Everyone needs to know that you don't have to start your day with the list. And I will only feel good about myself if I finish these things on my list. And if I don't finish these things on my list, then maybe I'll stay up until 11 and get them done. You know, you know, I know that, you know, that's not, that's not, that's not the way to go. Introducing the Vixen Voice, a podcast for ambitious women entrepreneurs ready to move into their feminine essence, live their truth, and unlock their full potential. I'm your host, April Roberts. And each week, I'll be interviewing inspiring women who decided to take a leap of faith to pursue their dream. Women who believed that they were born for something bigger. Hi and welcome back to another episode of the Vixen Voice. So, today is going to be a fun one. This is an episode we tried to record about a month ago, but everything aligned against us. So, we know today is magic because it is all working. So, I'm so excited to introduce my friend Maria Spier-Allis, who's a lawyer, a content creator, an amateur homesteader, an ex-opera singer, and a boy mom of two, I'm sure, very vivacious boys. So, her law practice, am I right? Yes. Her law practice, the legal apothecary, focuses on bringing peace of mind to experts, spiritual entrepreneurs, and holistic healers when it comes to protecting their branding, creative content, and collaborations, and also doing business online legally. I want you to hear that because so many of us are doing business online, but are you doing it legally? So, we should pick up some great tips today. And I just want to share, I met Maria January of this year. We connected December of last year. She asked me to be a speaker on a panel. She has a membership of healers and spiritual entrepreneurs here in Houston. So, I got to talk to them about owning their worth and money mindset. And, Maria, I'm so glad you found me. It was such a blessing. I've made so many friends in your group. And I love attending events. Oh, I'm so glad. I love to hear that. No, thank you so much. And so, now I'm so excited that you can be here on my turf for a change. So, super excited to be here. I'm so glad. I'm so glad to be on your turf. I love your tag. Thank you so much. So, you're going to see, I mean, I love that you put amateur homesteader in there. And I'm going to encourage you, you know, when you go to the show notes, you'll get all of Maria's goodies. And she'll share with you the best places to find her. But I would highly recommend following her on Instagram because she shares tips of things that she does. In fact, I'm going to pick your brain a little bit today on that topic. But let's dig in. It is officially your first time on the VIXEM voice. So, what I'd love to ask is, you know, you've already had many lives. We just read your resume in this life, right? Besides the past lives. And so, I'm super curious. When you think back on the tapestry of your life, what are some pivotal stories that stand out to you, that you feel really carved out like this amazing woman who's sitting before us today? Oh my gosh. Well, two come to mind. And the first is that ex-oppressinger part of my life. Because I forever, as a kid and then, you know, as a college student, singing was my identity. It was something that I knew I was good at. And that I thought I wanted to pursue in using my voice. More on the VIXEM voice. And this is all about my voice. And so, even though I knew that I still had some confidence issues, I still, you know, I was at a school with a lot of people who were good. And just, just for whatever reason, couldn't get over my like deer in a headlights moments of my confidence just like, well, like shrinking inside of me. And so that's kind of when I decided that I wanted to pursue an education outside of music. And that was law school. Like I would. I think I'll go to law school today. And it was more in the context of, okay, I don't know that I want to be a lawyer, but I do know, at least at the time, that lawyers can work as agents and that lawyers can work at record labels. And at the very least, you know, maybe I have friends that I could represent or I could represent myself. And so that's what kind of drove me to go to law school. And I was in this performance class at the time, musical theater performance. And with a teacher who really believed in me and he was like, are you sure you want to do this? You know, are you sure you want to kind of abandon music? And he said, you know, I had a student who went to law school in New York. And she was in Les Mis at night. And during the day, she went to law school. And I was like, oh, this sounds great. This sounds like a great plan. April, you've been to law school. Do you think it would have been possible to start a Broadway show and go and survive law school? No way. There was no way. So I went to New York with that hope and dream. And then actually really liked law school. And so that just kind of became, the music kind of became secondary. And I kind of dove all in. Well, I'm thinking about, I mean, that woman's beyond superwoman. If she was in law school and doing Les Mis at the same time, like, I can't imagine. I mean, literally, if you're listening and you haven't been to law school, they, I, you know, I'm not sure every school does this, but I think they do. And I know it, Notre Dame, the first year was meant to weed out one-third of the class. Like the curriculum is built. And you have to take so many hours that their purpose is to get rid of one-third of the class going into the second year. So yes, it is literally a full-time job. So