Latest / The Favourite Self Podcast / 11. Anna Lozano on the Messy Middle, Raising Your Frequency, and Building a Business in Alignment

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11. Anna Lozano on the Messy Middle, Raising Your Frequency, and Building a Business in Alignment · The Favourite Self Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: I will never ever go back to the old version of me that just did to do.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's my human being so attached to a goal, dream, desire.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I still have those goals, dreams, and desires.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: But the energetic piece is like, how do I want to get there?
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Favorite Self Podcast.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: I like to think of it not as your future self or your best self, but your favorite self.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: My favorite self that just makes me feel the truest version of me.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: What lights your favorite self on fire?
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Carly Ottaway, founder, author, storyteller, and a woman who learned that building a successful life means nothing if it doesn't feel like yours.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: This podcast is for women who are building businesses, raising families, leading movements, and asking themselves, is this it or is there more available to me?
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: This is your invitation to come back to yourself.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Let's dig in.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: I cannot wait for you to hear today's episode.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Today I am so excited to be sitting down with Anna Lozano, a serial entrepreneur, brand builder, and someone who has truly walked the full spectrum of entrepreneurship.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: With over 16 years of experience, Anna has launched, scaled, and exited purpose-driven companies, including co-founding Love Powered Co., which exited in 2022.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: She's now the founder of Maya Pickleball, host of the Prosperity Playground podcast, and the curator of immersive retreats for female founders in beautiful Mexico.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: So if you've ever felt like you are in a transition and you're craving more alignment, or maybe you're building something big, but you want it to feel better along the way, this one is for you.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I have someone that's so, so special for you today.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: This is truly a dream podcast guest that I imagine having on this podcast and someone that I've looked up to in this space for so long, especially as a podcast host herself, but also as an incredible founder and mom and business owner and mentor.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I know she's gonna drop so many gold nuggets.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: This is gonna be the kind of episode you're gonna want to listen to on repeat.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, Wolzano.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so excited to have you here.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, no pressure, Carly.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: No pressure.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: You're so sweet.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: And honestly, it was like one of the easiest yeses.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: You're like, oh, you know, I'd love to have you on the show.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, yeah, done.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Easy.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Where's the booking link?
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: You're amazing.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: You're truly just one of the most generous entrepreneurs.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel so lucky to be able to, you know, have connected with you so much and have our nightcaps before events and our late night chats.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: And we've had so many good conversations.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: So to be able to bring that to the podcast, I'm just so pumped.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: I loved our nightcap.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like this, okay, mind you, nightcap with like vitamin C and sparkling water.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm like, this is the conversation we're gonna bring to the table today.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: The ones that we have behind closed doors, masks off, no, you know, proving, no permission.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, let's just go raw, real, and deep to support your audience.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yay, let's dive right in.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: I really want to actually start in the present because we're gonna go back, we're gonna rewind, but I really want to start actually with here right now because you're in such an incredible season and I'm getting to watch it all unfold.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm just so curious from kind of your own perspective and how you would explain how are you currently leading in your life and business in this season?
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: And what does alignment actually look like for you right now?
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: I just took like a big deep exhale because I have so much gratitude for I might cry.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, Carly.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, for the space that I'm in right now, because I have I'm just coming off like three really hard years, and you know, I've been an entrepreneur for 17 years and went through a company exit in 2022 and then entered what I call the messy middle, which I really hold deep gratitude for.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: But who I am today on the other side of that journey, on the other side of that experience is like, like seriously, I have tears in my eyes.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: My voice is like cracking.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I just so much gratitude because it's those hardships, it's those, you know, mountains, it's those seasons where you do not know, like your human does not know what the future is gonna look like that really create the next iteration, that create the next version that we get to step into.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: And so when you and I met, I feel like it kind of, if I put air quotes, it's like I felt like I'm back.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if if you've known me for the last two, almost two decades of being in this entrepreneurial space, you would be like, okay, this is the Anna that we knew and loved.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's not like the other version was bad or anything other than who I truly am innately, but it was a really hard season because for someone, and and speaking to all entrepreneurs, it's like when you're walking around without a vision, when you're walking around without a purpose, when you're walking around with a lack of clarity for women like us who know that we are devoted to being entrepreneurs, we're devoted to creating expansion and transformation through whatever the means is, whether it's a service, a product, um, a brick and mortar, whatever the vehicle, it doesn't matter.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: But we know that we're here to bring things to life for humanity's greatest expansion.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: When that is, you know, whether it's taken away from you, whether you've chosen to enter a new chapter, it's just the most, it's really hard.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: And like it's truly an and conversation.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: Now being on the other side, I get to now be this version of me who's done the work, who's been in the uncomfortable, who didn't rush to the next thing.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: And that holds so much wisdom and it holds so much depth.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: And like I've already had a bazillion goosebumps and we're just like in the intro.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, I get it.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: I see it, and it's part of the journey, and it's fucking hard.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're in the messy middle, like I see you, I feel you, and it's for your greatest good.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's for the highest expansion, it's for the highest purpose and mission and vision.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, yes.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: I have goosebones too.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's so beautiful.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: I just love and admire so much the way that you show up so real and raw and have shared your journey through that messy middle, that uncertainty, and become such incredible proof of possibility.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: You already were, and just the realness that you show up with, and just reminding us that, you know, we hit these ebbs and flows throughout it all, and they're all teaching us so much, and there's so much wisdom in sitting in that and actually feeling it.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I really want to take us back now, especially for any listeners who maybe don't know your story as well.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if you don't, then you're missing out and you need to go find Anna immediately.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: But take us back to building Love Powered Co.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to talk about like what did success look like for you in that season?
