WEBVTT 00:00:02.059 --> 00:00:04.820 I'm so glad you're back with me. This is where 00:00:04.820 --> 00:00:08.900 50 is your finish line. It is your starting point. 00:00:09.279 --> 00:00:11.179 The starting point of everything you want your 00:00:11.179 --> 00:00:14.080 life to be. The person that you are meant to 00:00:14.080 --> 00:00:16.940 be. I'm your host, Michelle Thompson, and we 00:00:16.940 --> 00:00:21.079 are proving that your best chapter may just be 00:00:21.079 --> 00:00:24.350 the one you haven't written yet. We'll continue 00:00:24.350 --> 00:00:27.550 each episode featuring honest conversation with 00:00:27.550 --> 00:00:30.309 women who have stopped going at it alone and 00:00:30.309 --> 00:00:33.210 have failed their way to fulfillment, joy, and 00:00:33.210 --> 00:00:36.189 purpose in their second life. You'll hear about 00:00:36.189 --> 00:00:38.609 their struggles, their breakthroughs, and the 00:00:38.609 --> 00:00:41.770 practical steps that they took to create lives 00:00:41.770 --> 00:00:45.270 that they actually love. This podcast will show 00:00:45.270 --> 00:00:47.670 you how other women have made their comeback 00:00:47.670 --> 00:00:53.350 and how you can too. Welcome back. Good day everyone. 00:00:53.670 --> 00:00:56.350 Welcome to her comeback. I am your host, Michelle 00:00:56.350 --> 00:00:59.890 Thompson. Yeah. So I am a two -time entrepreneur. 00:01:00.210 --> 00:01:03.649 This is my third business, but I started my third 00:01:03.649 --> 00:01:06.150 business post 50. I know we'll talk about it 00:01:06.150 --> 00:01:08.469 today. It's a completely different business. 00:01:08.890 --> 00:01:11.049 I know it's a mission -based business, which 00:01:11.049 --> 00:01:13.170 I've never done. I've only done, to be quite 00:01:13.170 --> 00:01:16.290 honest, like capitalistic ventures. And I'm probably 00:01:16.290 --> 00:01:18.489 as uncomfortable as a bunch of you all are in 00:01:18.489 --> 00:01:20.709 your businesses or as you think about your businesses. 00:01:20.890 --> 00:01:23.689 Even though I've done it, I know the formula. 00:01:23.790 --> 00:01:26.170 I know a formula for another business, not this 00:01:26.170 --> 00:01:29.450 one. Great. Well, let's talk a little bit about 00:01:29.450 --> 00:01:32.870 your journey. You've said you always knew that 00:01:32.870 --> 00:01:35.609 you wanted to be an entrepreneur your whole life. 00:01:36.140 --> 00:01:40.079 What was the moment or experience that first 00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:43.719 ignited that spark when you knew? I think I have 00:01:43.719 --> 00:01:45.659 a little different upbringing in the sense that 00:01:45.659 --> 00:01:48.620 I'm surrounded by a family of entrepreneurs. 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:54.980 Okay. So my dad, my grandfather, even my brothers, 00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:58.060 my cousins, I mean, everyone sort of because 00:01:58.060 --> 00:02:01.019 we're immigrants, right, we're super ethnic off 00:02:01.019 --> 00:02:04.980 the boat. I think that was what you did in the 00:02:04.980 --> 00:02:07.180 old country. That's what everyone did here. So 00:02:07.180 --> 00:02:10.680 that was how I was brought up. And what's always 00:02:10.680 --> 00:02:13.419 interesting to me, and I will hand it to my lovely 00:02:13.419 --> 00:02:17.879 but crotchety dad, that he never, I mean, super 00:02:17.879 --> 00:02:21.400 Italian, super traditional, he never treated 00:02:21.400 --> 00:02:24.000 me any different as it related to being an entrepreneur 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:27.000 than my brothers. Like, he figured I'd do it, 00:02:27.020 --> 00:02:29.000 just like they would. I think that was a huge 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:32.129 gift. Now, my business partner... Was also brought 00:02:32.129 --> 00:02:35.349 up exactly the same way just I'm Italian. She's 00:02:35.349 --> 00:02:38.629 Greek same thing Hers is funny because if you 00:02:38.629 --> 00:02:42.349 ask her she would say She was gonna be a stay 00:02:42.349 --> 00:02:44.590 -at -home mom. She went to school. She got a 00:02:44.590 --> 00:02:46.789 job for a couple years. She was done She had 00:02:46.789 --> 00:02:49.550 no interest in it. And so I always ask her well 00:02:49.550 --> 00:02:52.669 what made you decide it and she said she had 00:02:52.669 --> 00:02:54.830 such a passion for the business that we were 00:02:54.830 --> 00:02:59.610 doing and she did not think other people did 00:02:59.610 --> 00:03:01.710 it. So hers just came from, wait a second, I 00:03:01.710 --> 00:03:03.710 love this work and I want to do it exactly the 00:03:03.710 --> 00:03:07.229 way I want to do it. Thus why I'm 57 and just 00:03:07.229 --> 00:03:09.949 started another mission -based business and something 00:03:09.949 --> 00:03:12.289 I've never done before. Well, so let's just go 00:03:12.289 --> 00:03:14.449 ahead and segue into that. Tell us about the 00:03:14.449 --> 00:03:18.849 business that you've started now. So when we 00:03:18.849 --> 00:03:23.590 sold the second business, we retired. Victoria's 00:03:23.590 --> 00:03:25.569 kids are much younger. Mine are, I'm an empty 00:03:25.569 --> 00:03:29.300 nester with amazing kids. I lasted like, I don't 00:03:29.300 --> 00:03:32.300 know, like a day and a half before I thought, 00:03:32.379 --> 00:03:34.780 oh my God, what do I do? So a friend of mine 00:03:34.780 --> 00:03:37.460 was like, hey, write for my blog, tell some stories. 00:03:38.060 --> 00:03:40.580 And so as I did it, I decided I really wanted 00:03:40.580 --> 00:03:42.699 to write a book. Then I called Victoria. I sucked 00:03:42.699 --> 00:03:45.099 her in so hard. She's like, I'm retired. I'm 00:03:45.099 --> 00:03:58.659 like, this is going to be so much fun. I mean, 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:00.240 women's like, their eyes went open. They're like, 00:04:00.360 --> 00:04:03.340 I could never do that. Yeah, you could. I think 00:04:03.340 --> 00:04:05.719 we minimize ourselves sometimes as women. We 00:04:05.719 --> 00:04:09.319 think, oh, that's for someone else. Right? Yeah. 00:04:09.879 --> 00:04:14.500 I totally get that. So what is your approach 00:04:14.500 --> 00:04:17.459 when you're talking about that confidence and 00:04:17.459 --> 00:04:21.100 convincing that woman that, you know, yeah, you 00:04:21.100 --> 00:04:24.920 can do this, getting them to see? and build that 00:04:24.920 --> 00:04:27.220 confidence themselves? Is there some type of 00:04:27.220 --> 00:04:30.100 skill that you have that... Yeah, it's a good... 00:04:30.100 --> 00:04:32.139 Okay, so I think, and you know this better than 00:04:32.139 --> 00:04:36.540 anyone, I think so much of this is mindset. So 00:04:36.540 --> 00:04:38.860 I have like three cheats with people and with 00:04:38.860 --> 00:04:41.600 myself. I still do this every day with myself. 