Latest / Yes And Land / Frozen 2 and Breaking Into Male-Dominated Industries | with Ashley Luke

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Frozen 2 and Breaking Into Male-Dominated Industries | with Ashley Luke · Yes And Land

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We are really excited to bring you this next
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episode with Ashley Luke, who is a franchise
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owner of Pink's Window Cleaning. It was great
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having the opportunity to visit with her about
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her journey throughout her life, new challenges
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that she took on that really prepared her to
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be able to take on a male -dominated industry
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and to find great success in doing something
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different and unconventional. And we look at
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that through the lens of Frozen 2. And we're
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also taking a look at maybe an unconventional
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pick for the character that we will look at as
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we see this idea of taking on these challenges
0:40
through the lens of a wonderful movie, Frozen
0:42
2. Really looking forward to this episode. in
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pursuing your goals or your dreams that you sometimes
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have doubters or sometimes you're pursuing something
1:02
that's maybe a little unconventional. And so
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today we're visiting with Ashley Luke. of Pink's
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window cleaning. Very excited about the conversation
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today and kind of talk about her unconventional
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journey to this business that she owns and is
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really thriving in. And I think it's important
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because you chose to take this unconventional
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journey into something that maybe you had some
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doubters, maybe you had some people who didn't
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think you'd be able to make it happen the way
1:30
that you did. So really excited about where that
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conversation is going to take us. And today as
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we talk, we're going to talk about about that
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journey through the lens of frozen 2 and a little
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bit maybe unexpected Character that we focus
1:44
on in frozen 2 which is on out instead of Elsa
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So I was kind of preparing for this and as we
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talked it really seemed totally appropriate that
1:52
it be the unconventional character talking about
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this I think a lot of people have assumed to
1:58
be Elsa, you know talking about stepping into
2:00
the unknown or something like that, but I think
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Ana's journey here in Frozen 2 perfectly captures
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the very topic that we'll be looking at. So very
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excited about where that conversation takes us
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today. So welcome to the program, Ashley. Yeah,
2:12
thank you. Thanks for having me. Yeah, of course.
2:14
So today as we get started, and that briefly
2:16
mentioned, but... What I'd love for you to talk
2:18
a little bit about is how in the world you got
2:21
into this business. Like what happened? What
2:23
was your kind of career arc that took you from
2:27
whatever it was you were doing before and what
2:29
your life looked like before and then why you
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decided to step into this new challenge that
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you're doing and thriving in now. Yeah, so I'll
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start kind of a little bit with my background
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of how I got to where I am, how we chose pink,
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all of that good stuff. So I was born in Ohio,
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the youngest of five. We moved around a lot as
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a kid, moved all over the US about every two
2:50
years. Eventually we settled in Chicago for four
2:54
years, which felt like a long time. It's where
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I graduated high school. I moved to Utah for
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college, went to college for a couple years,
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tried to do the traditional path, went to dental
3:05
assisting school, got married. We bought a house.
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We had our first kid. We thought, oh man, we're
3:11
living the American dream. Turned out the American
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dream wasn't for us. We were pretty miserable.
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So we so unconventionally, we sold everything.
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We sold our cars and we moved to France with
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our daughter who was one at the time. You moved
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to France? We did. No kidding. We did. Wow. Yeah.
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So we both had great jobs. I was at the Veterans
3:32
Hospital. He was at American Express. We thought,
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man, we're... We're on a great path, but it turned
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out it wasn't for us. So what spurred that? Why
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did you decide to do that? And why France? Great
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question. So why France and why did we decide
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to do that? Definitely France had always been
3:49
on the table for me. I had always loved it. I
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traveled there in high school and it had just
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been a dream. I wanted to live there. I thought
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I'd live there as a single person, but I didn't.
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So I quit my job. I stayed home with our daughter
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and then. Trevor was finishing his MBA. So that
4:05
was an adventure. But it turned out that living
4:08
in France was probably the place that I felt
4:10
myself the most. The culture, the pace, we lived
4:13
in a downtown. I loved that. We didn't have much.
4:17
And we found out we were a lot happier with less
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than we were with more. When you said you lived
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in downtown, were you in Paris? We were in a
4:23
different city. It's called Grenoble, a lot like
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Salt Lake, in the foothills of the Alps. Yeah.
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OK, fun. It was a lot of fun. How was the food?
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Amazing. Once you learn what to order, it's amazing.
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Did either of you speak much French? I spoke
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a little French. School was in English for him.
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So we learned quickly because a small town doesn't
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have a lot of English. How's your French now?
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Not great. Did you feel like you got pretty comfortable
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though while you were living there? I was pretty
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conversational and normal day to day. Experiences.
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Yeah, did you did you go experience what I mean
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you hear about because I never lived there and
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don't know a lot about it but You hear about
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people like going to the market every day to
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get fresh bread and get fresh produce and that
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kind of stuff Was that something that you experienced
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there? Yes. Yeah, you're everything smaller.
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So your fridge is tiny. So you don't have storage
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So we did yeah every day I would go to the market
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You can't you can't buy bread that lasts more
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than a couple days It just gets hard In my head
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is just like replaying like Beauty and the Beast
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and like the opening scene, right? We're bells
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walking through the town and like Maureen the
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buckets, you know, like that whole like that's
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what I'm seeing you doing Like you're walking
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around this town. You're like getting bread shopping
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doing stuff. It sounds like magical It it is
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a little bit life in Europe's a little hard.
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We didn't have a car. Oh No car. No car. Oh man.
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So you're walking everywhere public transportation.