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's so, it's so fascinating because when you have space for contemplation, like you get to, you know, if I want to use a very logical term, like analyze everything.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: And what I know to be true is the mission and the purpose and the vision of the brand always held such a powerful frequency because when my co-founder and I, this was 2016, we were sitting in my basement in Oakville, Ontario, and I gotta like pause here.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: This is why it's been so beautiful to connect with um Christina's high vibe community, yourself, who I met through the community, because it feels like this full circle moment.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like I built Love Power to Co.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: from Burlington, Oakville area.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: And when we left the area in 2020 and headed west, I felt like there was not this like conclusion.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it still felt like energetically like an open door.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: And so through a client, I was actually introduced to high vibe women who went to an event about two years ago.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: And she said, you know, Anna, this is your community.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like you need to go to this event.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: That was March when you were on stage.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's the event that she was at.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: And so six months later, I was at the October event, and it was nostalgic, and it was just such an opportunity for anything that needed to recalibrate around this whole story to really come back into alignment just for my own processing.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: And it felt like a full closure, and it brought so many beautiful connections and community and opportunities being in that space.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so I feel like I needed to touch ground in Burlington again.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: And it's so wonderful that it came through this community.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: So that was just an aside.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: So 2016, we're sitting in my basement in Oakville, Ontario, and I was like, I was speaking to my co-founder, who obviously at the time wasn't my co-founder.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, what if we created something?
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what could we create that would be about mindfulness, that would be about personal growth and expansion?
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: What if we created it for kids?
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: My little one at the time was nine months old, and both her and I had such a deep story around transformation with affirmations and our own personal growth journeys and really using this like conscious awareness and conscious thought to create your success, to create your desires, to create your future.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, we had different versions of this idea that then became love-powered co, as so many people know it, that became physical affirmations and mindfulness tools to power the next generation of mindful leaders, our children, because we said, you know, we're doing all this work in our 30s to literally unfuck ourselves.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: What if we raised our children on these principles?
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: And see, like goosebumps again.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like that mission that we set out to create through a company that had physical products was so powerful.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: It was so much greater than ourselves.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: And so that was always the driver, what I just described.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: So then we went on to create a physical product, which from idea to launch literally was nine months like a full-term pregnancy.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: And we launched in September, August 2017.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's when the product came to life.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: We brought it uh to the world through Kickstarter.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, business goals, we had three big business goals.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: One of them was to be at Indigo across Canada.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: The next one was to have a partnership with Gillian Harris because Gillian Harris, to this day, when you look at physical product businesses, you know, literally anything she touches turns to gold.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: And like so much gratitude for her and the influence that she has on small businesses across Canada.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: And she's really used that platform that she has so powerfully and so generously.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: And the third big business goal was to have a company exit.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: And there was literally no timing attached to any of these dreams, any of these desires.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: But we got to work.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, again, hindsight 2020, I can see that every single action that we took, every single strategy that we implemented really was fueled by this powerful frequency to power the next generation of mindful leaders.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: And so kind of when I look back, I'm like, no fucking kidding, it was successful.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like the mission was greater than ourselves.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: And so if I tie that back to my void post-exit, the struggle was because there was no vision.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like, and now you can see everything so clearly.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: And so what did success look like?
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: Well, to us, the success metric was how many homes around the world are using these products?
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: And to this day, we have testimonials, and especially being on stages over the last couple of years, it's like I know who you are because I have the product in your home in our home.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: We use this product.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, so high vibe women March 2026 that were just coming off of Lexi from Wacon, who just had an exit, you know, she's like, I know exactly who you are.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: We've been using this product since you guys launched because she is she has like four little ones.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: And uh she was sharing with her daughter who is there with us.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: So she's like, I remember the bunny, I remember the cards.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: And so that was a success metric.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: And it was like, and it was speed to market, like how quickly can we have these products used in homes around the world?
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Just the power of a clear and strong and powerful mission and vision and just how far that can take you.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I'd love to dive into how you led there at that time.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Did you feel like you articulated the same way around the frequency of it, or did that come later as kind of reflecting on it?
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: And did you feel like you were like more strategic or intuitive?
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: How did, you know, these big manifestations unfold for you?
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: And can you share a little bit about your process and really bringing that vision to life?
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: Such a great question.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_01: I feel, you know, words like frequency and vibration, I feel like were phase two.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: And when I say words, like it's embodiment, right?
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: But the words that we speak really is an embodiment of who I am.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like that was phase two of personal growth.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I started in the world of personal development in 2010.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: I started with the works of Bob Proctor and, you know, you can create your own reality, you can create your own money belief systems.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of subconscious reprogramming that had to happen.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I was raised Polish immigrant and working hard really was engraved deeply into my cells.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: And so even to this day, it's really being aware of like, when am I overworking in order to prove myself?
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's been really a big journey over the last 17 years of reprogramming.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: But it's it was always there.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like the conscious awareness was there because there was a deep devotion to personal growth.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: But it all started with mindset work.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so it was like conscious thoughts, conscious words.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, when I look at frequency and energy now, is like we're all emitting a vibration, we're all frequency and energy.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: And so if we can tap into our own guidance system, which is our emotions, then we can actually kind of refine and fine-tune the consciously the vibration that we're putting out into the world.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: But at that time, like that, that wasn't in the conscious awareness, but there was a lot of personal growth work.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so intuition was always a part of the strategy.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's like when when I look at the both, it's always been a dance between intuition and strategy.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: So let me give you a couple of examples.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the three goals that I mentioned at the beginning, they were all achieved.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: But if we break them down, number one, and this is like where being really honest about timing, like there was no attachment.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: So when we look at the energy of attachment, it actually moves us out of abundance and possibility into lack.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: And so anytime we attach ourselves to something that we really, really want, it's a fine line between being in this frequency energy of co-creation and manifestation and really magnetizing your dreams and desires really quickly into your life, or moving into lack frequency because you're kind of like this needy girlfriend-boyfriend energy.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you're like, I really need this, I really want this.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: You connect with lack.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: And when you connect with lack, you actually push that desire away.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not that it's not going to become your reality.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's just now you're playing with timing and you're actually pushing it away further and further away.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: And so one thing that we did really well is we set out these, we had the vision, then we broke it down into, you know, three main goals.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, we had many, many other goals, but those were like three big ones.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: And then there energetically, there wasn't this like pressure and attachment.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, let's take the next steps forward and grow this company.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: So a few things, if we break it down strategy-wise, that we did really well.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: Number one is building relationships from the onset.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: So, because Gillian and a collaboration with Jillian was a top goal, the first thing that we did is we began building that relationship.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: So, as soon as our first products came in after our Kickstarter campaign, one of the first people that we gifted was Jillian Harris.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: When Gillian Harris hosted an event, because she was always she was also in the stage of hosting those beautiful events in Toronto.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we would go to the events.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: We would take every single possibility and an opportunity to network and connect with her and other influencers who we wanted to build relationships with.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: Because remember, we're also really much so in the era of the influencer, and influencer gifting was a big part of our strategy.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: We would jump on that opportunity.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: So we would be at the events, we would be the cheerleaders, we would be supporters, and we started building and cultivating and nurturing those relationships from day one.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: So then, so this is okay, we're looking 2017, the collaboration launched 2021.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: So four years later, the big goal was realized, right?