I remember my mom because I went to Notre Dame and I'd never really been somewhere so cold. And I remember my mom having to ship the clothes because I didn't have time to, like, go buy a jacket or anything and just like, oh my gosh, it's really crazy. When you think back, especially the first year of law school, like, it's, it's, I probably not as bad as a residency in the medical field, but other than that, pretty, pretty bad. So it's interesting because you said you really liked law school. So for me, I loved criminal law, but my parents were just like, no, we are not going into criminal law. And I actually had a famous professor for criminal law. So I know I had a really good course. I did not like law school per se. I had fun in law school, but when I got my summer internship the first year, I liked practicing law. So I was lucky that I got a job where I actually got to like write briefs and do some things. So that's what actually sustained me through law school is like, oh, I like what I get to do when we get out. So I love that. So opera singer to lawyer, that is quite the pivot. I mean, both take incredible discipline. So it makes a ton of sense. But I'm going to warn you now at some point, I would love for you to sing for me. I have a friend too. So boy, you're not seeing ever. I'm curious. Well, I mean, I sing with my kids. I used to for a few years before I had kids. I was in the Nashville Symphony Chorus, which kind of helped me to like, satisfy that part of my heart, but it was a big time commitment. And so I haven't, haven't dove back into that yet. Yeah, it's interesting because I have a friend in Houston and now she's a client of the Vixen gathering and she, she's a lawyer and she doesn't trust in the state planning. And she was actually at my place. I did kind of a launch party just with my girlfriends for when I started the Vixen gathering and she was there and we were all sharing things. And she was like, yeah, I mean, I still wonder if I should be an opera singer. We're like, what, you sing opera? And she stood up and sang for us. And I was in tears. Like she was, it was so beautiful. And she was so talented. And I was just like, oh, what a beautiful surprise. Like, thank you so much for this. So, so maybe, maybe one time, maybe if we're somewhere private and you're hanging out with the kids, we can get you to sing. You know what's so funny is in human design, I don't know. I'm sure you're familiar with human design and, you know, these energy centers that we have. And when I first started learning more about human design, I learned that I have a defined throat chakra, the energy center, which is, at the time, it was explained to me as, you know, having a really strong voice. And when you speak, people listen. And all this stuff. And I was like, I've always been kind of shy and kind of like afraid to share my opinion. And she's like, you are a voice major. And maybe you think that you are shy or maybe it was conditioning telling you like that you're what you had to say didn't matter. And I was like, oh, man, like that was a little nudge that hurt, but in a good way. Yeah, no, but it makes sense. And I mean, I could go on forever about the throat chakra because around 20, just after 2020, when I was going through my healing journey and then now I've been training to do healing, I realized that collectively, like, you know, kind of collectively, there was a very closed throat chakra because of everything going on in that time period. You couldn't really speak what you believed and you had to kind of hide. And I was like, oh my gosh, the whole world needs like a throat chakra healing now. So I am a huge proponent of speak your truth. Like I might agree with you, I might not, but I don't care. I would, in fact, when I hear someone really speaking their truth or like singing a song that you can just tell comes from their soul, like I cry every time. And I cry when I'm in touch with my soul. So I just know it's like, it's a really beautiful gift to be able to speak or sing your truth. So I love that you have that there. So let's talk about your legal career because you have a fascinating niche. So will you share, you know, I talk a lot of coaching and consulting about niches. And it seems to be a really hard concept for a lot of us. So can you got to share how you determine your niche and like what you do and who you serve? Yes. So before I started my practice in 2015, so we're coming up on nine years ago. And I, before I started my own practice, I worked at another law firm and we did entertainment law, we did some litigation, and we did an intellectual property. And it's funny because I thought, you know, I wanted to go into entertainment law and work with musicians and this and that. And by the time I was done with that firm, I was like, I don't want any more entertainment, anything. I was kind of burned out of the music industry and the personality is in that everything. And so when I started my own practice, I was like, okay, I'm going to start. I'm going to focus on business owners and protecting their copyright, their trademark, their thing that makes them special. And, but I was taking anybody and everybody who was willing, was willing to pay me for work as many of us do when we start on our own, right? So it's been kind of a twisting and turning. I was meshing into fashion for a little while because Nashville was starting to kind of have this bubbling fashion scene. And there was this Nashville fashion alliance, which is no longer. But I thought maybe that's where I would go and then probably around, well, around 2018, I