00:04:42.660 --> 00:04:47.560 One is I physically write down, because that's 00:04:47.560 --> 00:04:50.939 the way I do it, right? I physically write down 00:04:50.939 --> 00:04:54.569 a victory. It might have been yesterday's victory 00:04:54.569 --> 00:04:57.329 because I did a hike I didn't think I could do. 00:04:57.769 --> 00:05:00.910 It might have been a victory five years ago where 00:05:00.910 --> 00:05:03.410 I read a headline in a newspaper at a company 00:05:03.410 --> 00:05:06.069 that I had counseled their CEO and I remind myself. 00:05:07.069 --> 00:05:09.910 Whatever it is, I'm reminding myself of one thing 00:05:09.910 --> 00:05:13.449 that I didn't think I could do that I did. Small, 00:05:13.470 --> 00:05:16.050 big, 10 years ago, five minutes ago, whatever 00:05:16.050 --> 00:05:18.709 it is. And that really helps me personally get 00:05:18.709 --> 00:05:21.470 in the mindset of, okay, There was a time I didn't 00:05:21.470 --> 00:05:24.170 think I could do that thing. I did it. That's 00:05:24.170 --> 00:05:26.689 just what I'm going through right now. I'm just 00:05:26.689 --> 00:05:28.689 feeling like I can't do that thing, but I've 00:05:28.689 --> 00:05:30.230 been here. I've scaled this mountain before. 00:05:30.350 --> 00:05:34.189 So that's one big one. The second is, and this 00:05:34.189 --> 00:05:37.689 took me literally till my fifties. We have the 00:05:37.689 --> 00:05:40.470 big goal in front of us and it ultimately freaks 00:05:40.470 --> 00:05:42.189 us out. Like I think for a lot of women who have 00:05:42.189 --> 00:05:45.589 $50 ,000 businesses, when I say you can hit some 00:05:45.589 --> 00:05:48.560 figures. That goal is so big for them that they're 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:51.319 intimidated and they give up. And that is very 00:05:51.319 --> 00:05:55.300 understandable. So I don't focus that much on 00:05:55.300 --> 00:05:59.019 seven figures. I focus that much on what's the 00:05:59.019 --> 00:06:01.959 one thing that I can do today that will move 00:06:01.959 --> 00:06:07.720 the needle. From my daughters, I get the call 00:06:07.720 --> 00:06:10.519 of, I've got this opportunity, but I don't, I 00:06:10.519 --> 00:06:13.389 can do it. And I always tell them, you're going 00:06:13.389 --> 00:06:15.930 to channel your inner Sammy Lee Saunders, which 00:06:15.930 --> 00:06:18.910 is my oldest son's name, because there is never 00:06:18.910 --> 00:06:21.149 a room Sammy Lee does not think he should be 00:06:21.149 --> 00:06:23.750 in. And he's not egotistical. He calls his mother. 00:06:23.750 --> 00:06:26.790 He's a beautiful soul. But he was interviewing 00:06:26.790 --> 00:06:29.009 for this job at Goldman Sachs, and I was like, 00:06:29.050 --> 00:06:32.170 honey, like, never going to happen. You went 00:06:32.170 --> 00:06:34.470 to a B -plus school. You got a B -plus average. 00:06:34.949 --> 00:06:36.649 Like, never going to happen. It's great to aim 00:06:36.649 --> 00:06:38.670 high, but what's your, you know, plan B, plan 00:06:38.670 --> 00:06:41.779 C? He ignored me completely. He went in. He got 00:06:41.779 --> 00:06:44.060 the job. And so in our family, we're always like, 00:06:44.139 --> 00:06:46.660 oh, did you channel your inner Sammy Lee? When 00:06:46.660 --> 00:06:49.060 you're like, OK, maybe in the back of my head, 00:06:49.420 --> 00:06:52.160 I think I can't do this. But in the, like, I 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:54.120 am Sammy Lee, and I am walking into a room, and 00:06:54.120 --> 00:06:57.279 they are very lucky to have me. So you have to 00:06:57.279 --> 00:06:59.300 figure out which one of those you relate to best. 00:06:59.480 --> 00:07:01.699 I'm lucky I relate to all three of them. I, as 00:07:01.699 --> 00:07:04.579 a 57 -year -old, channel my 25 -year -old Sammy 00:07:04.579 --> 00:07:09.180 Lee. Yeah. That seems so common across the board, 00:07:09.220 --> 00:07:12.819 just with other men in general, that they can 00:07:12.819 --> 00:07:15.980 carry with them some confidence. Like they totally 00:07:15.980 --> 00:07:18.319 believe they belong in every room they're in, 00:07:18.620 --> 00:07:22.199 but it's women. We hold ourselves back so much. 00:07:22.519 --> 00:07:26.199 We, and we question and we doubt. Yeah. I mean, 00:07:26.220 --> 00:07:32.480 Michelle, when I, I, this was, we were midway 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:36.189 of selling the second business. We had sold the 00:07:36.189 --> 00:07:38.930 first one, we had made money. We had scaled the 00:07:38.930 --> 00:07:40.910 second one to a point where we had a bunch of 00:07:40.910 --> 00:07:44.329 suitors. I still would wake up in the morning 00:07:44.329 --> 00:07:47.269 and think, I can't believe we have a call with 00:07:47.269 --> 00:07:50.389 a potential buyer. I bet they don't know our 00:07:50.389 --> 00:07:52.569 business or I bet they don't know us. Like they're 00:07:52.569 --> 00:07:54.350 going to get off the phone quickly. Like I would 00:07:54.350 --> 00:07:57.129 have to talk myself out of that. And at that 00:07:57.129 --> 00:07:58.769 point we were selling an eight figure business 00:07:58.769 --> 00:08:01.930 and I still was like, I don't, you know. Victoria 00:08:01.930 --> 00:08:04.009 and I, when we got the final offer for the second 00:08:04.009 --> 00:08:06.110 business, I'll never forget because I was in 00:08:06.110 --> 00:08:07.329 Europe and it was like the middle of the night 00:08:07.329 --> 00:08:10.949 and I called her and we both were like maybe 00:08:10.949 --> 00:08:14.209 they made a mistake. We were just so crazy because 00:08:14.209 --> 00:08:15.970 every guy who would get that would be like they 00:08:15.970 --> 00:08:19.850 should have offered more and we were like I left 00:08:19.850 --> 00:08:21.509 some money on the table I should have gotten 00:08:21.509 --> 00:08:24.870 more. Exactly that is exactly we were like maybe 00:08:24.870 --> 00:08:27.310 they messed up a decimal you know. In the book 00:08:27.310 --> 00:08:30.589 we go into a lot of research on this and the 00:08:30.589 --> 00:08:33.259 only thing that we've pulled out from some great 00:08:33.259 --> 00:08:36.600 studies and some super smart people is that it 00:08:36.600 --> 00:08:40.600 happens to us very early. There was a study that 00:08:40.600 --> 00:08:45.080 was done where men and women are deciding if 00:08:45.080 --> 00:08:49.139 they can take an advanced math class. And the 00:08:49.139 --> 00:08:54.879 women with As from prior classes have a lower 00:08:54.879 --> 00:08:57.559 level of confidence than the men with Cs. And 00:08:57.559 --> 00:09:02.340 this is like seventh grade. And so we, I mean, 00:09:02.419 --> 00:09:04.980 it's so young that no wonder we're our ages and 00:09:04.980 --> 00:09:07.539 we're still having it because it's so hard coded 00:09:07.539 --> 00:09:10.480 in there. It's fascinating. It really is. And 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:14.659 sad. You mentioned about the seven -figure ceiling 00:09:14.659 --> 00:09:18.570 and how that's the aim there. and talking to 00:09:18.570 --> 00:09:20.929 women about how to crack that. What are some 00:09:20.929 --> 00:09:25.450 common mental or strategic blocks that keep women 00:09:25.450 --> 00:09:27.649 stuck below it? I know we were just talking about 00:09:27.649 --> 00:09:29.789 that, but are there some other things? Yeah, 00:09:29.789 --> 00:09:32.129 I think there's a couple that are more strategic. 