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Yeah with a one -year -old Was it a lot of bus
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bus and then there was a train. Oh train. Okay.
5:52
Yeah, so we would use whatever was convenient.
5:55
But yeah, I loved living in France. It's hard.
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It's a very hard transition to go from comfortable
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suburban life to downtown. What do you feel like
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you learned from that experience? It was the
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first time that it opened my eyes to a different
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way to live. You know, American lifestyle is
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very different than French lifestyle. They really
6:16
respect quiet time. They would prefer to sit
6:20
in a park with a baguette. and a bottle of wine
6:23
on a Sunday, then go on a boat or have all these
6:26
four wheelers and other things that we look for
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in American lifestyle. So I learned a lot. And
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did that kind of change your perspective once
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you then move back where you you guys haven't
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pursued those same things and you have a little
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more contentment with what you have? Yes, definitely.
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We have since we've been back. Experiences are
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more important to us than than things for sure.
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Yeah. So how long did you end up staying in France?
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We were there a little over a year. The first
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year's the hardest for sure. So I wish we'd had
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another, but we were there about a year. And
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was that kind of the design going into it as
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you thought you'd be there for about that time
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or you just weren't sure and then after a year
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you were like, we're good, let's come back. We
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would have stayed longer if we had found a good
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job opportunity. So when we initially planned
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it, we'll be there for the year and then we'll
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come home. And what year was this? This was 2010.
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Okay, a little while ago. A while ago, yeah.
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So then you do there for a year and then where
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do you go after that? We moved back. So we were
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back here. To Utah? To Utah, yeah. So after France,
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we moved back here. I went back to school. I
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hadn't finished my bachelor's degree before we
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left, so I went back to school. We had another
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daughter, so we had two at that point, yep. I
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graduated with my bachelor's. Probably one of
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the proudest moments of my life is having my
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girls watch me cross that stage and finish that
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when they're little. That was tough. And then
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at the same time, I also helped my parents start
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a short -term property management business. So
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I started that with them. So was that something
8:07
that they had been doing for a while where they
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had that need and that's where they saw it and
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decided to start it? Or how did that play out?
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They had just started it right as we were moving
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back from France. So they had been kind of looking
8:19
around at what to do and they had just kind of
8:21
decided on that. Had they been in the real estate
8:24
industry or working with? Nope, that was a total
8:28
shift. There's like something brand new. We're
8:30
gonna go do this new thing. Yeah, my dad was
8:33
in office products. So he sold office products
8:36
for 30 years. Okay, so he was like on the office.
8:40
Yep. Exactly. He was Michael Scott. Maybe more
8:44
like Jim. All right. Maybe more like Jim. Definitely
8:47
not Dwight. Yes. Maybe not Michael Scott, but
8:49
he's like Jim. I'm gonna go with that. In my
8:51
head, that's what I'm gonna say is Jim. That's
8:53
more accurate. Good. Which makes your mom Pam.
8:56
Yes. That's a great combo. Your parents must
8:59
be amazing. Yes. They are amazing people. Yeah.
9:01
And they really forge that path of entrepreneurship,
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watching them do that and kind of doing it alongside
9:07
with them. I'm sure. Yeah, it was huge for me.
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And so, how long did you do that? I'm still doing
9:13
that. Okay, so still going. Yeah, so 15 years
9:16
we've been doing that. When you started doing
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it, how did y 'all get going on it? Because you're
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starting a business from scratch in an industry
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you're not in. Like, how did y 'all go about
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finding success in that and sticking with it?
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It's a great question. So, my dad had been looking
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at lots of different opportunities, lots of franchises.
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He looked at... all different kinds of things,
9:39
restaurants, sports cuts, all those wonderful
9:42
things. And he landed on this one. This one is
9:45
a franchise as well. So he landed on this one.
9:47
He just saw the growth opportunity for this was
9:50
untapped really. So we work in Park City almost
9:54
exclusively. So yeah, so that's kinda how we
9:57
did that. So he took a path of franchise, which
10:00
also might... Help explain why you decided to
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go the route of a franchise as well because you
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saw what value there could be in starting with
10:06
the franchise For sure as opposed to just completely
10:09
from scratch Yeah, which has a lot of challenges.
10:13
So that's really smart. So you do that with them
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and then you're finding some success What led
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you to taking on a new adventure? That's a great
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question. So My background is kind of diverse.
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So we were doing property management. We had
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the opportunity to move to Malaysia So yeah,
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so we moved to Malaysia y 'all aren't afraid
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of a challenge we are not Now we have three daughters
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at this point and Malaysia is Still very different
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than here women are still second -class citizens.
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So for the first time in my life I saw what it
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felt like to be treated less than a couple great
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examples Everyday life going out to a restaurant
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we would sit down and I would try to order for
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myself and they would look to my husband for
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approval of what I ordered. Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah.
11:05
One of the most extreme examples was I had longer
11:09
hair at the time and it was so hot in Malaysia.
11:11
I wanted to cut it. I was just done. So just
11:14
like here, I made an appointment, went to get
11:16
my haircut. My stylist, he said, I can't cut
11:19
your hair. And I said. Well, what do you mean?
11:23
It's my hair. I want it cut short. And he said,
11:25
I have to have your husband's permission. No
11:27
way. Yeah, to cut your hair shorter. He said,
11:30
I've done it in the past. And I've had husbands
11:32
come in and yell at me that I didn't ask for
11:35
permission. So Malaysia really opened my eyes
11:38
to what it could be like where we don't have
11:40
these opportunities. So that pushed me to think,
11:42
OK, what do I want to do with my life? I have
11:45
all this opportunity. What am I going to do with
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it? So that led us to my husband and I both to
11:51
thinking, okay, well, what do we want to start?
