Latest / GEL & Tell / Ep 24 - Our Best Month in Business Was Also Our Hardest
Transcript
- Nora: I think it's episode twenty four. G: Hello and welcome back to episode 24 of Gel and Ted. Nora: We're back. G: Does that mean it's been if we're twenty four episodes in, where did we start this thing? January, February, March? Nora: I think it was February. G: be quite cool to do a year. It was definitely this year, but the year has gone so Nora: I might be mistaken though. Might be mistaken. Yeah. G: quickly, can you believe we're in October? Nora: Yeah, let me actually check. Yeah, it was seventeenth of February, it was the first ever episode of Gell and Tell. And we're now on episode G: my goodness. Nora: twenty four. I'm so proud of us. Yeah. G: And spooky season spooky season is upon us. Nora: Yeah, I'm so proud of us. Yeah. So yeah, how are you, Georgia? G: I'm good, thanks, Nora. I have been a busy little bee. things have been really good at work. I'm really enjoying how we're in like promo mode at the moment. We had our masterclass last week. We've really been extremely practicing what we preach in all essences Nora: Yeah. G: at the moment, and obviously running the business at the same time and trying to have a life and deal with other things going on in the world. So it's been a lot, but I'm feeling grateful, feeling productive, feeling positive. how about you? How are you doing? Nora: Love the vibes. Yeah, I'm feeling good as well. it's been one of the busiest months of my life. but I think we're handling it really well. We've hit another record month. when we both did our like recap of like September and we saw how much we made in September. We were both like, How did this even happen? but we know how it happened 'cause we work really hard and like you said, G: We did. Nora: we do, you know, practice what we preach and we do put in, you know, we do put in the G: Boom. Nora: work and everything that we tell our clients to, we do as well. So it doesn't happen by accident. G: Yeah. Someone did say someone did say that to me yesterday on on yesterday, last week on a call, they were like, one of the things that, you know, I find really inspiring about working with you is that you guys actually do everything that you teach us. And I was like, Yeah, yeah, we do. Nora: Yeah, exactly. G: Like we would never tell someone to do something we weren't willing to do ourselves. and Nora: Yeah. G: and it means sometimes we do things and they don't work as well. Nora: Yeah. G: like we had masterclass last week which I don't know about you, but I was like really nervous for because we'd never done one like that before. and we were like literally waiting on the thing thinking like all these people have registered, but is anyone gonna show up? And like the feeling my god. Nora: Yeah. Major imposter syndrome, because we haven't done anything like that in a very long time. And we we know what we're talking about. Like I think cover the the content that we covered in that master class we know of by heart. It's what we talk about all the time. But then it was like, Will people show up? And what if no one shows up? And then what do we do then? And I was like, You you were panicking more than me, I think, when we were in the rating room. G: I just was just worried that we were gonna just end up like by ourselves on this call. Like we'd like obviously put so much into the marketing. We'd spent money on ads, like we'd done all of this work. And I just had Nora: Yeah. G: this fear that no one was gonna show up. And then I was trying to like understand why I had this like damaging mindset because I was like, just stop thinking negatively, visualize a room full of people and it will be great and like you'll do your best and blah blah blah. And anyway, we had like Over 20 people show up live on a 2 pm on a Thursday, which in hindsight is like quite a rogue time to have a masterclass, maybe. and Nora: Yeah. G: they were engaged, chatting to us, like we got such good feedback, like it was a really positive experience. And I was like, why was I so worried about it? But Nora: Yeah. G: I do think that is something that like I I don't know if anyone in the world doesn't have this, but like just like that fear and like the anxiety that comes of doing something new and Like you can't just switch it off. Like even when you wanna perceive it as excitement, the nerves, like it's really hard to be like, it's gonna be great when you have no idea what's gonna happen and you can't control the outcome. Nora: Yeah. And sometimes it won't go your way as well, you know? And I think that's part of like doing the thing anyway. and like what you said is like rather than focusing on the outcome, focus on like, you know, what you've done to get there, like focusing on the pro process and the progress that you're making is a lot more rewarding and fulfilling than focusing on the outcome. G: Mm-hmm. Nora: because I was even when you were panicking the waiting room, I like, gee, we just did so