Self(ish) Confidence

[LIVE] Boss Talk: Seasons of Entrepreneurship w/ Jean-Eva Dickie Part 1/2

March 14, 2024 Jess Clerke Episode 220
Self(ish) Confidence
[LIVE] Boss Talk: Seasons of Entrepreneurship w/ Jean-Eva Dickie Part 1/2
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Have you ever stood at the precipice of a dream, the wind of possibility at your back, urging you to leap? That's where Jean-Eva from Book of Love Canada found herself, and she's here with me to recount the exhilarating climb from side hustles to entrepreneurial success. Our recent Boss Talk event was a cauldron of candid conversations, and this episode is your invitation to relive the magic. We weave through the themes of our gathering—embracing the ebbs and flows of business, valuing our work, and the deep joy of meaningful connections. Whether you are threading your first needle in the entrepreneurial fabric or stitching a legacy, this talk stitches inspiration into the seams of your aspirations.

Capping off this episode is a nod to the palpable excitement brewing for the continuation of our Boss Talk series and the anticipation of a speed networking soirée in Halifax. This series is a testament to our dedication to creating a welcoming space for dreamers and doers alike to feel seen, heard, and supported in their entrepreneurial endeavors. 

Listen to Part 2 on the Book of Love Podcast.

Stay up-to-date on all upcoming events here.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to Selfish Confidence, a place where you can connect and be real about how hard it is to be your damn self. My name is Jess and my goal is to help you build confidence and belief in yourself to live any life path you want, even if it's unconventional. It's time to flip off societal pressures and connect with women who've also felt on the outside by their life choices. We're here to encourage you to grab the mic and speak your truth. I know it can be scary, but we're in this together. Let's get started.

Speaker 1:

Hello, hello and welcome to this week's episode of the Selfish Confidence podcast. It's Jess here and I have an extra special episode for you today. This is actually the episode at least part one of the Boss Talk we recently had, and if you're like what is Boss Talk, we'll talk about it a little bit in the episode with my very good friend, geneva from Book of Love Canada. So she's a matchmaker here and I connected with her all around trying to find genuine friendships, and I found a genuine friendship with her and we've built it into something really fun where we get to do these events in person to bring women together and I shouldn't say women, it's for anyone who wants to come, but it is primarily women. Okay, that just is kind of the vibe that I think I give off with all of the pink, but it is a space for you to be able to come talk about business, connect with other people, and it doesn't matter if you're an idea phase or if you're in full blown.

Speaker 1:

I've been doing this for 10 years in business. There's a space for you at this event and we just kind of felt like there wasn't anything like this on an intimate level, and this event just really blew us out of the water. The people here were so much fun, they had so many great ideas and they were all in that beginning phases of their business, which I think is just the most fun phase, the most terrifying and the most fun phase of business, because opportunities are endless. So in this episode of Boss Talk, we talk about where we started, where we've come from, what has changed and what are the seasons in our business. So I will let us get into it, but this is the live, so you'll hear the sound is a little bit off. Again, I'm still learning and figuring out how to do these live episodes, but it's with Geneva from the Book of Love, canada and I'm just going to press play so you can be a part of the conversation and you can hear all the juicy stuff about this season of business.

Speaker 2:

Why do we start a Boss Talk again? Why, why?

Speaker 1:

Because I said I saw these people online who were doing a live podcasting event and I was like that is so cool. I think it was so great to bring people together and plus, it's just really fun to talk to Geneva. And I was like I want to do this. And she was like okay. And then she started sending me venues the same day and she's like let's book it right now. And I was like whoa Okay.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And so. But we really started it because we wanted people to come together.

