents that I will never get back because time is precious that I was able to take advantage of because I had the flexibility in my business to do something.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_01: I can make that money back, but I can't get those moments back.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my god, that's so true.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_00: That makes it that gives me a good point because I'm gonna be going to moving to LA with like a little bit of a lighter purse, a little bit of but I'm gonna have so much more time to go do volleyball, tennis, meet people, friends, and like it's not always I think it's just knowing that like again, Hasra's saying entrepreneurship isn't as a roller coaster, we're gonna be hitting those higher months again.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_00: But in the ones that are lighter, like how can you just enjoy the time currency, you know?
• 47:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_01: I've been having a few of those lighter months, and I feel like now that I'm in my second year of business, I've noticed a pattern.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_01: June and July, when people are on vacation, is are the months that people are not thinking to invest in their business.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they're out, sadly.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_01: They're out, they're on vacation, and that's when I should be on vacation too.
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_00: You too.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_00: Usually, except for this year, summer is my highest part of the year every year, except for this one.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_00: Weirdly, summer has been lighter, but what's cool is my money's really even.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's there's not these massive highs or lows, but it's significantly higher than last year.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm actually stable.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that's a big win there.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_00: That stability is a win.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'm staying in between like the same numbers.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I mean, think about it, like sometimes your your lowest low last year is is like not what it is this year.
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe this year your lowest low is actually what would have been a really high month for you last year.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_00: My my highest month last year was like five five thousand six hundred.
• 48:08
  SPEAKER_00: And my lowest has been like six thousand something.
• 48:13
  SPEAKER_00: So like I'm still higher from last year.
• 48:15
  SPEAKER_00: So like that's a huge I think sometimes we want our businesses to grow like grass, and when it really does grow like bamboo, and when I loved what Alex said in the last episode, she was talking about how when we plant these seeds, like it doesn't come to fruition maybe like six months to a year later, and we think we're not being successful.
• 48:33
  SPEAKER_00: But if we're or growing like bamboo, it'll come back around.
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_00: But sometimes we plant the seed and then we expect it to grow, and then it just doesn't happen within like one to three months, and we're like, oh my god, it's not working.
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_00: It should grow more like bamboo.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I absolutely agree with that a hundred percent.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_01: I think this business has been the biggest lesson in terms of not expecting instant gratification.
• 48:58
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's just because like our phones and everything's so quick now.
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_01: We expect it, we expect to see the results right away, and that's not the case with business.
• 49:08
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes, like, the the funnel I spent hours building this month doesn't bring me a single sale, but maybe next month, then that pipeline gets filled up because of that funnel that I built.
• 49:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, okay.
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_00: So, what are you most excited for this next year?
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like this next year in business.
• 49:25
  SPEAKER_01: This next year, I am so much more excited to build a semblance of work-life balance because the first two years have been grind mode.
• 49:33
  SPEAKER_01: I want to be able to like have like unmovable blocks of my time in my calendar where I'm like, this is the time where I'm gonna go travel.
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_01: This is a time when I'm just gonna take off work.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_01: I want to be able to have a productive week and still have time to recharge.
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so I'm looking at like now.
• 49:55
  SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to look at it more through like a CEO lens instead of like a designer worker lens.
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how do I design my ideal schedule based on my energy levels too?
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_01: Because like I've tried the 5 a.m.
• 50:07
  SPEAKER_01: wake up thing, I'm not a 5 a.m.
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_01: girl.
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_01: No, I'm just not as much as I want to be.
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_01: I know if Erica's listening to this, she agrees.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_01: She's look like she works late at night, and that's her vibe.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_01: See, I can't do super late at night either because I my best ideas come in the morning.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_01: I think I'm a more of like a 9 a.m.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_01: If I wake up at 9 and I sit on the computer and like takes an hour for me to really fully get into it by 10, I am like yeah, in a flow state.
• 50:36
  SPEAKER_01: I've had my coffee, I had a slow morning, my avocado toast.
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_01: Ideally, I've worked out.
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_00: Ideally, not ideally, you did work out.
• 50:45
  SPEAKER_00: We're adding it in.
• 50:47
  SPEAKER_01: And my morning is just flowing because those are the best hours for me.
• 50:52
  SPEAKER_01: By the time it's like eight or nine, like my brain is poop and I can only do tasks that I can do.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_01: You think eight or nine p.m.
• 50:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 51:00
  SPEAKER_01: Eight to nine p.m.
• 51:01
  SPEAKER_00: I can work.