00:09:32.649 --> 00:09:36.529 One is that I think women more than men tend 00:09:36.529 --> 00:09:38.850 to pursue a business that they're super passionate 00:09:38.850 --> 00:09:43.070 about. And we have to take a financial lens to 00:09:43.070 --> 00:09:48.200 that. We have to say, Is that a potential seven 00:09:48.200 --> 00:09:50.039 -figure business? So there's a section, we have 00:09:50.039 --> 00:09:52.179 newsletters called Founders Files. This is all 00:09:52.179 --> 00:09:54.539 free information on our website. It's in the 00:09:54.539 --> 00:09:57.379 book as well. But we have a set of prompts and 00:09:57.379 --> 00:10:01.220 a set of analyses to say, is my chosen business, 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:05.299 is it capable of being a seven -figure business? 00:10:05.500 --> 00:10:07.980 Is the overall market size large enough and is 00:10:07.980 --> 00:10:11.009 it growing? So you're not just pursuing a passion, 00:10:11.169 --> 00:10:13.210 but you're pursuing a passion where you could 00:10:13.210 --> 00:10:15.990 end up in this business. So start there. And 00:10:15.990 --> 00:10:18.149 then I think the second biggest stumbling block 00:10:18.149 --> 00:10:22.669 women have is, man, they want to be solopreneurs. 00:10:23.090 --> 00:10:26.389 Someone has convinced them that they can hit 00:10:26.389 --> 00:10:28.929 seven figures and get financial freedom being 00:10:28.929 --> 00:10:32.070 a solopreneur. And I'll tell you, I don't know 00:10:32.070 --> 00:10:34.309 how you would do that. I'm sure there are some 00:10:34.309 --> 00:10:39.389 unique businesses that you could. A big part 00:10:39.389 --> 00:10:41.789 of some of the work we do is to say, okay, well, 00:10:42.230 --> 00:10:44.529 you're pretty good at sales as a solopreneur, 00:10:44.590 --> 00:10:47.669 and right now you spend 5 % of your time on that. 00:10:48.149 --> 00:10:50.909 What if you spent 30 % of your time? What would 00:10:50.909 --> 00:10:54.210 sales look like? Okay, now what would you need 00:10:54.210 --> 00:10:57.649 to support that sales? How would we hire? What 00:10:57.649 --> 00:10:59.730 other tools would we use? I think that's the 00:10:59.730 --> 00:11:02.409 second really big stumbling block. And I think 00:11:02.409 --> 00:11:06.179 part of that, Michelle, comes from... We're nurturers, 00:11:06.379 --> 00:11:09.600 right? We care so much about the people we let 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:13.279 into our life. So helping women understand that 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:17.379 a hiring decision is a two or three month decision. 00:11:17.659 --> 00:11:20.059 If it works out great, you two can be together 00:11:20.059 --> 00:11:23.539 forever. And if it doesn't, you've made a two 00:11:23.539 --> 00:11:26.360 or three month investment and that is it. And 00:11:26.360 --> 00:11:29.500 your job is to treat them respectfully and to 00:11:29.500 --> 00:11:32.159 help them as much as you can. But if it is not 00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:34.220 a fit or it is not what your business needs, 00:11:34.789 --> 00:11:37.389 you sever the relationship, you help them as 00:11:37.389 --> 00:11:39.610 much as you can, and you move on. That's a little 00:11:39.610 --> 00:11:41.850 bit of another obstacle. Women are like, you 00:11:41.850 --> 00:11:43.289 know, they're acting like they're adopting a 00:11:43.289 --> 00:11:46.509 child. And they could quit two months from now 00:11:46.509 --> 00:11:50.049 too, so. Right. I can see that. I can see how 00:11:50.049 --> 00:11:53.029 that would play out as well. So what would you 00:11:53.029 --> 00:11:56.549 say the difference between a business that scales 00:11:56.549 --> 00:12:00.090 and one that stays small? What's the main difference 00:12:00.090 --> 00:12:03.669 there? Yeah, I think there's two. One is... the 00:12:03.669 --> 00:12:07.970 business that scales is in a market that can 00:12:07.970 --> 00:12:12.549 support a scaled business. So there's demand 00:12:12.549 --> 00:12:15.009 for it and there aren't too many competitors 00:12:15.009 --> 00:12:17.389 that you could get your seat like. So that's 00:12:17.389 --> 00:12:18.990 the first thing. If you've made that mistake 00:12:18.990 --> 00:12:21.590 when you kick off your business, your business 00:12:21.590 --> 00:12:24.789 is likely never gonna get there. So that's just 00:12:24.789 --> 00:12:27.730 something you have to fix. And then I think the 00:12:27.730 --> 00:12:30.399 second is, And I can't believe I'm saying this 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:32.799 because I am not a financial person, I promise 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:37.059 you. The women that I see succeed, they have 00:12:37.059 --> 00:12:40.240 built a profit and loss statement and a projection 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:44.659 statement. And I work with tons of women on this, 00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:49.639 right? Where I say, okay, it is March 18, and 00:12:49.639 --> 00:12:53.080 your goal for revenue, April 1st, that you set 00:12:53.080 --> 00:12:56.419 way back when, a couple months ago, how's that 00:12:56.419 --> 00:13:00.019 looking? What could you do? How could you cure 00:13:00.019 --> 00:13:02.700 it? Now let's look at May and see if we're ready 00:13:02.700 --> 00:13:04.740 to. So part of it is just that your eye is on 00:13:04.740 --> 00:13:09.179 the right ball. So we have to have revenue. And 00:13:09.179 --> 00:13:11.039 the women who have a profit and loss, they have 00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:13.320 a revenue projection sheet, and they are focused 00:13:13.320 --> 00:13:18.559 on top line, they will scale. They may not scale 00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:21.019 the way they set the strategic program on January 00:13:21.019 --> 00:13:23.419 1st, but they will scale because in their head, 00:13:23.460 --> 00:13:24.960 they're looking at a number, they're knowing 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:27.200 they have to hit it, and every single day they're 00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:29.850 looking at it thinking, Oh, I'm getting closer. 