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How to Start a Business After 50 (Even When You're Terrified) · Create The Best Me

• 0:01
  Have you ever stared at the blank page of your life wondering, how do I start all over at 50 alone and terrified?
• 0:12
  Well, today's guest didn't just start all over, she rebuilt, reimagined and reignite her purpose after losing everything she thought her life would be.
• 0:23
  And let me tell you, it all started with a van, a roll of wrapping paper, and one determined woman saying, I have to wrap.
• 0:33
  I will travel.
• 0:34
  Michelle Hensley is not only the founder of the largest mobile gift wrapping business in the US.
• 0:41
  Yes, that's a real thing.
• 0:43
  But she's also proof that the comeback story can start, right where your heartbreak left, you.
• 0:50
  Stick around, by the end of this episode, you're going to be seen that blank page of yours a little differently.
• 0:58
  Let's get into the conversation now.
• 1:02
  Michelle Hensley, welcome to Create the Best Meet.
• 1:06
  This is an honor, and this is gonna be an exciting conversation that I can't wait to share with everyone.
• 1:12
  I know it's gonna be exciting.
• 1:13
  I've read a little bit about you and about the audience, and I'm excited to get started.
• 1:18
  So great to meet you and thank you for having me on.
• 1:21
  Great.
• 1:22
  Michelle, before we get started, can you please tell the listeners and viewers a little bit about who you are and what you do?
• 1:29
  Okay.
• 1:30
  I am Michelle Hensley; currently the business that I own is Nifty Package Company.
• 1:35
  We are the largest mobile gift wrapping business in the nation.
• 1:39
  And we're also extending out internationally.
• 1:43
  I have a luxury gift basket; gift fulfillment business.
• 1:47
  So that's called Nifty Package Company.
• 1:49
  I am the founder and the CEO started it with zero and came out of widowhood with, we'll talk a little bit about that, I'm sure, during the podcast.
• 1:59
  But, had to start my life over again.
• 2:02
  And also I have a training site for women, Michelle M. Hensley.
• 2:07
  The M has to be in there dot com; where women can learn how to start their own mobile gift wrapping business or come for coaching, especially if they own a gift basket business and wanna learn how to really understand their clients and, uh, differentiate themselves from the average gift basket person.
• 2:28
  And, um, also the training for any coaching that they might need, but, yep.
• 2:33
  I'm a grandmother of nine.
• 2:35
  I have three sons who they're doing very well, homeschooled my children.
• 2:40
  And here I am 61 years old.
• 2:43
  And we just won the presidential, we are currently the vendor and supplier designer for President Trump, First Lady Melania, VP Vance, Second Lady Usha and Secretary of State.
• 2:59
  We did all their designs.
• 3:00
  And that was a huge blessing and an honor.
• 3:03
  And so, yep, that's who I am now, today So before you started your business, what did you do?
• 3:12
  I was a pastor's wife, a homeschooling children, running a nonprofit, feeding the working poor.
• 3:19
  And, I was also counseling; I have a master's in counseling and a master's in business, but everything I had done was pro bono, so I didn't really understand profit, cost of goods was the furthest thing from my mind.
• 3:31
  Barely knew how to put gas in my car.
• 3:33
  I was that 70% of women whose husbands, uh, although it's a wonderful thing that they do it, he did everything for me.
• 3:43
  So it actually put me in a deficit when I was faced with having to rebuild my life.
• 3:47
  But, that's what I did.
• 3:49
  I started a nonprofit feeding the working poor in 2002 just before the economic crash and that, I was feeding 73,000 people a year by the time that was done, built a, uh, a board of directors.
• 4:04
  It just naturally evolved, you know, with the responsibilities.
• 4:08
  We were five star in finance, we did really well.
• 4:10
  That now is a micro grant for widows where they can get a small grant for, um, starting their own business.
• 4:21
  And, um, so when you became a widow, how did you know what you wanted to do to start your own business or, how did you know what your next steps were going to be to care of your family?
• 4:34
  Sure, would you like me to give you the backstory so you have little understanding?
• 4:38
  Okay, sure.
• 4:39
  Um, Eric got sick in 2012 with metastatic melanoma.
• 4:44
  And we were actually counseling a doctor and his wife.
• 4:47
  And Eric told the doctor, I have a mole that's growing out of control on my arm.
• 4:53
  And he, the doctor said, well, why don't you come on in and I will do a pathology and we'll kind of see what's going on.
• 4:58
  So you, you know, the furthest thing from your mind is, okay, my life is gonna catapult downward.
• 5:04
  And, um, found out that he had stage three metastatic melanoma.
• 5:09
  And we were at a run to try to get the tumors out.
