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Building a Creative Business on Your Own Terms with Jillian Leslie · The Unfiltered Tea with Evie

• Jillian: sourdough taught me a lot more about business than I realized there's so much trial and error, but if you don't give up and you stay consistent, you go, okay, what went wrong? What do I need to change? How can I fix this? How can I do better? Eventually you find that rhythm and you figure it out and you're like, okay, I've got this down pat. And then now it's like well what's next? Evie Tavares: I'm Evie, and you're listening to The Unfiltered Tea with Evie. I'm a business owner, a copywriter, and a storyteller at heart. And over the years of building my own business and growing my own community, the thing I've loved the most is hearing people's stories, the strategies that they swear by, the mindset shifts that changed everything for them, and the honest truth about what it takes to grow a business from the ground up. Every person has something that makes them different in their industry. And finding that thing and amplifying it is basically my whole job. And this podcast is just another way I get to do that. In this podcast, I'm bringing on incredible guests from my community, experts in marketing, business growth, and mindset to share the real, unfiltered version of what building a business looks like. There's no polished highlight reel in these episodes, just the tea. So let's get into it. Welcome back to the Unfiltered Tea with Evie. I am sitting down today with someone who I'm so excited to have on the podcast, Gillian Leslie. Thank you so much for coming on. I'm super excited to dive into this conversation with you. Jillian: Thank you so much for having me, Evie. I'm really excited to be on your podcast. I remember when it started and I was so excited for you. So to be a guest is is pretty exciting. Evie Tavares: Yeah, this has been a long time in the works, so I'm happy that we finally got to sit down and do this. So, Jillian, for those who are listening who don't know you, can you tell us who you are, kind of what you do? And we'll dive into kind of your origin story for a little minute here. Jillian: Yeah, for sure. so I mainly teach sourdough workshops. That's kind of what I'm known for. And you've come to one of my workshops, and really kind of got into that about three years ago. prior to that, just to kind of give a bit more context, kind of like the lead up to that, Have a degree in nutrition. I went back to school in my 30s as a single mama. got my degree through Brussels University here in London, where I am. It's the name has changed now, So food, nutrition, wellness has always been something of interest and a passion of mine, and has always woven its way through my life. So when I ended up starting to teach workshops. Sourdough was kind of literally the bread and butter. And it was an interesting twist because originally when I went through school I thought, I'm gonna come out, I'm gonna be a dietitian. That didn't pan out quite how I expected. So it was like, Okay, I'm gonna be a nutritionist, I'm gonna do a health coaching. Again, that didn't really pan out the way I thought. And I'm sure we'll dive into kind of more about like life and stuff in a bit, but just to give a quick synopsis is all of these things didn't quite work out the way that I thought they would and after a very kind of heavy period of grief stumbled upon sourdough. With zero intentions of ever teaching it or doing anything with it, it was just for me. It was something that was very therapeutic through a very difficult time in my life, and just fell in love with the process and the slowing down and the benefits of it, just from like that making something with our hands aspect. And somehow it became this beautiful little business that I get to share with people to teach how to make sourdough. and and it's just a a really interesting full circle moment when you look back and go, It's just bread. It's just sourdough, but it became my business. so that's really what I'm known for right now. I still have a passion for coaching and nutrition. It's just changed and evolved over time. So that's I would say what I'm most known for at the moment. and just kind of starting to lean into a few other things in the the next six months or so trying to figure out those next moves, but that's where I'm at right now. So yeah. Evie Tavares: Hmm. I feel like that's such a fun place to be where you're like still kind of figuring things out. Like that's a fun and creative place to be, but it's also like a little bit difficult too, right? Of like trying to find that direction. Jillian: Yes. Yeah, it's like okay, what's next? Yeah. Evie Tavares: Yeah. And I know that you wear a lot of different hats, like you said. So sourdough teacher, you also mentioned that you're a community manager for a women's community. you've done some event planning recently that you loved, the Jillian: Yes. Yeah. Evie Tavares: wellness coaching. So let's say that you had to introduce yourself