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: So it's looking at are you cultivating, nurturing, and building relationships authentically that may lead to a bigger goal, dream, and desire that you hold.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: The second thing that we did strategically was we wanted to be everywhere.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: And this is something that I said to my co-founder early on is I'm like, I want people to turn around and be like, they're at indigo, they're at this small bookstore, they're on this stage, they're on this podcast, they're literally everywhere.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: And timing played a beautiful part in this because when we launched again 2017, affirmations, mindfulness, you know, Louise Hay is like the godmother of affirmations, her stuff was out there, but everything was really like primary colors, bright, eccentric.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: We wanted to curate something that was so beautiful that every woman, everyone who loves design, loves beauty, you know, loves pretty things, would purchase it, put it on her coffee table next to her bed.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: And then, of course, the transformation began when she opened the product and started using it with her for herself and her children.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: But it was really early onset in the mindfulness space growing.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_01: So we knew that quick to market, we had to be everywhere.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so we were at doing tables at pottery barn.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: We were at every event we could be at, we could be on every podcast and every stage that would have us.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: And so those opportunities over time consistently brought the visibility that we really desired to generate and create.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: So those were two really big things: community building and being everywhere.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: So visibility through consistency.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: And then, of course, e-commerce, retail partnerships, you know, those were other things that we had to grow over time.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: But I would say those were the key things.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: So helpful and so important.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I'd love to hear, I think the attachment piece is so crucial.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I love the way you articulated that and like really ultimately like having the clear vision, but then letting control let letting go of control of the how, you know, still taking the action towards the vision, but I love letting go of the timeline of it.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's so important.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, it's it's where a lot of the attachment definitely can be rooted.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: Can you share reflecting back either at that time or even in times since then?
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: Were there times when you found yourself slipping back into that attachment style or like are seasons where things felt like you were slipping into scarcity?
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: And how did you navigate that and pull yourself back into the energetics of abundance and overflow?
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: Can you share that?
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, it's such a good question because I think it's important to disclaim here like we're all having a human experience.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's like we have this beautiful energetic part of us that is so powerful.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I love what you call it.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: You call it your favorite self, right?
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: For me, I call it obviously the name of the podcast, but I call it my higher self.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: And and this is the self that is the energetic self of us that has all the things.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: And she is the one that is connected to God, connected to source, connected to creation.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: And we have access to her at all times, but through our human experience, we sometimes disconnect, we oftentimes forget.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: And this is when we go into things like overworking and pushing and proving.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: And this is the thing where I also like to disclaim is like it's a dance.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: And when you're connected to your energetics and you're connected to your intuition and you're connected to your favorite self and your higher self, it's not that you're not doing because there's so much, you know, chatter online.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, oh, the women talking about energetics.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, but it it what I'm saying is it's an and conversation.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: But here's where I no longer like I will never ever go back to the old version of me that just did to do, that did to make happen, to force, to push, to hustle, because that's my human.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: That's my human being so attached to a goal, dream, desire.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: Now I still have those goals, dreams, and desires.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: But the energetic piece is like, how do I want to get there?
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: How do I want it to feel?
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: Because I've done it the other way.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: And sure, it happens because I'm a powerful fucking creator.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: I can make shit happen just like you, just like the women listening to the podcast.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: But how does it feel on the other side?
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: And that was like over the last few years, that has become also my biggest metric is like, how do I want it to feel?
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_01: I know that I'll get to the end goal, that or something better.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: Because again, when you're so connected to your higher self and the creator, then there may be an even better outcome to the very thing that you're desiring.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: But how are we going to get there?
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: Not not how in terms of strategy, but how is it going to feel?
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: Because what I realized in my earlier years as an entrepreneur is I got the goals, but I was already chasing the next goals.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I never paused to enjoy, I never paused to celebrate.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: And when I looked back, I was like, the sacrifices that I made were just too much.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_01: Like they just weren't worth it, especially when I became a mom.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: The time away from the girls, the lack of presence because my head was somewhere else chasing some goal.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's now my success metric is like, how does it feel?
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: Because trust me, I'm going to create a next billion-dollar brand.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: I'm on the mission, but it's going to feel fucking amazing.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: So incredible.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I love that mantra, this or something better.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: And it's one that I like to live by too.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like there's so many examples of that.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm curious if anything comes to mind that you could share in your own journey.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: When did you maybe have a certain kind of vision that was maybe part of your journey, like on the way to the big vision that didn't turn out the way that you wanted to?
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: Or when did you, you know, when was that feeling of failure hit or just something that maybe changed your path and then led you actually to something better?
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have any examples that you can share?
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure you do, if if they're maybe not top of mind.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: Such a good question.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's also like for me, failure is it's just part of the journey, part of the process.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like as founders, entrepreneurs, the biggest unexpected, like, what the fuck is happening moment for all of us was COVID, right?
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: It was like none of us could have ever predicted something like that to impact our lives and our businesses.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I think a lot was revealed throughout those years, is like, how did we navigate it in our lives and in our business?
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: But if we're focusing specifically on business, it's like, you know, this is so insane now looking back.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_01: In March 2020, we had an opportunity, which I felt like was gonna be, and again, this is part ego too.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: Now speaking it out loud, is like there was actually an attachment to this opportunity where in our minds we're like, this could be the opportunity.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: This could be the next thing that blows up this company in the best way possible.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_01: So we were invited to actually be headliners next to Gabby Bernstein, Lisa Nichols, and ourselves.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_01: So we were the headliners, the three of us were the keynote speakers for this event that was going to be in Canada, in Toronto, and it was gonna be huge, like the event for women entrepreneurs in Canada.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: And so we saw it as a ginormous, obviously, visibility opportunity to be next to Gabby Bernstein, who's the leader in the space that we're in, but also we were going to host an affirmation activation.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: We were gonna have a boutique.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: So it was gonna be an incredible, incredible opportunity.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: And Feb 2020, my co-founder and I were speaking at another event next to the Birds Papaya in Vancouver.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember so vividly, we were just getting off a ferry because we went to Seasheltz to visit my brother, and we're getting off the ferry, and I got a call from the host of this event.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: And she's like, Anna, I am so sorry.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: Gabby Bernstein just canceled.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_01: There's too much uncertainty with this pandemic.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: Because remember, February 2020, things were already stirring.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: This event was March 7th.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: And she's like, I'm gonna have to cancel it.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_01: So the host lost tens and thousands, if not six figures of investment into this event.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone lost the opportunity to obviously be in the room for us to be on the stage.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it was it was loss.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_01: I can see now there was attachment to it.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: There was a story created around it of how big this was going to be.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_01: And then enter the pandemic.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: So March, about mid mid-March 2020, we completely sell out of inventory.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_01: Our manufacturers in China are now not available.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: They're not available to restock.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's like as a founder, like what do you do?