• 5:15
  He, he had like seven tumors; three in his chest area and uh, four in his arm.
• 5:22
  So it already spread and metastasized to two different locations and within 30 days it went to stage four melanoma.
• 5:29
  And here I was, you know, the pastor's wife trying to support him in everything I did, that was my dream.
• 5:35
  And I thought that was the life I was gonna live for the rest of my life.
• 5:38
  And now everything had turned upside down.
• 5:41
  You know, my faith, I have a very, very strong faith.
• 5:44
  So I felt okay that we're going to this too shall pass.
• 5:48
  You know, I never thought I'd be faced with widowhood.
• 5:50
  I understood taking care of children.
• 5:52
  I understood, um, feeding the poor, never thought about the widows ever.
• 5:59
  It was like I never even thought, here I'm reading my Bible every day and I'm praying and asking God for wisdom, and then I'm realizing, oh my gosh, I completely ignored and did not understand the life of a widow, until I became one.
• 6:14
  So over the next two years, which is what we had to do, is battle through chemo and all the issues that we had to walk through with that.
• 6:22
  And then had to face the reality.
• 6:23
  And, uh, it was April, 2014, Eric had a saddle pulmonary embolism, which was a result of all the other problems he had.
• 6:32
  The cancer spread to his brains, to his bones, to um, every part of his body.
• 6:38
  And that normally would take a life in three to four minutes because it's a, an embolism or a blood clot that sits over the heart and the lungs, so you feel like you're drowning at all moments.
• 6:49
  I couldn't do anything.
• 6:51
  And for the next three weeks we had to find a place where he would be buried.
• 6:56
  So it was really interesting and very difficult.
• 6:59
  But, you know, I just continued to seek the Lord.
• 7:01
  I was faced with a lot of problems when he passed.
• 7:05
  Because, I had to take on debt and some responsibilities that I had no idea were really in existence.
• 7:13
  I didn't know how to pay a bill online.
• 7:15
  I didn't know how to do anything.
• 7:17
  So my whole goal is to teach women that are over 50 that you can pick up your pieces and move forward.
• 7:25
  It's not an easy journey, but you can.
• 7:29
  And inspire them, you know, to kind of learn.
• 7:32
  Just driving in the freeway was nerve-wracking for me, cause my whole everything would, like, I would bypass past streets because you have something called brain fog.
• 7:41
  And I had no idea what I was gonna do, I knew the church would pay me for a year, but after that my stipend would end.
• 7:47
  So every part of my life was fragmented at that point.
• 7:51
  You know, I wanted to step away from the church so the new pastor's wife could take over.
• 7:56
  And I closed the nonprofit and then I hired a finance coach because I didn't know what to do, to be honest.
• 8:03
  And so I thought I, I need to skill myself.
• 8:06
  I handed some money to an advisor and lost about $30,000 on that decision because I just didn't know what I was doing.
• 8:13
  And he didn't know what he was doing, in regards to widows.
• 8:16
  Widows are very different.
• 8:18
  They're different from divorcees, even though you're similar in a similar situation; your mindset is different.
• 8:24
  So, I thought I can't let anybody else go through that.
• 8:28
  So I hired this finance coach and I said, what do I do?
• 8:30
  I need to know what to do.
• 8:32
  And he said, well, why don't you go back into counseling?
• 8:35
  I knew I had to create an income.
• 8:37
  So he said, I just, I told him, listen, I love helping people, but counseling isn't gonna work for me because it's a very difficult field.
• 8:46
  And I specialized in family and like sex addiction as well as, battles that women would face.
• 8:53
  And this is just a hard counseling.
• 8:57
  I was well known in the area for what I did, but now I had to earn a living.
• 9:01
  And there are a lot of issues in the state of California that you battle when you hang up your sign as a counselor, a psychologist or whatever.
• 9:08
  So I didn't wanna go that route.
• 9:09
  And he said, well, have you ever considered coaching?
• 9:13
  And I told him, I'm not sure what coaching is.
• 9:15
  And he said, why don't you learn, go study and figure out what that is and come back to me.
• 9:20
  So this is before Nifty started.
• 9:22
  So I studied it and I told him, this is for me.
• 9:26
  I homeschooled my children, I'm very vision focused.
• 9:29
  I'm not an A type personality.
• 9:31
  I'm more B type.
• 9:32
  I'm very family oriented and my value system had changed.
• 9:36
  So that seems like a, a good path for me.
• 9:38
  But during that same time, I knew I had to create some type of an income.
• 9:42
  So, one of the volunteers in the nonprofit said, hey, Michelle, I've seen your work ethic, why don't you interview with this man and see if you would be a good fit.