much work on this. We should be proud of ourselves regardless who shows up. You know, like what if five people show up? We still do it. And that's that's how we work, you know? and we learn from it G: Yeah. Yeah. And Nora: and we apply it the next time. And that's just how the game works. And, you know, you can apply this in business, you can apply it in life. you know, I've applied that recently this weekend when I competed and it didn't go my way. You know? it's just like a mindset, I think, when you run a business that you will do things that won't want and it wasn't it was a great success. I think there G: Yeah. Nora: were things that could have d gone better, you know, like you know, we you did say we put a lot of spend on ads. Did we get a lot of those leads actually attending live? No. So potentially something for us would be how could we increase the attendance from those leads, those that colder audience, next time to join us live, which would then ultimately increase that conversion off the back of what we're pitching at the end. But then that's the the game. Like I think the more you do it, the more you learn, the more you improve and the more you G: Yeah, the more confidence you build. But then I Nora: Yeah. G: wonder that even because someone was saying to me the other day, and I can't remember who it was or if I read it or if it was video or something, but it was basically like the bigger the business gets, the bigger the stress becomes. And I was like, god. Nora: Yeah. But it it's such a different stress though, no? Do you do you not feel it? Like I feel the difference between It I would say it's a lot more the stress, the more the business has improved and like we've grown. But just like compared to working for someone else, like I would choose this over and over and over again. G: a hundred percent. I think it's just about like how you handle it personally. So I Nora: Yeah. G: think, you know, there's different seasons where like it's easier than others. And it depends Nora: Hm. G: maybe like whether you're able to like ride the wave or like whether it festers a little bit. Because sometimes Nora: Yeah. G: like the stress, which is the same level of stress because it's the same amount of work on Nora: Mm. G: one week. can feel like really overwhelming. And then on another you're just like, ha ha, this is fantastic. I get to do this, you know? And again it comes down to like your perspective on it. doesn't mean it's easy. I don't think it would ever be easy. But if it was if it was easy, it wouldn't be worth it, would it? Nora: No. And and and when you do like achieve something, it wouldn't be as fulfilling either if it was easy. G: Hm. Yeah. And when it gets a bit easy, it gets a bit boring. Nora: And then you were like, Am I doing enough? And then a s cycle all over again. G: Yeah. And then we twiddle our thumbs. And then we decide, you know what, why don't we do like a double pronged launch in the space of two weeks with three weeks notice? Nora: Which is what we did, guys. Like we literally had this conversation about three weeks ago. Are we like doing enough? Maybe maybe we should be doing like more. And then we asked G: Something new. Nora: Yeah. And then and then we came up with this plan. And then here we are. We've have been nonstop for the last two weeks. G: But even more than that, I'd say the last three or four, because we had to do a lot. like Nora: Yeah. G: the prep and the work that's gone in the hours have been phenomenal and we don't know yet whether we're gonna get a return on our investment of time and money. But Nora: Yeah. G: we just have to trust that even if we don't, we're gonna learn so much from it and it's gonna help us grow the business in the long term, but also like grow our own knowledge and stuff like that, which I think is valuable. and when people, you know, would stop halfway through something or three quarters the way through or give up because it's not working yet, but not see something through, that's often like the biggest miss. because you do often get more at the end like of a promotion or even just after we've seen. Nora: Yeah. G: so we'll see. We'll see whether it's worth it and we'll let you know. But so far, I'd say it's been really positive. It's just been a lot of work and a lot of hours, but that's the nature. Like you say, don't hate the player, hate the game. Nora: Yeah. I think it's one thing that I would love to like discuss a bit, 'cause I think we've both experienced it as well, is like when it's your own business and you've got you've got other things happening in your life as well. G: Mm. Nora: and it gets super busy, it can get very challenging. G: Yeah. Nora: And yeah, I think we both like have managed it the best that we could, but I think we've both learned from this period as well. we've had difficult discussions ourselves, you know. we've had like long days, long nights working. and it's not all been like, you know, happy days like it's all great. Woo, you know. G: Yeah, it's been a patch. I think we've had a real rough patch to be honest. It's really ironic that the business is in the best spot, but we've probably been in our worst spot. Well, not the worst, Nora: Yeah. Yeah. G: I think we've had worst patches, but like we've not had our best patch. But I think Nora: No. G: there's so many variables and things that have led to that. And one of the things that I'm grateful for us for is that we have, even when it's been really difficult to try our best to communicate throughout it, Nora: Yeah. G: even when that communication probably could have still been better, like If you'd have rewind to a year ago where we were, Nora: Yeah. G: we wouldn't have been able to like voice how we were feeling or like express or name what was going on and try and make like productive moves in the right direction because we weren't mature enough to do that in our relationship or business. Nora: Yeah. Yeah. G: But doesn't mean it's been easy by any stretch of the imagination. It's been fucking hard. Nora: No. G: but every time we go through one of these, we always come out stronger. Nora: Yeah. G: which, I think people often look in, and especially maybe partly because of how we show up and how, you know, we are obviously like energetic and lively and all these things, and we show up every single day on socials that the perception is that it is all sunshine and rainbows and that. you know, we don't struggle with our mindset or, you know, we have the best relationship and friendship, which we do, but that does also come at a cost when we're working so closely together and we've Nora: Yeah. G: got a lot of stress in the business and outside of work as well. and that's hard. Nora: I think balancing like so much workload and then also like caring for each other when we've got all these other stuff happening outside of the business, can get very complicated, you know? Like G: Yeah. Nora: 'cause you don't know whether do I put my friend cap on now or like is it the business co-founder cap on? And like how do I balance the two? And then how do I remain to be a good friend whilst also like managing all these things that we've got to deal with in the business together? G: Yeah. Nora: and sometimes disagree on as well in the business and like how do I then not let that affect like the friendship and all of that, it just gets super, super complicated. G: It is. I don't think there could be many more complicated relationships. Unless possibly you're doing this with your like husband-wife. I think that is a similar kind of thing. Cause I know a lot of like partners do have like and build businesses Nora: Yeah. G: and run companies together and stuff like that. So I imagine that could also get really complex too. But in our case, Nora: yeah, a hundred. G: it's like, you know, the wires and the boundaries, trying to keep them, but also look after each other and Nora: Mm-hmm. G: always what we try and do, but it's really difficult sometimes when the business is so busy is put our friendship first. But when you run your own business, it's so hard to switch off from it because we care so deeply about it and we're working so many hours on it. It's such a challenging balance. Nora: Mm. G: and yeah, as much as it is like something that I wouldn't change for the world, like I think it would be, you know, Nora: I think when it's challenging, it's really challenging. G: it like it gets me to my core. Like it really, truly like it's really hard to explain. And I don't know whether like, you know, anyone that's even listening would quite get it. and it's not to be like, you don't know, but like, you're fucking dumb. Nora: Yeah, yeah. But I do think like you're right, like reflecting on a year ago, we wouldn't have been able to like communicate as well or G: No. Nora: yeah, just even like explain what we're feeling without one of us be getting offended or like, you know, like I think we've worked through yeah, just how do we communicate how we're feeling without the friendship being affected and also keeping the p priorities right as well. Cause like, yeah, making money's cool and like growing the business is cool. But at the end of the day, like we wouldn't have that if we didn't have our friendship and the respect that we have for each other and the love that we have for each other. So I think it's yeah. It's just remembering that on tougher times. And we did have a very tough two, three weeks, I would say. G: Yeah. Nora: yeah. Which is like you said, it's very ironic 'cause then we had the best two, three weeks in business. It's like you can't win. G: No, but I think because it was hub and we were pushing I think there's probably like they kind of live in parallel because it was like we were working so intensely on so much in one go that it was putting strain on our relationship. And Nora: Hm. G: there was stress there outside of work that was infiltrating in and we were both trying to keep on top of everything to our best, and it would Nora: Yeah. G: just naturally erupt. So when you look at it really objectively, it's like if if you were to kind of list all the things that were going on externally and internally in the business and our relationship, and we it was all plain sailing, that would be almost like psychotic. Like it would be a bit weird if things do know what I mean? Like like Nora: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. G: it pits if you actually put it all on a sheet of paper, someone would just be Nora: Yeah. G: like, Why why don't you ha get like counselling as a business expense? Nora: Yeah. I do think though, right? Like there's no genuine relationship that doesn't come with like, you know, working through things and disagreements. And I think the you you will never be the two same people. You can't be the same person as the other person. Like that's the reality of it. And you know, I think No. G: I wouldn't want us to be the same either though, because it's not it wouldn't be it would be boring and the fact that we do have different opinions on stuff makes us better overall. Because Nora: Yeah. Yeah. G: it's not like one of us is always right. It's that we find a good, happy medium on both of our points of view and perspectives. And Nora: Yeah. G: it's what makes us stronger together. So I wouldn't change it. I just think it makes it just adds an extra bit of spice sometimes. but I'm glad we've worked through it. Nora: Yeah. G: do you want to talk a bit about your shows? Cause we haven't had a little bit of a bodybuilding update. Nora: Sure. Yeah. I mean, I think on the last podcast was when I finished my Cypress show, which I took the win there. then I took a four week break. and I had another show over the weekend. it was a lovely weekend. Obviously, you came to CV, which was really special. it meant a lot to me to have you there. I didn't want to finish finish my season without you like being there for one of them. So that was very, very nice. It was a full weekend because I was competing on the Saturday. Gio was competing on the Sunday. So we were there for the full weekend. It was a very nice team like environment as well. Cause Josh, our coach, had like seven athletes, I think, competing on that show. So it was good to like feel part of the team and like, you know, like all of us being there supporting each other. we had a a a pro card being won in the team. One of our team members won a pro his pro card this weekend, which was very, very cool. G: who was that? Shout them out. Nora: yeah, Martin. Martin won his WMBF Pro card in men's bodybuilding, which is not an easy thing to do. So very, very, very happy and proud for him. And very happy and proud for Josh as well, because he puts a lot of work into his athletes and we have a lot of respect for him. for me, I feel like this was my best look yet. I'm very proud of the look. I'm very proud of like how showed up, my stage present. I had so much fun. being up on that stage. it was nice because like I saw girls that I was with on stage on my first show. so like yeah I just I felt like I was a lot more present because I think the more shows you do the more the less anxious you are backstage and like during the day. and I was able to like socialize with the girls a lot more like and it's cool because like I've never had like friends in the bodybuilding space. So like the fact that I got to meet all these women that do the same thing. has been really special through the season. result, we came fifth out of, I think, eleven girls on that G: Mm-hmm. Nora: stage. Obviously not quite like a win, but you know, we'll take it. I think for me, like I always said like a placing doesn't really define me as an athlete. The fact that I've placed top five in all of my shows one twice is like beyond anything that I've ever imagined about this season. And I know you kept saying, like you will win, you will win from the first show. And I was like, Georgia, we don't say this because I didn't want to put any pressure on me placing or like associating the placing to like how proud I was of myself for doing what I did. So is fifth what I wanted, not necessarily, but I am very proud and like very content with the look that I brought. It was the best Nora ever. Like I came on. More conditioned, more confident, better posing. and yeah. Yeah. G: And what more can you ask for? You looked incredible. It was iconic. It was really amazing to see. And I think, you know, at the end of the day, like to place and get a medal and qualify for the world championships is such an achievement in Nora: Yeah. G: itself. And that's three placings, three medals in three shows is fucking amazing. And you should be so proud. I'm so proud. I mean, I already told you you were my winner before you even stepped on stage. and yeah, it's really, Nora: Yeah. Thank you. G: really cool to see. Nora: but yeah, it's like that's why I mentioned it earlier. It's like sometimes things won't go your way no matter how much work you put in and you know. and that