11:54
Where do we want to go? I saw Pink's and I loved
11:58
the opportunity. I loved the thought of stepping
12:00
into an industry that's male dominated to create
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safety for women. Yeah. So explain maybe a little
12:06
bit about what Pink's is. Yeah, great question.
12:09
So Pink's is window cleaning, exterior cleaning,
12:13
pressure washing. that kind of stuff, gutter
12:16
cleaning, solar panel cleaning. Which makes sense,
12:18
right? You're doing that, so it makes sense that
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that's been historically dominated by men. And
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you saw that as an opportunity. For sure, yeah.
12:29
Which I think is great. And so then you start
12:35
doing that, or you're researching, and you find
12:37
this opportunity to do this franchise. And is
12:40
it... You that decides that you're going to do
12:43
it and run it. Does your husband do it alongside
12:45
you? Is he kind of like, hey, honey, you do whatever
12:48
you got to do to make it happen. Yeah. So we
12:51
do it as a team. I definitely have taken the
12:53
lead. He still works a corporate job, which means
12:55
I've taken the lead a lot. But he's still definitely
12:59
a team member. We do it together. He's very supportive
13:02
of everything that I want to do. I pushed pinks
13:06
for sure in the beginning. I loved the branding.
13:08
I love the thought of. Being in a male dominated,
13:11
you know shaking it up. Yeah, so yeah, I love
13:14
that So we're gonna get back to more of that
13:18
here in a minute But what I want to do is let's
13:20
take a look at kind of through the lens of frozen
13:23
2 yeah and understand a little about Anna's journey
13:27
and kind of some of the parallels that are there
13:29
and then some of the lessons from both That wonderful
13:32
story and then also what you what you've done
13:34
and kind of that the tie -ins there. So if you
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can Can you kind of set the stage of the kind
13:39
of the overarching story of what frozen 2 is
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in case anybody hasn't seen it? Are not familiar
13:45
with it You can't get that overarching storyline
13:49
and then we can kind of dial in some of the specifics
13:51
about honest on his journey Yeah, that'd be great.
13:54
I hope I don't butcher frozen 2. Let's see. That's
13:56
all right We're here as a team. We're teaming
13:58
this and in this podcast episode So I'll fill
14:01
in the gaps if I see him or we can make sure
14:03
we get there Okay, so it starts with back with
14:07
Anna Elsa Christoph's been Olaf, in Arendelle,
14:11
right? They're back in Arendelle. Things seem
14:13
to be going very well, but Anna, no, Elsa, starts
14:17
hearing a voice, right? Yeah, exactly right.
14:20
Yeah, and she hears something calling to her
14:22
that there's something going on. We hear a little
14:25
bit more about their mom and dad, find out their
14:28
mom is from the Magic Forest, is that right?
14:32
Yeah, she's from the... I guess whatever that
14:35
area is up there that she's actually from, which
14:38
nobody knew. Nobody knew it, and they found it
14:41
out. Yeah, and they discovered this through this
14:44
voice leading Elsa into the forest. Elsa kind
14:48
of ends up on her own adventure. Anna ends up
14:51
also on her own adventure, starting off with,
14:55
I think she's with Olaf in the beginning, and
14:56
then he ends up melting away because Elsa's magic
15:00
disappears. So Ana for the first time is completely
15:03
alone. And then it's kind of interesting how
15:06
Ana and Elsa each are on their own adventure,
15:08
but they are each helping each other, actually.
15:10
They don't realize it. So that was pretty, that's
15:13
an interesting piece of the story. And they both
15:16
work through the magic and what's happening.
15:20
And I'm trying to remember the ending. Yeah,
15:22
and so then once Ana realizes the wrong that
15:26
needs to be righted, which was actually their
15:29
grandfather. who betrayed the people of Northuldra
15:33
and then built this dam to, in essence, harm
15:38
what they were doing and the forest and the health
15:42
of the river and that whole ecosystem there that
15:44
he did it selfishly to try to harm them. And
15:48
so they needed to right that wrong. So once they
15:50
realized that, once Elsa realizes it through
15:54
taking her journey and she kind of sends this
15:56
magical message to Ana, she realizes that she
15:58
needs to destroy the dam. So she calls upon the,
16:02
um, these, these spirits, which ends up being
16:05
the rock creatures, right? That's right. Then
16:08
it's helping her kind of destroy the dam, but
16:10
doing so believing that that would then, you
16:12
know, completely flood Arendelle, uh, which is
16:15
where, where they lived. But, but doing that,
16:18
she knew was the thing that needed to happen.
16:20
Um, and so they do it together in essence, because
16:23
she does that. And then it awakens Elsa. Who
16:28
is able to come down with the water spirit ends
16:31
up stopping Arendelle from being flooded? So
16:33
again then taking their separate journeys, which
16:35
I love you describe it that way I hadn't even
16:36
thought about that. They're taking their separate
16:38
journeys, but really they're still doing it together
16:40
and coming together You know, they're taking
16:42
those those journeys separately. Yeah, and so
16:45
yeah, I mean it's just such a It's such a great
16:47
story for a lot of different reasons and when
16:49
we look at on his journey When she first kind
16:53
of starts out, you know, she's got Lot of great
16:58
things like you said like life is good at the
17:00
beginning where she has her family there She's
17:03
they've they've overcome the things from frozen
17:05
one, right? Yeah, and now they're there But then
17:08
Elsa is having this call in this poll to go somewhere
17:11
else and do something else Yeah, but doubting
17:14
on his ability to help her. It's true, right?