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: You have a product-based business, you have no stock.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: And when we look back at the vision and the mission, it was to power the next generation of mindful leaders.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: We're now in a global pandemic.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_01: People need this product.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: And so, what do founders do?
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we sit back and pause and pray.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, what is the next move?
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: And so we actually launched a campaign to gift our digital version of the affirmations because we said if we don't have any product to sell, one were is we're going to promote our retail partners.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: So at that time, Indigo had stock.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: But two is we want the product, whether it, you know, even if it's PDF version, we want the product in the hands of as many people as possible.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_01: So we ended up gifting about$30,000 worth worth of digital products around the world so people could print it out and use the product in their home.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's like quick on your feet, you know, a loss can become an opportunity, but you have to continue staying connected to that vision because we see now so many businesses had to close down.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe they weren't quick to pivot, maybe they just couldn't.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: And looking back, it's like the resilience that it takes to be an entrepreneur is truly a gift.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: And this is why I always say I'm like, what a gift that we get to be founders, entrepreneurs, creators.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_01: And we can't take this gift lightly.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like we were put in these seats for a reason.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: And I do believe it is an inspiration for people who are contemplating entrepreneurship, but also people who are early on in the game is like, this is just part of the journey.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_01: Failure is part of the process.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: And every single failed opportunity opens another door if you are open to it, because it can take you out.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_01: COVID could have taken all of us out, but there's so many of us that actually thrived through that period because of resilience, adaptability, and quick on our feet pivots in the business.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's so relative to, you know, we're we're in another unprecedented time with the age of AI and just being on the tip of the iceberg.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: And it seems kind of crazy that like it feels like we just got out of the pandemic times and now we're heading into this other time of massive change, but also that is so empowering and just like remembering that, you know, it forces us to get scrappy again and get creative and think differently and exactly like have that agility and then of course build the resilience.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's so incredible.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I'd love to then pivot this into the conversation around your exit and really what I'm more interested in talking about because you had, I mean, such a successful exit, so amazing and incredible.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: And then what?
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_00: What was on the other side of that?
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_00: And tell me about that identity shift and you know, navigating, stepping away from something that was so successful that checked all the boxes and more that you envisioned for this business.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then what's it like to be on the other side of that?
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's fascinating because I don't think we have these conversations as well.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_01: What I'm realizing through my founder conversations on my podcast is the Americans, you know, like the conversation of exit is a very mainstream conversation amongst the Americans.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_01: With us Canadians, it's like we're a little bit more reserved.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_01: I've realized now that there's different perspectives around an exit.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like for me, I always looked up to, you know, a Sarah Blakely or a Jamie Kern Lima who had these like billion-dollar exits.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: And for me, as a product founder, this was like, wow, this is the dream.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: This is a goal.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: No disclaimer, this was not a billion-dollar exit.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_01: I would love to have one of those one day.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_01: But it's like I saw it as a positive thing is you create something, you scale something that then someone wants to purchase.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: But I realized like there's different perspectives around this in the Canadian market.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_01: So when we launched our Jilly Box collaborations in September 2021, this is where we started the conversation.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_01: So we actually curated a product from scratch with her team, which was the Everything Journal.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: And it was a brand new product.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_01: And it wasn't like a journal with blank pages.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_01: Every single page was uniquely curated, intentional.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so we had an opportunity to create 16,000 of these products for this collaboration.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_01: And to this day, people still tell us and share with us that they use the product.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_01: But we knew that if we were going to go for an exit, it had to be at a high, right?
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_01: The company had visibility, it had the numbers in place.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so we started the conversations.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_01: We actually started with a business broker.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_01: And the business broker brought potential buyers to the table, but this is where the intuition and the energetics and just that alignment really kicked in is we just didn't feel that there was a right fit.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_01: There was a lot of opportunities where, you know, people just they come in and want to take something and then they create it into something that initially was not intended or envisioned by us.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so we really wanted the company to live on.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_01: From the day that we started the conversations with possible buyers, it was nine months again until the sale closed, which was insane.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: Now, the company was purchased by someone in your community.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, it this has also been such an interesting journey because me and Stacey are very close.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_01: She's actually doing the financials for my next startup.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: And both of us have the same vision of this product to continue to live on, whether it's through her or through a next buyer, we want the product to live on.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's interesting because like that story is to be determined.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm so excited to see what unfolds through that.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_01: But for me, you know, the exit on paper happened December 2022.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's this like and conversation of celebration and grief.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_01: You now have built something for six years where you have attached your entire, entire identity to it, your family's identity to it, right?
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_01: Maya was nine months old.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_01: She now just turned 10 when this product was an idea.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_01: When we launched 2017, August, September 2017, I was I found out I was pregnant with my second one.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_01: And so when Sophie was born, like I have her and I'm holding her, and we have like inventory boxes coming in, right?
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like it was just a part of who we were.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_01: My husband was the digital marketing um part of the business.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_01: And so it was who we were.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_01: And you don't realize this until you've experienced it because you think it's a high, it's a celebration, there's an exit, but then it's like I step back and I was like, who am I?
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_01: And that's really where that messy middle, that void began.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_01: A few months, you know, you take a few months to travel and celebrate and enjoy, but then I step back and I was like, now what?