at a dinner party. Jillian: Yeah. Evie Tavares: How would you how would you describe all of that or explain what you do? Jillian: I'd probably say that I help to create unique experiences for people. Whether that's sourdough or events or tapping into creativity, I help to create unique events that leave people feeling better than they came before. Whether it's a a workshop that I've been teaching, people always leave and they're like, they feel lighter. They're like, my gosh, that was so much easier than I thought. Like you really broke it down and made this such a great experience. Like I love being able to take something and make it beautiful and meaningful in a way that people didn't realize they needed, you know, or even doing events. I helped with a wedding recently and just being a part of that beautiful day for someone and making it extra special, just with those little touches of creativity and care and design. Like I love that stuff. so yeah, I would say I helped to create meaningful and unique experiences for people. Yeah. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. And I think you're a a testament to the creative entrepreneur of like Jillian: Okay. Evie Tavares: you love being creative, you love like putting that out into the world for other people and just kind of doing that in whatever way kind of suits, right? Like finding your Jillian: Yeah. Evie Tavares: own way to do it. Jillian: Yeah. Yeah, I I definitely I've I probably I think I've struggled with that in the past because everyone's like niche down, do this, find one Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. Jillian: thing. And I have so many creative ideas that there's pros and cons to that, as I'm sure you know, as a creative person yourself. It's okay, I have all of these ideas and I love so many different things, but do they all need to become a business? And what do I focus on to be able to create something that's meaningful and that really meets people where they're at or help someone in some way so that it's not just like all of these random ideas. So I feel like that's been part of my evolution as a business owner is just being okay with that creative side and and not fitting necessarily into this, you know, perfect little box of okay, this is exactly what I do. So yeah. It's been a process. Evie Tavares: Yeah, I love that. I can imagine, yeah. And I know that part of your brand is Rising Raven. and that's a big part of your brand, really. Jillian: Yeah. Evie Tavares: kind of and it came from a very personal place, can you kind of share the story behind the name and what led you to using it and having it a part of your brand? Jillian: Yeah, absolutely. So going back to kind of touching on that season of grief, I lost my brother-in-law. I often will refer to him as my brother, so it gets confusing, but I stick the in-law part. If I ever mention like my sister or something, it sounds weird. So to me, he was my big brother. it was a huge loss for our family and just it it really leveled. And shattered my life in so many ways, but out of that has become this beautiful business. And so the meaning of Rising Raven really is connected to my brother. it was really born out of that season of grief and finding meaning through it, finding my way back through it and rebuilding my life. In a way that that honored his memory. That was something that was really important to me. He was always my biggest cheerleader. He was always there for me through so many difficult seasons of my life and would remind me of the strength that I have and what I've been through and that resiliency. And so the Raven, Rising Raven, was born out of Wanting to find a way to honor his memory because he always supported me in my dreams and what I wanted to do and in a way that was unique and meaningful to me and and some people might look at and be like that's a weird name but it means something to me and so it's important to me because it's part of my growth journey. It's part of me rebuilding my life after a major loss and that is a common thread throughout my business that I'm trying to lean into more. And so the Raven really represents resiliency. Ravens are highly intelligent, they're adaptable, they're just this really unique Bird, which reminds me of my brother. He was a coach, he was always someone who rooted for the underdog, always willing to help other people, and was just such a unique person in his perspective, in his life experience, and his ability to connect with other people. And then like the the lighter side of that is that he was a diehard Baltimore Ravens fan. And so it just made sense. I was looking for names doing events for sourdough, and I was like, I don't want some like typical like you know, sourdough bread baker. Like I wanted something unique that stood out, and I remember being on this app and it would help kind of generate some ideas for business names and all of them were like puns on dough or like loaves and like bread puns all related to and then all of a sudden this this rising raven popped up and I