• 9:52
  And that was a rehabil rehabilitation center.
• 9:55
  And so, during that time I was interviewing with him, he's telling me, you know, you're gonna work six days a week, you're gonna be on call.
• 10:02
  We're a five star company.
• 10:04
  And all I could think of is I had tunnel vision.
• 10:07
  I was 51 years old at this point, and I thought, how I have grieving children.
• 10:11
  I have two more to launch out.
• 10:14
  And how am I going to, how am I gonna do that?
• 10:16
  There's no way.
• 10:17
  So I thought this isn't going to fulfill the vision and mission that Eric and I had with our children.
• 10:24
  Which was to launch them and have them be successful, Godly, and pay their taxes.
• 10:29
  That's really what we wanted.
• 10:30
  So I was driving home that day and I'm like, Lord, is this really the direction for me to go in?
• 10:36
  How am I gonna do this?
• 10:37
  And I thought, is there any way I could start a business where women could work for themselves when they want and when they could versus have to?
• 10:46
  I loved the Uber business model.
• 10:47
  Just loved it.
• 10:48
  So I thought, could I do something like that?
• 10:51
  Is it even, is that even a thing?
• 10:53
  So, and you know, I was in such a time of discovery because I didn't know a lot.
• 10:58
  I had a great career before I started homeschooling.
• 11:02
  But, that had been 12, 13 years earlier.
• 11:05
  So everything had changed in the world at that point.
• 11:08
  And when I got back to my home, I talked to some of the gals around me, I said, hey, if I start this business, like you could work from your home.
• 11:16
  I didn't even know it was called remote.
• 11:17
  And you could work from your home.
• 11:19
  I could work from mine.
• 11:20
  And we could figure out spreadsheets and things like that.
• 11:23
  And my son said, you used to have a gift basket business, mom, why don't you start that again?
• 11:26
  So I started, I said, girls, are we ready?
• 11:30
  And they said yes.
• 11:30
  So we started it.
• 11:32
  Created Nifty, the brand, the first go round.
• 11:35
  And, we started learning to work remote from home, and then I would go out and network.
• 11:40
  I was terrified, shaking, but I did it.
• 11:43
  And then grew, uh, the gift basket side and then became board certified in finance, life and grief coaching at the same time.
• 11:53
  Taught at the local college practical skills for widows, like bridging the gap from, loss or after six weeks to three or four months to a financial advisor.
• 12:04
  So I didn't want a person like where I was at, to experience what I experienced.
• 12:09
  So I became that person that I needed at the time.
• 12:12
  And then that went over very well.
• 12:14
  So then I was hired by a financial advisor because I had specialty certifications.
• 12:20
  So I have a certification, it's called, Certified Financial Transition.
• 12:24
  So I didn't really know what direction I was gonna be heading.
• 12:26
  I just thought, I'm gonna try these things because I don't know.
• 12:30
  And what I did find out is I don't like working as a financial advisor.
• 12:34
  That's not my gift.
• 12:35
  I, I can help you organize them, but I don't wanna advise you on what stocks to buy.
• 12:41
  I money is such a personal thing.
• 12:43
  So, life was more my strength plus organizing finances.
• 12:47
  Anyway, during that time, Nifty began to grow and I had maybe four or five gals that work for me.
• 12:53
  Then I started evolving and changing when I really knew who my avatar was.
• 12:57
  Cause really I started willy-nilly.
• 12:59
  I have a tendency to launch then learn.
• 13:02
  So I had a lot of mistakes, a lot of things I had to learn.
• 13:04
  And, but I learned to network.
• 13:05
  I learned to get out there, I learned to speak up and not be so afraid.
• 13:09
  And even if I was afraid, do it anyway.
• 13:11
  And then in 2018, so keep in mind, I was working full-time still and the gift basket business was growing, but everyone was working at home, so I would do this at night.
• 13:22
  Or early in the morning or whatever.
• 13:24
  And by that time everyone had launched, everyone was out, marriages took place, a lot of things were happening.
• 13:30
  And so in 2018 I was praying everyday I'm up early three thirty four o'clock seeking God.
• 13:36
  And I'm looking outside and I see my van sitting there half the time and I think, gosh, what can I do with that van?
• 13:43
  It's not being used all the time.
• 13:45
  So I think, you know, could I wrap gifts?
• 13:49
  I make gifts, can I wrap them?
• 13:50
  Is that even a thing?
• 13:51
  Can you drive around and wrap gifts?
• 13:53
  So I put up a webpage that day and I got a call within about four or five days from my current, one of my current clients, and he said, I hate wrapping gifts, can you wrap my gifts?