was that was a a very good opportunity for me to work on that mindset this weekend. Cause, you know, G: Yeah. Nora: after after going through two shows and winning both, you know. you set a bit of like expectations for yourself, you know, and like, you know, I could have let that placing, that one lower placing, like knock me down and be like, you know, affect me, but I've put things into perspective. You know, I worked really hard for this, I worked really hard for my physique and you know, what matters is have I put in the work? Am I proud of that work? Am I proud of the look? And the fact is I am. So like it's n you know. It's another way it's the same with business. You try things, sometimes they'll work, sometimes they won't. sometimes you'll make more money, sometimes you won't. And you know, that that's just how life and everything else goes. So yeah, I'm very happy. how are you? When's your next competition? G: Something of December. Actually, no, that's a lie. I've got this one next weekend, haven't I? But not that Nora: Yeah. G: I'm not counting it. I've got it's called Battle of Cancer. It's like a fit fitness, like a team event in London next Saturday. So I'm not specifically training for that, but obviously like it is a competition. We did a sim the other week, so it'll be good fun. It's for charity. And then my high rocks is on, I wanna say the third of December. so that's Nora: Nice. G: what my like programme and plan is for now. So Yeah, we wanna get Nora: Is that the London one? G: yeah, so I wanna get sub one five as the target for my time. So shave Nora: Ooh. G: three minutes off what I've got in May. Nora: Amazing. Is that a doubles or? G: Yeah. Yeah, doubles with my coach. Yeah, so we Nora: Love that. That's exciting. G: shall see how we get on. But I'm excited for it. I just need to like not get injured, keep the running volume good and do my best. And then that's all all one can do really. But I'm looking looking forward to it for sure. Nora: Love that. I'm excited for you. G: Thanks. that's coming up, but it will come around so quickly, won't it? And that's actually because we've got our eight-week program kicking off on Monday. That ends on the sixth. So actually I'm gonna we need to move the last call for that because I'm gonna miss it because I'm gonna be in my high rocks. Nora: She's gonna be in her hierarchs. I can run it. But yeah, we can see what we do with that. We're also planning of doing of doing our in person event, aren't we? At the end of the eight week. So we need to get planning. 'Cause we've told everyone. We have told everyone and we haven't actually G: Yes. We need to plan that. Yes, we really do. You told no, you told everyone on the call. It wasn't even on the slides. I thought, fucking El Nora, we haven't even planned it. She's like, and she is gonna kill Nora: 'Cause I was like if we G: me. But I thought, what am I gonna kill you for? What's she gonna say? She went, I'm gonna say it anyway. And I'm sat there thinking, what's she gonna say? What's she gonna say? And she's like Nora: Yeah. G: And we're doing an in-person event. I'm thinking, are we? Fuck me, we're doing an in-person event. I think we're doing an in-person event, but we haven't booked it. Dexter's not sure either. Please stop marking. but yeah. Nora: He's okay. He's okay. But yeah, I did I did just wing that. But yeah, I told everyone that we're doing an in-person event at the end of the eight weeks. I was like, you know what? We've been talking about it for ages. If I don't tell tell someone, we'll keep like pushing it back. So we're doing an event. Woohoo. so stay tuned. G: It'll be so fun. Yay, I'm excited. this Nora: I'm excited as well. I'm imagining like a full day mastermind, a bit of a social, get a few pictures, document the whole day. yeah, I'm excited for that. So I can't wait to get planning G: Yeah, it'll be super fun. Nora: it. G: I was gonna ask you one more thing just before we end. since we're coming into spooky season, what's Nora: Yeah. G: one thing that you're most scared of in the world? Nora: The one thing I'm most scared of in the world. G: Yeah. Or I'm serving one thing that scares you. Spooky. I'd actually don't know what you're frightened of. Do you have a phobia? Nora: Not really. G: Not scared of anything. Nora: Don't think so. I don't like the dark in general. Like if I'm walking by myself at night, I'm not G: Okay, that's fair. Nora: I'm not a fan of that. But like I'm not scared. I'm just like I'm not very comfortable. Yeah. G: You're not comfortable. Yeah, fair. I mean you do live in London, so I can understand that. Nora: Yeah. It's not something I would deliberately put myself in a position to G: Yeah. Nora: do. But I don't think there's anything like I don't have any phobias or anything. I would say more of like a personal level. I think it's like d and I think we spoke about this in a previous episode. My worst nightmare for myself is like not living up to the potential that I know I could have. So