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_01: And so now what the marketplace dictated my next steps.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it was very natural to move into a business coach role because I've now gone through it and not just once.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_01: This was the second company that I built.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's like the business coaching was just a natural evolution.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_01: But what I realized now is like there was never a vision attached to it.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_01: It was coming from a space of I want to serve other founders because of my experience, because of what I've gone through.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_01: But there was never a vision of like, I'm gonna, you know, create a business coaching empire or go through certain certifications and trainings to be a business coach.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: It was just experience led.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_01: And that was the hard part, is again goes back to the vision.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_01: And so I'm a generator in human design.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_01: I respond.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I responded to the marketplace, but over the next months and years, I was like, wow, there is no vision attached to this.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_01: And so I pulled back and I really just devoted myself.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_01: In the meantime, we decided to come to Mexico for half the year.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_01: So we're between Mexico and Kelowna, British Columbia, and really devoted myself to my inner world.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, what started happening over the time was like the stress bucket was overloading.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_01: And the stress bucket is oftentimes just for for many of us is self-inflicted.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_01: I was stressed out because I didn't have a vision.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_01: I was stressed out because I didn't have a purpose.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_01: And then my body started screaming at me.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_01: So I started getting these like hives.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_01: You and I had this conversation.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe we can talk about that next.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so I would have these outbreaks.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_01: And you know what, first they would come every few months, but then they started coming fast and furious.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I would have these itchy bumps all over my body, and that was my sign.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know, my body was like, you didn't listen to the whispers.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_01: Now we're screaming at you.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I had to pull everything back and I focused on my inner world.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_01: And that looked like trying and testing different modalities.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_01: I did hypnotherapy.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: I started meditation, which truly was for me the very thing that allowed me to re-work and re-regulate my nervous system.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_01: The interesting thing here was in the not doing, because things would happen when I was not doing.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_01: That was the discomfort.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_01: Because what I had known for my entire life, 40 years, was doing, was making happen, was working, was hustling.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_01: And so when I wasn't doing, that's when my stress buckets started overflowing.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_01: Isn't that crazy?
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's like it's just the wildest thing.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_01: And so for me, as someone who said, I don't meditate, I'm a generator, I have too much energy.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_01: Meditation changed my life.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_01: And it started with guided meditations with Dr.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_01: Joe Dispenza.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_01: Now it's actually I've cleared all the noise, all the guided.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's me sitting with me, sitting with my higher self, sitting with God, and literally saying, like, God, I am creating this spaciousness for you to show me what it is that I need to see, for you to tell me what it is that I need to hear.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's cultivating intentionally this spaciousness to be able to receive first and foremost divine guidance.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_01: And then also receiving from community, from women, from friends, because throughout those years, like sisterhood wounds came up, you know, all these things were brought up to the surface for healing and clearing.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_01: And so I tried it all, I tested it all, but I can say that, you know, the next vision did drop in through meditation.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_01: I can also say that pickleball, you know, don't want to be dramatic, but like saved my life.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_01: It brought me that I'm naturally competitive, but it brought me an outlet for this energy to be extended and expanded.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_01: It brought me community.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_01: It brought me, you know, this thing that now me, my husband and I get to do together.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_01: And it brought me the next vision of the thing that I want to build.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I know so many women in their 40s, like the conversations that I have where pickleball changed my life is insane.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I'll tell you, Carly, I questioned it for months.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I was actually mentoring uh uh in a group setting in a private setting with uh with Neil Donald Walsh of conversations with God.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_01: And I said to him, I said, This dropped in, but I'm like, pickleball, like is I've always been someone who wants to create expansion and elevation for humans, but pickleball, can I actually do this through pickleball?
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_01: And he's like, Are you kidding me?
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_01: Of course.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, you're getting people to move, you're bringing people into community, you're bringing people into presence because when you're on the court, you're not thinking about your to-do list, you're not checking things off because you're in movement, you're in motion.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_01: So when he said that to me, I was like, okay, because I thought it was quite, I'm like, how am I gonna create that bigger vision and purpose through a sport?
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_01: But I guess you know, it's a no-brainer, Carly.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my god.
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_00: I I'm excited to step into my pickleball era.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks to you.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_00: You're inspiring me, and I'm excited to try it out.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_00: I need to actually make it happen.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_00: We need to go together.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_00: We have to go together.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_00: This is it.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_00: I have so many questions.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_00: We we need to talk about the hives, and I want to get into that.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_00: And for me, so I've I've shared my journey of my hives came when I was getting ready to publish my book.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_00: And it was literally like it was actually from the March High Vibe Women event.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_00: It was the first time that I said out loud to kind of to a room of strangers that I was publishing my book.
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_00: And then I it I broke out into hives for the first time like the next night that I after I got home.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I knew it was I knew like it was not something external.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_00: I knew it was internal, but I went through the motions, you know, did all the things allergy testing, all the creams, all the stare.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, got it.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_00: Making all my products and everything.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_00: And then I was same.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_00: I leaned so much on my inner work and and meditation is the same for me.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_00: I it's been so transformative for me, and that's also where I get my best downloads.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like I'm going through a big part of that right now, which is so exciting.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I feel like I had I had a breakthrough and it was six months for me, like every night that they would show up and then they just cleared and just went away.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_00: I shared the story actually on the podcast and uh, you know, why I think that came to be.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_00: But for me, I I do believe a lot of it was at just creating that safety in my body in that's in that season of my life.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm curious right away, I'm thinking for you, like, do you think it had anything to do with not to put words in your mouth or but you know, did did it feel like it was a safety piece for you?
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_00: For me, I'm wondering about the safety of the not doing.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and actually like how your worth was tied to that.
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_01: That's exactly what it was, because all that my body, my nervous system, my mind had known was the doing.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_01: And so when you shake that, and now there's no doing, there's no like action towards a vision, that for me was the most uncomfortable thing in the world, which created a lack of safety in my body, which caused the the breakouts.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_01: And so then you tie it to the stress because then mentally we're stressed out, and obviously internally we're stressed out, and then it compounds over time because you're like, okay, well, I'm not doing creating, moving towards something.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, when you continue over time to be in this space, it creates more stress and it creates more anxiety and it creates more uncertainty and it creates more lack of safety.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so absolutely, because I can tell you, I've also not had a breakout for months, and and I need to look back because I have an album in my photos of the breakouts, and those have dates on it.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I need to see when my last one was, but it was a long time ago.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_01: Now, also hindsight 2020, though, I can see throughout my 20s and 30s, I did have these mild breakouts, but they were far and wide in between.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_01: It would be like little bumps on my thumb once a year.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_01: But they were a part of me, but this was absolutely insane.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_01: And so it it's just that like our we are wired for survival.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_01: And so anything that messes with our safety, uh all of us can react differently.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_01: But clearly for you and I, it was physical symptoms that started to appear.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, we we don't listen to the whispers, we don't, we don't listen to the nudges.
