Latest / Energy is Currency Podcast / Stop Trading Time for Money: Build a Business Around What You Already Know
Transcript
- Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Welcome back, welcome, welcome, welcome back. It is Lexi and Gigi back for another episode on how you can make your energy your currency. Right now we are living in quite a time and this is one of those spaces that can make or break people. So today's topic, first off Gigi, how are you? Gigi: Good, how are you? Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: I'm doing good. How you been? What's going on in your world? Gigi: Nothing. I've been doing a little bit of traveling just a slight bit been to Yeah, he was. He was. Cali. So I'm back here in Atlanta, unfortunately, but I'll be gone again. So don't Don't worry. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Yeah. Okay, party, Gigi. Ugh. Okay, so I dragged Gigi in here because I wanted to talk to her about some options right now on how to make your energy your currency. We know how unstable the market is, woo-doo-woo, this, that, and the third. So there's lots of different ways to explore what your next pathway could look like. You can jump back into another job. You can jump back into, you can jump into entrepreneurship. you know, creating the business of your dreams, or we are gonna talk about the sweet spot of consulting, which is the love child of both. So. Gigi: ⁓ I love that. Love, shout out. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Yeah, I think it is because I feel like consulting, you're communicating on behalf, you're communicating expertise to corporate environments or to other business structures, but with a little bit more independence. So you're still given, you're outsourced, you're still giving them really good information, but you're not recreating the wheel, right? But you got your driver's license. You're an adult now. You're not relying on mom and dad for a two week check every now and know, so. Gigi: Mm. Hmm. ⁓ Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: I think it's a fun little sweet spot. Gigi: I like that. Yeah, I think for consulting. If you've been in corporate America, you can take all that information, all that knowledge that you learned, everything that you harness, that corporate structure, you can take it because they can't take the knowledge from you and you can go sell it to the highest bidder. So, hey, I know X, Y, and Z. I know how to do X, Y, and Z. If you hire me for your company, I can leverage you from here to here. And this is where I learned it at. You can name drop. I learned it at this corporation. I learned it at that corporation. So that kind of gives you some back when you're selling yourself. So I love that. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Right! Right? I think that's going to be the new way, especially with AI coming through. We're still going to need real life experts because yes, the language is clear. Yes, they were able to do some of the administrative task force, but it's that human element. We will never be able to get rid of that human element. Gigi: Never. Ever. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: We won't, but what is that gonna look like moving forward? You know what I'm saying? So I heard the statement, tell me what your thoughts are. Corporate America didn't teach me how to build wealth, it taught me how to survive. Gigi: ⁓ That's somewhat true. don't think it taught me how to survive. It may have given me the tools. ⁓ Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Okay. Gigi: the tools to communicate, the tools to operate in professional environments that I wouldn't have learned on the fly. So a lot of people who come straight out of college or whatever to entrepreneurship, they have this big dream, they make it successfully, but then they get into these rooms with other people and they don't know how to delegate. They don't know how to effectively communicate. They don't know emotional intelligence. They don't know what teams is. The simple things that you learn from corporate America can actually be a stepping stone. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: it Gigi: It's a step in time. You don't have to stay there. And I wouldn't say it's surviving corporate America, but it's learning how to take what they taught you and place it into other positions. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Yeah! I think I love how you shifted the narrative on that because it's not just about survival on a two week check. You're learning skills and some things you're gonna be really, really, really, really good at. Sometimes you just gonna be there for the check and sometimes you're gonna be there because your talent lends to the betterment or the enrichment of that company, right? So you gotta figure out what was that. Gigi: You're learning all the time. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: for you and what are you looking for when you go back out into the job? So let me ask you this, do you really think you can build freedom while working at 95? Gigi: after. So get the nine to five done or maybe you work five to nine, whatever, whatever the offset is, that's where you build your freedom. That's where you build the thing that's going to take you out of that rat race. Some people have success with just quitting the nine to five altogether and then just starting a business and being successful. Nine times out of 10, that's not going to be the platform to pivot you to the next step that you want to be in. So take your off time instead of watching Netflix, instead of reading a book, instead of doing X, Y, and Z, Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Okay. Gigi: Focus on your craft. Focus on what you want to do. So yeah, I would take that type of advice to kind of pull me forward and replace the nine to five. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Yeah, and ⁓ I even want to upgrade that. Definitely honoring time blocking, like dedicating time to it. It doesn't have to be every day because you're going to that burnout of working all of those jobs all the time. That's going to lend to some really, some really bad health issues. You know what I'm saying? And I don't wish that for anybody. So block out time. You may not have to work on your business five days a week, but maybe give it three, maybe give it two, maybe. Gigi: Thank you. Yeah. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: You know, maybe it's a weekend dedication. I don't know, but find your sweet spot where you could get the benefits of both, but not at your expense. That's the goal. That's the goal. Gigi: And you are really good at blocking out time. You are really good at putting things at a certain time and place. And I'm always mixing them together. I'm like, ⁓ well, I can cook dinner and do this. And you're like, no, we need to sit down and do the podcast. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: The way my food burns, it's literally, if you can see my hands, right? So my hands are right next to each other. If I'm on my left hand, that's in the kitchen. Once I touch my right hand, the food burns. The food just goes up in flames. The entire kitchen bursts into flames. I don't know what happens. But if I can't give it 100 % of my attention, I'm gonna mess it up. And I'm okay with that. Gigi: You are good at... Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: And that makes people very anxious about around me because I'm like, I'm not at that step yet. And I have neither a worry nor a concern. That literally does not exist in my brain yet. Gigi: The reason this podcast is happening right now is because Lexi made me block off this time. Cause I was like, you know what we can do in addition to this while we're doing this. she's like, girl, shut up and get on camera. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Ma'am, had, y'all, we have been trying to do this episode for four years. Four years. It's been exactly 48 months and 16 days and 22 hours. I think this is great. No, I'm joking y'all. But no, this is great though. But no, time blocking for real, for real. Time blocking makes a difference because it's a commitment to tie. And so once you make time, because we, the number one excuse I hear from people is I don't have time. Gigi: I think we're doing good. I don't think, yeah. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: So either you have, and what I interpret that as is you either make poor decisions or you lack time management or you don't have good boundaries. So I just write people off in those areas. Either you don't know how to say no when everybody, I need you to do this. You go flying in that direction or you don't know what to do with your time. So you just do, or right. Gigi: Yeah. And then it is, I think all of that can be wrapped under time management. I think it's some form of time management. think. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Yeah, yeah, I mean, whatever, whatever, whatever people want. But once you once you really master that, it doesn't mean that you'll be good at the time you use, but you set aside that time to practice to be good. You know what I mean? You got to start somewhere and you're never going to get time. No one's going to envelope, pass you an envelope and say, hey, here's 45 minutes. I got 40. Gigi: the nation all of that is wrapped in Alright, Here's 24 hours. All right. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: I got 45 minutes for you in the back. That does not mean what you think it means, friend. You run, you go to the front and you get help. That does not mean what we think it means, okay? This is a trap, okay? So if you want time for your business, you have to make time, create time, honor the time that you set aside, be 100 % present, fully focused on that. And whatever you come up with that is okay. Gigi: What is this crap, I have to... Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: but you've invested your most precious resource. We're always gonna have access to money. We will not always have access to time. Gigi: So piggybacking off of that, when do you know that it's time for you to leave corporate America and start maybe consulting or start entrepreneurship or just leave? Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Yes. when you start acting self-sabotaging. Gigi: examples. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: So when you get to the point where it's no longer about the task you're performing and you're no longer vibing with either management or colleagues or whatever, and it's just that friction, I fully believe that discomfort breeds change. So when you in that spot where it's like, like for instance, in the hair, go ahead. Gigi: Okay. Well, how do you know it's time to leave altogether versus time to leave that company? Because it could just be a company. So how do you know when it's time to leave corporate America altogether? Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: ⁓ when it just, when it's time to do something completely different. Gigi: Like propelling into consulting or entrepreneurship. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: I don't know. That's a really good question. Let me, let me scale back. Cause you know what, what I was going to say is like, this comfort is going to be change and whatever feels like relief is going to be that decision that she made. Whatever provides the body with the most amount of dopamine and the most amount of healthy hormones and all of that. That's what we're going to follow. So if you're like fresh out of your job and you're like, ⁓ I could do a consulting. And then you're like, ⁓ and I could do this. And I could talk about that. Gigi: Mm-hmm. Okay. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: And I could talk and you hear the joy starting to pick up. But if it's like, damn, I got to put in more resumes and damn, I got to do interviews and damn, damn, damn. No, babe, go ahead and go ahead and do something different. Go ahead and do. You then you say you like to paint. Ain't you said you like to paint or like you had a yoga thing, ain't you? Maybe you should. You don't want to bait. You could bait. You could probably bait, you know, but it's like. Gigi: Yeah. It's time for you to go. Wrap it up. Find something to do. Thank you. Ready! You want to start a YouTube channel? We support it. All right. I say you want to start YouTube? We support it. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: It's the energy that you're moving with. Huh? Girl, something, something, I will share it today. But it's whatever is going to give you the best feeling when you're in conceptual mode. And so if you're thinking about it and this is pissing you off, you're ready to knock the table over. Nope. That's a no. That's your body telling you no, whether you know how to listen to your body or not. Gigi: Please, give us round of applause. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: you at least got to look at your behavior. You know what I'm saying? But if like, like I remember when I was like, I need to start my own business. I did not go to sleep that night. I was on my computer just firing away. I wanted to do research. I wanted to put my business plan together. I was thinking about names. I was dreaming about what the salon location looked like. What the chairs look like, where I buy the chairs from. How much money did I not have to buy all of this stuff and how I was going to get it done anyway. You know what I mean? Gigi: Thank Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: felt like the warmest overtaking, you know what I mean? Like I look at thoughts and ideas as very infectious. And if I feel very just giggly and deliriously impacted by it, then I'm probably gonna do whatever that is. But if it's like, got a clock in at 9.30, it's like, yeah. Gigi: you And look at you now! I don't want to do that. So what are three tips that you could give somebody who's in corporate America right now? They're like, you know what? I'm sick of this. I want to do something else. What are three solid things they could do to either go into entrepreneurship or consulting? Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: I don't want to do that. So follow your body. Gigi: I would say step one, narrow down what you're good at. What are you good at? Because you might feel like you are good at X, Y, and Z. What are you the best at? Because if you're consulting, they are hiring you because you are the subject matter expert at X, and Z. So you have to be prepared to sell that back to front. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Start developing your business. Go ahead. Yeah. Right. Gigi: So narrow it down, find your niche, and what are you 110 % good at? You could do it with your eyes closed. You can answer the questions. You can board people on all of the things. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: So I wanna kick that up a notch. Start working on your business plan. Your business plan is gonna force you to figure out what problems you solve, what solutions you offer, who's your audience, who's your competition, how much you wanna charge, what is a reasonable lifestyle within that. ⁓ It's gonna make you structure all of the ideas in your head, right? Gigi: then it'll help you figure out the market around you. Like, who else is doing? Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: For sure. And I'd say the closer you can complete a business plan, the closer you are to getting started. Now, if you can't fully flesh that out and articulate that, from my experience, I wouldn't say stay at work, but keep doing your research until you can answer those questions. You know what I mean? Because a business plan was tentatively created for banks and for investors. Gigi: Stay at work. so you can figure it out. Mm-hmm. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: So how do you get money without the product being created yet? What's the plan for this? What do you intend to do? And the better you can articulate that, the more money you can bring in. The less you can answer those questions and stick to those answers, the more the market is gonna sling you around and you're gonna end up back hoping that the position is open. You know what I mean? Gigi: That's amazing. Or it might pivot you in a different direction. You could write out a whole business plan and say, you know what, there's no money here, but there's money over here that I didn't even think about. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Right? Gigi: So you wanted to consult for one thing, but you figured out, hey, I have this other skill, this underlying skill that I didn't know they were paying so much for. I'm going to do that. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Yeah, and it gives you milestones to work with. So it's not, ⁓ I'm selling the $400,000 package to whomever, you know what I'm saying? Warren Buffett or whatever. But okay, maybe I could start here. This is something I could offer initially and start to plan out, okay, within the next six months, let's get it set up. You know, within that year, let's gain five clients. You know what I mean? Like it'll help you structure out whatever it is that you wanna do. and help you really get an articulated vision of what you want to do. Gigi: So after the business plan, what do we do? I've got my business plan. I know what I want to do. What do I do? Do I shop it out? Do I go look for clients? Do I look for mentors? What do I do? Do I set up a website? Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: I'm always gonna say, Seda, get your paperwork together. So, legitimize your stuff. You are not the only person with that idea. Come up with a proof of concept, come up with a ⁓ deck, a website, ⁓ Instagram page, get your tax ID numbers, your EINs, get your LLC, your banks, get your paperwork together. Gigi: Yes, legalize your stuff. Mm-hmm. Get your T-I-N, your T-I-N. All of that. Now with your state. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: What I notice, especially with extremely talented people, is that once people know how talented you are, there will not be time to go back and build the structure of your business. Exactly, you can't build the tightrope first and then the net afterwards. You gotta build the net and then the tightrope. You know what I mean? And that way you have the safety nets in place and the legalization things in place. Gigi: You gotta build the foundation first, yeah. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Because you can have a great idea, jump right into advertising, jump right into marketing. And somebody, your competitors hear you and because you don't have your paperwork together and they have theirs now, they own your idea. And it is that simple and it happens all the time. But definitely if you are, you, once you look at your business plan, you like, oh yeah, I want to do this, then get your paperwork together to support it for sure. For sure. For sure. For sure. sure. Gigi: I'm a G. Bye. Yeah. Okay. So, the plan, idea, support the idea, legalize the idea, and then what? Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: and Mm-hmm. Execute. Execute, execute. Start asking for money some kind of way through sales, through capital investment, crowdfunding. Call your mom. So for real, your first investors are absolutely gonna be people within your circle. Get over it. Go ahead and go ahead and call all those people. Get over that rejection. Gigi: execute. Thank your mom, whoever. Yes. Mm-hmm. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: You know, and then it'll be like, okay, cool. ⁓ So now I need to ask somebody else. continue, that's when you have to start putting yourself out there. So I always talk about in my marketing classes, the product life cycle. And you have that introductory phase where you're just letting people know you exist and you do this. That's the hardest one, cause you're going to need a lot of courage. There's no experience. There's no money. You know, there's no guarantees. There is all hard. Gigi: ⁓ Right. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: And so you gotta have the heart to stick that season through and just work it through. Because once you're comfortable with the introductions, then you make it to your growth stages. And the growth stage is the most important part. Gigi: But if you're confident and you're really into what you're doing, that growth stage or that product stage is going to be the best stage because you won't get tired of telling people, hey, this is what I do. Hey, this is what I bring to the table. Hey, this is me. As opposed to when you're in corporate America, someone's like, what do you do? ⁓ like, x, y, z. And you just keep it moving. Yeah. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Yes. Yep. Right? But you know what? Once you love what you do, you will have to learn the discipline on how not to talk about it. Cause I feel like within my first few years of like doing marketing consulting and doing even doing hair, man, I would interrupt people everywhere. Come here, let me talk to you about male pattern baldness. And like, I'm trying to eat dinner, but you bald, let me talk. You know, and I just, I was the problem. And that's something I had to realize. Gigi: Wait, is that about it? Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: ⁓ I've had a lot of, I lived a lot of professional lives, but you know, like when you learn something and you're passionate about it you're excited about it, you're gonna wanna talk about, it's gonna come out. You're gonna hold people hostage. And let me tell you another thing, but you have to make sure that you have to keep yourself that excited and that encouraged and that forthright because that's where the money is made in that excitement, in that joy. Gigi: It comes out. Did you know? It is. And as seasoned consultants and seasoned entrepreneurs, you will definitely have a season where you're like, I don't think I want to do this anymore. I'm burnt out. don't. Somebody asked me about a resume. I do not care. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: And that's when you learn better boundaries. And I try to preface my friends, if we go out, don't tell nobody that I have a job. Tell them I'm a bum. Tell them I'm a bum. I don't, I suck at it. I am the worst hairstylist. I don't mean any of this. I can't even get the phrases out, because it's a flat out lie. But I live again to be like, no, I'm off. I have to be off. That's when you learn, get boundaries. And it's like, Gigi: Look, you're like, don't tell people I do hair. No, I don't. But in those seasons, yeah, you have to take a break. Yeah, that's when you learn to take Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: No, baby, I'm at the Chevy's. I'm trying to have some, you know, some some quesadillas, you know. Gigi: Right. I'm trying to discover a new talent. Yeah, something else. Gardening. I don't know. ⁓ Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Yeah, I usually, you know what? If I feel like people are like crying and they want like a lot of information off of me, that's when I start talking about cats and rap music. And that's when you see like the light fade from their eyes, because I'm equally as passionate and annoying about those things, but those are less comfortable topics to talk about. So. Gigi: than your profession, right? I love that. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Cause I'm too deep off in it. I really had to learn how to be like, okay, cool. If somebody asks you about like, cause I'm a clinical trichologist. If somebody asks me about hair loss, I'm prepared to talk about their hormones. Gigi: Thank You want to get to the root of the problem? Yes. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: And so with women, everybody walks around and is like, ⁓ yeah, girl, I'm so paramedicopause, ⁓ the paramedicopause, the paramedicopause, right? But men do not wanna hear that they have plumbing and testosterone bubbles. You know what I'm saying? But that's what I wanna talk about. What about me? What about what what I want? I wanna talk about this now. You know I see it. I know you know I see it. Gigi: And you look very cool. You're straight. I I have this conversation. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: I wanna talk about this. Gigi: Maybe they're not ready to see it Maybe there's, you know, first in the front. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Well, where's your hat? So, you know, I had to just let folks, I had to learn how to just really turn off so that people could live their lives and I could not be like, you know, a party pooper. Gigi: That's good advice though. Sometimes you can be overzealous. Yeah, if you're really passionate about something, you can be overzealous. And they'll just have to feel it back in. Am I okay? Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Good. You gotta find the sweet spot. You'll find the sweet spot. You'll find the phrases that pay. You'll know the phrases when people are interested. You'll start catching the vibe. Hey, come back. Hey, I know it's getting really bad in the back too. Come back. No, that does not work. Come back here. I just wanna help you. Gigi: noticed some people start walking off. Was it something I said? Not chasing them. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: I rest assured that does not work the way you think you do it. Huh? Gigi: I love the dedication. I love it. I said I love the dedication. I love it. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: And that's why I'm still in business because I am steadfast. Okay, I'm committed. Okay, I'm passionate Do I have a lot of friends because of how I act in business? No Gigi: You have me. I'm your friend. It does. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: And that counts. And that counts. And that counts. Okay. Yes, balance. Ting, ting, ting. Okay. Gigi: Look, we're both delusional at works. Well, I think that sums it up. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: I think that sums it up too. Okay. Gigi: Step one, business plan. Step two, make it legal. And step three, execute. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Yes. Execute in step four, find boundaries. Gigi: Yes, prepare for burnout. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: You're going to say yes a lot in the first few years of business. Gigi: With them probably without making a profit the first year. So be prepared Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Yeah, but that's okay. Those are investments. Long as it's not always like that. You learn it from it, you build it from that. Hold on just a second. ⁓ Because I had a really good, really good question that I wanted to close out with. ⁓ Sheesh, where is it at? Gigi: Hmm. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: What can we say to the people who are in their early stage challenges? Gigi: I Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Cause we were just mentioning that how that first few years or the first year or so you're going to have a lot of people who are like, come do this for exposure or come do this for free. Or I can't pay you the full price or the negotiations or the, the, the skill gaps or the inconsistency and income. What do we need to speak to? Gigi: I would say stay true to your feelings and your discernment. I did a lot of things for experience, at some point you can say yes to so many things that again you get burnt out or people know that you don't have experience and they try to take advantage. So be aware that as well and politely tell them thank you for the opportunity, but not at this time. And that works. And keep it moving. Yeah. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: I am Yeah. Yeah, have to. Yeah, you get to say no, you get to say no. I think the threat of like income gaps make people say yes a lot more than they want to fulfill. Like, I got to make this money. I got to make this money. But once you realize, go ahead. Gigi: So anxious. And it's not worth it. No, I was just saying it's not worth it. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: It's not worth it. The more you have to haggle and compete for what you're getting in business, it very rarely translates to what you are worth, okay? You typically are not getting what you're worth. I feel like the more you say no, like it's a little trick. The more you say no, the universe will continue to offer you until you find the equilibrium in what you say yes to. So if it is... Gigi: the more exclusive you become. If I'm saying no, no, no, and then I say yes to you, I'm now exclusive. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Exactly. And it builds a better trust. People say, ⁓ no, they she don't just go for anything. She don't say yes to anything. So definitely practice your know, don't be afraid to tell people no or to hear no. So I think we can close it off with that. Don't be afraid to say no. But I wish you all the best. Work on your entrepreneurship journey. Figure out what that looks like for you. If that's Gigi: Right. I that's good. Yeah. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: limited to consulting. I love that. That's lower overhead. That's more profit. That's more vacation Zoom meetings. Okay. So think about some middle man's think about some options in the middle. Any closing words, GGs? Gigi: No, just invest in yourself because when you're consulting you are the product. You are selling you to companies, organizations, CEOs, CFOs, so make sure you invest in the product which is yourself. Alexis Williams BlushBizMGMT: Yes, I love that. So if you want to learn more about resume building, you want to learn about interviews, how to build your own business, visit VTAcareers.com. That is where you get to work with the consultants, favorite consultants, okay? Career coaches, marketing consultants, we are the people that help you build your next business. So check us out. It's VTA consulting on Instagrams, on the YouTubes, all of that. And you can check out this episode. everywhere you podcast, Spotify, Apple, ⁓ Amazon, and YouTube. Okay? So remember, your energy is your currency. We are teaching people how to mind their business personally and professionally. Until next time, bye. Gigi: you Bye guys, see ya.