actually left Nashville to go back to my home state of Michigan. Well, I was expecting my first born and I thought, you know, I don't want to be tied to any particular geographic location. So I started looking at at the time in 2018, you know, online businesses, which then was DIY influencers, people with blogs, maybe podcasters, but that's kind of the landscape of online business at that point. It wasn't so much courses and memberships yet. But for me, it was kind of that DIY blogging space. And after a little while in that space, it's like the budget is not there in this industry for the type of legal help that I provide. And so then 2018, 2019, 2020, and then everybody's online. And so I was doing a lot with online businesses, communities, courses, coaches, quote, unquote, even though at that time I wasn't necessarily calling coaching. I say that I work with experts because I feel like that really encompasses my clients. Everyone's an expert on something, whether it's literally like growing a garden or sales or how to use astrology, whatever it is. But it wasn't until 2021, when I started with working with a business coach, her name was Lauren Laschak. And I tell her all the time because we remain friends. I said, you truly changed my life because at that point, I had a baby under one year old, I had a four year old. And whenever I finally had, you know, that block of time to work, I would sit down and I would kind of let the energy I was talking to you about before we started recording. I would say, okay, here are all the things on my to-do list. And I got to start working right now. If I start right now, then I can get these things done. And if I don't get these things done, I'm not going to feel good about my day. And that was the inside chatter, right? And that was the energy. And Lauren was like, I understand this process. And I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but instead of starting that way, take 10 minutes, set a timer for 10 minutes, start with five. If you have to start with five, light a candle, like set the stage, literally set the stage on your desk. Notice the candle, close your eyes and breathe. We don't have to call it meditation, but just, you know, close your eyes and turn off, turn off the sensor, all the sensory things that might be going on around you and work from that place instead of I have to get everything done on my list place. She's like, it's going to affect your creativity. It's going to affect your bottom line. It's going to affect your energy throughout the day and your ability to be productive. And she was, of course, right. And that was my first kind of experience in mindfulness and energy. And I started learning things from her like cards and crystals and, you know, palosanto and different tools. And once I started weaving those into my life, and this is kind of where creative soul sisterhood came from too. Once I started weaving those tools into my life, I was like, whoa, first of all, these are the kinds of businesses. And these are the kinds of women I want to work with, conscious, intentional leaders, and also every woman needs to know about these things. Everyone needs to know that you don't have to start your day with the list. And I will only feel good about myself if I finish these things on my list. And if I don't finish these things on my list, then maybe I'll stay up until 11 and get them done. You know, you know, I know that you know, that's not that's not that's not the way to go. No, I love that because I always talk about I help women design their business around their dream life. And like, they don't, it's crazy how people don't even think that's an option. Right. And I feel like the ultimate freedom is understanding we have a choice in everything we do. Sometimes you might not like the choice you make, but you made the choice. No one's forcing you to do that. Right. And so I just think it's, it's so freeing. And I love I was looking at my candle as you were talking to candles, because I have a candle lit all day that reminds me, well, it's honoring God for me, and also reminding me to breathe and be grateful. Because you know, you'll see the light flicker in the corner of your eye. And I take that moment to like take a breath, like be grateful, like slow down. So yeah, I totally get it. And you've, you've done my own your worth challenge. And you know, we start with like breath work, grounding a little meditation, because I know everybody's like, oh, I got to get on this call. And like, they're coming in with that energy. And I'm like, no, no, let's get in our body. Let's get grounded. And, and I love that you operate that way because, you know, it really, in my opinion, helps you to become present. And like, being present is where all the genius happens, and all the good work. And also life becomes magical when you start mastering being present. Absolutely. And that reminds me of something that I remember you saying, which is kind of the past of the past, I live in the present. I remember you saying that when you were on the criticism sisterhood panel, and it's like, it's hard sometimes when there are a thousand things to do, and whatever, but it's like, I, what's happening right now is my life, not what's already happened, or what could happen, you know, it's, it's the now. Yeah, because if you think about it, and I, and I love, I know I can speak energy and you'll totally get it, but you know, if you're not living in the present, your energy is fractured, actually, right? Like you're leaving energy in the past, and you're putting energy to the future. So you're not