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_01: And then it it's full, it's when we get to the full on screaming, this is where we lead to disease.
• 43:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like thankfully for us, it was these breakouts of.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_01: Hives that were itchy and not something else.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_01: But all of this, again, hindsight 2020 was self-inflicted.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_01: And so I just am such a huge advocate now for women.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I do have to share this too.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_01: I connected with someone after High Vibe Women where I did the keynote in October.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, what did you think about my keynote?
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_01: And she said, it gave me anxiety.
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, well, thank you so much for sharing because I was you in my 30s.
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I did not take pause moments to breathe.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I would say 20s and 30s.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_01: Sitting down to breathe was the least productive thing in my mind.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_01: Sitting down and meditating was also the least effective and productive thing.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so I'm like, I like thank you for sharing.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_01: I understand you.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm also not here to teach you anything.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm here just to be a mirror.
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I just hope that this can become a part of everyone's strategy, whether it is meditation or pauses or breathing.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like it actually is the most productive thing that you can do.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_01: Because if you allow yourself to receive the downloads, to receive the guidance from creator, to receive intuition, like whatever you want to call it, insight, whatever language you use, those things that come through, one, are for you.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like they're intentionally intended for you.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_01: Two is strategically speaking, they will be so much more effective and productive and successful than anything you in your human mind can think of and create.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_01: So it actually is a brilliant strategy.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_01: But I also like I do also believe everyone needs to go through their process and through their journey.
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_01: And so all I can say to a comment like that is thank you for sharing because I was you.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we all we're all such powerful mirrors for each other.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_00: And our bodies are mirroring back, right?
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_00: Our skin is such a powerful mirror, mirroring back areas that need attention.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's really important to acknowledge, you know, especially actually in human design, because your designs to respond, mine too, have a manny gen.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, it's taken me a long time to really train the muscle and have to have the discernment between when that ping or download comes through that's so aligned and I take action on that, which now is just such an exciting dance when that happens and I'm like dancing with the universe.
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, well, I know this is going to lead somewhere good.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_00: It might be two weeks from now, it might be six months, it might be six years, but trusting in that and having the, you know, the receipts to show me that because I've built that muscle.
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_00: But for a lot of people that maybe aren't at that stage or don't haven't had that experience yet, can you walk through just how you discern between the fear and the misalignment?
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think when I think of my hives, I'm like, some people could hear that story and think my hives were a sign that I shouldn't continue.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_00: I should just stick this book in a drawer.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_00: There's something that my body's telling me to stop, you know, like with this flare-up.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's not ever how I felt.
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so I was able to navigate that.
• 47:25
  SPEAKER_00: What I'm so curious from your perspective, like, what are your processes with that?
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_00: And if you could share it.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_01: So good.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_01: And just to speak on your hives, too.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I feel like it, and listen, and since you and I have been sharing the hive story, so many women have come up and been like, I've also gone through this.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's it's a con it's a powerful conversation and it's also a permission-granting conversation.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_01: I just I would love for you to finish the thought.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_01: So your hives were your expansion.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_01: So what?
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_01: So you made this big declaration, and then basically your nervous system froze and was like, holy shit, this doesn't feel like safety.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_01: This feels so big.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_01: So you started going through the motions and writing the book.
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_01: And you said they went away when you submitted the book.
• 48:13
  SPEAKER_00: So they went away shortly after I got my first feedback from early readers.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 48:20
  SPEAKER_00: So it felt like they came when there was so much unknown.
• 48:23
  SPEAKER_00: I knew I was well into the journey, but I was, you know, on the path to publishing now and actually putting my story out there and just feeling so vulnerable in that and the visibility of that and being seen in that way.
• 48:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I did a lot of work on on like the internal validation.
• 48:36
  SPEAKER_00: I I was at the point where I believed and I knew my story was powerful and that it needed to be shared and it would impact the people I wanted it to impact, but I didn't have proof of that yet.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_01: So when I got that that didn't feel like safety, the proof, the lack of proof was the was creating the uncertainty and the lack of safety.
• 48:55
  SPEAKER_00: Because no one had read it, only my husband, my editor, and my publisher, and they all are biased, you know.
• 48:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, of course.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_00: So then it was terrifying that week that I shared my book with readers for the first time.
• 49:08
  SPEAKER_00: And and like, of course, I'm not getting instant feedback.
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's a book that these busy mom and entrepreneurs now need to read.
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_00: So navigating that week was so much uncertainty and like so much tuning in into my meditation process.
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_00: I was meditating like multiple times a day, working through a lot of like worst-case scenario work and also like inner child.
• 49:27
  SPEAKER_00: I was doing a ton of inner child work at that time.
• 49:31
  SPEAKER_00: And um yeah, it was really like when I came to the other side and and I had a release.
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_00: I also had a bit of a release in a personal relationship that was happening at that time.
• 49:40
  SPEAKER_00: Cause of course, you know, it's hitting on all angles.
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_00: And they literally went away overnight.
• 49:47
  SPEAKER_00: And haven't come back.
• 49:48
  SPEAKER_00: Haven't come back.
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_01: It'll be interesting to see when you declare the next in Sweden's vision.
• 49:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 49:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm curious.
• 49:58
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's so connected to, like you said, identity shifting and it's stepping into this next vision and chapter that is so big and so uncertain that we just we don't feel that safety.
• 50:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's interesting because I have now declared a massive vision.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_01: So I'll share it with you guys.
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_01: Like I okay, another funny story, then I'll answer a question.
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_01: So we're building out this pickleball company super startup phase.
• 50:23
  SPEAKER_01: Like this has been a conversation for two years.
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I sat down with my husband, I would say early this year, and I said, if we really want to position this company premium, fast in the space, like we need capital.
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't want to bootstrap.
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to, like, of course it's gonna be scrappy because it's gonna be testing, but I'm like, I've already done that.
• 50:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I want to do this quick, intentional, and I wanna like, we need money to live out the vision that I really want for this to become.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_01: Two things happened.