Speaker 2:

And so really why I wanted to do it is because all I talk about is dating all day, every day. So it's just dating, dating, dating, dating. But business is my soul. So, as you guys saw from the stories talking about this, having you guys in the room, having you guys share what you're doing, the mindset that you guys are having, what you're working on, what you're thinking about, like this is where I am happy. I'm building business, happy being around people like you that are doing the same, or even just having ideas or dabbling or whatever it is Like. This feels my soul. So I was like, instead of going to something that could potentially feed my soul, why not create something that can feed my soul? And so we went to coffee, we discussed it, I sent you venues, we booked in the dates. You're like, holy shit, we're doing this now, apparently because I just brought it up to Geneva. Yeah, and here we are.

Speaker 1:

Number two we also didn't see a lot of events like this. A lot of the networking events are big or like. They're like kind of like boxy and you come with your, you know, your suit on and you're going to pass out your business cards, and that's just not my vibe and I know for all of you it's not your vibe either. This is kind of more the vibe, and so we wanted to create something that felt really good, you good over there. We wanted to find something that was just like our energy, and what was always so beautiful about Geneva was that she has this like do and beautiful masculine energy that I don't really have and I shouldn't say I don't have, it's just not the same. And so it's really a beautiful complement of like that flow, of that ideas and the flow and like the glitteriness, and like Geneva with the action and the strategic pieces, and I always kind of was like a little self-conscious because like maybe this is such a little baby, you can even so successful.

Speaker 2:

It's a fetus.

Speaker 1:

It was a fetus and then you just always made me feel so empowered in my business and in my confidence. You're just like hey, like you're cool. And I was like oh, cool, okay, and then we became really good friends.

Speaker 2:

Honestly, when I first met you, I thought you were too cool to be my friend. I invited her on my podcast and I'm like you showed up in your adorable little pink jacket and you were looking all stylish and shit and I'm like I think I was sweating all day and then I'm sitting there recording.

Speaker 1:

I'm sweating.

Speaker 2:

right now I'm like recording with you and you're just so cool and I'm like I want to be your friend, but I think that actually too cool for me. Well, not? We know that now. We know that now.

Speaker 1:

That was a, that's a very. You told me that before too, and I was like that's such a nice compliment. Thank you, but I'm not too cool for anybody. For anyone who knows me knows I'm not.

Speaker 2:

But the whole point of boss talk is to dive into the nitty gritty of actual business, Because one thing that I was never a fan of and I don't ever want to put down other networking events because that was somebody else's dream and vision too, 100%. So it's not really putting it down. But what I never really like is in so stuffy.

Speaker 2:

And it was like they put lipstick on a pig when you're like I need to know how to do things, I want to talk about my struggles, I want to talk about the nitty and gritty, and they're just like it just happens. Here it is and this is the grant to apply for, and this is the things that you do and all this stuff, and it was just. It felt like putting lipstick on a pig for me and I'm like no, I want to know what strategies do I need to do? I want to know what does rejection feel like? I want to know like tell me the worst story that you've ever had. Tell me the best story you've ever had.

Speaker 2:

And I really wanted to get into that. And that's what I wanted boss talk to be was like I wanted it to be raw, because when you go to the other networking events, it's not, it's it's. You know what I mean, though it's just different. It's different, it's different. And I wanted to get into, like some of the, it's not always positive, it's not always rainbows and roses. I wanted to get into like listen, if you're going to do this, it's going to be freaking hard and it's going to be hard, but also it's going to be an amazing situation. So hearing those stories, I think, is really powerful too.

Speaker 1:

It's not about like who made the most money. It's not about who has the most followers or the bigger business and like it's not about any of that. Here is just like we're going to talk about everything, whether it's idea, or like you're making millions, whatever. That is like. That's what this space is for.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I agreed 100%. And then one great thing about boss talk version one the first one we did is there was so much impact from the people that were there. So, again, if you guys want to speak up, that microphone is right there. If you have any questions for us, any questions for anybody else in the room, there was advice given at the last one where I'm like taking notes for it, like it was really quite powerful. So this is the open space that we wanted to create to where we can ask questions, discuss and give advice not just us, but everybody.