17:16
Because that's what she's doing at first is she
17:17
doesn't tell on us. She's having she's hearing
17:19
this voice call her Yeah, and then she says she
17:22
wants to go alone, but on is like No, like, we're
17:26
in this together. I wrote down, yeah, I wrote
17:29
down one of the things she said. Anna said, I
17:32
climbed the North Mountain, survived your frozen
17:33
heart, and saved you from my ex -boyfriend. I
17:35
think I can handle myself. Like, it's such a
17:38
good line. She's like, look, I, yeah, I don't
17:40
have magical powers like you, but I still, I
17:43
love you, and I'm here to help, and I can. And
17:47
so I don't think Elsa was doubting her to be
17:49
rude or unkind, but she just was. And Anna knew
17:55
what her worth was and knew what she could do,
17:58
which I think is a little bit like when we look
18:01
at your particular journey, right? You have this
18:04
male -dominated industry, window cleaning business,
18:06
but you find this great brand that you believe
18:08
in, that you're passionate about. And you believe
18:11
that you can do it and that you can do something
18:12
different, even though it might be dominated
18:14
by other people, which I think is a really nice
18:16
parallel there. For sure. In those situations,
18:18
both for Anna and for you, where do you think
18:21
that comes from of that strength to be able to
18:24
take on a challenge when maybe other people doubt?
18:27
Yeah, that's great. So where does the strength
18:28
come from? Definitely comes from action. The
18:32
more you do, the more confidence you have. People
18:35
have underestimated me probably my whole life,
18:38
being the youngest. Moving a lot, no one ever
18:41
knew who I was. Moving across continents, it's
18:46
pretty hard. And there's a lot of confidence,
18:48
though, just like Ana said, in doing all these
18:51
things that you don't think you can do until
18:53
you do it. So, yeah. Before we jump back in,
18:58
can I ask you a quick favor? If you're enjoying
19:00
the journey so far, will you like, rate, and
19:04
subscribe to our show? It helps us reach more
19:06
people like you. We can design and create and
19:10
build the most wonderful place in the world,
19:12
but it takes people to make the dream a reality
19:15
Through those experiences we prove to ourselves
19:18
that we can yeah exactly But we have to be willing
19:21
to because if you don't if you don't take those
19:24
on you're never gonna find out You know if if
19:26
Ana hadn't tried to do those things she never
19:28
would have realized that she was capable of those
19:30
things Yeah, for sure and that's an interesting
19:32
thing about her journey that like that you had
19:34
mentioned is so She kind of starts going down
19:37
this different path than Elsa because Elsa separates
19:40
her unfortunately, even though like at first
19:42
like okay We're gonna go to this magical forest
19:44
together, right? Okay, we're gonna be in this
19:45
together once Once Elsa realizes she's got to
19:49
go to at the Holland to figure out like what
19:52
really happened She unfortunately like pushes
19:54
on away again In the end that turned out to be
19:58
the right thing because Anna needed to take a
20:01
journey and do something But there's this, you
20:04
know It's a really sweet scene that you mentioned,
20:07
where she gets stuck in this cave and she's there
20:10
with Olaf. And that point in time, Elsa had basically
20:13
become frozen because she went too far. I think
20:16
that's kind of how the song had described it,
20:19
right? If you go too far, then you're going to
20:22
lose yourself. And so in essence, she was frozen.
20:24
So her magical powers start to go away. So of
20:27
course, like you mentioned, then Olaf starts
20:29
to. And Olaf has these really sweet lines in
20:32
there. and I won't get your take on these and
20:36
kind of what that may be meant to her. So she's
20:39
in there, he starts to flurry away and he says,
20:42
I'm sorry, Ana, you're gonna have to do this
20:44
next part on your own, okay? And so were there
20:47
ever, has there ever been times where you kind
20:49
of had to do that? Where it was like. you're
20:51
going to have to do this next part on your own.
20:53
Yeah. Doesn't mean that there aren't people to
20:56
support you, but for the most part, it's something
20:58
you're going to have to do. It's only you that
21:00
can do it, and you're going to have to dig deep
21:01
to do it. Yeah, for sure. Starting new schools
21:04
every couple of years. That was hard. My mom
21:07
and I were very close. My dad and my whole family
21:09
and I were close. But every time you step into
21:12
a new school, that's all you. There's nobody
21:15
else with you. Doing that was hard. Moving to
21:20
different countries. It's all you. As much as
21:23
you're doing it as a couple, my husband has his
21:25
thing, I have my thing, and that loneliness you
21:29
feel, that's all you. That's 100%. You just have
21:32
to step into that and figure out how to handle
21:34
that, the cultural differences. Nobody can react
21:38
the way you're going to react, so you have to
21:40
learn how to handle that on your own. And then
21:43
starting pinks. They always say, as you're building
21:47
a business, you're building yourself. And as
21:49
much as we've done it together, we've done it
21:51
individually as well. So there's been some loneliness.
21:55
There's definitely darkness. And starting your
21:58
own business, it breaks you in ways you didn't
22:00
expect. So yes, so being on your own with starting
22:04
a business, walking into meetings where usually
22:07
I'm the only woman. Yeah. It's a major challenge.