• 14:03
  So I said, absolutely have wrapping, we'll travel.
• 14:08
  So I put everything in the van, and went to his house and wrapped all of his gifts.
• 14:12
  And I stood back, I was so excited, you know, like, oh, those are great; but I forgot to label them.
• 14:17
  I had to unwrap and rewrap everything.
• 14:18
  So I did that.
• 14:20
  And then, but I learned, I got a standard operating procedure.
• 14:23
  And then in the next, that was 2018, going into 2019, I got a call from Too Faced Cosmetics who's asking me to do a design for them.
• 14:33
  That was our first major project.
• 14:36
  And did their design, they loved it and I really found that was my favorite thing to do, create the design is huge for me.
• 14:44
  I love that.
• 14:45
  And team building.
• 14:46
  Those are my two main things.
• 14:46
  And so, we won that job and that was a gift fulfillment and gift wrap and delivery project, which was great.
• 14:54
  And then through the summer, end of summer I got a call from the Kardashian estate manager, and I didn't even know who that was.
• 15:01
  Called my sons and they said, mom, they're number two under Trump at that time, or Kim and Kanye.
• 15:06
  So I drove out; this is when I transitioned from grandparent, pastor's wife to business owner.
• 15:12
  I went out there and took all my supplies and she hated everything I did.
• 15:16
  She's like, no, don't like that.
• 15:17
  No, don't like that.
• 15:18
  No, I don't like, those are not the colors I like.
• 15:20
  I walk outside and I'm like, Lord, you brought me here, I'm not driving away without a sale.
• 15:25
  I'm in Calabasas, everyone's, my team's staring at me.
• 15:28
  There's like seven, and then her team is watching me.
• 15:30
  There's just no way.
• 15:31
  So I walk in and I said, does anybody have a fierce silk scarf or fabric?
• 15:36
  And they gave me some fabric and I did a furoshiki wrap, uh, which is a Japanese wrap, and she loved it.
• 15:41
  And that launched me in the celebrity side.
• 15:43
  And then it just grew.
• 15:45
  I got called from schools and universities, how did you do this?
• 15:48
  My point is this, it started from a little nothing.
• 15:51
  I had no skills.
• 15:53
  I had to learn everything over again.
• 15:56
  I have hundreds of books, hundreds of YouTube videos, practices, mistakes, failures, crying.
• 16:03
  How am I gonna survive?
• 16:04
  And then by God's grace we're here.
• 16:06
  And the fact that I get to do what I do is huge, and my team is phenomenal.
• 16:13
  So that's what I did and how I got there.
• 16:17
  You know, Michelle, I'm so sorry that you went through what you had to go through in order to get there.
• 16:22
  You know, losing your husband, nobody wants to go through that.
• 16:25
  That's, that's devastating.
• 16:27
  And especially watching them fight for their life and for their life.
• 16:33
  fight for their life, and, and you end up, at the other end alone.
• 16:38
  But what I really love about what you said is that you did something that a lot of us women failed to do, and that is just jump in, jump in and learn as you go.
• 16:49
  I think that a lot of us, including myself, we say, well, I'm a college educated woman, I can't just jump into this willy nilly and see where the cards land.
• 17:01
  I need to be a professional person.
• 17:02
  I need to take this class, this class, this class, this class, and you, we overwhelm ourselves with knowledge.
• 17:10
  And yet five, six years, we still don't launch.
• 17:14
  Mm-hmm.
• 17:15
  We don't follow our dream.
• 17:17
  But you, you took a different approach.
• 17:19
  Maybe it was because out of need, you know, because you had these children that were depending on you.
• 17:26
  You had this household that, that you had to run the entire household at this point, you know, figure out how the lights are gonna stay on.
• 17:34
  And so you just went in there, you did it scared.
• 17:38
  That's, I know, I love that statement, do it's scared.
• 17:40
  And I think for women, perfection is the enemy of progress.
• 17:44
  And it's the same with finances, we're afraid to make an investment or we're afraid to, you know, do something with our finances.
• 17:52
  And it really is, you know, interesting.
• 17:55
  I heard one of your podcasts and it was with, Judy Henderson, and it was sad hearing about her story being put in prison.
• 18:03
  And you realize that every person has a cross to bear and it was specifically designed for them, and that was the cross that God had given me.
• 18:11
  I don't wish it upon anyone, you know, I don't, but at the same time, it opened up other opportunities for women later.
• 18:19
  You know, there is a purpose behind it, Mm-hmm.
• 18:23
  know, so it's, yeah.
• 18:25
  I appreciate that, thank you.
• 18:26
  And you and I are both women of faith.
• 18:29
  You know, before we go live.