Speaker 1:

Yeah right, this is the picture that we took to promote the roller disco night so innocent.

Speaker 2:

You see the innocence in our eyes.

Speaker 1:

The other day when we were on the phone too, I was like, well, I'm not ready to talk about it. You know, like it hasn't been a year and she's like Jess, like that was like Chris 2022.

Speaker 2:

I was like oh, it's been a year and a half. Oh, I guess we'll talk about it. Success is not final failure. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts, and that's the thing that's holding a lot of people back from starting business is the fear of failure. But honestly, I feel every single day in business.

Speaker 1:

Oh my gosh, I'm so scared all the time, yeah, all the time.

Speaker 2:

I failed twice today. Twice today. Well, that's fine, Different strategies and that's from being business. My seven year anniversary is coming up sometime in March, seven years of being in business, and I still fail today trying to figure out a different strategy of something right, and just shot myself in the foot twice actually. So if you're not failing, you're not succeeding. I don't think I love that.

Speaker 1:

That's a really great quote yeah.

Speaker 2:

It's everybody about who you are. There are some people in this room that don't really know who Jess is.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but we're going to keep it short and sweet, because we did introductions last time, so I will keep it pretty minimal. I'm Jess, there we go. That's a confidence coach, and I started doing this work when I lost my confidence from living away with my husband and I say that's the reason why I lost it, but like it's not my husband's great, but we moved to Barbados for a project that he was working on, and when we did that I kind of lost everything. Like I didn't have my money anymore, I didn't have my car, I didn't have my life, I didn't have any friends. It was also the pandemic. So everyone was like go make some friends and I'm like we're literally not allowed to leave the house, like the rules in Barbados were so strict, and then, like, add on a whole bunch of other things that happened while we were down there too, and it just really just took everything from me. And so, as that happened, I was like I'm going to come home, got my life back, everything's going to be great. And I didn't. I came back and it was an internal thing, it was an issue with myself, it wasn't these external things that were there, it was something I had to do so.

Speaker 1:

I decided to work on my confidence and I did it publicly. I started a podcast and as I started a podcast, it built into this beautiful business and it sounds really simple. Of course there was a lot of effort, but like it was about working on myself and bringing women along for the ride, and that's what's built this, which has been really, really cool. So I've been in business for two years now a little over two years. We do retreats, we do events, we do one to one coaching group programs of an online membership community and it's really all about bringing really cool women together. And I have this beautiful gift of bringing really cool women together, like they're in this room right now and like I just feel so blessed to be doing this work. Even today I was just like smiling Because I'm like wow, like I know this is weird, but like this is so cool, like this is so cool, and that's kind of like yeah, that's what I do. I'm Jess, I work on women's confidence while I work on my own.

Speaker 2:

Amazing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's so cool.

Speaker 2:

I love that, and that's the thing too is that I was a single girl and I was teaching people to get into relationships as a single girl, but that's not what I want to speak about. On who I am in boss talk, though, is different than what I would say if I were going into like a matchmaking conference. So who Geneva is in boss talk is basically a woman who, 10 years ago, was working at Smitties in my 30s, moving up into different service jobs, slapping on a miniskirt to work at Jack Aster, as in a low cut top to make bank, while I was building a business on the side. And so I remember in Smitties, when I was working at Smitties, I was also trying to start a grocery stock shopping business. Do you remember that? And I broke into a senior's home and slid forms under all of the doors not like a senior's home, like a building where old people live, so a senior's home and I slid 300 forms under each one of those doors to start my grocery shopping business. I think I got 10 clients out of that building, and then I was doing that for a month and I was standing in the grocery store and I'm like I hate grocery shopping. I still hate grocery shopping. I've always hated grocery shopping. Why am I starting a grocery shopping business? But that's where it kind of like delved into. I wasn't starting, it wasn't the grocery shopping business that I was doing. It was going into the house of the old people with their groceries, unpacking them, sit down and having tea with them. So it was like the relationships of that business which made it successful. And then he sold that business, got it to a level to sell I see it for $500. Yes, thank you, thank you. It wasn't like Hello Fresh or anything like that, but it should have been.