stopped dead in my tracks balled my eyes out and I was like that's it that's the one that's what I'm going with and it was just this this really cool moment that all of a sudden you know rising raven was born So that's really the story behind the name of my business is in memory of my brother and a reminder that out of those seasons of hardship, which we will all go through, that there's still beauty on the other side of that, and there's still hope and there's still growth that can happen as we move through those phases of life. So it's it's a deeper meaning for sure, but that's where that was born from. Evie Tavares: I love that. And I love that it's a testament to not only the journey that you had in yourself, but also in the journey that you encourage other women to have, whether it's from grief or just finding themselves again we get older and we, you know, have kids and have businesses and kind of like lose ourselves sometimes. It's also that Jillian: Yeah. Evie Tavares: rising raven of becoming yourself and becoming something. Yeah. Yeah. Jillian: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Evie Tavares: Love Kind of on that topic, you talk about helping women to restore their energy, to gain clarity and confidence, to come back to themselves without a restrictive plan, which I feel like is something that we see a lot. what Jillian: Yeah. Evie Tavares: does that look like day to day for someone who's just in general feeling stuck where they're at right now? Jillian: To me it really means like simplifying things. I think In the wellness space, especially, it's become so overcomplicated that you take a woman who's already overwhelmed by life, whether that's just the day-to-day of the season that they're in, or going through something heavier, like maybe it's a loss, divorce, maybe it's just a huge life transition, a job change, like whatever that might be. And then you're adding on this like 12-step program that they need to, you know, follow. So for me, my my angle is like, let's start small and slow and steady is better than like a fast pace because you're just gonna end up burnt out again. And as someone who has also dealt with like that burnout piece, I think it's so important to remind ourselves that there are seasons in life that are gonna like pull us off the ideal path that we've set for ourselves and to really be real about that. and understand, okay, this is a season that I'm in. What can I do in this season? What are the things that are really my priority and how can I best take care of myself through this season, knowing that seasons always come to an end. and you can refocus again and readjust. There's nothing I feel like in the the wellness space it's just so fixed. There's this like fixed mindset of like you have to do these things all the time, every single day. And if you waver then you're not disciplined and you don't you know care about and you're not making it a priority and I have a real problem with that messaging because that's just not reality. Like you're setting women up for failure because they're like, Well, I can't do all these things all the time. Like, I've got a life to live too. So my approach really is I make time for My exercise and physical activity, but it's not like two hours. It's like 30 to 40 minutes. I'm just consistent with it and I fit it in where I know that I'll get it done, and that's gonna look different for everyone. I keep my meals healthy, but very simple. I don't want complicated. So that's my approach with women: is like these things are important and they are valuable and we are worth pouring back into ourselves, but how can we do that in a way that holds space for everything else and doesn't add to our never-ending to-do list make it lighter, not heavier, if that makes sense. Evie Tavares: Mm. Jillian: So that's kind of my philosophy and my approach because I find it so overwhelming myself. I'm like, we don't we don't need to make it this complicated. It is a lot simpler than than what we see on Instagram and TikTok and these like influencers are like, you need to take this and this and this like twelve step protocol. And it's like actually, just really need to get back to some basics. And I think that really is a common thread throughout my business. Like even my sourdough workshops. Taking something that feels complicated and is a bit of a time-consuming process, how do we break it down so that it becomes enjoyable? And you're like, no, I can do this. So I love being able to break those concepts down and make it simple. Evie Tavares: Mm. And do you think a lot of women kinda need that permission of like they need that outside permission to just do the basics and do their best Jillian: Yeah. Evie Tavares: in the basics? Jillian: Yep. I feel like it's a really big deterrent because when it's overly complicated, you f you feel helpless. You feel like, well I can't do all those things, so I'm not gonna do anything. Instead of allowing that permission, like you said, to do what you can with the season that you're in or w or with what