fully here doing the work. And that's why the first, like, conceptualization of this came when we heard flow state, right, which, I mean, really came through, like, the bropreneurs, like, let's get into flow state, like, because I mean, all high level athletes have a ritual they go through to get in the zone, which is the flow state. And it's so crazy, because it's a more natural state of being for women. And it's almost like we were last to the table on discovery. Yes. Do you feel that way? Yes, absolutely. Like exactly what you just said, it's it comes so naturally to us to be in flow. And I mean, I'm a Michigan fan. I went to Michigan, and our football team was really good last year. And the quarterback would sit on the field with headphones on so he would could block the noise and just like meditate there on the field. I'm like, I love this kid. He's like getting into at least like paying attention to his mindset. And like he said, I know a lot of athletes do that, but it's like women forget that it's actually in our nature to be that way. Yeah. And I actually went to a speaking, like I went through a speaking program with Oh, Easton, I think it was a mastermind, and he used to be an NFL athlete. And then he would have us at the beginning of the day, we had to take up our shoes and step on this rock. Like, we got to pick a rock. And for years, I started my morning this way, and it's amazing one how you massage the tension out of your feet and therefore your whole body. But it was also about like getting in touch with your body, but also grounding. And he got that from John Woodard, who was one of the most famous basketball coaches of all times, right? And he would have his team that was part of the ritual. So like there was collective rituals in sports. And also professional athletes understand they get paid to rush just like they get paid to play. And like, again, as entrepreneurs, we have to remember that because also being female entrepreneurs, I mean, relaxation and rest, we women are built to do that. We can't, we're not built to go, go, go, like we've been socialized to do in the current world. Like we, we have to take a pause, take a breath, let things come to us, receive and relax. And I feel like that's what your coach helped you do when you were talking about the exercise. Yeah, absolutely. And did she help you with anything at the end of the day? Because I'm a big fan of transitioning out of the work day too. Or do you have a ritual? No, actually, I don't have a ritual. I wish I could probably be much better at that because it's usually like, okay, I've got to go and grab the kids from school and so I'm just gonna like finish this up and out the door I go. Yeah, I would try it. So I coached a lot of clients to this. Like during pandemic, I was only part time coaching then because I still have my financial practice. But when I understood this, because I took women's transformation, like spiritual course. And then I helped my clients because a lot of times that's when everyone started working from home, right? And oftentimes they were in a guest bedroom on the other side of the door was their family. They would finish work like frantically working, bustle out the door and you're coming into home with all the energy of work, right? So when we got rid of the commute, the commute actually played a little bit of role to transition us going into the office and coming home. And so I had a lot. I had one client in particular, I remember in California and I was like, hold on, is that like your backyard? She was like, no, it's a balcony. I could see on Zoom. And I was like, okay, at the end of the day, can you light a candle? I don't care if you go out there and do yoga poses. If you light a candle, if you have a cup of tea, but like, don't immediately leave, take 10, 15, 20 minutes, like to yourself and then walk through, because she was having some issues with her boyfriend and her kids, you know, because she would show up like, okay, I did this, this, this. Now we got to go do this, this, this, and right? Like your family doesn't want you, just like you said, to show up with that mental list of to do some marching orders when you first show up. Yep. Yeah. And it kind of goes back to what you said about being present. It's like, if I'm still thinking about that list, then I'm not actually here with you. I might as well just be in another room because I'm not, I'm not fully present with you. My energy is fractured. Yeah. Yeah, totally. I love it. Try that and let me know how it works. So maybe at least carve out 10 minutes before you. Because if you're having to get them from school or go get them from summer activities, you at least have a hard stop. So I found I had to, I used to be very good at ending my work day. And then I had many things going on at once. And I don't have a family. So I don't like have to quit working to go. I mean, there's no one counting on me to be there. You know what I mean? And so I was like, this is ridiculous. I'm not supposed to work this long. So I started setting an alarm on my phone for the end of the word. I, that's what I need to do. I have to set an alarm or a timer. That's my, that was my first thought when you suggested it. I thought, Oh, well, I'll have to set a reminder for 10 minutes before so that I actually stop and do it. I love it. Yeah, and share it because no, I think it's great. And I know it's so important to you to be a good mom. And I love that you're able to stop at that time and go get your kids and enjoy. And that's what I'm a big proponent of. Like, I feel women are burning out