Latest / Six-Figure Chicks / Episode 23: From Comfort Zone to Open Road: Bold Moves with Bridget Stuart
Transcript
- speaker-0: Hey there, it's Mel C, and this is the Six Figure Chicks Podcast. Quick, powerful conversations with women making six figures and beyond. It's a real talk, big wins, and no fluff. Just 15 minutes to get inspired and get you on the go. Together we rise, together we change lives. Welcome back to Six Figure Chicks Podcast. I'm delighted to have with me Bridget, who is a fellow Six Figure Chicks author, soon to be international best-selling author. I guarantee it. So thank you, Bridget, so much for joining us. speaker-1: Mel, thank you so much for inviting me. I'm so thrilled to be here. speaker-0: Yes, and I'm so thrilled to share your story with the world, which is gonna be amazing. But before we let people into your ⁓ s more personal side with your story in the book, tell us about your awesomeness. What are you what are your ⁓ keeps you busy right now? speaker-1: ⁓ what keeps me busy? It is a very exciting time. So I have been in real estate for twenty-seven years. I have been a coach since two thousand nine. I was part-time coaching, full-time selling until about twenty fifteen, and then became a full-time coach from twenty fifteen until now. What's really exciting is last January I made the decision to leave the company I'd been coaching with for 10 years and launch my own coaching company. So strategic performance coaching is underway and it's very exciting. I am really enjoying the flexibility for the clients. And although I've always had a lot of control over my own schedule, it feels like I have even more ability to be creative in what I'm doing with work. I've launched a podcast. We just hit our six month birthday last week. And really connecting with people and professionals and experts all over the world is So thrilling. I could do that every day actually. And I also stay busy a traveler and an adventurer. So either climbing Mount Whitney or taking off in my R V, you know, just doing doing things and staying really active. speaker-0: Yeah, and that's amazing. You know, first off, I love your podcast. I was so ⁓ fortunate to be a guest on your podcast. Like it's just I love being on other people's platforms because you get to, you know, I personally get knowledge from you, but they're such great conversations. Yeah. And you know, you start talking about things that you don't regularly talk about and you're like, wow, okay, yeah. Like, and then that's when the time comes of being like to celebrate. Our success, because again, that's what six figure chicks is all about is being confident in yourself and open with your expertise, your success of like being like, I am okay with what I have done so far. And it's great to look back and go like, wow, I did that. And then it affords us all that we can enjoy now, like jumping in the RV and taking a trip. speaker-1: Right. speaker-0: Like, okay, so ⁓ I did not know about the RV, but tell our listeners something fun and or unexpected that not a lot of people know about you. speaker-1: ⁓ my goodness. ⁓ well, that might be one. So I am planning an upcoming YouTube channel launch with my RV. Her name is Prudence. She's a beautiful golden 30 foot Numar. And I'm gonna spend a week in all 50 states plus DC with my RV. And that's launching this summer. And I'm so excited about it that I it's hard to contain my excitement. The cool thing is, Mel, you're gonna get this 'cause you've done the same thing. Because of the work, the failures, the success, you know, getting to where I am today and having my own company, I'm gonna be able to work from the road and actually while I'm doing the trip, meet in person with my coaching clients and my coaches working at my company. I'm gonna be able to do live in-person podcast recordings. I'll be able to meet some of my former podcast guests in real life. So it's going to be a trip across the country where To me it's gonna have a feeling of community and connection and ⁓ I'm as you can tell very excited about it. So a lot of people very few people know about that. This is the first public place where I'm even making an announcement. But the production is like all of the behind the scenes work is probably two thirds of the way done. I in terms of that people always ask, Do I do it alone? Yes. Do I drive that myself? Yes. Did I change out the battery all by myself the other day? Yes. Right. So like it's gonna be I'm pretty excited about that. But I love how all my worlds are converging and it's going to manifest in this ⁓ in the speaker-0: Yeah, and that's a lot of planning. Like you know, ⁓ who speaker-1: Yeah, we've been planning for that ⁓ for a solid six months. ⁓ once we really fleshed out the idea and got it together. And no, I'm not going for the whole year straight. It's gonna be in chunks, you know, and then produced and launched. speaker-0: That is amazing. I cannot wait. So you guys heard it here first. speaker-1: That's right. Yeah. ⁓ speaker-0: Yeah. Okay, so let's get down to business. Yes. ⁓ I I always love talking to successful women ⁓ because we love sharing. Like we've been there, we've done that, and that's exactly what we do in you know, our our chapters, our journeys, our stories. So what's a big challenge that you've overcome and faced in business that you know other people do? And how did you take that leap and get past those roadblocks? speaker-1: A big challenge that I faced is it's the smothering delusion of comfort where you are. When I made that choice last January to step away from the coaching company I've been with for it was coming up on ten years, I truly thought I was gonna retire out of that