00:13:30.289 --> 00:13:32.169 Let me do that one thing that worked last week. 00:13:32.190 --> 00:13:34.850 I'm going to try it again this week. If not the 00:13:34.850 --> 00:13:37.750 other women without it, they go super myopic 00:13:37.750 --> 00:13:39.889 on the product or the client that they're serving 00:13:39.889 --> 00:13:44.129 right at that second. And they deliver that perfectly, 00:13:44.750 --> 00:13:47.330 but it doesn't deliver revenue. It doesn't sell. 00:13:47.710 --> 00:13:50.490 Very, very interesting. And by the way, that 00:13:50.490 --> 00:13:52.970 P &L on those projections, you used to like have 00:13:52.970 --> 00:13:57.029 to buy Excel and know it, blah, blah, blah. You 00:13:57.029 --> 00:14:00.259 go into cloud AI. you put in a few of your numbers, 00:14:01.100 --> 00:14:03.480 out comes the spreadsheet. I did a cash flow 00:14:03.480 --> 00:14:04.820 because I didn't believe it because my niece 00:14:04.820 --> 00:14:06.639 was helping me with something. And she's like, 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:07.840 no, you can do the whole thing. I'm like, I don't 00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:09.639 think you could do the whole thing. I did it 00:14:09.639 --> 00:14:13.059 all this week. The whole process took me 15 minutes. 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:15.899 And I am a down to work people. So imagine what 00:14:15.899 --> 00:14:18.639 you all can do. Oh, my gosh. It's incredible. 00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:21.659 Yeah. The things that we can get from AI in terms 00:14:21.659 --> 00:14:24.460 of plugging in things and what it can give us 00:14:24.460 --> 00:14:28.730 back. It's phenomenal. Yeah. So. Talking about 00:14:28.730 --> 00:14:31.590 any time you start a business and getting through 00:14:31.590 --> 00:14:34.710 the early stages of that is always hard. So what 00:14:34.710 --> 00:14:38.490 do you say to those people that maybe have started 00:14:38.490 --> 00:14:41.029 a business in the middle of it right now? How 00:14:41.029 --> 00:14:44.389 do you know when it's time to pivot? Oh, maybe 00:14:44.389 --> 00:14:47.269 this just isn't going to work or just keep pushing 00:14:47.269 --> 00:14:49.289 through, just keep showing up. How do you know 00:14:49.289 --> 00:14:51.549 the difference? Yeah, no, that's a great question. 00:14:51.750 --> 00:14:53.950 So my, so I think the way I would look at it 00:14:53.950 --> 00:14:56.799 is If you've done the beginning part right, you've 00:14:56.799 --> 00:14:59.320 got your total adjustable market. It's big enough 00:14:59.320 --> 00:15:02.039 and your business should be able to scale. So 00:15:02.039 --> 00:15:04.080 you got to have gotten that part right. But if 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:05.940 you're in that messy middle where you're like, 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:08.559 no one's going to hire me. No one likes my product. 00:15:08.740 --> 00:15:12.059 I'm getting rejected daily. Yeah. Two things. 00:15:12.100 --> 00:15:15.179 And I have lived in that space for so many years. 00:15:16.039 --> 00:15:20.399 My number one is you're not wrong. You're just 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:24.440 pivoting. So you're going to figure out if. The 00:15:24.440 --> 00:15:26.919 place you're at falls in one of three categories. 00:15:27.159 --> 00:15:29.320 One, you're doing all the right things and you 00:15:29.320 --> 00:15:31.080 have to shut up and wait because it's a timing 00:15:31.080 --> 00:15:34.240 game. And sometimes that's the case. The second 00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:36.840 is you're doing mostly the right things and you 00:15:36.840 --> 00:15:39.940 really just need a micro -pivot around products, 00:15:40.179 --> 00:15:43.440 service, the way you sell. In our own business 00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:47.379 right now, we micro -pivoted about six months 00:15:47.379 --> 00:15:50.940 ago because We found that we were much better 00:15:50.940 --> 00:15:53.840 with a woman who had 50 ,000 revenues that wanted 00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:57.139 to break the seven -figure ceiling versus someone 00:15:57.139 --> 00:15:59.279 who had a great idea but wasn't ready to start. 00:15:59.740 --> 00:16:02.080 Our patience level and accordingly, our consulting 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:04.200 was terrible for someone with an idea. We're 00:16:04.200 --> 00:16:07.039 like, yeah, just, you know, so that was not the 00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:10.000 right answer. But if you're in the like beginning 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:12.779 sort of messiness, then you love us, right? Because 00:16:12.779 --> 00:16:15.080 we're like, do this, do this, do this. So that 00:16:15.080 --> 00:16:17.899 was our micro pivot. And then I think there always 00:16:17.899 --> 00:16:20.080 is a macro pivot. And then the book, I talk about 00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:23.220 this because the second business that we had, 00:16:24.019 --> 00:16:26.440 we had this great, cool, new consulting product. 00:16:26.500 --> 00:16:28.740 And seriously, it was in my own head and I loved 00:16:28.740 --> 00:16:30.919 it and I thought it was brilliant. It turns out 00:16:30.919 --> 00:16:33.419 it was brilliant, but the people we were selling 00:16:33.419 --> 00:16:36.720 to didn't have the budget or the interest. And 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:38.980 after a year of selling it, I mean, literally, 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:41.240 we did not have a dollar of revenues. The only 00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:43.360 reason we were still in business is because our 00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:46.070 core initial service offering people were buying, 00:16:46.149 --> 00:16:48.549 so we had a little bit of cash. I was knocking 00:16:48.549 --> 00:16:50.649 my head against the wall. I remember calling 00:16:50.649 --> 00:16:53.750 Victoria and being like, I fold. I've done everything 00:16:53.750 --> 00:16:56.669 I can. And she was like, what? No, you're not. 00:16:57.190 --> 00:16:59.409 Absolutely not. And so I was like, OK, I guess 00:16:59.409 --> 00:17:02.870 not. Well, a few weeks into that, we were pitching 00:17:02.870 --> 00:17:04.609 once again to someone who wasn't going to buy 00:17:04.609 --> 00:17:07.329 it. And this guy looks at me and goes, you're 00:17:07.329 --> 00:17:09.690 selling to the wrong person. I'm the finance 00:17:09.690 --> 00:17:12.589 guy. Go sell to the legal counsel. He has a budget 00:17:12.589 --> 00:17:15.920 for what you're doing. Here. I'll call Merle. 