like I d I don't e I never imagine myself like s not working. No, that sounds very sad. But like, yeah. I I just I don't. I just like G: Would you say it's like a fear of failure? Nora: Potentially, yeah. G: Yeah. Nora: Potentially. G: And I think you've also got a fear of leaving on light switches. Nora: No, it's not like light switches, it's like plugs. Yeah, yeah. G: sorry, plug sockets, plug sockets, let me clarify. Nora: I just have a fear of like, you know, like when you like straighten your hair and then you leave the house, like my my biggest thing is like have I closed that plug? Like I don't want to like yeah. G: You know what a lot of people do to help with that anxiety is they take a photo of the hair straighteners after they do them. And then you've got Nora: Yeah, I do that. G: it on your phone so you can see. yeah, that's interesting. Nora: Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, I would say maybe that's the yeah. I have to close all the like Pluxheads thingies before I leave the house or else Nora cannot function. I don't know what you call that, but it's a problem. but yeah, what about you? G: What am I most scared of? one of my like phobias, which I think you know about, is I have this like really weird aversion to small round foods in large quantities and it's like quite extreme and I really Nora: No, but it is also i let me just say on this, you also choose which small round things like yeah, G: Mm. Nora: because if I give you a mole teasers, you will eat that quite fine. G: Yeah, but they're not s they're not the same as the ones that I'm like frightened of. Cause they're like this. Maltese is like this. I'm talking anything that's like this sort of size. So we're talking like Mm, Nora: So would you eat a Brussels sprout? G: if it was chopped in half and like cooked with like things. Nora: a Brazil's frown is bigger than the Maltese are. G: Yeah, but if it's chopped in half and it's cooked as like a chopped in half, but I wouldn't want it on my plate if it was like I wouldn't really like it. I would get I could like work with it, but I couldn't have peas on my plate, sweet on on my plate, beans on my plate, any sort of like spherical large quantity items. Nora: But could you eat them if I cut all of them h in half and they're not G: Mm I don't think I would I don't think I'd be able to. Could have corn on the cob Nora: But not if that Coron is like G: No. Like really no. Nora: So you are selective with what small round foods you eat. G: but it comes from like a stem of like a childhood situation. So like it's Nora: Okay, fair. G: like there's like a trauma there that's led to the phobia. So that's one of my things that I'm scared of. and then I really don't particularly like mice or rats or rodents. Like they really well but I don't know if it's a fear or if it's like a disgusting, don't come near me. Yeah, like don't touch me. Yeah, don't like that's fair. Nora: Yeah, fair. And he's just like, don't like it. Yeah, I don't blame you. I don't really like that either. Yeah. Love it. G: I don't know if I've got a fear of failure though. I think I just have like a fear of people dying. Nora: Hmm. But we're all gonna die G: Which is probably Nora: one day. G: yeah, I know, but like like like too soon kind of vibes. Nora: Yeah. G: But that's probably just because like unfortunately seen that quite a lot. So but those are my fears. Happy spooky season. Nora: guys, thanks for listening to this podcast. shall we end with a business takeaway of the week? Yeah, G: Yes, we love a business takeaway of the week. Nora: okay, you go first. G: great. okay, so having a busier calendar doesn't equal more success or money. Nora: Hmm, I wonder where that came from, Georgia. G: Because we need to stop filling up our fucking diaries so much because we need time to work on the business that doesn't look like our evenings and weekends. And it's really Nora: Yeah. G: easy to just keep booking more in and filling and filling and filling because you feel that that is productive. And it's a lesson and a mantra that that does not mean you're doing better. That is my takeaway of the week. What is yours? Nora: Love it. Mine is you need to go through tough times to appreciate the good times even more. There we go. G: Love it. no there's no light without darkness. Nora: Yeah. I think we've yeah we've proven that to ourselves many times in the business in the last year. So I am very grateful and proud of us and it's been a very busy September, very start a busy start to October. But jail has never been, you know, better. we have never been stronger. so The sky's the limit. G: Long may it continue. Nora: Yeah. Let's do it. G: Let's do it. Nora: but yeah, anyways guys, thank you so much for listening or watching, whichever one you're doing. but we appreciate you. Make sure that you drop this episode a like, rate the Spotify podcast a five star if you are listening on Spotify. and we'll catch you on the next one. G: Peace out. Thank you. Bye.