Speaker 2:

But yeah, and then I just kind of like transitioned into this business and so what I do is basically action. So action is my action, and then cleaning up the mess after I've acted, basically. So I do business very differently. I don't plan, I act, and then I put whatever I have acted on into something. So the same as this when I was the second volume of Boss Talk. I call you in January, no December, and I'm like OK, we're doing another Boss Talk. And you're like cool, like here's it when it's scheduled. And she's like what's the topic? I'm like I don't know, we're going to begin to figure it out, but it's scheduled in right.

Speaker 2:

So that's kind of my mindset around business and that philosophy has taken me to where my business is at now, which been in business for seven years. We've created weddings, marriages, couples, babies, all kinds of stuff and taking it from just one speeded event to a business now that when I sell this one it's going to be for $500, if you know what I mean. So that's basically what I am. But I am a bootstrap business builder. So I have never gotten a grant, I have never asked for money from anybody, I've never gotten a loan. It's all been blood, sweat and tears, but I've also never lost. I've never been in the negative in business either, but it's been a slow grow. And that's who I am is just a bootstrap and business owner in a small city of Nova Scotia where big packages are unheard of here.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, we were just talking about that actually when I came in.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, the economy is very different right now To discuss. When people come to me, they're already sold prior to coming to me. But now there's a lot more of discussing the benefits of the exact same package that was just flying off the shelves last year. Is anybody else experiencing that? Obviously, inflation and just everything that's going on in the world Funds be tight, yeah yeah. So success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. You believe in that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love what I do. I really really, really deeply love what I do.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

It's not perfect, but it's great.

Speaker 2:

What is your least favorite thing that you do in your business, like, what's the least favorite thing about business?

Speaker 1:

You know what. Honestly and this is going to sound really bad, but it's the first thing that came to my head. I hate selling, which you have to do when you're in business, and I see a lot of nods because I know that you relate to that. But that's one thing this year that I'm really trying to grip on and understand and connect with more, because if I didn't sell, I wouldn't have a business and if I didn't sell, none of you would be in this room today. So it's really just leaning into that energy more, but it's the thing I struggle with the most because it's the work I do and I know you can relate to this too. It's a human emotion, it's confidence. I want to help you to feel really good. Sometimes it doesn't feel fair to put a price on that.

Speaker 1:

But, if I don't put a price on that, then I can't feed my family and I can't pay my bills, and we all know that we need to do that too. Then I wouldn't have a business, I'd have a hobby. Blah, blah, blah. So that's the piece that I lean into the most, where it's human emotions work that I do.

Speaker 2:

What's your most favorite thing about business?

Speaker 1:

Oh, I just love the people. I love connecting and being around the people and doing cool things like retreats and hanging out with women. I get paid to hang out with really cool people.

Speaker 1:

That is just the best. And the flexibility. I love the openness of my schedule. I love that if you called me up and said, hey, do you want to grab lunch today? I can, and that is really really special to me too. Even Sanova, for like, hey, let's go hang out or let's go to the park, and you're like cool, that is really really beautiful to have that flexibility.

Speaker 2:

Well, today, Friday's book of love in this office is daycare day.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love that.

Speaker 2:

So my four-month-old baby and Olivia and her in-house matchmaker has a four-month-old baby. We bring them in and we match make. It takes double the time because there's a baby, but like two babies, but like how would I have ever been able to do that before? I mean, one thing about business is that you're working all the time but at the same time you can do whatever you want with the time that you are working all the time if that makes sense.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I love it. Ok, so we have a couple of questions that people have asked us through the promotion of just like putting on a story and seeing what people wanted to know about business. This one was very, very interesting because I've been waffling back and forth on this. Is there something you wish you did differently when starting and growing your business? You go ahead Me.