because they're trying to be all things to all people. But when you have your own business, if you want to be there with your kids after school, you totally can just design it. So share with us. Like, what is your typical day look like? How do you balance, you know, being an amateur homesteader, a boy mom, and like, you know, this phenomenal lawyer. So what are any tips or tricks you can share? Well, my Mondays are half days. And actually, this is just something I started doing maybe three weeks ago is instead of trying to cram things, and even though I'm really good about morning ritual now, it's like I was still trying to cram things into a half day. It's like, you know what? Monday is now going to be me day because it is a half day. And I don't need to try. I mean, I can like respond to emails and make sure everything is in homeostasis, you know, no one's panicking or whatever. Everyone's tended to. But other than that, I'm going to go to a workout class. I'm going to do my nails and I'm going to maybe journal, maybe plan out the week because I love to plan and organize. So maybe that's like my treat to myself on Mondays and then just when it's a half day, when the half day is done, like be done. And that has really been nice these last three weeks. So I'm going to try and sustain it. But in terms of regular work days, you know, the first, first hour of the day, I'm walking on the treadmill, I'm doing my journaling, maybe pulling a card, doing some me things before I get into serving clients. Because I just have to, I just have to. Yeah, I love that. And then do you end your day when it's time to get the boys? Or do you go get them and then go back to work? Or how, what does that look like? I end my day when I go get the boys. I, unless, unless some crazy once in a blue moon, something is happening. And like after bedtime, I have to open my laptop and respond to something, but that's very, very rare. I try to, you know, have time with my husband at that point. And like, I use the cell, all sounds like, oh, so lovely. And I was on my laptop, you know, every night for a while. So it took some work to get here, get to this place. It sounds so nice. But yeah, I do, I once I go get them, you know, my day is done at three. Nice. No, I love it. It's beautiful, because then you go into your most important job being on. So let's talk amateur homesteading. And I'm not sure. So why do you call yourself an amateur? Why are we not just a homesteader? That's my first question. Oh, that's a good question. I feel like because I'm still learning, I'm kind of new to it. And so my homesteading activities are gardening, which is, you know, 50% successful so far. And then sourdough, which is a newer, newer experiment for me, but has actually been really fun. I love to do things with my hands that I can like see and make, even just like painting a wall a different color. It's like that instant gratification from doing something physical that I really like. So still learning about these things, which is maybe why the amateur, maybe I should get rid of the amateur, but it's been really fun learning this sourdough, especially. Okay, good. That's what I want to pick your brain about. So it's interesting. I just came out of a season where I kind of had to grind a little harder than I usually like to because normally my day ends at four. I start very early, but we were launching the VIXM Founders Collective. Like, I just had, I had two keynotes and two different cities in one week, like VIP day at a client. It was just like all these amazing opportunities that I wanted to choose to do, but it got, you know, so it was kind of like, okay, June 14th is my light at the end of the tunnel day where I can like go back to a normal schedule. And so anyway, this quarter, I'm doing personal hobby goals because I've had seeds for a couple of months that I wanted to start growing lavender and different things on my rooftop. And then I used to paint and I'm like, just freaking go to Hobby Lobby and get a canvas and some paint and start painting. So yeah, this is like a quarter. I'm like, oh, and so I want to learn how to make sourdough. That's my third thing. So I'm so excited. Oh, yay. Yes. It's, you know, it's so intimidating because people are like, you have to feed the starter. The starter is like this mixture of enzymes, I guess. It's like flour and water and that's it. And like a little bit of previous starter. So that's like the trick once you figure out that you have to feed this thing every morning and every afternoon. But also what they, what they don't tell you is, is you can feed it and then put it in the fridge if you don't feel like baking that day. So you can keep it in the fridge for a week. And if you don't feel like baking after that week, then you take it out and you feed it and you let it sit and then you put it back in the fridge. So it's like a once a week commitment. And then when you're ready to bake, then you know, you actually have to do the, and feeding it is basically you take out half of it. So then the rest of it can like refresh itself with new flour and water. And that's what helps it rise instead of yeast. Yeah, Faith, who does my hair brought me, she'll bring me microgreens from her garden. And I think they're, she's microgreens, I want to say, but they have like a spicy and I love them. It's like my go-to snack when I have them. And so she brought me the seeds to grow those too. But it's something similar. Like you, when you're, you have to wash the seeds or something every morning when you're prepping them. So, so that's on the list too. I'm like, I