• 51:03
  SPEAKER_00: No, already you just described a 10-hour day.
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_00: So we're talking oh my god, yeah.
• 51:07
  SPEAKER_00: See, this is the problem.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like, let's describe, let's describe your actual work life balance day because you just described a 10-hour day, which is not work-life balance.
• 51:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's so true.
• 51:17
  SPEAKER_00: Unless again, you're gonna do three 10-hour days and then you have Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday off, you know.
• 51:22
  SPEAKER_00: But like but let's let's back that up because where are you taking these breaks?
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what's happening here?
• 51:27
  SPEAKER_00: Why did you just say a 10-hour day?
• 51:29
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know, because usually that's when I finally get off my computer, is like eight or nine.
• 51:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you can see why I have a problem now.
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_00: That's like watching Gone with the Wind five times.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's how long you're expending at the computer, or if you just flew from Europe to Dubai or something, you just flew from like Japan to Australia, like that's how long you're working.
• 51:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like, that's not okay.
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_00: So, like, let's reframe how long are you working?
• 51:58
  SPEAKER_00: When are you taking your breaks?
• 52:00
  SPEAKER_01: When are you working?
• 52:02
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if I mind a super intense couple of days as long as I have days to recover.
• 52:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I think I've noticed that I'm super effective when I'm in that flow state.
• 52:12
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe like pushing myself on one to two days out of the week to do that is totally fine.
• 52:19
  SPEAKER_01: But then I need to force myself to have a no computer day.
• 52:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 52:23
  SPEAKER_01: So that I can recharge.
• 52:25
  SPEAKER_00: I think go with you're gonna work Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, grind, and then you have like a Friday to Monday schedule, you know?
• 52:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the outside make it that like a hard role for myself is having a no computer day because every day, even if if it's like a rest day, maybe I'll get on my computer for like one or two hours.
• 52:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's not really resting though, and sometimes when I do get like looped into uh a task, then that one or two hours becomes like a five hour thing because I got an idea, and that's not good.
• 52:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I just need to avoid my technology for like a day, like have a no technology day, like turn put my phone on, do not disturb, turn off my laptop, leave it uncharged so that I don't just if you have any ideas or like to-dos that come throughout your day, just write them on your note taker.
• 53:14
  SPEAKER_00: But I think work-life balance is probably your next step.
• 53:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be my biggest challenge yet because I feel like I'm so addicted to my work at this point.
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 53:25
  SPEAKER_01: Where it's like it's gonna be painful to like not work and on those like no computer days.
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_00: But until you're outside actually having fun, hanging out with people, doing the things that bring you joy, then you're not gonna even think of the computer.
• 53:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like you're when I play tennis, I'm not thinking of my work.
• 53:41
  SPEAKER_00: I love tennis.
• 53:42
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just in it.
• 53:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just in tennis, you know.
• 53:45
  SPEAKER_00: Find the flow state somewhere else.
• 53:47
  SPEAKER_01: I just need to fill up my life with different hobbies, which I used to do before.
• 53:52
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I am a very creative person, not just in like the on the computer.
• 53:56
  SPEAKER_01: I'm musical, I like play piano, I sing.
• 54:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I like to learn in languages, instruments, um, travel, of course.
• 54:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and I'm very like physically inclined to like join like a volleyball team right now.
• 54:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, do it.
• 54:14
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I'm saying.
• 54:14
  SPEAKER_00: Use that energy somewhere else and get in a flow state somewhere else.
• 54:18
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to always be on the computer.
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_00: Well, to wrap up, you are in Cocktails and Clothes, which is my membership.
• 54:24
  SPEAKER_00: Just curious to anyone out there, what has been like your experience in there?
• 54:28
  SPEAKER_00: Would you recommend it to anyone?
• 54:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 54:30
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, I tell everybody when I do step outside of my house and some human interaction.
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_01: I tell everybody about your community.
• 54:38
  SPEAKER_01: I was just at a networking event shouting it out to everybody, and it was funny because I was at a different networking event.
• 54:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like they have their own thing, and I was like, but you gotta join this one.
• 54:49
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, because it's just so fun.
• 54:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, being an entrepreneur, I will say, is super lonely because you're building something, and like if you have friends who are working in 9-5, they won't always understand every like hurdle you're going through, and you don't always have coworkers in those, and like the people you hire aren't really your coworkers, you can't talk shit about the boss.
• 55:12
  SPEAKER_01: You are the boss.
• 55:15
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like I think it was like the perfect pairing because you start cocktails and clothes.