00:17:16.019 --> 00:17:19.339 Calls the legal counsel in on the phone. And 00:17:19.339 --> 00:17:22.059 the guy's like, yeah, when can we meet? And that 00:17:22.059 --> 00:17:25.519 broke the whole thing. But had I not, first of 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:27.519 all, listened to Victoria and kept going. But 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:29.579 I mean, that was a massive pivot. Same product. 00:17:30.279 --> 00:17:32.559 Everything about it, delivery, marketing, thought 00:17:32.559 --> 00:17:35.279 leadership, everything had to be pivoted in a 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:38.700 short amount of time. So don't give up. If you've 00:17:38.700 --> 00:17:41.099 done the work that you have in addressable market 00:17:41.099 --> 00:17:44.740 and it's growing, And you've gotten some feedback 00:17:44.740 --> 00:17:47.059 on that sort of what we call that minimum viable 00:17:47.059 --> 00:17:49.940 product, that first thing. You got some feedback 00:17:49.940 --> 00:17:52.680 that's pretty good. Your job is to figure out, 00:17:52.819 --> 00:17:54.619 do I just stay the course and do what I'm doing? 00:17:55.359 --> 00:17:57.420 Can I make a little tweak and change everything? 00:17:57.640 --> 00:17:59.539 Or do I have to make a bigger tweak? But I'm 00:17:59.539 --> 00:18:02.339 not giving up. To me, the only time you give 00:18:02.339 --> 00:18:05.759 up is because you haven't authenticated the size 00:18:05.759 --> 00:18:08.660 of the market. And I think that's it. Even if 00:18:08.660 --> 00:18:10.039 you're running out of money, you always find 00:18:10.039 --> 00:18:14.400 ways to get more money. Oh, very good, very insightful. 00:18:15.619 --> 00:18:18.819 So women start half the world's businesses yet 00:18:18.819 --> 00:18:23.440 face massive funding disparities. What do you 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:26.880 think has to change and what can women do right 00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:30.779 now while the system catches up? Yeah, I think 00:18:30.779 --> 00:18:34.160 the system's gonna catch up, right? By 2050 in 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:38.000 the United States, women will control more wealth 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:41.390 than men for the first time ever. It's very like 00:18:41.390 --> 00:18:44.410 demographic birth rates aging out, et cetera. 00:18:44.509 --> 00:18:46.670 That's why, but that's happening. So JP Morgan 00:18:46.670 --> 00:18:48.390 came out with that six months ago. And I just 00:18:48.390 --> 00:18:51.089 want us all to remember that when in 2050 we 00:18:51.089 --> 00:18:53.190 control the well, we're going to control the 00:18:53.190 --> 00:18:56.750 financing, you know, but we've got 24 years in 00:18:56.750 --> 00:18:59.730 the middle. So I think there's two things. One 00:18:59.730 --> 00:19:03.269 is everything we've talked about this conversation, 00:19:03.690 --> 00:19:06.569 you know, channeling our inner Sammy Lee, we're 00:19:06.569 --> 00:19:09.940 not going to raise a bit of money. unless we 00:19:09.940 --> 00:19:13.960 go in with some swagger. So I think we've got 00:19:13.960 --> 00:19:17.119 to change the way we would be comfortable pitching, 00:19:17.259 --> 00:19:19.720 which oftentimes is like we're being super authentic 00:19:19.720 --> 00:19:22.799 to having just a little bit of swagger and being 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:25.539 willing to dream openly a little bit. But the 00:19:25.539 --> 00:19:30.799 second is there are so many small incubators 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:35.119 in every state I've been in run by women. And 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:39.039 there is, you're not going to go raise your first 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:42.900 round's not going to be 500 ,000. But if it was 00:19:42.900 --> 00:19:46.599 50 ,000 and it got you to proof of concept, you 00:19:46.599 --> 00:19:49.140 would be much more successful than raising 500 00:19:49.140 --> 00:19:53.400 ,000 range. Maybe the average AI guy doesn't 00:19:53.400 --> 00:19:56.500 have to go the incubator route, they can go right 00:19:56.500 --> 00:20:00.539 to Angel. Okay, but that's not your story. Your 00:20:00.539 --> 00:20:02.299 story is you're going to go in your town, your 00:20:02.299 --> 00:20:05.579 city, there's virtual incubators run by women. 00:20:05.789 --> 00:20:07.809 groups of women and you're just going to get 00:20:07.809 --> 00:20:10.950 involved in the same way you would with a mastermind 00:20:10.950 --> 00:20:15.990 and you will find small tranches of money available 00:20:15.990 --> 00:20:18.569 and some really smart guidance from people about 00:20:18.569 --> 00:20:21.009 what you'd have to have to raise the next tranche 00:20:21.009 --> 00:20:23.849 of funding. That number is growing, it's making 00:20:23.849 --> 00:20:26.650 me feel more positive and then every year when 00:20:26.650 --> 00:20:29.250 that we only get 2 % of venture funding comes 00:20:29.250 --> 00:20:31.970 out, then I get mad again. So I feel that for 00:20:31.970 --> 00:20:34.849 everybody. What advice would you give to someone 00:20:34.849 --> 00:20:39.049 who has a big business idea, but doesn't feel 00:20:39.049 --> 00:20:42.750 like she has the time or maybe in midlife, the 00:20:42.750 --> 00:20:45.809 permission to pursue it? What would you tell 00:20:45.809 --> 00:20:50.089 a woman in that situation? Yeah, no, that's a 00:20:50.089 --> 00:20:53.250 lot of women that I talk to at this point. There's 00:20:53.250 --> 00:20:55.490 a couple things and actually on our website, 00:20:56.179 --> 00:20:58.779 There's a super inexpensive course. It's under 00:20:58.779 --> 00:21:01.900 50 bucks. And it's meant just for that. It's 00:21:01.900 --> 00:21:03.779 called Entrepreneur Like a Mother. And it starts 00:21:03.779 --> 00:21:05.440 with what I think is one of the most important 00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:08.420 things, which is find your freedom number. And 00:21:08.420 --> 00:21:10.880 we'd started that because so many women are like, 00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:13.099 oh, I just need to save money. Oh, I need this. 00:21:13.099 --> 00:21:15.640 I need this. I need this. We put together, and 00:21:15.640 --> 00:21:17.819 