• 50:58
  SPEAKER_01: One is we both, like we both said, we need investors.
• 51:02
  SPEAKER_01: The safety in that is that I'm an investor in Laurie Harder's company, Glosi.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I feel like that kind of took away the like I've done this from the other side and I find it's exciting.
• 51:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I've always held a vision that, you know, my make it moment is when I start investing in female founded companies.
• 51:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's kind of my end goal, is I want to have a fund that invests in female founders.
• 51:31
  SPEAKER_01: When I say end goal, I mean like end career goal, you know, like soon.
• 51:35
  SPEAKER_01: So that declaration was bold, but there was a safety in it because we're investors.
• 51:41
  SPEAKER_01: The second thing is I went to a mastermind retreat uh in Tulume with 10 of my friends who are all like seven, eight-figure founders, really successful in everything that they do.
• 51:53
  SPEAKER_01: And all of them said, Don't do it, don't raise money.
• 51:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, Oh my god, these are women who are hella successful.
• 52:04
  SPEAKER_01: They're my friends.
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_01: I love and admire all of them.
• 52:07
  SPEAKER_01: But my gut and intuition was like, you have to go for the raise.
• 52:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's just, it's so clear.
• 52:17
  SPEAKER_01: And then I'm like, well, the evidence is like these women are saying no.
• 52:20
  SPEAKER_01: However, none of them have gone for a raise for a product-based company, right?
• 52:24
  SPEAKER_01: So there's also that evidence.
• 52:26
  SPEAKER_01: Then what happened is I started voxering my dear friend Jacqueline Shaw, and I was jack, I was like, Jax, I just went through this with this group of women who I, you know, very much admire.
• 52:37
  SPEAKER_01: They all said, don't do it.
• 52:39
  SPEAKER_01: She said to me, She's like, Anna, you've proved yourself for the last two decades that anything you set your mind to, you can make happen, goosebumps.
• 52:49
  SPEAKER_01: But this next level of your growth and evolution is for it to be easy, for you to receive, for you to be fully resourced and supported.
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like, look at these goosebumps.
• 53:04
  SPEAKER_01: That for me is an edge.
• 53:08
  SPEAKER_01: Asking for financial support to live out my vision and allowing myself to be fully resourced is the next edge.
• 53:19
  SPEAKER_01: Now, knocking on wood, the hives have not come back.
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like it's such a dance, but I love this.
• 53:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like the the part of the story that I would love for the listeners to take is like, what is your edge?
• 53:34
  SPEAKER_01: My edge now, and I would assume that this is the part that's gonna resonate, is the receiving is the edge.
• 53:42
  SPEAKER_01: Allowing yourself to be fully resourced is the edge.
• 53:47
  SPEAKER_01: Asking for help where before you might not have asked for help and you would have done this by yourself is an edge.
• 53:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I can tell you, Carly, like I just submitted the investor deck to the graphic team.
• 54:00
  SPEAKER_01: Shout out to Sable Row, Ali's bestie, Rochelle.
• 54:04
  SPEAKER_01: She's done every single one of my brands since 2010.
• 54:07
  SPEAKER_01: Can you believe that?
• 54:08
  SPEAKER_01: She's behind Love Powered, she's behind the Prosperity Playground podcast, she's behind my personal brand, she's behind Maya pickleball.
• 54:15
  SPEAKER_01: And like when you find your people, keep your people, make you know, cultivate those relationships.
• 54:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I just submitted the investor deck for beautification, and I'm gonna start the raise.
• 54:26
  SPEAKER_01: But there's this like that energy behind it is everything I just described.
• 54:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's like it gets to be easy.
• 54:33
  SPEAKER_01: This came through meditation.
• 54:35
  SPEAKER_01: This is like me and God in partnership.
• 54:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's me, God, and my husband in partnership plus the investors, but I'm like, it's fully guided.
• 54:43
  SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be fucking epic.
• 54:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then obviously the human thoughts like, what if we don't raise the money, then we don't have a company.
• 54:48
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, but why wouldn't we raise the money?
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_01: There's so much money in the world and so much fuck you money that people get to play with.
• 54:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like, that's where I want to go.
• 54:58
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, I want to have the fuck you money that I get to invest in female founders.
• 55:01
  SPEAKER_01: This there's already so much of that, right?
• 55:04
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like me and my human in conversation, me and God in partnership.
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, let's pachata, let's dance.
• 55:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 55:12
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, so good.
• 55:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I love that full circle connection around how it really came back to how you want it to feel.
• 55:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like you said at the beginning, you wanted it to feel easeful this time around.
• 55:24
  SPEAKER_00: And that was the difference.
• 55:25
  SPEAKER_00: And like you knew the importance of having the vision and all of that, but like you really tuned into your own following your own guidance, inner guidance around how you wanted it to feel.
• 55:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I can imagine how tempting that is when you're having these powerhouses that are your good friends.
• 55:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's not like these are trolls on the internet that don't know you, these are people in your inner circle that you're having to actually be able to have that discernment and then have your your bestie that can be that mirror back for you that we all all need sometimes in those big decisions.
• 55:57
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
• 55:58
  SPEAKER_01: We'll need a part two.
• 56:00
  SPEAKER_00: Honestly, honestly.
• 56:02
  SPEAKER_00: I I'd love to end with a little bit of rapid fire and then we'll share how people can find you.
• 56:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of rapid fire and not so rapid sometimes.
• 56:10
  SPEAKER_01: I know, right?
• 56:10
  SPEAKER_01: That's my biggest issue with rapid fire, is it's never rapid fire.
• 56:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 56:13
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't have to be.
• 56:14
  SPEAKER_00: It could be slow fire.
• 56:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's what we're here for the Soul Marine show.
• 56:18
  SPEAKER_00: What does your favorite self feel like in this season?
• 56:23
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness.
• 56:24
  SPEAKER_01: She feels joyful and easeful, and she holds the energy of peace and groundedness, and she's a powerful fucking magnet to everything that is meant for her.
• 56:37
  SPEAKER_00: Clab clab.
• 56:38
  SPEAKER_00: That was so powerful.
• 56:40
  SPEAKER_00: What is a business rule that you've let go of?
• 56:45
  SPEAKER_01: That it gets to that it has to be hard.