Speaker 1:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2:

I didn't expect you to say that.

Speaker 1:

So Can you also have made these questions today? And she was like do you want to look at them? And I said, no, so we're just trusting. I think that's why things happen, because we're both like, oh well, we'll just figure it out and it'll happen.

Speaker 2:

Well, it's more organic that way yeah.

Speaker 1:

I don't mind the miscarriage, who wants?

Speaker 2:

to plan a script of answering a question, right, Ew boo, Ew boo, I'm lost. I think no.

Speaker 1:

No.

Speaker 2:

But so everything and nothing at the same time. So the journey that I have been on is unique to where my business is at right now. But if I were to think back with the knowledge I have now in hindsight, I would do it obviously completely differently. But no, I don't think I would do much differently. When growing my business, I think it kind of all transitioned the way it was supposed to, and just having faith that, like even in the future, yeah, I'm going to make a ton of mistakes and yeah, I'm going to make the wrong moves. And yeah, I'm going to invest in stuff that doesn't make sense and yeah, I'm going to offend some people, I don't know. There's going to be lots of mistakes that are being made in the future too, but at the same time, that has to be made in order for the business to be what it is at now.

Speaker 2:

My biggest fear is getting canceled at some point. I think all small businesses fear is getting canceled at some point. But even if that were to happen, I think that's a phase of business that has to happen. So even if the worst thing happened, it's worth it. So, no, I honestly don't think I would change anything. Yeah, what about you?

Speaker 1:

The only thing that I would change is starting with different pricing. So, like when I first started, it was very, very, very, very cheap and even now I still feel like it's not a crazy amount, but I probably wouldn't. Yeah, my pricing would be different because I had an experience with someone who was from the very beginning and the prices that I charged, unfortunately it didn't give them value. And it didn't give me value because when I raised my prices, the impact was a little more negative than I would have appreciated. They felt like I robbed them, they felt like I was gipping them all of these things and I think what I robbed them of was actually investing in themselves a bit more.

Speaker 1:

Like I'm talking like $25 a session to work with me, like really, really, I know it's crazy, I was crazy, okay, and it just kind of like again what I was learning, and that's probably the only thing I would change. I love the people I worked with and I love what I did, but that experience when I raised my prices was so negative even though it was only one particular person who made it really uncomfortable. It was really really hard for me in that season because I felt like I was leaving people behind, and I just wish that I didn't have to do that.

Speaker 2:

It's hard enough raising prices, Like there is a whole mental challenge that every business owner has to go through when setting and then increasing their prices. A little bit of imposter syndrome and then to have pushback from somebody, someone who I loved so much, love so much. Yeah, that's hard you can only imagine.

Speaker 1:

That's the only thing, Other than that it grew the way it grew for a reason, but that would be the only thing.

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah, I would have charged way more too.

Speaker 1:

Than $25?.

Speaker 2:

Well, now that we're like just talking about this. Mine was free to get in the book above. I was giving hours of my time away for free.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

So, but I don't know. Yeah, yeah, okay, higher prices. I agree I would have done that differently. So this comes directly from a follower from when we asked the question. You're now hiring. Who here has hired for a business, their business, the people that they work with?

Speaker 2:

Yes, hiring is a motherfucker, Like it is its own beast altogether. How has that process been and what is, and is it what you expected it to be? I expected it to be hard, but it has been a transition in business that I have have like a huge steep learning curve and, although it is very similar to working with clients and it's very similar to the dating world because again, you're kind of presenting something to somebody and they're deciding on if it's a good fit for you and then you're deciding if they're a good fit for the business the hiring process has been hard, especially since it's been revolving around me having a baby. Like the main thing about me hiring was to hopefully be able to spend time with my baby and have some sort of maternity leave not an actual maternity leave, obviously, because we're entrepreneurs, but at least some sort of respite from business for just at least two months.