you have access to, because that's another piece, like you know, taking twelve different supplements might not be feasible for somebody or necessary, right? So giving women space to to be like, okay, yeah, I wanna get to this place where I can, you know, run five kilometers, but I'm not even walking right now. So I'm gonna just start with start there. So really drill it down instead of building this like overly complicated program or plan. So just giving permission for the small things and building from that, right? Evie Tavares: Right. Yeah, totally. And when we're talking about sourdough, something that I always love about watching you with sourdough is you experiment. Jillian: Yeah. Evie Tavares: You're always trying new things, like you're always like putting new recipes on your stories, you're like, I'm trying this today, Jillian: Yeah. Evie Tavares: How do you think that also ties into business of like experimenting and trying things in business? And like you're never quite sure how it's gonna work out, but it's always worth Jillian: Yeah. Evie Tavares: experimenting, right? Jillian: Yeah, absolutely. I think it's a huge piece. I think it's so important that we allow ourselves room to fail. Because that's where we grow. And I used to Yeah. I've had Evie Tavares: 'Cause there's always failure in sourdough. Jillian: many flops in sourdough. Many flops. I've tried different things. I'm like, that was terrible. That did not work out how I thought. But then you learn from it and you adjust and you go, Okay, well what could have gone better? What was the missing piece of this puzzle and Do something different next time. And I think that's just kind of a philosophy of life is like you're never gonna get it 100% right all the time. You're not gonna knock it out of the park all the time. And that was a a hard business lesson for me to learn because coming out of university, I was like, okay, this has to work. Like I'm gonna make a coaching program, a nutrition program, and like if it's gonna be exactly like this and it's gonna work out like this. And you learn very quickly in business that that's not always the case. Right, like you might put something out to the world and it's crickets, nobody wants it. It's like okay, is it the program? Is it how I marketed it? Like, what was the missing piece and how do I adjust and grow from this and learn from that that failure? I really think sourdough taught me a lot more about business than I realized because of that. Because you there's so much trial and error, but if you don't give up and you stay consistent, you go, okay, what went wrong? What do I need to change? How can I fix this? How can I do better? Eventually you find that rhythm and you figure it out and you're like, okay, I've got this down pat. And then now it's like where I'm at in this season is okay, well what's next? You know, what what else can I do with this and how can I apply this to the next chapter of my life, whatever that might be, whether that's business or personal, right? Yeah. No. Evie Tavares: And you're not afraid to view it that way because you've you know that failure is not a bad thing. It's not something to shy away from. Yeah. Jillian: No, yeah. And I remember my brother would always say he was a football coach and he was like, Yeah, I hate losing, but you you learn from the losses. You learn what could have been better. You learn what, you know, went wrong and how to adjust. And he's like, There's so many more lessons for coaches and players to learn from those losses. Nobody likes to lose, but there's gonna be losses in life and you learn from them and you do better the next time. And that's always stuck with me. So I think that's a big thread through that too is just, you know, hearing those little speeches that he'd give the the players. And I'm like, that's really good. Yeah. I'm like Evie Tavares: Take some of that. Jillian: just not mental note. A good one. Evie Tavares: Yeah. The it the topic of failure makes me think I was just reading Stephen Bartlett's book, Diary of a CEO, and he's got an entire chapter about you only make progress by failing. And like Jillian: Yeah. Yeah. Evie Tavares: there he would go into companies and like he would literally have them start keeping track of all the experiments that they did. If they failed, why did they fail? Like to have basically a quota for failures. Because if you if you are hitting your quota of failures, it means you're finding a good new idea in inside of those failures. You're finding data, you're finding like a new way of doing things and like thinking outside the box versus just doing what you're always doing and expecting it to work. And I found that really interesting too. Jillian: Yeah, exactly. Like you can't Yeah, that's a that's a really interesting perspective and approach to like fail on purpose almost, right? Because you do learn. Evie Tavares: Right? Yeah. 