it's interactive. It's super easy to do. Anyone 00:21:17.819 --> 00:21:20.279 can do it. What you'd have to have in order to 00:21:20.279 --> 00:21:22.440 start the business that you want. Because what 00:21:22.440 --> 00:21:25.559 I think we found in mentoring women is that If 00:21:25.559 --> 00:21:28.900 we can get them over the hurdle that financially 00:21:28.900 --> 00:21:32.440 their family won't be in a worse position for 00:21:32.440 --> 00:21:35.079 a period of time if they do this, that a lot 00:21:35.079 --> 00:21:37.539 of times opens the floodgates to say, okay, I 00:21:37.539 --> 00:21:39.500 could really do this. So the first is just like 00:21:39.500 --> 00:21:42.640 get your financial mind straight. Then the second 00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:46.799 is get your business idea straight and build 00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:49.779 your own little kitchen cabinet to test your 00:21:49.779 --> 00:21:52.720 business strategies out. And sometimes it's people 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:55.289 you don't know. Sometimes it's people you do 00:21:55.289 --> 00:21:59.369 know, but if you can spend 15 minutes with someone 00:21:59.369 --> 00:22:02.289 who's funded businesses before or scaled businesses 00:22:02.289 --> 00:22:06.569 before, you get your business model idea down 00:22:06.569 --> 00:22:10.450 to a five -minute spiel and then listen to feedback 00:22:10.450 --> 00:22:13.329 for the other 10 minutes. Do that five or six 00:22:13.329 --> 00:22:17.349 or seven times. You'll have validation for your 00:22:17.349 --> 00:22:20.509 business or it'll be very clear the tweaks that 00:22:20.509 --> 00:22:23.079 you might have to make before you start. So if 00:22:23.079 --> 00:22:24.940 you've done those two things, you've got the, 00:22:25.220 --> 00:22:27.460 okay, I've got a six -month runway where I could 00:22:27.460 --> 00:22:29.279 invest this amount of money and I could start 00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:32.900 my business, okay. And then I've pitched my idea 00:22:32.900 --> 00:22:37.900 to some pretty smart people and I feel pretty 00:22:37.900 --> 00:22:41.140 confident from their reaction what I could do. 00:22:41.640 --> 00:22:44.160 And those are like the two places we get. And 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:48.039 then when women get there, we work with them 00:22:48.039 --> 00:22:50.299 a little bit to say, okay, so what are the five 00:22:50.299 --> 00:22:53.170 things you'd have to do this month? to get to 00:22:53.170 --> 00:22:55.109 the next step. We start doing that one hard thing 00:22:55.109 --> 00:22:58.549 a day with them to get them launched. But you've 00:22:58.549 --> 00:23:00.049 got to get your money right. You got to get your 00:23:00.049 --> 00:23:02.250 money brain right. And then you just got to go 00:23:02.250 --> 00:23:05.450 outside to somebody who's been through it, who 00:23:05.450 --> 00:23:07.710 either tweaks your idea or validates it. And 00:23:07.710 --> 00:23:09.609 let me tell you one thing about what you probably 00:23:09.609 --> 00:23:13.589 know is when you go on LinkedIn, there are a 00:23:13.589 --> 00:23:16.910 lot of people who are able to do the work that 00:23:16.910 --> 00:23:19.289 I just did. And you cannot believe how generous 00:23:19.289 --> 00:23:22.099 people are with their time. I have been blown 00:23:22.099 --> 00:23:24.279 away with the number of people that have helped 00:23:24.279 --> 00:23:28.400 me. It is almost never that someone DMs me on 00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:30.759 LinkedIn that I don't say, yeah, let's get on 00:23:30.759 --> 00:23:34.099 the phone. And I think I am not in the minority. 00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:36.200 There are women who want to help women. So if 00:23:36.200 --> 00:23:38.299 someone's like, I have a business idea, I want 00:23:38.299 --> 00:23:40.660 to test one thing on you because I know you have 00:23:40.660 --> 00:23:43.619 experience in professional services, I take their 00:23:43.619 --> 00:23:45.819 calendar invite in a second. I always feel like 00:23:45.819 --> 00:23:48.519 for every five outreaches, one person responds, 00:23:48.980 --> 00:23:50.960 get out there and outreach. Then you've got the 00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:52.799 two things. You feel confident financially, you 00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:54.799 feel confident in your business idea. Oh, you 00:23:54.799 --> 00:23:58.779 can do it then. You feel a lot different. Yeah, 00:23:58.900 --> 00:24:01.980 very good. I love that. You've mentioned your 00:24:01.980 --> 00:24:04.619 book. Tell us more about the book that's coming 00:24:04.619 --> 00:24:07.559 out that you're going to release. It's been really 00:24:07.559 --> 00:24:10.940 a labor of love and so much fun to co -write 00:24:10.940 --> 00:24:13.200 it. I recommend everyone co -write a book with 00:24:13.200 --> 00:24:14.920 their best friend. We've had nothing but fun. 00:24:15.339 --> 00:24:17.299 The publishing process is from hell, but the 00:24:17.299 --> 00:24:19.500 actual writing was really fun. The goal of the 00:24:19.500 --> 00:24:23.279 book was We are voracious readers. I will literally 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:25.059 read the back of a cereal box. Like, I always 00:24:25.059 --> 00:24:27.440 want to read everything. And I got really frustrated 00:24:27.440 --> 00:24:30.220 that the business books that I was reading didn't 00:24:30.220 --> 00:24:33.920 reflect my journey. I mean, my journey was I'm 00:24:33.920 --> 00:24:36.339 super ambitious. I wanted to make a lot of money. 00:24:36.740 --> 00:24:39.319 But I have four kids. Victoria had five kids. 00:24:39.859 --> 00:24:44.619 And there seemed to be a lot of messaging that 00:24:44.619 --> 00:24:47.920 you just had to go down a deep entrepreneurial 00:24:47.920 --> 00:24:52.519 hole for a decade. And if you did that, you were 00:24:52.519 --> 00:24:55.359 going to be wildly successful. And we thought, 00:24:55.900 --> 00:24:58.660 okay, we went down holes, but I saw my kid play 00:24:58.660 --> 00:25:01.519 in most of his hockey tournaments. She made pickup 00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:05.619 three times a week. Like, we told our clients, 00:25:05.859 --> 00:25:08.140 we would love to talk to you at four o 'clock, 00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:12.079 but my son is in the Christmas pageant, so I 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:15.240 can't talk to you till 5 15. And Michelle, we 00:25:15.240 --> 00:25:17.859 were telling that to Fortune 1000 public company 00:25:17.859 --> 00:25:21.400 CEOs. And