might have a long list. I might go to, I might need to pick and choose maybe summer third quarter and summer fourth quarter. But yeah, no, I'm totally into this. Okay, so I'm going to reach out to you separate from this so you can guide me on where to go get starter. Like if you know a good place here in Nashville and get going because I, I'm super excited about that. Awesome. So when did you become interested in homesteading and doing these activities? Like what led to that? Or have you always been like that? I have definitely been into like herbs and essential oils and things since I became a mom kind of veered more holistic in terms of, you know, taking, taking care of our bodies before we get sick so that when we get sick it's, you know, hopefully knock on wood not as big of a ordeal. So about six, six years or so I've been interested in it. And then the homesteading piece just kind of wanting more independence from, and less dependence on like everything being from the grocery store and even something like silly like bread that I buy for my kids. It's like even the good bread still has like this preservative or whatever in it and it's like I could make it and it would be delicious and smell really good throughout the house. Well I agree because I don't eat bread unless I know it's freshly made and like, you know, that it's quality. And so I'm like, you know, for years I didn't care that much. Like if I was in Europe I would eat bread because I knew it was good quality or if I was somewhere, we're getting better in the United States about these things but for a long time it wasn't so great. But lately I've just been like I just want some bread and I love sourdough. So I was like, okay I have to dive into this and make it. So yeah, we could talk a whole hours about herbs and essential oils and holistic. So I quit taking any type, I know this is going to be very controversial, but any type of medicine, October 2021, I didn't really take much leading up to that. But I think I would still take an allergy pill or a tylenol occasionally and like I even cut that out. And here's the crazy thing, I never get sick anymore. Not going wood. Because people are like, how do you do that? And I'm like, you quit taking this stuff and you don't get sick anymore. Like it's kind of funny how this works. Yep, it is funny how that works. It's not a coincidence though. Yeah. So are you gardening to make your own essential oils and do you do a lot of herbs? Because that's a lot of what I'm, I mean, I just have a rooftop because I have a townhouse. So I bought those little, you know, hang on the wall things. So I'm starting with like lavender, lemongrass. And then I do want to do the microgreens. But I'm curious, what are you growing in your garden? I'm growing sage and basil. I tried to do dill, but this summer just completely fried it. I have a little book from Highgarden, which is a Nashville based like herbalist and tea forager, I guess. But she has a wonderful Instagram. She's so informative just on like, hey, you might have this flower growing in your yard. And I actually learned from her that we have honeysuckle and honeysuckle is supposed to be have a lot of like anti-inflammatory antiviral properties. So I'm looking at it right now at my window, this big honeysuckle bush, I guess. And I went out in the springtime and harvested all the flowers and dehydrated them. And I have them in this little jar in case someone's feeling, you know, like they've got sniffles. And so I can make some tea out of it. Oh, I love that. I totally love that. It's so funny. Even before I went like very holistic about things, I mean, I've kind of always feared healthy like throughout my life. Like when I was a kid, my mom would be like, here's my healthy one because I remember she would be on Weight Watchers or something and I would go eat all her healthy food. And she was like, what are you doing? I'm like, it tastes good. I don't know. So I've always kind of geared this way. But forever, I've wanted to go herbs and make my own soaps and stuff. And I've just never, never gotten to that place. So I know I love this concept. I do seek out like very non toxic things to, to use. I'm gonna have to look up this high garden. I'm sure, by the way, if you're listening and you have a great herbalist that you depend on, drop it in the notes and let us know. I went out to Lynn Meadows herb farm in East Tennessee. Have you been there? No, she does a lot of events and she actually invited me to come there and speak about healing, but she sells a ton of products. And anyway, it's really cool. She has like a whole property and like tons of herbs. It's really, it's really amazing. I think I just googled like herb farms and I drove out there. Like I stayed in Knoxville one Friday night and then I went to the farm the next day. And unfortunately, it was the fall. So there wasn't so much available, like into the fall. But yeah, it's really cool. So if you're listening, encourage you to share in your area. What are your favorite farmers markets? What are your favorite sources of healthy goods? Awesome. All right, Maria. So let's talk. So you're a lawyer. You're a homesteader. I'm not gonna use amateur. And then you're also now actually working to bring the first spiritual entrepreneur conference, right? So tell us about Soulward Summit. Yes. So Soulward Summit was kind of born out of this need because I spoke at a conference last year, actually kind of in that DIY space. And I was like, this is amazing. There are all kinds of different panels and workshops and seminars that are business focused. And