Speaker 2:

Right, and I had somebody hired just before the baby came and it was too much for her and she had to leave. Bless her heart. She was a sweet angel, she would have done really good, but it was just. It's a big job what we do, it's a big, big job what that position is. And so she left just before the baby came. And then the baby came and, fortunately, the team I had here, brittany and Olivia. They were not trained up at all, but they just slid right in and just did what needed to be done. But there was still a lot of fires that needed to be put out while having a baby, while trying to figure out how to keep a baby alive.

Speaker 1:

And then Matt mentioned your matchmaker also had a baby two weeks after.

Speaker 2:

And then one of those, that team member, had a baby one week after yeah, yeah, so one week after. She then had a baby, so she was out. So poor, poor, poor Brittany. Who awesome Brittany. She was at the first one. She had a side gig, so a social media video workshop gig when I first met her, and then she has made that a full-time gig, so she quit, which sucks but so happy for her I only allow it because she has entrepreneurially gone from part-time to full-time.

Speaker 2:

Like how can you? You know, right? So, yeah, she slid right in and was doing meetings with people in the matchmaking space. But then I tried hiring another person and I went outside of the demographic that I would typically have hired because I'm like, okay, let's go to the opposite and see what happens. It was too much for her too. So we have just hired somebody that's starting next week and I'm like she seems like a badass. So I'm really hoping that this works out, but if not, that's okay too.

Speaker 2:

But the hiring process has been really, really, really its own challenge altogether and it's all about seasons of business Because it was all me, all me, all me. And then to move into giving that up to somebody else in your business and to bring in an employee, to give them all of my money Like when I bring in an employee, I'm not paying myself for six months, right and as a business owner to do that, to entrust in somebody that they can take all of the money I'll be paying myself, which they will be, but for the long run it's gonna be worth it. But to trust somebody else to do that is a huge leap for me.

Speaker 2:

And to trust someone with your baby and to trust my baby and my name and all of my employees and clients that have come to me in a very vulnerable part of their life to trust them. With that I mean, obviously I'm gonna be breathing down her neck before sweet angel, but like but yeah, there's a lot that goes into the hiring process. It's wild.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, it's really cool to see how it grows, for you too, like, even just like the team that she's created, which Olivia and Brittany although Brittany's not here anymore, we love her but like it was really nice to see how you all flow together so nicely too.

Speaker 2:

And Sean too. Yeah, sean, sean, the guy, the male dating coach. He's invaluable. He was that one. Having a male dating coach was that one thing that was missing in my business, and I don't know if you guys have ever experienced this, but have there. If there's ever been a hole in either your career or your life or what have you, if you leave yourself open to it, it's going to present itself. There's gonna be a lot of little false presentations, like before he presented himself. There was a lot of you know, pick up artists, guys that are local, being like I could be a male dating coach. I'm like cool, let's give it a go. That was horrible. But Sean came in and just like filled that position, but only because I was open to it, started off as a client and then moved into becoming a dating coach.

Speaker 2:

That's fine, well, he came into the meeting and he's like, here's all the books that I've read. I'm like, well, that is quadruple what I had read, and like he basically coached me in his dating coaching session. So yeah, yeah, so he's invaluable too. So, yeah, yeah, hiring is a fascinating process, but not what I expected it to be at all. Do you think you're gonna?

Speaker 1:

hire. Well, I do have a virtual assistant that fell into my lab. It was a client of mine, actually my dream client. When I first started my podcast, we did this exercise as like who's your dream client? And I wrote this person now her name is Emily and, instead of like visualizing a fake person, I picked a real person, a person that I knew, a person who was really invested in like personal growth, and they became like this dream person that I would have as a podcast listener and as a client.