22:11
And you are. You're on your own. You're like,
22:12
this is me. And I've got to step into my power
22:16
to do this. Yes. You don't go in always with
22:19
confidence, but the more you do it, the more
22:21
confidence you definitely build. But you do have
22:23
to step into that and just kind of own it. And
22:27
as you grow, the confidence grows for sure. For
22:30
sure. And I think what it ties nicely to here
22:34
is actually the next line from Olaf as he's ultimately
22:38
in on his arms and he's fading away. And this
22:41
kind of comes on, there was kind of foreshadowing
22:43
at the very beginning of the show, right? The
22:45
very beginning they had this song as some things
22:47
never change. Of course, the whole idea is that
22:49
everything changes. And Olaf actually says that
22:51
at one point in time. We said nothing changes,
22:54
but since then, everything has changed. And when
22:57
he had that kind of realization, then he comes
23:00
to this line, which is just such a great line,
23:02
maybe the best line in the show. He says, hey,
23:05
Anna, I just thought of something that's permanent,
23:08
love. And so when you think about, for you, having
23:13
to do some of these things on your own, how do
23:15
you feel like? that applied for you and your
23:18
situation with you and your husband, right? Because
23:21
you go and you move to France and you did have
23:24
to do things separately, but you also still had
23:27
that for each other. Same thing with Malaysia,
23:28
same thing with pinks. How do you think, what
23:31
you're gonna take on that, both for this story
23:33
here, but also more specifically, of course,
23:35
for your own. Yeah, I think it's interesting
23:37
as you grow, love changes. When you're first
23:42
married or first together, it's very... surface
23:45
level, if that makes sense. And then as you face
23:49
challenges together, you really learn how to
23:52
love each other on a deeper level. And that doesn't
23:55
change. So as much as you're changing, you're
23:58
growing, your relationship's changing and growing,
24:00
there's still that foundation that hasn't changed,
24:03
like they say in Frozen 2. So I think through
24:07
everything, all the challenges, it makes us stronger.
24:11
I think if you don't face challenges as a couple,
24:14
it does kind of stay on that surface level. And
24:17
everything stays the same, but changes is kind
24:19
of the theme, I guess, for sure. I think that's
24:21
exactly right. And it's when you know that you
24:27
have that love from somebody else. that even
24:31
if you're taking that step like Ana was, where
24:34
she was alone doing it, she could still draw
24:37
on that love to know that she was loved, to know
24:39
that people did care about her. For sure. I would
24:42
say my husband has more faith in me than I've
24:45
ever had in myself. And so I do rely on that
24:49
love that's behind everything I do that I know
24:52
that I've got a strong rock foundation behind
24:55
me that will support me. that's amazing and I
24:58
mean that's it ties in perfectly with then the
25:01
song that Ana sings next right and kind of the
25:04
end of the song says I'll make the choice to
25:06
hear that voice the one of love and support and
25:10
do the next right thing and when when we have
25:13
the the love that goes really deep because we've
25:16
taken the time to build that deeper love that
25:19
really does help us make the right choices make
25:22
the next right choice and the next hard choice
25:25
because again Running running this this business
25:28
that you have like I mean, it's just I can just
25:31
imagine it being such a challenge because you're
25:34
walking into rooms where you're the only woman
25:35
and you're Doing something that other people
25:37
haven't done. Yeah, like it's something that's
25:40
new. That's unique. That's original And having
25:44
the strength to just take the next right step
25:46
even if you have dadders or even if you doubt
25:48
yourself You still take the next step. Have you
25:51
ever had that time where you've doubted yourself?
25:52
Oh, yeah I doubt myself all the time. And what
25:56
do you do when you have that? Because I think
25:57
that's something that I think everybody can relate
26:00
to. We have moments where we do, and so when
26:02
you have, what have you done to dig deep and
26:06
be able to still take the next right step? I
26:09
often think of the phrase, do it anyways. Whether
26:12
I doubt myself or I don't doubt myself, you typically
26:15
know the next right step, if you will, and you
26:18
just do it anyways. something I'm learning as
26:22
I grow into this business is you just learn that
26:25
you can handle it. Having the confidence that
26:27
even if it goes wrong, I can handle it. That's
26:31
really been huge for me as we've grown the business.
26:34
We've had lots of big projects, things have gone
26:37
wrong. We've had to do a lot of gymnastics to
26:40
get what the customer's looking for and expectations.
26:44
So yeah, you just have to trust yourself that
26:46
even if it goes wrong, you'll handle it. And
26:50
so circling back to what I mentioned before,
26:52
which is specifically about how you've used this
26:59
industry that's male dominated, but you being
27:01
a female owner, female led organization, how
27:05
have you actually turned that into a real strength
27:09
for your particular business and for your clients?
27:11
How have you done that? For sure, so one thing
27:14
is you're memorable. That's great. If you go
27:16
into a room where they're expecting a male, they're
27:19
going to remember that it's a female. But the
27:21
other great thing about it is creating safe space
27:24
for women. When I show up for a quote, it almost
27:27
drops a barrier for most women, that it's me,
27:30
that I'm going to make sure everything and the
27:33
job is the way that they would expect it to be.