• 55:21
  SPEAKER_01: I was going through like a rough pit in my business, and it brought the community that I needed to kind of help lift me up and like realize, like, well, what is this person doing to overcome this hurdle in their business?
• 55:32
  SPEAKER_01: Or when I'm having a bad day, sometimes I just go on it and rant, and like all the girls are super supportive.
• 55:37
  SPEAKER_01: And like, I remember I had one of those days last week and I posted about it, and like the next couple of days, somebody else who's also in my same industry said, Hey, I have a referral for you.
• 55:49
  SPEAKER_01: They're not like my speed, but here, here, have this referral because I think they're gonna match your design aesthetic better than mine.
• 55:56
  SPEAKER_01: And like that helped get the ball rolling, you know?
• 55:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's extremely supportive.
• 56:00
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a lot of people who have like there's a lot of designers in there, there's a lot of other podcast producers, but it's very collaborative.
• 56:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's not like I'm gonna take this client and I should never let Andrea see this.
• 56:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I just told one of my clients, Anya, I said, you need to go work with Heidi.
• 56:13
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, go work with the other podcast producer in this community because I think she's a better fit for you.
• 56:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's very collaborative.
• 56:18
  SPEAKER_00: There's no icky, like, I'm better than anyone else vibe.
• 56:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 56:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I like that because I am much more, I'm like collaboration over competition because we're not all experts in the same thing.
• 56:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like, for example, uh, I know a lot of designers don't really love WordPress.
• 56:35
  SPEAKER_01: I fucking love it.
• 56:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I love it because it can help me do a lot of technical builds that like maybe Squarespace isn't isn't as easy to integrate with.
• 56:44
  SPEAKER_01: So, like, for those designers, like, hey, I have a client who really wants a website on WordPress, they refer them to me.
• 56:50
  SPEAKER_01: If I have a client who really, really wants it on a platform I'm not super great at, I'll send it to them.
• 56:55
  SPEAKER_01: And it's a much better fit, anyways, because there's no use in taking a client that really like you and them don't have the same vision.
• 57:02
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
• 57:03
  SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
• 57:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's very collaborative in there.
• 57:05
  SPEAKER_00: And um I don't know.
• 57:07
  SPEAKER_00: I I have I have a lot of fun.
• 57:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I just feel like kind of like coworkers.
• 57:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like I just log in and then we're just like all yapping and having fun.
• 57:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes.
• 57:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's like the like if you've ever been in a group in like a corporate job where it's like this is a cool kids group.
• 57:21
  SPEAKER_01: The ones it's like we have a separate chat from all the other like HR people that are annoying and like we like, yeah, we you know, we talk shit and like we're super like buddy, but that's what it feels like.
• 57:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, it does feel like that like Slack channel that's like oh my god, the fun Slack channel.
• 57:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the memes are going.
• 57:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, it's it's super fun.
• 57:40
  SPEAKER_00: And then for if people wanted to connect with you, um, how can they reach you?
• 57:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, anything, anything you want to shut out.
• 57:48
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, for sure.
• 57:49
  SPEAKER_01: So I am trying to be better about being on social media, so you can always go ahead and follow me at Marvay C S.
• 57:56
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna spell it out just because it's like an annoying name to spell.
• 58:00
  SPEAKER_01: Very French.
• 58:01
  SPEAKER_01: Very I had to go with a fucking French name.
• 58:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's M-E-R-E V-E-I-L-L-E C S because the C S is for Creative Studios.
• 58:13
  SPEAKER_01: So follow me on Instagram or you can always go on my website, Marve Creative Studios.com, and I offer website audits, I offer free consultations if you just want to talk about like what you even need.
• 58:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I also do this really, really, really amazing thing called VIP days.
• 58:32
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of people I work with are kind of in their growth stage, then they may already have some sort of like website going.
• 58:40
  SPEAKER_01: A VIP day is just like you book me for a day and I can fix whatever I need to fix in your business.
• 58:45
  SPEAKER_01: Like, if you have a million to sign tasks, if you have a website that hasn't been updated in years and you want to revamp, like I've done website revamps in a day, I've built brands in a day.
• 58:55
  SPEAKER_01: Like, if you want like the quickness and the speed, I feel like that has to me has been like my most amazing offer.
• 59:04
  SPEAKER_01: And people who are on a time crunch do love that one.
• 59:07
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, Erica, my client who was from the Clocked Out podcast, uh, she just hired you and her website looks so good.
• 59:15
  SPEAKER_00: I can't, I cannot believe you turned around it so quickly.