nine times out of 10, they were like, 00:25:21.400 --> 00:25:25.660 awesome, call me at 530. And so we weren't reading 00:25:25.660 --> 00:25:27.960 those stories and we were like, wait, we've now 00:25:27.960 --> 00:25:31.559 done this 20 years. That's not our story. That's 00:25:31.559 --> 00:25:34.500 not the only people that can be successful. And 00:25:34.500 --> 00:25:37.359 this idea that there was one model to be successful 00:25:37.359 --> 00:25:39.339 in building a business, we just didn't relate 00:25:39.339 --> 00:25:41.759 to. So of course we're like, we'll tell the world, 00:25:41.980 --> 00:25:44.019 you know, with no bearing whatsoever. We never 00:25:44.019 --> 00:25:45.960 wrote a book. We don't know anything. We were 00:25:45.960 --> 00:25:47.759 like, oh, we'll tell the world. So the whole 00:25:47.759 --> 00:25:51.690 point of the book is, helping women, particularly 00:25:51.690 --> 00:25:55.809 moms and caregivers, who are ambitious, figure 00:25:55.809 --> 00:26:00.349 out a model and a process that works for them 00:26:00.349 --> 00:26:02.150 to make a bunch of money in a field they want 00:26:02.150 --> 00:26:05.549 to, which is super different than the Sam Altman 00:26:05.549 --> 00:26:08.609 go -build -open -AI -in -your -barrens -basement 00:26:08.609 --> 00:26:11.549 -eating -ramen. Like, we didn't have that choice. 00:26:11.990 --> 00:26:14.410 So the whole point was, pick this up, and you're 00:26:14.410 --> 00:26:16.410 going to see something of yourself in there. 00:26:16.700 --> 00:26:19.380 And maybe you'll also see the humanity because 00:26:19.380 --> 00:26:23.099 we're super honest about the ridiculous mistakes 00:26:23.099 --> 00:26:25.539 we made. I mean, there's a section in there, 00:26:25.559 --> 00:26:27.859 there's a little story in there about how my 00:26:27.859 --> 00:26:31.940 kids' kindergarten room moms, they thought I 00:26:31.940 --> 00:26:35.259 was so incompetent that when they like assigned 00:26:35.259 --> 00:26:38.500 me Chex Mix, they had people come over and make 00:26:38.500 --> 00:26:41.099 sure that I had the right recipe. And like, there's 00:26:41.099 --> 00:26:43.099 three things in Chex Mix. I think I can do this. 00:26:43.309 --> 00:26:45.710 No, no, no. I was sanctioned because I thought, 00:26:45.890 --> 00:26:47.309 you're a working mom, you're going to get checks 00:26:47.309 --> 00:26:49.329 mixed wrong. I mean, there's so many stories 00:26:49.329 --> 00:26:53.250 in there, really. Or just forgetting kids or 00:26:53.250 --> 00:26:55.089 doing whatever. And so part of it is just to 00:26:55.089 --> 00:26:57.829 be really human for women because we're moms, 00:26:58.049 --> 00:27:00.430 we're aspiring moms or we're caregivers, right? 00:27:00.609 --> 00:27:04.390 And so we do beautiful things with them and we 00:27:04.390 --> 00:27:06.529 also mess up terribly. And so we just thought, 00:27:06.549 --> 00:27:08.369 well, let's put it all out there so someone could 00:27:08.369 --> 00:27:11.519 read this and think. Okay, Eve, I would not be 00:27:11.519 --> 00:27:13.440 as dumb as they were, so I bet you I could do 00:27:13.440 --> 00:27:15.559 this. The book has been super fun. It's coming 00:27:15.559 --> 00:27:18.799 out in September. It is both, I think, like, 00:27:18.900 --> 00:27:20.859 heartwarming and true, because it's authentic, 00:27:21.180 --> 00:27:24.339 but it's also super badass. If you want to do 00:27:24.339 --> 00:27:27.359 this, it gives you step by step by step by step 00:27:27.359 --> 00:27:29.660 how to do it. Everyone calls that a system. I 00:27:29.660 --> 00:27:31.200 don't know what I call it, but that's the point 00:27:31.200 --> 00:27:33.240 of the book. Oh, it sounds wonderful. What's 00:27:33.240 --> 00:27:37.210 the name? Entrepreneur Like a Mother. Oh, love 00:27:37.210 --> 00:27:39.609 it. I love it. I was looking on your website 00:27:39.609 --> 00:27:41.869 and are there things that are like on your website 00:27:41.869 --> 00:27:43.970 now that are in the book as well? Or is this 00:27:43.970 --> 00:27:46.529 completely kind of new material in the book? 00:27:46.970 --> 00:27:50.569 Yeah, I think there is the Founder's File newsletter, 00:27:50.609 --> 00:27:52.450 which is totally free. You should subscribe. 00:27:52.569 --> 00:27:55.349 It's really great. It's got such good content. 00:27:55.789 --> 00:27:58.549 It's a little bit more directed on the how -to. 00:27:58.809 --> 00:28:03.230 The book is the same concept, Mental Mindset, 00:28:03.309 --> 00:28:06.599 Five Power Moves. But it's a lot more information. 00:28:06.660 --> 00:28:09.619 And then it's got like our actual stories, some 00:28:09.619 --> 00:28:12.000 business, some personal interspersed in there. 00:28:12.079 --> 00:28:13.680 So hopefully it's like a much more fun read, 00:28:13.839 --> 00:28:17.839 but also has, which I love. It's got questions 00:28:17.839 --> 00:28:19.759 at the end of each chapter, but then the last 00:28:19.759 --> 00:28:21.700 chapter, our worksheets, because I'm a super 00:28:21.700 --> 00:28:24.720 worksheet person. So the publisher let us do 00:28:24.720 --> 00:28:28.460 all of our worksheets and it's broken up between 00:28:28.460 --> 00:28:32.890 your going from idea to your first sale. And 00:28:32.890 --> 00:28:34.750 then the other is that sweet middle that I love 00:28:34.750 --> 00:28:37.170 that we're 50 ,000 and we want to break seven 00:28:37.170 --> 00:28:39.829 figures. And then the last section is, okay, 00:28:40.470 --> 00:28:42.589 we're close to seven figures. Now we got to figure 00:28:42.589 --> 00:28:45.569 out, do we want a lifestyle business or do we 00:28:45.569 --> 00:28:48.250 want to really scale this thing? So hopefully 00:28:48.250 --> 00:28:50.430 there's something in it for wherever women are 00:28:50.430 --> 00:28:52.750 at this stage in their journey. That's wonderful. 00:28:52.930 --> 00:28:55.410 Well, I personally look forward to reading it 00:28:55.410 --> 00:28:58.720 when it comes out. Thank you for sharing about 00:28:58.720 --> 00:29:00.960 that. Is there, before we close, anything else 00:29:00.960 --> 00:29:03.920 that you'd like to share with our audience? Something 00:29:03.920 --> 00:29:07.420 that you haven't said to this point. Yeah, I 00:29:07.420 --> 00:29:11.839 think that we do better as women interacting 00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:15.440 with others, iterating, validating, cheerleading. 