'Cause Jillian: Because then too you learn also, is this worth pursuing? Is this like is this one thing? Okay, based on the data, based on the outcome, do we continue to test this out or do we go, okay, this actually isn't a good idea. It doesn't actually align with what we want to do, but it was worth testing out to see. So it's like those two sides of things to give you that information on okay, what worked, what do we do now? What's what's next? Yeah. Evie Tavares: Yeah, exactly. So speaking of what you're doing now, you're also a community manager for a female entrepreneur group, which I also know and love. What have you Jillian: Yeah. Yes. You are familiar. Evie Tavares: learned about what makes a community feel supportive versus just being like a group chat where you can just go in with your questions. What's kind of been that that fine line for you? Jillian: I think for me it's just really that that deep connection and community. Like with the Wave community, I love being able to support other people. I love being able to connect, not just in the group setting, but one-on-one and supporting people that way. and I really think that it's that being able connect in person as well. So we meet weekly online on Zoom and it's great. And we have like great conversations. but then also being having the opportunity to meet in real life makes a huge difference as well. So it's like taking it out of the group chat and bringing it into to real life. But even with the online community it's just so supportive Because the conversations in that community they're always about like the business focus. So there's always that element, but there's room real life. And I think that's so important when you're looking at like any networking or any virtual communities or anything like that is making space for real life to happen. Especially for female entrepreneurs, like a lot of us are mothers. Even if you're not a mother, like you have a full life, and there's all these things and pieces that we we carry. So sometimes we have calls and it'll be about one topic, and then all of a sudden someone will open up and be just completely vulnerable and be like, this is Not just business, but talking about life and sharing those experiences, and then all of a sudden it opens up this beautiful conversation to connect on a deeper level. And I think that's really stood out for me is that ability to create deeper connection, even if you're not in person and in real life at those events. So I think that's a really beautiful thing. it's a great community, and I love being a part of it and being able to help support Kelsey and Emily and all of the women that are. in the group and it just fills my cup so much just to be a part of it. So I love that part. Yeah. Evie Tavares: I like that you mentioned that you bring in the personal to it because I think people who maybe don't have a business, like a personal business or like something that they've grown, they'll say like, it's not that personal or you know, it's not like a nine to five where you like checkout. Like, I don't know about you, but I'm thinking about my business like most of the time. And I joke I Jillian: Yeah. Evie Tavares: joke when people say, so how many hours do you usually work for your business? I'm like, 247, I like having something to think about. I like that I think about how it like impacts my personal life. I get to pick up my kids from school, but like I also get to think of like cool email ideas or like social media content while I'm walking Jillian: Yeah. Yeah. Evie Tavares: to them them to school. Like I think people have this idea that we build businesses to not have to think about them, but in reality we actually think about it all the time. Yeah. Jillian: Yeah. All the time. Yeah. Yeah, I would agree with that. I think there's this misconception that people who have their own business and are entrepreneurs don't work hard. But it's probably the hardest work because it's just you and like maybe a small team if you have a team, but it's you're constantly thinking about okay, what's next to generate that revenue and income and growth and build community and do all the things and yeah, it's it's a never ending kind of like wheel turning in the back of of your mind. And I still work full-time on top of everything so Evie Tavares: Mm. Jillian: for me it's like it just toggles through the day and I'll be like try and like write an an idea down midday so that I don't forget it and I can come back to it. So Evie Tavares: Yeah. Jillian: yeah always the wheels are turning. Evie Tavares: I actually did want to mention that because I know that you work full time on top of what you do. I think I can't think of how to like phrase it, but like what's that like? Like why work full time and then also work full time doing your own thing, right? Like what's that been like for you? Jillian: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm not at a place yet in my business where like can leave that full time job. And I don't necessarily feel the need to leave it. I think that as an entrepreneur you get to decide that. You know, do I wanna do this full time, full time? right now I'm content and I'm happy to do