company. I thought that it was going to allow me to I thought it would be the place where I was going to be able to grow, develop, expand, and be able to stay ⁓ a long time. Like almost nineteen fifties style. Like I thought I'm gonna retire out of there after twenty years. Now again, I was not an employee. I was a independent contractor because I'm a maverick and rogue by nature. so It was very difficult because I was making great money. I was a known entity. at times I had a wait list, ⁓ you know, people that wanted to get in my schedule. ⁓ there was this familiarity and a comfort. And yet when I looked at it, I woke up at one point towards the end of 2024 and I thought. I'm losing so slowly that it feels like winning. And is this truly where I will be able to accomplish my dreams and live my life by design in the next 10 years? ⁓ this was not a rash decision. It took place over months. I did speak with people at my organization, ⁓ you know, and it was December of ⁓ 2024, I did an exercise. It's a great exercise, by the way. It's the 10-year letter. Craig Zuber wrote the 10-year letter, and I started that exercise. And it's multiple questions that are clarifying questions you ask and write about yourself to get clarity. I by the time I finished the second question, it was simple. I said, ⁓ as comfortable as you are here. As good as the money is, as stable as it is, you will not achieve what you want to do. And I made that decision to step away. Not easy. It's not the first time I've done that. I did move from the East Coast where I was born and raised and had a huge business, a huge real estate sales business, and went to high school. Everyone knew me and my family. Moved to the West Coast in 2005. Did not know anyone to the point where I registered my son for school and I had to put a little they put a post you note because you have to give someone other than you as an emergency contact. I had to tell them I didn't know anyone and I'd come back when I met someone that could be my other person contact. So that was another big risk. I left corporate America. Big risk. So not to cloud the water, but the recent one. If you are comfortable and happy and it's great but it's not excellent, please reevaluate. speaker-0: No, I love that. Because also, especially like all those women that feel like they're stuck in their little small town, ⁓ that there's no way out or no way out of a job. It's scary to get out of your comfort zone. But yeah, so like what's one piece of advice that you would give to your younger self if you could talk to her today? speaker-1: Say no to a couple of those proposals. ⁓ that I'll get that one. Love yourself, forgive yourself. And be yourself. That it may be very simplistic. Sometimes when I look back at my former self, which I do with love now, there are times where I look back and I'm like, what were you doing? ⁓ but in the past it was hypercritical and it was, you know, like, I can't believe you did that, and not forgiving, you know, mistakes or what had happened in the past. And na now I do it more with a chuckle and some laughter. And you know what? That made you who you are today. But I would just tell my younger self, don't be afraid to be in your own skin and own who you are and live with your personality. Wear what you want, do what you want, take the adventures, say yes more often. Like that's not be afraid. speaker-0: Right. Like I love that. And I love saying yes more often. And you know, don't stop until you hear no. Until like they close that door in your face and say, you know, stop bothering me. Like, leave me alone. No is a hard no. Because people are so involved in their own life. And whatever happens, that's you know, it's chaotic. Everything's going on. But it's like People just lose sight of replies or follow ups and you know, simple yes or no. That's all we want. But then also to say, yeah, like keep asking for what you want. Don't be afraid and stand up for your beliefs. Because we're so inundated. Yeah. Everyone else and social media and Hollywood and we think we if we don't have it figured out by now, like what's the point? speaker-1: Take the big swings. speaker-0: And that's the time that you reach out to people and start asking questions. You know, like they're we love giving away information and helping others. speaker-1: Yes. And building community or connection, even if it's just connection, even if it's just two people and it's a connection, not a community. So valuable. speaker-0: Yeah, like I thank gosh every day for the power of written words because that has led me to so many great connections, ⁓ a wonderful community and to you. Like we live the same property. You know, it's just happen chance of like I probably have seen you before, but didn't see. speaker-1: It's so funny. That's right, yes. 'Cause when we're walking around we may say hello and glance, but we don't necessarily see the people, yeah. Yeah. speaker-0: Yeah, most definitely. Okay. So then, ⁓ like how has being an author in the six figure chicks book increased your visibility, credibility, or even your confidence in your own story? Cause I know you just got started, but have you seen any change in your persona yet? speaker-1: It really it has because when you stop to write about your ongoing journey, I will tell you like I ended up with five different stories. At one point I was like, All right, I can't steal from Dickens, but this seems like a tale of two women. But you know, it was just ⁓ It was interesting how when you're attempting to capture what has led you to where you are today, that it's as much about the failures and overcoming obstacles and accepting defeat on occasion, it's as much about that