Speaker 1:

Well, like two weeks after that, after I created this, she messaged me and she was like hey, can I work with you? And I was like whoa cool. And she came on as a one-to-one client and we've been working together ever since. And then when she started her virtual assistant business, I was like you should virtual assist me? Thanks, and it's been this beautiful collaboration of like she's my voice more than I'm my voice, and like she just knows me so well. So my dream is, as I grow, she grows and like, hopefully someday is a full-time person who can build her business and her mom life. She has a dream she has two kids. She wants this life of being a you know, freedom mom, and I wanna be able to support that in her, as she gives me the dream of being a freedom entrepreneur, and so it really is a beautiful collaboration. So that's my dream is to be able to bring her full-time as we grow.

Speaker 2:

Was it hard to give up a lot of the tasks that you gave to her, or did that happen easily In the beginning, yeah, because I like, really didn't like.

Speaker 1:

Not that I didn't trust her, that was never it.

Speaker 1:

I felt guilt passing things to her, even though it was her job which is so funny now I look at and now I just send her stuff all the time because I'm not the doer, I'm not the creator, I'm like I was. This was like the big light bulb moment for me. I had a podcast interview with someone who was like a high value podcast guest. Like they were someone of value and I was so excited but I didn't share their podcast episode because I never made the sound bite, I never really promoted it, because I am not great at that stuff. Okay, I'm great at creating. The podcast episodes happen every week at that point, two times a week, but like putting it out there is a whole extra thing.

Speaker 2:

Two times a week. That's a great job Now it's once a week.

Speaker 1:

We had to go cut back down so she creates all of those pieces. Those pieces were never gonna come out without her, ever Same with newsletters and things like that. That stuff is just not something that I have at the forefront of my mind, and so once we got into a flow where she has tasks that I don't even have to ask her for, it helped. But in the beginning I was like you don't, don't worry about it, I'll do that and she's just like why the hell did you hire me then?

Speaker 2:

And.

Speaker 1:

I'm like good point, I can't, I won't do it. That's the thing. It's not that I can't do it, I won't do it, it's not a priority. So I need someone who's gonna just like take action without me even thinking about it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so thankfully. Now I'm like, please just do all the things. Dream client.

Speaker 2:

She was like yeah, the dream person. I love that this is the last boss talk. What changes have there been in your life and how have they affected your business? You've had a big change. We're not talking about me. You've birthed a human. Yes, but you spoke in California.

Speaker 1:

I spoke in Denver and in California.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yes, I did birth a human.

Speaker 1:

This is not. There wasn't big changes. No, yeah, big changes for you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it has been a big change, but, like I said, a boss talk. Number one is that the baby has not held me back from business at all. It actually has just allowed me the confidence to step back from business and to replace myself with a team. So it's actually getting pregnant and having a baby and starting a family I thought was going to ruin the business, like prior to really putting thought into it. I was like, well, how is this going to happen? But that was just this like small minded mindset of, well, I have to do everything in the business, right. So when I got pregnant and the baby was coming obviously then maybe a little bit too late I started trying to hire somebody, right. And but it actually she gave me the confidence to do that, the baby, the confidence to actually do that. So she has poised me in such a way that I have been finally be able to like bring on the team that needed to be had. And then the baby came and that was fun, and so then trying to keep the baby alive. Fortunately, I have an amazing partner. He's took his nine month paternity, so he's home with the baby right now, oh yeah, and he's such a sweet baby angel too, and they look identical Like he, she is his, like mini person, and he didn't know anything about baby.

Speaker 2:

So when the baby came, he knew nothing. He didn't know how, he never even held a baby before he had a baby. Seriously, yeah, he didn't know how often they needed to be fed. He didn't know anything about dirty diapers. He didn't know. He knew absolutely didn't know that they had to be birthed after they ate. So I knew some of that and we didn't take any courses. You guys, I don't know what we were thinking.

Speaker 1:

We didn't take any courses, would you?

Speaker 2:

advise that.

Speaker 1:

Yes, you'd say don't take courses. Oh no, take courses.