both. you know, I like to be busy. and I learn a lot from my day job, you know, in terms of some of the work that I do and building leadership skills and communication and there's so much to glean from that that translates into, you know, how to be a good business owner and build community and communicate with people. So I like having both right now. And Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. Jillian: I really don't have a timeline or a set date at this time to be like, okay, this is the date where I'm gonna s you know, say goodbye to one or the other. So I think I'm in a phase where I just want to stay open to the ideas that come, see what feels like like a really like full body yes. Like Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. Jillian: yes, this is something I wanna play around with. This is something that I wanna explore and dip my toe in to be like, okay, what does like the event planning stuff? It kinda naturally came up and was like, this is interesting. Let's try this. Let's play. I wanna have fun with my business. And so I'm still in that exploratory phase. Some days it's a lot 'cause it's like you're trying to balance out everything. But that's also the beauty of being a business owner is picking and choosing, okay, what am I gonna put my energy into right now? where's my capacity at? can I do this and do it well because I always want to do things as best as I can. and looking for those opportunities and seeing what's next. So yeah. It's fun. Evie Tavares: I feel like that's a testament to similar to what we were talking about earlier with like women taking care of themselves. It's not an all or nothing. It doesn't have to be an all or nothing. Like, yeah, Jillian: Yeah. No, it really doesn't. Evie Tavares: some people maybe think, I I want to start a business, I have to quit my job. And like Jillian: Yeah, I think there that is that I thought that for the longest time, like, well, like I've can't do both. And it's like, yes I can, I can do whatever I want. Like there's no rules. I make them up. That's my nightmare of like being like encased inside the these like rules of okay, you can only do this or that. I'm like, I'm more of an and girl. I'm gonna do this and that. Yeah. Evie Tavares: I like that. And and girl. Love that. You mentioned the word balance, and I feel like that's a good word, but there's also gonna be times where things aren't balanced. So how do you manage that with all of those things? Jillian: It's great question. I don't know that it's necessarily about balance, because balance kind of implies that everything's equal, right? Evie Tavares: Right. Jillian: I think it's more based on what I just talked about, like assessing do I have the capacity for this? Evie Tavares: Mm. Jillian: And being real with myself in okay, what can I take on and what do I need to say no to? And I think I learned this the hard way because you know, backtracking to a few years back, I was working full time, I was still doing the sourdough business, and I was also working part time at HomeSends. By the time I was by the time I left that retail job, I was spent. Like I was burnt out. My doctor was like, you need to let this go. This is not healthy for you. And I think I learned the hard way of the consequences of not finding that kind of balance. in life to be able to say, Okay, you need to have other things in your life like It's not just about finances. It's not just about building a career or building a business. It's also about your relationships with people and how important that is to your health and your wellness and taking care of yourself, like physically, mentally, spiritually, to be able to function and create a meaningful life. It's not just about working and making goals happen and being ambitious. You have to find that, I guess, balance between those all of those abstract. Important pieces in life. So I think really just reprioritizing what a rich life looks like to me in terms of experiences, the people that I surround myself with, the goals that I chase after, and the dreams that I have. And kind of reassessing and coming back to those things to check in, like, okay, does this This is aligned with what I value at this point and then going from there. That's I guess that's the best way I can describe how I kind of I don't do it perfectly at all, ever. But I try to kind of like check back in with yourself, right? To be like, okay, why did I start this? Why do I still want to keep doing this, this business, and and what's next? And what does that look like? And I think I've slowed down. I used to be in such a rush to figure that all out. And the pace that I go at now is like, you know, there's no deadline. You know, I don't have to have it done in a certain time frame, so why am I pushing myself to do something? And the freedom that has come from that has really changed how I approach things and the success that I've had even just this last year. so really is more about checking with yourself and like your why, I guess, is really what it comes down to. Why