• 18:32
  Before we go live, 30 minutes before we go live, I usually spend time in my room and I pray for my guest, and I pray for myself.
• 18:41
  And I surrender the show to God.
• 18:43
  And I say, you know, let it be your will, not mine.
• 18:45
  Mm-hmm.
• 18:47
  And let whatever messaging comes out of the recording, let it be that thing that that person out there is waiting to hear.
• 18:55
  Yep.
• 18:56
  And so I think that that may have been the connection between you and I is that, you know, we're both striving for the same thing.
• 19:02
  Is, is being able to release that message out there to that one person who is sitting there trying to figure out, what do I do next?
• 19:12
  What do I do next?
• 19:14
  And then they listen to your story and they say, my goodness, the walls came down on her.
• 19:22
  But those walls did not box her in.
• 19:26
  They opened up.
• 19:28
  Opened, I mean, crazy opportunities.
• 19:30
  Who would in the world would ever think that, I mean, yes, you are an educated woman, you have two master's degrees.
• 19:37
  That means nothing in the scheme of the world.
• 19:39
  You know, it really, it's all theory.
• 19:41
  Yeah, but you did something totally different from what you learned, you know what your degrees are for, business and, and counseling.
• 19:52
  You're not doing that.
• 19:53
  Well, you sort of are.
• 19:55
  You sort of are because you are coaching women and that you know, that counseling does come in to play.
• 20:01
  And you know, the business sort of comes into play.
• 20:04
  Not really, cause I have a degree in business as well.
• 20:06
  You know, you just learn, That's theory.
• 20:09
  what books, what the teach you.
• 20:10
  But, it's not really.
• 20:11
  You don't really start learning anything until you apply it.
• 20:14
  Right, so you wake up one morning and can I pay my staff tomorrow.
• 20:18
  Like there, there's realities that you have to deal with.
• 20:21
  There's a book that was written by, I think it's David Green, the Hobby Lobby, the gentleman here.
• 20:27
  I had a, my big battle was, okay, I'm not, in ministry anymore.
• 20:31
  And am I really serving God?
• 20:34
  Like because you kind of get into that mindset of this is the rest of my life and I'm gonna be serving God in this capacity.
• 20:41
  And then you realize that it's your whole life is different now.
• 20:44
  And he made a statement in there that was life changing for me, actually in my mindset.
• 20:50
  He said, your worship is your merchant.
• 20:53
  Be a good Godly merchant.
• 20:57
  And if you can be a Godly merchant that supports the work of ministry.
• 21:02
  And so I just realized, okay, that's my new calling, you know, it's different.
• 21:06
  It's shifted and there's a purpose behind it and I, I feel like, as you know, I had a question for you and the question was, what made you start a podcast for midlife women?
• 21:18
  Because that's such a, we are so valuable in terms of time, our mind, our resources, and yet I don't believe we are now, but prior or right around the time when I was 51 years old, being older in a career wasn't necessarily ideal.
• 21:37
  And I don't necessarily wanna believe that, you know, there's a discrimination or anything going on, cause you have to just, the Lord knows your situation.
• 21:46
  So you have to press in or press through.
• 21:48
  But what made you start your podcast for midlife?
• 21:52
  Like I thought I was very, very intrigued by that.
• 21:55
  What made me start my podcast was that I think that, when we reach midlife, whatever you wanna call midlife, I call midlife personally myself, when I started to feel lonely, per se.
• 22:11
  Hmm.
• 22:12
  Surrounded by people, but lonely was probably in my mid forties.
• 22:18
  And there were things going on physically, mentally that I felt like I couldn't speak to other people about.
• 22:28
  Because either it would make them feel or it would label me as being a failure or scared or, oh no, here she comes.
• 22:40
  She's just gonna nag again.
• 22:42
  That's funny.
• 22:43
  Yeah.
• 22:43
  And you know, because there are things that we just need to talk about with someone that, can say, oh yeah, I went through that.
• 22:55
  I went through that, and this is how I came out on the other side as the better version of myself.
• 23:02
  Not the 20-year-old version of myself, not the 30-year-old version, but the new and improved version that is inspiring and making this life the best life that I can live.
• 23:17
  Right.
• 23:18
  And so that's the reason why I decided to start my own podcast and YouTube show was so that I could kind of wrap my arm around that person, that that woman in midlife who feels that she's alone, Mm-hmm.
• 23:34
  even though she's surrounded by people.
• 23:38
  Mm-hmm.
• 23:38
  That's, that's great.
• 23:39
  Yeah, I, I mean, my podcast is the same.
• 23:41
  It's definitely for boomer women.