Speaker 2:

Please take all the courses. Yeah, and I'm like I'm reading any books. What I did what to do when you're, what to expect when you're expecting it was good. It just didn't cover like how to keep the baby alive. It was just like it really didn't do any of that.

Speaker 2:

So I'm like in the hospital afterwards and we had to stay there two days because I had to have a C section, emergency C section and she and I thought the nurses were going to come in and be like you know, you're taking care of a baby. No, like the baby's wailing and screaming. They're like that's cool, you good Bye. Yeah, like they did not teach me anything. So then we went home with this little critter that we had to keep alive and yeah, and then it's so fun I shouldn't be saying this in here, but I'm going to. His family is Chinese and they had no idea they had a burp of baby after you fed the baby either. So I had to teach his family how to burp a baby to, which is fascinating, yeah, but so, and then also that employee quit before. So then I had to still plan dates. Like I had that newborn baby wrapped up and I was planning dates putting out fires. You know how I say that I lock the door.

Speaker 2:

Well, that's because I actually had to kick a man out of events because he's inappropriate to women, and so then he started harassing me through every social media platform and harassing that woman that reported him to me.

Speaker 2:

So then we had to get, like the cops involved and things like that. And so then we have to keep the door locked right, and all of this when that newborn baby is here and I'm like, why am I, why is this happening, why am I dealing with this right now? But then to come out the other end and realize that as a mother I know that all of the mothers here can relate the capacity that you can adopt, the amount of sleep that you don't need to still function, and but hashtag blessed for the support that I have and the business has shifted in such a way that it's still. I had the best month, the most profit in January, which was two months after the baby was born, was my biggest month ever, which I didn't expect either, right. So just so many blessings, so many changes. My perspective has changed, my capacity has changed, just everything has changed and, yeah, it's really cool.

Speaker 1:

And also wild, like she has a four month old and even when the baby was too much. She's like hey, when's the next boss talk, what are we doing? And I'm like when are you going to sleep? Like, what are you doing?

Speaker 2:

Well, you know what I realized is, having a baby is wonderful and it has been like. The goal of my entire life is obviously to start a family and that is of value and having that baby there is very important to me. This is my purpose, like building business is my purpose, and I know even just and I love that baby to death. But to be at home all the time with that baby doesn't speak to my soul. There's some days where I wish I was, but this is my purpose. Building business is my purpose. Matchmaking is my purpose. Creating couples is my purpose and it creates so much happiness in me that if I were to have given that up for that baby, there would be a part of me that's missing.

Speaker 1:

Okay, sisters, that's a wrap for part one, but the conversation is not over. If you're listening to this and you're like man, I wish I was there in person. It'd be so much fun to hang out with you and talk business and to talk all the things that I've been dreaming about. There will be more boss talks. I will put the information, the show notes, and you'll be able to grab your ticket when that happens. I don't know exactly what the day will be, but I promise you it will be soon and even with that, we're working on planning a really awesome speed networking event here in the city. So someone suggested that as an option and I was like you know what? That'd be super fun. So we're working on planning some dates for that too.

Speaker 1:

So if you're in Hellafx, nova Scotia, and you're like I want to be part of all these really fun business talks and also like them not be intimidating, where I can come and I can feel safe and I can share what's on my heart and not feel like the smallest person in the room, this is the space for you. It is so welcoming and it's so loving and it's just such a fun opportunity to talk about business. So I'll put all the information, the show notes, for that too, but you can head over to the book of love podcast and check out part two very soon. So what are you doing? Like go check out part two? What's up, sis? I am so glad we could hang out today. If you love this episode, send it to a friend or share it on your social media and tag me so I can personally thank you for helping me sprinkle some confidence in the world. And don't forget you are magic. Let's show the world your shine.

Boss Talk
Entrepreneurial Journey and Business Philosophy
Challenges of Starting and Growing Business
Navigating Work and Motherhood Challenges
Empowering Business Talks With Sisters