am I doing this? Why is this important? How does it impact the other areas of my life that are are important to me? Evie Tavares: It makes me think of the analogy of the rubber balls and the glass balls. Jillian: Yeah. Evie Tavares: And you're juggling all of them. Some of them you can drop and some of them you can't. And that's the Jillian: Yeah. Yeah. Evie Tavares: glass balls. So yeah, I think it is up to each person to figure out, like you said, what are those glass ones that Jillian: Yeah. Evie Tavares: are most important to you and and give you your reason why and you don't want to drop them and what are the ones that you can drop. Jillian: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that that's such a great analogy. I forgot about that Evie Tavares: I want to touch briefly again. I know we talked a little bit about this, about the grief that you experienced, the loss and and the burnout that you experienced. What made you decide to talk about that publicly? Because I feel like Some people do want to do that and some people don't. So what made you want to do that? Jillian: I think probably it's really just comes down to if I can help one person through something similar by sharing my story, then I want to try and do that. Really simply put, is I think everything that I've been through in my life, like I don't share every single detail, but if I can share to some extent what grief looks like for me, what burnout felt like for me, with the the the sole purpose of helping somebody else. Even just in like that simple message, if I hop on Instagram and do a a little video or, you know, in a newsletter or a post or whatever, my intention is always, how can this help someone else? And that's really all it is is just a willingness to be a bit vulnerable, which I don't always love. Cause it is vulnerable. It's like, do I share this? But in those moments where I've shared some of those posts or written the newsletter where I'm like, is this too is this too much? Is this too vulnerable? Like I'm a little uncomfortable sharing this. The response to those messages or those posts reminds me of like, This is what I needed. Like, yeah, it felt uncomfortable to share, but all of these people were like, I needed to hear this. This spoke to me so much. Thank you for sharing. Like, so it's in those moments you're like, okay. It's kind of like that Brene Brown when she talked about like the vulnerability hangover or something. I forget Evie Tavares: Yeah. Jillian: what book it's from or what talk she did, but I was like, Yeah, I can relate to that. That's what this feels like. When you see that it impacts someone positively, it's like, okay, this was what I felt on my heart to share and stepping into that and just trusting that, okay, if if this is gonna help someone, then I'm doing what I feel like God put on my heart to do. Simply put. Evie Tavares: And I feel like that's a question that I get asked often, like with copywriting even, of like, how do you know how much to share? How do you know what not to share? But I think like you said, like think about the why behind it again. What's the what's the motivation behind it? Cause Jillian: Yeah. Evie Tavares: yours, like you said, is if it can help just one person, Jillian: Yeah. Evie Tavares: then that's mission accomplished, right? Jillian: Yeah, exactly. Evie Tavares: We've talked a little bit about how you are in like a bit of a transition phase right now. You're exploring kind of what's next. What's that process been like for you? Because I feel like that's something that a lot of entrepreneurs face for themselves too, is kind of like that, what do I do Jillian: Yeah. Evie Tavares: next? kinda thing. Jillian: Yeah. It's really weird because I've been so goal er oriented for so long, just trying to figure things out that when I was coming into this new year, I was like, I've got nothing. Like usually I'm like, I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna try this and I have like all these ideas and I was like, there's nothing. There's just like nothing happening. Blank slate. And I kinda had to just lean into that and allow myself to just sit back and relax. Just enjoy where you've come so far, because it's just been go, go, go. I've just been On top of dealing with like the grief and the loss and all of that, also working through it, building a business, teaching lots of workshops, trying different things, there was so much energy going into just doing and not actually pausing to enjoy what I had done. So I was like, okay, let's just take a break from trying to figure out what's next and just allow myself space to just be for a bit. And in doing that come spring, things started to kind of shift. So that's when like little events started popping up and the community manager thing came on my radar and and started to happen. And I think it's really important to pause and allow for that creativity to flow and allow yourself to look back and go, I've I've really come a long way in the last two years. I don't have to rush to figure out