• 59:17
  SPEAKER_00: We had to change the podcast name and everything in the span of like three days, and you crushed it.
• 59:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like her I'll I'm gonna leave everything in the show notes.
• 59:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna leave my website for people to see, Erica's, because that's what you did in a VIP day, and just everything that people need to connect in case they can't remember Marvae because it's very French.
• 59:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but the French he's out there, love it.
• 59:40
  SPEAKER_01: I have a whole case study on her.
• 59:42
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna send you because that was actually one of like my most successful ones.
• 59:45
  SPEAKER_01: Cause like she really had to like rebrand everything in a day because of like a trademark issue.
• 59:50
  SPEAKER_01: And it was like that that can happen to anybody at any point in time unless you have your brand registered.
• 59:57
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna have on Alexis soon, and so I can shit my pants on the podcast and talk about trademark stuff.
• 1:00:03
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my god, uh, even just talking to her in person makes me realize like I need to get my legal shit together because even though it hasn't happened yet, like I need her to review all my contracts and trademark my business.
• 1:00:16
  SPEAKER_01: This is crazy.
• 1:00:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm gonna have her on the podcast, and she's like one of my next hires once I have the extra income.
• 1:00:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to hire her because yeah, it's scary.
• 1:00:26
  SPEAKER_00: But okay, well, um, what am I gonna say?
• 1:00:30
  SPEAKER_00: What what should I don't know how I even end these things.
• 1:00:35
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for coming.
• 1:00:36
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you guys for listening.
• 1:00:39
  SPEAKER_00: Guys, I highly recommend checking out Andrea because everything you see is the brand that she made for me.
• 1:00:46
  SPEAKER_00: I really believe that the success of my business has come from the brand she's made.
• 1:00:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like the persona I give, the feeling I give off, the authority I have is because of the brand that she created.
• 1:00:57
  SPEAKER_00: She's so good at branding.
• 1:00:59
  SPEAKER_00: I know she's also amazing at websites, but like she has a gift for branding too.
• 1:01:03
  SPEAKER_00: And she's also just an extremely hard worker.
• 1:01:06
  SPEAKER_00: She's extremely creative, and she's a fucking go-getter, clearly.
• 1:01:09
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're looking for someone like that, I highly recommend you just yak with Andrea.
• 1:01:14
  SPEAKER_00: And definitely, if you were thinking about doing a rebrand, check her out.
• 1:01:18
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think one of the biggest pivoting points in my business was investing my branding with her.
• 1:01:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like that was one of the best decisions I've ever made.
• 1:01:24
  SPEAKER_00: So definitely check out Andrea.
• 1:01:26
  SPEAKER_00: She's also in our community cocktails and clothes.
• 1:01:28
  SPEAKER_00: So once you're in there, you can also hang out with her there, also.
• 1:01:31
  SPEAKER_00: And guys, we are officially on a freaking wait list with cocktails and clothes.
• 1:01:36
  SPEAKER_00: We sold out the last spots.
• 1:01:37
  SPEAKER_00: There are no more free trials.
• 1:01:39
  SPEAKER_00: There are no more spots with that summer sale that we are selling.
• 1:01:42
  SPEAKER_00: We are officially on a wait list, which is really exciting.
• 1:01:46
  SPEAKER_00: So if you would like to join the wait list for cocktails and clothes, you are not signing up for the community.
• 1:01:51
  SPEAKER_00: You are just signing up to be in the know of when we will open the doors and if we host any live events that you can join.
• 1:01:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I will leave everything in the show notes for you to come join the wait list.
• 1:02:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope this episode was relieving to hear.
• 1:02:03
  SPEAKER_00: But like, yeah, we're all doing it messy.
• 1:02:07
  SPEAKER_00: We're all having really big highs and really big lows.
• 1:02:09
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we're kind of shitty bosses to ourselves.
• 1:02:12
  SPEAKER_00: So on that note, I'm gonna go fucking outside because I've been a shitty boss to myself this morning.
• 1:02:16
  SPEAKER_00: I haven't had breakfast, I haven't done my yoga.
• 1:02:19
  SPEAKER_00: I went straight into work and it's a beautiful day outside.
• 1:02:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna practice my own medicine and go outside and stop working and stop being such a bad boss.
• 1:02:26
  SPEAKER_00: And Andrea, if you're listening to this too, you should go outside also.
• 1:02:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I hope you have a great rest of your week.
• 1:02:33
  SPEAKER_00: And remember, guys, you are a bad bitch.
• 1:02:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I will see y'all next time.