• 23:43
  Like, you know, women who are over, let's see, my birth, my birth year of 64, so I'm the tail end of a boomer, boomer generation.
• 23:52
  So it's like women are losing their spouses and having to do life over again.
• 24:00
  So how do they reinvent their lives?
• 24:02
  How do they, or, or they have a silver divorce.
• 24:04
  You know, you've got that going on, and there's this, there's so much more that our age group can offer with wisdom and experience too.
• 24:14
  So kudos to you for that.
• 24:16
  You know.
• 24:17
  And you know what I love about your business is that some of us are good at doing things.
• 24:22
  Don't ask me to wrap.
• 24:23
  I will wrap the most ugliest gift you'll ever see.
• 24:26
  You probably won't even wanna open it.
• 24:29
  I'm not, that's not my talent.
• 24:30
  That's why we exist.
• 24:33
  But you know, you have people that are awesome at setting tables.
• 24:37
  Mm-humm You know entertaining, at staging places.
• 24:42
  And this this is just a natural talent that we have that, you know, people love going to your events because they know that they're in for a show because you're so good at this.
• 24:54
  But none of us stop and think about that, we can actually get paid to do that.
• 24:58
  Wait, that's right.
• 25:01
  That's right.
• 25:01
  I am starting an app where women that are talented like that, setting a table, small little events.
• 25:08
  Because I do a lot of different things so I can learn how, to do it.
• 25:13
  So I went on TaskRabbit, I have a video on it.
• 25:17
  And I learned both hire from TaskRabbit became a TaskRabbit person.
• 25:21
  I learned both sides so that I could help women, you know, they may not do what I do, or maybe they don't wanna have a mobile gift wrapping business, but they wanna do something different just like you, you described.
• 25:33
  I did a porch pumpkins, and that's, you know, setting up somebody's porch.
• 25:39
  And, then when I was there doing that, I got invited to set up a party.
• 25:43
  And then, you know, I did all the work for her; made a thousand dollars.
• 25:47
  But the point is, is people want these small kind of things.
• 25:53
  It's not plumbing, it's hospitality, it's serving, it's putting lights up around the house.
• 25:58
  It's decorating a Christmas tree.
• 26:00
  So people want to, they can sign up on my newsletter and then they'll hear when that comes out.
• 26:05
  It's just about done.
• 26:06
  But that's just a great way for them to earn income.
• 26:09
  Cause I'm all about can you earn more money.
• 26:12
  I'm not here to say you can earn thousands of dollars, but I'm here to say you can earn a thousand plus a month doing these extra things and, you know, help your family or yourself.
• 26:24
  And it's gets you back outside and bringing joy to yourself and joy to others by what you do.
• 26:31
  Cause that's kind of my mantra with Nifty; we're bringing joy to a hurting world.
• 26:35
  And, I didn't know how to make a profit before, so I learned that it's okay to make a profit.
• 26:41
  The Bible tells us to, to make a profit be a good steward.
• 26:44
  I had to learn and to master that.
• 26:46
  But you know, it's learning to save and work and bring joy to both the recipient and you and yeah.
• 26:54
  So that's cool.
• 26:55
  And, and so tell me, how do, because you coach people, you coach women on building their business, how do you, untrain them to overeducate themselves and just get out there.
• 27:10
  It's probably the hardest part.
• 27:12
  I think people don't understand the value of taking action.
• 27:16
  And I think sometimes; I think this can be for anyone, not just females, but or women; but when you're learning something to start applying it right away, otherwise you're gonna find all the flaws.
• 27:29
  And what you have to do is go out there and network and start talking.
• 27:35
  And I did it before I was ready.
• 27:37
  Somebody asked me that question, I think it was last week, about, what made me just start doing it.
• 27:42
  It's like somehow you have an internal motivation, so you have to motivate yourself.
• 27:47
  And we've created habits and sometimes those habits don't serve us well.
• 27:52
  So it's changing some of those habits to master our time a little better.
• 27:56
  It doesn't mean you have to work 24 hours a day, but you know, what can you do that's active?
• 28:01
  So you have to, be motivated.
• 28:02
  You have to internally motivate yourself to do what needs to be done.
• 28:07
  And then when I'm tired, cause there are days I work 18, 19, 20 hour days, then I just, like, can I do one more thing to further my business?
• 28:15
  Can I do one more thing?
• 28:16
  Like even if it's to write a thank you, like I'm very big on handwritten thank you notes.
• 28:21
  And so if it's just to do one more thing.
• 28:24
  I think if we could learn, just do one more thing; it can be small.
• 28:28
  I, I listened to another podcast that you started out.
• 28:30
  I it was one you just recently did.
• 28:32
  I think, and it was, you know, taking action, just doing one more thing.