what's next. I can pause a little bit and just enjoy it while also trying to figure out, okay, well, what else do I want to do with this? And where do I want to go with this? Sourdough has been a beautiful way to build my business and I love it. I just feel called to do more. and so I'm not sure what that looks like still. I'm still very much trying to figure that out. And I think it's just being okay with the unknown, which is very uncomfortable. Right? Because we always want to figure out the next step. Well, what what am I gonna do now? And what's the plan and what should I be creating? And and I think sometimes we stifle our own creativity when we're too focused on like trying to figure it out instead of just taking a breath, pausing, and allowing space For creativity to flow, if that makes sense. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. Jillian: So yeah, it's a weird yet exciting phase of just allowing things to come while still being intentional about, okay, I I want to do more. Let's play around, let's explore, let's try some new things and see what what feels like the next step. Because that's really what I did with sourdough. So I'm trying to kinda like this was never that was never on my radar to teach or to do anything with and it became something beautiful. So I'm like, okay, let's let's just sit with it and and see what what comes next. Yeah. Yeah. Evie Tavares: I love that one. Well, I'm definitely excited to see what comes next for you too. Jillian: Thanks. Evie Tavares: So before we dive into a little bit of rapid fire, I'd love to kind of give you an opportunity to let people know where they can find you, where they can learn about your sourdough workshops and how they can kind of follow along too. Jillian: Yeah, so on most socials, so Instagram and Facebook, it's Rising Raven Wellness. my website I have, Jillian dash Leslie dot com. Those are the two main places. I mostly post on Instagram. That's where I hang out the most. I don't particularly love Facebook. I just no reason in particular, I just don't really like it. So Instagram is probably the best place to connect with me and and reach out to me. And then yeah, my website and all that is is on my Instagram page as well. So yeah. Evie Tavares: And I will link all of that in the show notes as well for people to check it out. So ready for a little bit of rapid fire? Okay. Jillian: Yes. All right. Evie Tavares: coffee or tea and how do you take it? Jillian: Coffee with cream and usually a sugar free like caramel syrup is my go to. Yeah. Yeah. Evie Tavares: Nice. Okay. If Rising Raven Wellness had a theme song, what would it be? Jillian: There's a song by Birdie. The artist Birdie. why can I think of the name? Hang on. Keeping your head up. Evie Tavares: Mm. Jillian: By Bertie. Evie Tavares: Love that. I'm gonna check it out after this now. Jillian: Yeah. Evie Tavares: what is your sourdough starter name? Because I know you have one. Jillian: yeah. So in keeping with the keeping my brother's memory alive, he was a huge Star Wars fan, as I know you are as well, and myself. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. Jillian: not like Comic-Con level fan, but I just really like the series. so we both got into Mandalorian and Baby Yoda's name is Grogu, so that's what I named my starter. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. Love it. Jillian: It was like, it sounds good for a starter because it is goo. Evie Tavares: Yes, yes. I love that. Jillian: It was just that little that little thread of of that memory. So yeah. Evie Tavares: What what would you say is the best piece of advice you've ever gotten? Jillian: The best piece of advice? Time will pass anyways, so you might as well just go for it. Evie Tavares: Ooh, I like that. Jillian: I was actually on a cab drive on my way to write an exam during school. Yeah. Yeah. Evie Tavares: There we go. It left an imprint. Well, thank you so much for coming on, Gillian. It was such a nice conversation to have, and I can't wait for people to listen to it. And if you did listen and you have any takeaways that you want to share, anything that you loved, just slide into my DMs or Jillian's DMs. We're both on Instagram and happy to chat. So thank you so much, Gillian, for coming on. Jillian: Thank you so much for having me. This was so great to be on here. It's always such great conversations and I love listening to it. So to be here is an honor. Evie Tavares: That's the tea for today. If something in this episode landed for you, I would love to hear about it. And if you're curious about working together, whether that's finding your own unfiltered tea and bringing it to the front of your marketing, or writing copy that really sounds like you, reach out. I'm always open for a conversation. And before you go, hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. And if you're feeling extra generous today, leave a review. It really helps this show to reach more people who need to hear it. Thank you so much for listening, honestly. And I will see you next time.