27:36
Details matter to me. There's just a different
27:38
eye that I have. So I've taught my teams different
27:41
things. Normally in a male -dominated industry,
27:44
they wouldn't notice I think Yeah, just creating
27:48
a safe space for women knowing that a woman is
27:50
behind it has really been huge For us as we've
27:54
grown. Yeah, because there's I mean, there's
27:57
tons of female business owners and female Building,
28:01
you know landlords and people who are gonna want
28:03
to be using your services Yeah, and so it's probably
28:06
a huge breath of fresh air for them to realize
28:09
like I'm a strong powerful woman And look, I've
28:12
got somebody else here, his two, and I can trust
28:15
them. I can trust them to take care of this space
28:19
that they're going to be, you know, taking care
28:21
of for me. Like, I can have that trust with them
28:23
because I trust her. Exactly. Yeah, and the care
28:26
just, I care so much. So I think that really
28:28
goes through, you know, when I'm speaking to
28:30
other women as well. Yeah. So there's a couple
28:34
of quotes that I... Came across in preparing
28:38
that I kind of want to run by you and get your
28:39
thoughts. Okay, so we haven't talked about these
28:41
Okay, so I'm just gonna kind of spring them on
28:43
yet, but they're great ones ones from Brene Brown
28:46
And she said you can choose courage or you can
28:49
choose comfort, but you cannot choose both a
28:52
hundred percent So how is how has that been the
28:55
case for you? So every time you grow it takes
28:58
a little bit of courage it does and it is not
29:00
comfortable And then you look back and you think
29:04
I'm really bad about giving myself credit. So
29:06
I look back and I think, well, that wasn't hard.
29:08
I didn't need courage, but you really do need,
29:11
when you step into these new things, it does
29:15
take a lot of courage, and it's not comfortable.
29:17
Moving's not comfortable. Starting a business
29:19
is definitely not comfortable. Having kids is
29:21
not comfortable. All these things, all these
29:24
milestones that we do as humans really do take
29:29
a lot of courage. Yeah, you can't be comfortable
29:31
and courageous at the same time. Yeah, and you
29:34
know what? We're here to grow. Yeah, right like
29:37
that's how life gets better. That's how we You
29:41
know in the pursuit of growth finding joy in
29:44
the journey is kind of what life's all about
29:46
But we're not going to grow we're not going to
29:49
have those opportunities if we're not courageous
29:51
about you know stepping out of our comfort zone
29:53
stepping out of something that's really comfortable
29:55
It's really easy to get in getting around where
29:59
you're just doing the thing that's just super
30:00
comfortable because it's easy. Exactly. And that's
30:05
what's so interesting about your stories. I didn't
30:06
know all these other things about you. Moving
30:09
around a lot and then also taking these opportunities
30:11
to move to different countries, but yeah, it's
30:14
just completely connects I'm like, well, yeah,
30:17
that's she's built over a lifetime showing that
30:20
she's courageous to take those steps and then
30:22
she'll step out of her comfort which makes also
30:25
sense why like you've been so successful as a
30:27
business because you've constantly challenged
30:29
yourself. You've grown through those experiences,
30:32
and so this is like just the next one where you're
30:34
like, yeah, of course I'm gonna take on that
30:35
challenge. Exactly. Of course I'm gonna do that.
30:37
Of course I can be successful, even though you'll
30:39
have your doubts. Even though you're gonna have,
30:41
you know, as we sometimes do, that imposter syndrome,
30:44
like, oh yeah, all right, it can't be me that's
30:45
successful in this. Can I really be the one that
30:48
is successful in this? Oh, definitely. Yeah,
30:50
we all have that, for sure. Even moving around,
30:53
you know, can I really be successful in living
30:56
in... Southeast Asia. That was a big one. But
31:00
you do, you look back and those are the moments
31:03
that you actually feel the most happy, are the
31:05
moments that you're being courageous, that you're
31:07
stepping out of your comfort zone. It feels scary
31:09
when you're in it and then you look back and
31:11
you think, man, I was really happy. Yeah. Isn't
31:14
that interesting? A lot of times we have these
31:17
ideas and I think it comes culturally from growing
31:20
up the way that we do and seeing... People be
31:23
celebrated for an accomplishment that we think
31:26
that happiness is through the accomplishment,
31:27
you know You see sports and you see somebody
31:29
with a championship and that's where everybody's
31:30
super happy here You know see somebody getting
31:33
an award for something and that's where it always
31:35
when in reality life is really more about the
31:38
journey For sure, you know you're looking back
31:41
you're like man. Those were times where yeah,
31:42
they were hard Yeah, but I was I was happy doing
31:46
those things taking on those challenges for sure
31:48
challenging myself One more quote I have for
31:51
you. Yeah take on it Adam Grant, who I'm a big
31:54
fan of, he said in his book Originals, he said,
31:57
originals are non -conformists, people who not
32:00
only have new ideas, but also take action to
32:03
champion them. Oh, that's good. So I would look
32:07
at you and say you're an original. So tell me
32:09
what that quote means to you. How do you see
32:12
that fitting into your story? Yeah, great question.
32:18
I think naturally I am not an original. I would
32:21
like to conform to society. I'd like to fit in.
32:24
But my whole life, I feel like I've been pushed
32:25
out of the normal, I guess you could call it.
32:29
So I've really had to step into being more original,
32:33
being more myself. Who am I as I grow? Because
32:36
I'm definitely more on my own than I think a
32:38
lot of other people. What was the second half
32:40
of the quote? Sorry. that says people, so originals
32:43
are non -conformists, people who not only have
32:45
new ideas, but also take action to champion them.
32:49
Which is where I think, like with Pinks, it's
32:51
exactly what you've done. Yes, so finding Pinks
32:55
was huge for me. It just spoke to me, the values,
32:59
the 1950s throwback, I loved all of it. And I
33:02
saw it and I thought, well, I can do that. I
33:05
can do window cleaning. I can do this. And really,
33:08
the more steps I took towards it, I realized
33:10
I can champion this idea. I can take it, I can
33:14
run with it, and really succeed. It wasn't easy.