• 28:36
  And it really is just a, it doesn't have to be a large life change.
• 28:42
  It's just adding or doing one extra thing, one extra call.
• 28:48
  And I think it's different when it's something you're passionate about.
• 28:50
  It's not like a chore like, oh my God, I have to do this one more thing.
• 28:54
  You, it lights you up.
• 28:56
  You're, it's, it's not, it's not heavy.
• 28:59
  You just do it.
• 29:00
  Mm-hmm.
• 29:01
  And sometimes I think, I think we kind of have an interesting culture right now, it's a little interesting.
• 29:07
  I do feel like you should love what you do, but I don't feel like that's the case for everyone.
• 29:12
  I think that growing up for me it was, you were waitress cause you had to earn money.
• 29:18
  You did these things because you had to create an income.
• 29:21
  And so some things we're not going to, like.
• 29:23
  There's parts of my business I'm not a fan of, but thankfully I have people who support me and I have staff now that can help me with some of those things.
• 29:32
  But at the same time, you know, it's, you still have to do it, you know, in order to grow your business.
• 29:38
  There are things you're not going to like, but yeah.
• 29:40
  Mm-hmm.
• 29:41
  But the end result is you have something that you've built.
• 29:47
  You know you have something that you've done.
• 29:50
  And I'm pretty sure people have asked you this question many times.
• 29:54
  How on earth did you get this small company to align with these big brands or land, these big brands?
• 30:05
  How did that happen?
• 30:07
  That almost seems like magic.
• 30:10
  Well, I get asked that question yes, a lot.
• 30:13
  And I'm gonna give you the same answer I give to everyone else.
• 30:16
  It is this, I truly have a faith.
• 30:20
  And there have been very rough days and there have been incredibly blessed days.
• 30:25
  And just how I got the President's, this opportunity is, it has to be God.
• 30:33
  Because I have the ability when I was first starting out with the Bieber family; he's playing the piano while I'm wrapping him and Hailey's gifts.
• 30:43
  And how do you, it's only the Lord.
• 30:47
  So, I can't give you five steps to this.
• 30:50
  I do that and I teach you, and I train you, but I have, my faith is very strong.
• 30:57
  So I trust the Lord, and then these opportunities come to light and it's just crazy.
• 31:04
  You know, we're not this big, giant, financially big company.
• 31:09
  We're a small company serving incredible clients.
• 31:14
  And our whole goal is to serve.
• 31:17
  It's in every staff person that works with me, beside me, behind me, we serve.
• 31:24
  And I think that is also part of it.
• 31:26
  So it's just, we're very service focused, product based.
• 31:30
  We wanna do an excellent job.
• 31:32
  I want a great reputation.
• 31:34
  And, and I pray.
• 31:37
  And you know, I've been doing some work, I'll give you a little insight that has not been announced yet.
• 31:42
  During the inauguration, I know not everyone is a fan of Trump, but I am.
• 31:47
  Because I see some of the benefits of what he's done.
• 31:51
  What he's done before, and I've felt sad and sorry for some of the things they've had to go through as a family.
• 31:55
  It's been very sad.
• 31:57
  But, whether you like him or not, it doesn't matter the fashion of the gals, the GOP ladies is huge.
• 32:03
  I love fashion and I was very inspired during the inauguration by their clothes.
• 32:08
  So I created some beautiful high-end gift boxes full of gift wrap ribbons, videos on how to wrap these gifts, according to the fashion, and it's been incredible.
• 32:21
  So I get this idea in the middle of the night.
• 32:24
  I wake up, I create the gift wrap for the power suit that Melania wore.
• 32:30
  And I go to my team, we have a meeting in at the end of January, usually end of January, beginning of February, discussing the prior year, what we could have done better, and how we can move forward.
• 32:41
  What do they foresee for the next year with me.
• 32:43
  You know, and we talk about, what I'd like to do.
• 32:46
  And, I told them about this idea I had and that I created this sample wrap already and they're staring at me like, that's a big undertaking.
• 32:54
  I said, but the two people I wanna wrap gifts for are Melania and Elon Musk.
• 33:00
  And I said that in January and then, the week after, on Tuesday, I get an email from the State Department asking if I would consider designing all the new gift wraps, for the five main principles.
• 33:15
  And I almost fell over on my chair and I thought, oh my, this is a dream.
• 33:21
  So we, my team and I, we worked incredibly hard, came up with all these ideas, gave them several ideas, and then, once they chose us to be their vendor and designer, she said, Michelle, you guys have earned this.
• 33:35
  You've worked so hard.
• 33:36
  So I think it, there's, you know, Spurgeon said this: pray as if it depends on God and work as if it depends on you.