00:29:16.700 --> 00:29:20.740 So Victoria and I unwittingly, but now we do 00:29:20.740 --> 00:29:24.920 it in a very planned way, we have really created 00:29:25.180 --> 00:29:28.859 a kitchen cabinet around us of other women, and 00:29:28.859 --> 00:29:32.079 actually men, because we both have sets of brothers 00:29:32.079 --> 00:29:36.279 who are amazing. And we have a set of people 00:29:36.279 --> 00:29:39.579 that when we run into an obstacle, we know who 00:29:39.579 --> 00:29:42.160 to call. Sometimes it's a cheerleader, so like 00:29:42.160 --> 00:29:44.380 our best friends where I'm like, why am I writing 00:29:44.380 --> 00:29:46.400 a book, you know, and I'm saying, who, but you 00:29:46.400 --> 00:29:48.000 should, you know, even though that's not valid, 00:29:48.079 --> 00:29:50.200 but they said it. Cheerleader, and then we call 00:29:50.200 --> 00:29:53.519 compensators, which are smart people in areas 00:29:53.519 --> 00:29:56.069 that we don't know anything about. So for me, 00:29:56.150 --> 00:29:58.589 I went in such a deep dive on social media for 00:29:58.589 --> 00:30:01.130 the last 12 months after, like, not even ever 00:30:01.130 --> 00:30:03.849 downloading Instagram. But that's such a critical 00:30:03.849 --> 00:30:06.589 part of the book sale process. So that's a compensator. 00:30:06.650 --> 00:30:09.130 And then the third are connectors. You know who 00:30:09.130 --> 00:30:11.250 these people are in your life. Like, oh, Michelle, 00:30:11.430 --> 00:30:13.329 you want to do that? Great. So I've got this 00:30:13.329 --> 00:30:17.130 person you should talk to. And so if you could 00:30:17.130 --> 00:30:21.690 spend 30 minutes on that a week, and that's it. 00:30:22.910 --> 00:30:26.069 Figuring out, gosh, I really need a compensator 00:30:26.069 --> 00:30:28.390 who can help me figure out, you know, product 00:30:28.390 --> 00:30:31.410 delivery in Sri Lanka, whoever it is. You're 00:30:31.410 --> 00:30:34.710 building that. You're asking for favors on LinkedIn. 00:30:34.930 --> 00:30:36.950 You're saying, could you talk to me for 10 minutes? 00:30:37.029 --> 00:30:39.369 I have a question. Then you're building that 00:30:39.369 --> 00:30:42.569 relationship. When you're doing it, sometimes 00:30:42.569 --> 00:30:44.769 it feels awkward and you're not exactly sure 00:30:44.769 --> 00:30:47.829 where it's all going to fit in. As you do that 00:30:47.829 --> 00:30:50.950 30 minutes a week for a year, you just wait to 00:30:50.950 --> 00:30:53.410 see at the end of the year. when you feel like 00:30:53.410 --> 00:30:55.809 you've got a business problem, you then look 00:30:55.809 --> 00:30:57.410 at your network and you're like, I have three 00:30:57.410 --> 00:31:00.009 people I can call to help me solve it. So I know 00:31:00.009 --> 00:31:02.769 we're super busy and we hate networking because 00:31:02.769 --> 00:31:05.230 it's so inauthentic and we don't like asking 00:31:05.230 --> 00:31:08.250 for favors. But that's one area. If you either 00:31:08.250 --> 00:31:11.869 are or you want to be an entrepreneur, build 00:31:11.869 --> 00:31:14.930 those three categories and build that kitchen 00:31:14.930 --> 00:31:17.890 cabinet so when you run into the thing you're 00:31:17.890 --> 00:31:21.710 not sure you can overcome. You're not like sitting 00:31:21.710 --> 00:31:24.589 Googling or going on chat GPT. How do I solve 00:31:24.589 --> 00:31:27.170 my business problem? You have a couple people 00:31:27.170 --> 00:31:30.589 you can call and say can I get 15 minutes and 00:31:30.589 --> 00:31:33.549 then return you're gonna pay that forward as 00:31:33.549 --> 00:31:36.950 Much as you can you're gonna give everybody who 00:31:36.950 --> 00:31:40.069 asks you 15 minutes. That is my mantra I will 00:31:40.069 --> 00:31:43.569 give everybody who asked me 15 minutes if they're 00:31:43.569 --> 00:31:46.109 a woman and an entrepreneur including if they're 00:31:46.109 --> 00:31:49.130 trying to sell me something And that turned out 00:31:49.130 --> 00:31:52.630 to be the person who connected us with our largest 00:31:52.630 --> 00:31:55.049 client, our first business was a kitchen cabinet 00:31:55.049 --> 00:31:59.349 member. And the person who talked us out of taking 00:31:59.349 --> 00:32:02.670 a deal, which a year later we got a much bigger 00:32:02.670 --> 00:32:05.269 deal. Both those were kitchen cabinet members. 00:32:05.490 --> 00:32:08.589 Women I reached to from LinkedIn and said, you 00:32:08.589 --> 00:32:10.569 don't know me, but you know this person and I 00:32:10.569 --> 00:32:13.230 know this person. I really need 15 minutes. Could 00:32:13.230 --> 00:32:15.130 you give it to me? And they said, yes. And so 00:32:15.130 --> 00:32:18.500 now they're still in my network. That's wonderful. 00:32:19.039 --> 00:32:22.700 Great idea. Yeah. And I love that being open 00:32:22.700 --> 00:32:25.880 and it's that whole concept of being willing 00:32:25.880 --> 00:32:28.819 to give and then you get back, you receive so 00:32:28.819 --> 00:32:30.920 much more in return, you know, when you give. 00:32:30.920 --> 00:32:33.619 You blindly give. The world gives it back to 00:32:33.619 --> 00:32:36.059 you. And yeah, some people take advantage of 00:32:36.059 --> 00:32:39.059 you and whatever, but you sort of blindly give 00:32:39.059 --> 00:32:41.599 and I really, really believe it comes back to 00:32:41.599 --> 00:32:45.930 you. Yeah. Wonderful. It's been such a joy talking 00:32:45.930 --> 00:32:49.210 to you, Bets. Thank you so much for the connection 00:32:49.210 --> 00:32:52.529 and sharing with me and the audience about the 00:32:52.529 --> 00:32:54.849 work that you do. And I wish you all the best 00:32:54.849 --> 00:32:58.349 continued success in this new chapter and with 00:32:58.349 --> 00:33:01.150 the book coming out. And I definitely want to 00:33:01.150 --> 00:33:03.210 keep in touch. Thank you, Michelle. Me too. That 00:33:03.210 --> 00:33:05.930 was great. I appreciate it. Thanks so much for 00:33:05.930 --> 00:33:08.490 joining me today on her comeback. I hope this 00:33:08.490 --> 00:33:12.259 conversation inspired you. to keep moving forward 00:33:12.259 --> 00:33:14.700 no matter where you are in your own journey. 00:33:15.140 --> 00:33:18.039 If you loved this episode, I'd be so grateful 00:33:18.039 --> 00:33:21.440 if you would subscribe to the show on my YouTube 00:33:21.440 --> 00:33:26.099 channel at Michelle Thompson -LifeCoaching. Go 00:33:26.099 --> 00:33:29.240 there for more encouragement, insights, and just 00:33:29.240 --> 00:33:32.039 real talk about making a comeback happen. Hit 00:33:32.039 --> 00:33:34.740 that subscribe button so you never miss new content. 00:33:35.259 --> 00:33:39.049 You can also visit hercomebackpodcast .com for 00:33:39.049 --> 00:33:42.490 notes, resources, connect with me, connect with 00:33:42.490 --> 00:33:45.410 other women and our amazing community who are 00:33:45.410 --> 00:33:48.549 rewriting their stories. Remember, your setback 00:33:48.549 --> 00:33:51.809 isn't your final chapter. It's just the setup 00:33:51.809 --> 00:33:54.589 for your greatest comeback yet. I'll see you 00:33:54.589 --> 00:33:55.369 next time.