33:17
No. No, not at all, because I think a lot of
33:20
people would have doubted that that was something
33:22
that you could do something different, right?
33:25
I love the idea that you're connecting and providing
33:29
a safe place for your female customers. Because
33:32
now that you say it, it's like, oh, well, of
33:35
course. Yeah, of course that would be, but like,
33:38
you didn't know that. Exactly. That wasn't like
33:40
in the franchise manual, like, here's what you
33:43
need to do because you are a female owner now
33:45
of pinks. This is the angle you need to take.
33:47
No, you had to figure that out. Yes. And now
33:50
that you have, you're not just doing it. I would
33:52
say, just from afar, that you're championing
33:54
that, which I love. That's just something I get
33:57
really passionate about when you have something
33:59
great that you're doing and you champion a cause
34:02
or a purpose you believe in. It's just really,
34:04
it's really inspiring, right? I think, and I
34:07
think one thing I'm hoping that people take away
34:10
from this is just like the willingness to step
34:13
into something that maybe they're a little bit
34:15
nervous to do or that might seem a little bit
34:17
different and in knowing that like, no, you can
34:20
do it. You can do it and not just do it, but
34:23
you can really thrive with it. And then you can
34:26
champion that cause and help other people as
34:30
well, because what you're doing to help these
34:33
other female clients that you have, and you certainly
34:38
have male ones too, but specifically the female
34:39
ones, the confidence and the safety and security
34:44
they feel because they're using your organization
34:47
makes a difference in their lives. Yeah. Right?
34:50
Absolutely. And I agree that just stepping into
34:53
things that feel hard, that's where you're really
34:55
going to thrive. And stepping outside of that
34:58
norm and that comfort zone, we need disruptors.
35:00
Yeah. So I agree for sure. Okay. So what I want
35:04
to do next is take us to a little bit of a couple
35:07
of fun segments here Yeah, we're gonna first
35:09
do a this or that So I'll just give you two things
35:12
and you tell me which one it is Okay, and then
35:14
after that we'll take you to a rapid fire Well,
35:15
you'll just the first thing that comes to your
35:17
mind. Okay, so first of this or that. Okay. All
35:19
right, so Arendelle or enchanted forest Arendelle.
35:25
Okay. Okay. Good. How come just Peaceful so as
35:29
I have so much chaos in my mind. Yeah that having
35:32
somewhere peaceful is more appealing Yeah, I
35:34
like it. Yeah Olaf or Sven. Oh, that's a tough
35:38
one Olaf. Yeah. Yeah, I do I mean look Olaf's
35:41
got some great song He does get a great personality.
35:44
Yeah, like and I love said don't get me wrong.
35:47
Same. Oh, I just got a little more Yeah, he's
35:49
got a little more there. Okay, frozen one or
35:51
frozen two. Oh, I think I did enjoy frozen two
35:54
more Okay, yeah, it might be a hot take. Yeah.
35:57
Well, yeah, I think they really built nicely
36:00
on what it was and Being just great. So this
36:04
one is related to that but let it go or into
36:07
the unknown Well, that one's tough probably more
36:10
let it go on that one. Yeah, I think so too.
36:12
I mean that's iconic Yeah, right like everybody
36:14
knows let it go. Yeah Okay, last sister that
36:18
Anna or Elsa Oh Anna Always. Always. There you
36:22
go. You're like, heck yeah, that's what we're
36:23
talking about today, right? Exactly. I love it.
36:26
OK, here's our rapid fire. OK? Yep. Favorite
36:29
Disney movie? Beauty and the Beast. Such a good
36:34
one. That's a good one. Such a good one. I mean,
36:36
there's a reason why it was nominated for Best
36:38
Picture and not in the animated feature category.
36:41
Like, overall, all of the movies it was nominated
36:44
because it was amazing. Yeah. Favorite Disney
36:46
song? Oh. What's the Little Mermaid one with
36:52
her thingamajigs? Part of Your World. That one.
36:57
Yeah. What a great song. Yeah, that's a good
36:58
one. Little Mermaid is such a fun song. Such
37:02
a fun movie. And all of the songs in that movie
37:04
are really, really good. They are good. That
37:06
was the start of the Disney Renaissance, where
37:09
they'd really been struggling for a little while
37:11
in the 80s with a bunch of non -hits. Then Little
37:16
Mermaid late 80s really catapulted it back in
37:18
the Disney Renaissance us great great song Yeah,
37:22
favorite Disney princess though though Back to
37:26
Beauty and the Beast which also I didn't realize
37:29
but of course the the france tie -in there right
37:31
totally makes sense doesn't say it favorite Disney
37:34
hero or heroine oh Interesting I gotta think
37:38
about that one for a minute Probably the fairy
37:44
godmother in Cinderella Okay, seeing her as a
37:47
hero. I like this I hadn't I hadn't looked at
37:50
it from that lens, but you can absolutely call
37:52
her a hero Yeah, take it was great taking Cinderella
37:55
from where she was to yeah be something that
37:58
she thought she couldn't be was That's a definitely
38:00
a hero. Yeah for sure She she took her on you
38:03
know this she helped guide her through the journey.
38:05
She needed to go on. Yeah. Oh, yeah, I love that
38:08
favorite Disney villain Let's see, the godmother
38:14
in Tangled. Oh, Mother Gothel. Mother Gothel.
38:18
Oh, she's such a good villain. She's such a good
38:21
villain. She makes it seem like she's sweet,
38:25
but really it's not at all. Oh yeah, like her
38:28
song. That's another good song. Oh, it is. Such
38:31
a good one. Okay, we're going to step outside
38:35
of Disney and say favorite book. Just any book.