as it is about the wins. And in some ways, as I was writing, I started thinking. If I had to give a balance, it's even a little bit more about overcoming the challenges or accepting a defeat and picking yourself back up and still moving ahead. So it was very insightful writing about that. and it's funny because when I was started writing it, I'm like, ⁓ I'm writing this for everyone else who's gonna read it and it's gonna inspire someone and ooh, this will be fun. And then as I Finished and I'm still working on it, as you said. I realized this is actually beneficial for me. And to I feel even bolder now, which by the I'm known for being a little bit bold, right? So ⁓ I feel emboldened successful yeah from doing the exercise and the timing of it was great because News Flash launching the company in the last ⁓ 10 months it's less than 10 months but around that time frame there's been some things were easier some were harder some were less expensive some were more expensive like it's been a lot and So the timing of writing that and reflecting and now being so excited about what's coming in the next next in the future. I love looking through the windshield. I challenge myself every day. You're looking through the windshield. You're not looking behind you out the back, you know, right. Writing this and doing that reflection, I cannot even imagine how exciting the future is gonna be at writing this has fueled that energy. speaker-0: And I love that. And I love like looking through the windshield. Like, look forward. Don't look in the rearview mirror. Like you hear that a lot, right? Like stop looking backwards. Move forward. Keep going. And yeah, I love that. Being able to accept what happened in the past wasn't always perfect. And that's why we share the stories because we want the real, the raw, the messy stories. Our mess is our message. People want to gravitate towards real authentic people. Be like, Bridget, I want to know you and more about what you do because I know this about you now. Like, I never would have known that. And you know, those are the amazing parts of being able to write a chapter or ⁓ you know, be a part of a book anthology or write a book. You know, you could go on to after you do your world tour, you know, you could be like, Okay, I'm ready to take the leap to share even more. And Yeah, I love how healing and transformative the power of writing is. speaker-1: It really it really is. speaker-0: Yeah, most outline. Like, okay, so before we hop off, let's get some fun, more fun, bring it back. What's a great song that you like to listen to that gets you jazzed or pumped or ready for the day? speaker-1: ⁓ my goodness. Okay. So Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin. Absolutely. That is one of the anthems of my life. Love that. Roll with the Changes by Aryo Speedwagon. I'll tell you anyone, if you're feeling stuck or burdened by overwhelm or your to do list or what put that on. Let it play on repeat a couple times. You're gonna, you know, really ⁓ you know, get get into action. speaker-0: I love that. And I love being able to say, like, I asked that for most of our guests. There's a couple, like in the beginning, I was like, okay, let's talk about different things at the very end. But I was like, what about putting a song list together for six figure chicks of like our best song picks? And so you heard it first, like I'm gonna listen to that song after this interview and ⁓ get pumped and ready to take action on all those. Long lists of to do's. speaker-1: Good. Yes, yeah, make a YouTube playlist of the six figure chick theme songs. speaker-0: Yeah. ⁓ speaker-1: What's your song? speaker-0: Well, ⁓ my song is ⁓ confidence and demi lavato. speaker-1: I will listen to that one. speaker-0: Yeah, I put it on and it's just like right from the start, it's got that up h tempo beats and like you just wanna walk into a room with like three inch heels. I don't wear those, but like if I did I w speaker-1: You would. Yes. You can envision three inch heels with your one inch kitten. Yeah. Yeah. speaker-0: Right? Like, yes, I love that. Okay, so you know, we will share in the podcast notes of how to get a hold of you, but like what's one simple way, the best way to get a hold of you online to speaker-1: You can go to theinterestate.com. I have a YouTube channel, The Inter Estate, with Bridget Stewart. ⁓ and we do track all comments and inquiries there. ⁓ Bridget Stewart.com. So it's I've tried to make it very easy. After being in real estate for 27 years, most realtors know how to like be easily discoverable. So they should be able to do it. Stewart, that can be confusing. S T U A R T. Yeah. I have a first name and a last name that each can be spelled about four or five different ways. So I'd love to know how much time in my life has been spent spelling both names. ⁓ my gosh. speaker-0: Thank you, Bridget. And again, we will share all of your digital links for everyone to connect with you, listen to your podcast, join your community, and ⁓ you know, get ready to join you on the road. speaker-1: Road. I know. It's gonna be very fun. My dog is going with me, five pound mini poo. speaker-0: Yeah and is your son gonna join you? speaker-1: He'll be there for part of it. He will be doing the video editing and a lot of the YouTube channel management, but pretty excited. speaker-0: I can't wait. And it's gonna be here before you know it. Yeah. All right. Thanks so much, Bridget, for joining us. Until next time. Yeah, I love it. And I love you so much. And I can't wait to share your story with the world because together we rise and together we change lives. speaker-1: Yes. Yeah. Yes. Thank you so much. speaker-0: Thanks.