• 56:49
  SPEAKER_00: Such a big one.
• 56:51
  SPEAKER_00: What's something that you're no longer available for?
• 56:55
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, oh, oh.
• 56:56
  SPEAKER_01: Boundaries have been instilled for sure.
• 57:00
  SPEAKER_01: I am no longer available for playing small, for gossip, for judgment, for anything that is not collaboration, connection, community, coming together, living out our vision and purpose.
• 57:15
  SPEAKER_01: Like I do not have any capacity for any of the other things.
• 57:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 57:22
  SPEAKER_01: And what are you calling in next?
• 57:25
  SPEAKER_00: Woof!
• 57:25
  SPEAKER_01: Calling in my billion-dollar brand, baby.
• 57:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, you heard it here.
• 57:31
  SPEAKER_00: I uh also just wanted to come back to motherhood real quickly because there's so much there that we'll need to dive into in the part two.
• 57:37
  SPEAKER_00: But maybe just as a little rapid fire, what is something in this season of motherhood that you are enjoying?
• 57:45
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, what are you finding joy, the most joy in this season of motherhood?
• 57:48
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 57:49
  SPEAKER_01: So my girls are Sophie's turning eight and Maya just turned 10.
• 57:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I love this age so much because there's this independence that they hold, but there's also this like understanding, this awareness.
• 58:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like they're they're older and they get it.
• 58:05
  SPEAKER_01: And so I'm just loving, like I'm very intentional when I'm working, I'm working.
• 58:09
  SPEAKER_01: And if I'm working in their home, then we have the conversation.
• 58:13
  SPEAKER_01: Mommy just needs this much space to finish off what she was doing, and then I'm gonna be fully present.
• 58:18
  SPEAKER_01: And then when I disconnect, I disconnect.
• 58:20
  SPEAKER_01: So I love like just playing games with them, being present with them, but also traveling is so fun.
• 58:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like we took Maya to Disney World for her tenth, and it was amazing.
• 58:29
  SPEAKER_01: And so I'm like, I just want to call in more travel and just more experiences, more um opportunities for that connection to be cultivated because in a few years they're gonna be teens.
• 58:40
  SPEAKER_01: And so right now they are aware of the connection, right?
• 58:45
  SPEAKER_01: They're aware of the presence.
• 58:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so right now, if it's it we've always cultivated it, but now they get it.
• 58:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so if we can continue cultivating it now, then I feel like the teenagers are gonna be special because they have that connection with their parents.
• 59:03
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I love that so much.
• 59:05
  SPEAKER_00: And if you could give a message to yourself that was, you know, in the earlier season of motherhood, navigating, expanding your family and being a present mom with your big, audacious goals and your business.
• 59:22
  SPEAKER_00: What would be one message you would want to share with her?
• 59:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 59:25
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like I'd want to remind her that it's like the question is like, what's it all for?
• 59:32
  SPEAKER_01: And ultimately comes down to family.
• 59:36
  SPEAKER_01: For me, it's like family and freedom.
• 59:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like those are two core values of mine that are, you know, top, top, top of the list.
• 59:43
  SPEAKER_01: And so anything that is not in alignment with that, you need to evaluate.
• 59:50
  SPEAKER_01: And so I do want to like give myself a hug because I couldn't be here today if I wasn't who I was then.
• 59:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I didn't give my myself much grace.
• 1:00:01
  SPEAKER_01: There were times where I wanted to be present and I wasn't, and there's, you know, guilt that I hold, and it's brought us to now.
• 1:00:10
  SPEAKER_01: And so today we get to create the future.
• 1:00:13
  SPEAKER_01: And so I'm doing things the way that I would have wanted to do them in the past, and being an and conversation, it's all perfect.
• 1:00:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's all the way that it's meant, it's it's the way it's meant to be.
• 1:00:26
  SPEAKER_01: And if anytime I find myself moving into like especially guilt in motherhood, guilt holds an extremely low vibrational frequency.
• 1:00:35
  SPEAKER_01: And there's like literally zero point to sit in guilt from the past.
• 1:00:42
  SPEAKER_01: And so if you catch yourself and bring awareness to yourself anytime being in guilt, like just bring awareness to it, give yourself grace and choose a different feeling, choose a different vibrational frequency because it like literally there's zero point to it.
• 1:00:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's only gonna create more of what you do not want and do not desire.
• 1:01:01
  SPEAKER_01: And so, very important, like conscious awareness here.
• 1:01:05
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, so such a beautiful way to end.
• 1:01:07
  SPEAKER_00: And tapping back into again, how do you want it to feel?
• 1:01:11
  SPEAKER_00: And then feeling that and stepping into that feeling.
• 1:01:15
  SPEAKER_00: So amazing, Anna.
• 1:01:16
  SPEAKER_00: This was so great.
• 1:01:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I love this so much, and I feel like I could talk to you forever.
• 1:01:20
  SPEAKER_00: Can you let everyone know the best way to find you and connect with you?
• 1:01:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, mostly Instagram.
• 1:01:25
  SPEAKER_01: So Instagram underscore Anna Lazzano, and then I have my podcast, the Prosperity Playground Podcast.
• 1:01:32
  SPEAKER_01: And um, yeah, that's where I'm hanging out.
• 1:01:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, definitely check out the podcast.
• 1:01:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's one of my favorites, so many incredible guests and love hearing all of the stories and perspectives that you've shared.
• 1:01:43
  SPEAKER_00: I've I've loved binging your podcast.
• 1:01:45
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you again so much for being here.
• 1:01:47
  SPEAKER_00: I so appreciate you.
• 1:01:49
  SPEAKER_00: And thank you everyone for listening.
• 1:01:51
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see you next week.
• 1:01:52
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, everyone.
• 1:01:54
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to the Favorite Self Podcast.
• 1:01:57
  SPEAKER_00: If this episode stirred something in you, there's a reason for it.
• 1:02:00
  SPEAKER_00: You could take a moment to share with a friend, someone who's also building something brave, that would mean so much to me.
• 1:02:07
  SPEAKER_00: Better yet, leave a review.
• 1:02:08
  SPEAKER_00: It helps this message reach even more women who are ready to lead differently.
• 1:02:12
  SPEAKER_00: And before you go, remember this your favorite self is already within you, waiting to be heard.
• 1:02:19
  SPEAKER_00: See you next time.