• 33:43
  And I think if you keep those two principles in your mind, you can't just pray that money shows up in your, your mailbox, although I do that.
• 33:52
  You have to work, you know, and we've put in the work to do it.
• 33:57
  But at the same time, I've put in the prayer.
• 34:00
  Yes, you have, you have.
• 34:03
  Michelle, what are three pieces of advice that you would give that woman over 50 who is now either a silver divorcee or a widow?
• 34:16
  What would be her next steps?
• 34:19
  Um, that's great, that's a great question.
• 34:21
  I would say number one, don't give up on your dream.
• 34:25
  Like if you have a dream, pencil it out, pencil it out.
• 34:28
  And then number two, find the people; I think something we forget is that women, women are highly resourceful.
• 34:37
  We, we know how to make costumes out of nothing.
• 34:40
  We know how to make food out of nothing.
• 34:42
  We, we just do, we're gifted in that way.
• 34:44
  So you have resources; call, utilize what is free, utilize people who are around you, most everyone wants to help you.
• 34:53
  And then invest in yourself like.
• 34:56
  Invest in what you wanna learn.
• 34:57
  If you wanna learn how to sew, if you wanna learn how to play tennis, if you want to learn how to start a business, then invest.
• 35:04
  Like find someone and invest.
• 35:06
  Like that's what I did, I spent money investing in a mentor, someone who could help me, especially on the, when I first started out.
• 35:15
  And, learn, you know, learn.
• 35:18
  And, put your foot in the water, you know, dip your foot in the water.
• 35:22
  Just who cares if it's a mess?
• 35:23
  Everything about my website was a mess.
• 35:25
  Everything about all the different things I did, I learned so many things the hard way.
• 35:31
  So I would say launch and learn.
• 35:34
  Love Three pieces of advice.
• 35:35
  Mm-hmm.
• 35:36
  I love it! Michelle, where can people learn more about you or even begin to work with you, get coached by you?
• 35:44
  Sure there's a couple of places, so first they can check out Nifty.
• 35:47
  Nifty Package.co is my main product gift, uh, wrapping space for corporations or companies or people who wanna hire us.
• 35:57
  And then secondly, the training side is Michelle M Hensley.com, and they can sign up for a free book.
• 36:04
  I would be happy to ship that to them.
• 36:06
  I do have a book out.
• 36:07
  And, sign up for a newsletter there and they can sign up for a coaching call.
• 36:11
  And then, we kind of walk through where they're at and where they wanna go.
• 36:15
  And they can also hire me for a certain amount of time to help them get launched.
• 36:20
  Or they can start their own gift wrapping business, mobile gift wrapping business.
• 36:26
  Lastly, there is a freebie that they can find on the front of the webpage where you can download it.
• 36:32
  And it asks them questions about, how to start my own business?
• 36:36
  What is good for me?
• 36:37
  And then would mobile gift wrapping be a good option?
• 36:40
  So it asks a lot of good questions.
• 36:41
  There's also a quiz they can take.
• 36:43
  And then they can freely email or call.
• 36:46
  I am totally open.
• 36:48
  So my email is michelle@niftypackage.co and my phone number is (714) 863-6058 and I'd love to be here to serve you.
• 36:59
  Thank you so much.
• 37:00
  Michelle, this has been an honor to have you on the show.
• 37:03
  I will link all your information in the show notes so that people can connect with you.
• 37:08
  You are an inspiration.
• 37:10
  Thank you.
• 37:10
  Carmen.
• 37:11
  Thanks for having me on.
• 37:12
  It's been an honor.
• 37:14
  Thank you.
• 37:15
  So remember that van we talked about in the beginning, the one thing that was sitting in Michelle's driveway, it didn't just carry wrapping paper, it carried courage, creativity, and the beginning of a brand new chapter.
• 37:31
  Michelle's journey is living proof that even after unimaginable loss, her story isn't over.
• 37:38
  It's just beginning.
• 37:40
  And maybe just, maybe it's time for you to pull your own metaphoric van out of the driveway too! If you'd like to connect with Michelle or explore how she's helping women, over 50 create meaningful income doing what they love, head on over to createthebestme.com/ep130.
• 38:04
  All of her links, tools, and free assessment questions are waiting for you there.
• 38:09
  Come back next week for another amazing episode, created just for you.
• 38:14
  Until then, keep dreaming big.
• 38:16
  Take care of yourself.
• 38:18
  And remember, you are beautiful, strong, and capable of creating the best version of yourself.
• 38:26
  Thank you for watching.
• 38:27
  Catch you next week.
• 38:28
  Bye for now.