38:38
Oh, favorite book. Oh man, there's so many. Let
38:43
me think. It has to be... It's about the Women
38:48
in War. I think that's what it's called. Women
38:49
in War? By Kristen Hannah, yeah. About the Vietnam
38:52
War. Okay, yeah, that's what I'm gonna have to
38:55
add to the list. It's a good one Okay, I'm gonna
38:57
have to look at that one based on a true story
38:59
or it is it's not a true story Okay, but based
39:02
on historical facts. Okay, so they've got like
39:04
fictional characters based on the stuff that
39:06
actually happened Yep, exactly. Okay, that's
39:08
kind of fun. Yeah, and then how she comes back
39:09
from Vietnam and okay Some historical fiction.
39:12
I always like a good historical fiction. It's
39:13
a good one. Okay And the last rapid -fire is
39:16
your ultimate dinner guest. Oh my ultimate dinner
39:20
guest anybody dead or alive Would actually love
39:24
to have dinner with can I have to sure the Obamas?
39:27
Okay Okay, it'd be I mean be a really interesting
39:31
conversations. Yeah, sure. There's a lot I'm
39:34
sure a lot of experiences they have that you
39:35
could get them to share They've made a lot of
39:38
change a good change in the world and then they
39:40
Maintained just being good people through it
39:43
all the chaos be really interesting to hear.
39:46
Yeah, no doubt their stories. So as we kind of
39:50
bringing around back to Frozen 2, to your story,
39:55
you know, kind of closing thoughts for you on,
39:58
you know, what it means to have the courage to
40:02
take an unconventional path when you have doubters.
40:05
What are kind of your closing thoughts on that?
40:06
And then after that, we'll wrap it into our three
40:08
actionable takeaways. Great. So closing thoughts
40:11
on being unconventional. Yeah. Yeah. And having
40:15
the courage to do that, to take this unconventional
40:18
path that people doubted you on. Great. I think
40:21
you're always going to have haters in life. There's
40:24
always going to be naysayers. Doesn't matter
40:26
what you do. Someone's going to say, that's not
40:29
the right thing. And so if that's the case, you
40:31
might as well choose a life you want to live.
40:34
So that's how I've always found the courage to
40:36
just keep going, is people are going to say,
40:40
this is a horrible idea. And maybe it is, but
40:42
you're never going to know until you do it. Yeah,
40:45
and I love that that the idea of just doing it
40:46
anyways, right? Like they're gonna you're gonna
40:48
have doubters no matter what steps you take You're
40:50
gonna have somebody that is you may as well do
40:52
what you'd like to do exactly make the life that
40:54
you want Notwithstanding the doubters. Yeah,
40:57
that's great Okay, so what are what are three
41:01
actionable takeaways that somebody listening
41:03
could put into effect? Today or this week? to
41:08
start making the changes or finding the courage
41:11
to do something unconventional, set aside the
41:14
doubters and really step into something great.
41:16
That's a great question. So what can you do today?
41:20
First, I would start with taking 10 minutes and
41:22
writing what success looks like to you. Because
41:25
success can be a million things. And really looking
41:28
at what success can be to you and not listening
41:31
to those naysayers or other people. And just
41:34
envisioning that and picturing that, manifesting
41:37
that, if you will. That's the first step that
41:40
you can take and probably should take in finding
41:43
all of this happiness. And then the next one
41:46
is to do one small thing that scares you this
41:48
week, whether that's speaking up for yourself
41:51
when you shouldn't have, when you wouldn't normally,
41:54
sending the email, sending the text, even just
41:57
doing an experience that scares you, trying new
42:00
food, trying a new restaurant. things like that.
42:04
You start to build you start to build up the
42:06
ability to do that if you'll do those little
42:07
things so that when the bigger things come you've
42:10
built up a belief in yourself that you you can
42:14
do that scary thing. That's great. So then that
42:16
leads into the third one which is reflect. Reflect
42:19
on the times that you did feel the most yourself
42:23
and that helps lead into what was I doing in
42:26
that situation that made me feel courageous or
42:29
good about myself and that's really going to
42:31
help you find your path of Where you want to
42:34
be and what makes you feel the most alive? Yeah,
42:38
absolutely fantastic. Those are great things
42:39
I mean that's something that anybody could do
42:42
you just you know tomorrow, you know, just take
42:45
the time to Create that list right, you know
42:48
take those ten minutes write that list down Look
42:51
at your week. I mean certainly in even a day,
42:53
but certainly in a week someone can find something
42:55
that scares them Yeah, they just wouldn't have
42:57
done otherwise and then reflecting on those things
43:00
and the time where they felt themselves most
43:02
Wonderful takeaways there. Well, hey listening
43:04
a great conversation Really appreciate you taking
43:06
the time to to visit with us Take a look at frozen
43:09
to you know, see what awesome lessons there are
43:12
from on in that and really but more importantly
43:17
the vulnerability you showed to explain kind
43:20
of what your journey was and times where you
43:23
took on these new challenges and I think it's
43:26
really going to be inspiring for those listening
43:28
to say like hey I can do it too right I can I
43:31
can take on these challenges I can do something
43:33
unconventional challenge those things I can be
43:36
an original and find success in doing those things
43:40
so hey really appreciate your time today yeah
43:42
thank you thanks for having me As you leave this
43:46
conversation, remember that yes, the past can
43:49
hurt and you can either run from it or you can
43:52
learn from it. So here's to learning and finding
43:55
joy in the journey. See you real soon.