I wonder if there's this kind of thing out there for coaches and healers and energy workers and whatever. There's got to be something. So I was looking to pitch myself and couldn't find anything. There were the big like Tony Robbins, you know, events, which I love Tony Robbins, but that's not what I was looking for. There are also, you know, masterminds and kind of silos and niche groups and retreats, but I could not find a conference like this thing that I had just been to. And so just happenstance, I had run into my friend Katie after maybe six years of we hadn't been, we were kind of acquaintances. We kind of ran in similar circles and creative mornings and Nashville and things like that. And then we ran back into each other at a creative soul sisterhood meeting and we're like, hey, let's grab coffee. You know, it's been so long. And so we grabbed coffee and I kind of slipped in there that I was thinking about this conference and she's like, if you need any help or you want to explore that idea, like I'm all ears and fast forward to now we're business partners. I've never had a business partner before, but she's incredible. I think we work really well together and we kind of made this idea come to life. So it's it's taking place in September 2024 here in Nashville. I love it. I love it. And if you're interested to find out more, you can check out the show notes and grab the link and check it out. I love it. I will be there. So I'll see you there if you join us. That'll be exciting. Awesome. So Maria, tell us a little bit about your practice because we haven't gone. Well, I want to go back to one thing you said. I forgot to say this. You said when you were in the DIY space that they didn't have the budget for your services. And I think that's so important. And so many new entrepreneurs and purpose driven entrepreneurs overlook that, right? Like you can pick a niche that you love, but at the end of the day, if they don't have money to pay you, which is an exchange of energy for your services, then you're basically running a charity or a hobby. So I think that was such an important point you made that a lot of times, you know, I was going through this worksheet recently about like, you know, defining your niche. And I was sharing with my clients. And one of it was like, do they have the means to pay you? Like that was one question. It's from a female entrepreneur. And I think it's jumped over so often. And and sometimes you don't know till you get into it. And that's okay. If you're in the first year of business or you're making a pivot, it is going to take a while to get to your niche. So I love that you share that journey because, you know, there's so much out there on social media, YouTube, like have one market, one message, one media, like to a million dollars, which I will tell you that's how I built my first business. But like, sometimes you don't know, I had the luck of like, my dad was already doing it successfully. So I duplicated what he was doing, right? If I was trying to find out myself, I don't think that I would have like so quickly stumbled upon it. So if you don't have, you know, first of all, if you like the way someone's doing something or you see it successful, there's nothing wrong with just doing it that way and then figuring it out from there so you can start making money. But like, I feel it's almost impossible to say I'm starting a business. Here's how I'm serving. Here's how I'm serving them. Here's exactly what I'm going to do because you just don't know, unless you've done extensive market research, which you're not making money while you do that, like you kind of your market research are those first clients. Like you said, you kind of take everyone and then you start saying, Oh, I really prefer to work with these people or I prefer to work in this way. So I kind of wanted to circle back and just point out the importance of it because I think so much emphasis is placed on niche today. And rightfully so because it's important. But if you're a new entrepreneur, you're pivoting, you're not going to know it out the gate. Like it's just it's very rare that you know it out the gate. Would you agree with that, Maria, and what you see with your friends and clients you work with? Absolutely. I completely agree with everything you just said. And I I read a book recently, like in the last six months or so by Alex Hormosy, who's definitely a more masculine energy, but it was really brilliant. And I think the book was called Million Dollar Offers. The hundred million dollar offers. So I just used and I listened to one on the way there and one on the way back. Yes, there's really good stuff in there. And he talks about niche and like, can your niche pay? Or is it a growing niche? Like, is it something that you're looking at a market and you're like, wow, people who have dogs? It's growing or maybe it's not growing. You know, I just pulled that out of nowhere. But you know, looking at something and saying like, is this a market that's growing? Because of course, if it's growing, then there's more money in that industry and all of that. Well, and people don't think about it. And the specific example, because I literally just listened to this, that he uses is he had a friend that started a company and they were killing it, but they were servicing newspapers. And as newspapers started declining, it didn't matter how brilliant their service was, their company, how good they were doing. Like, the company just was failing. And he basically told his buddy, like, you got to find someone else to serve. Like, this is a disappearing niche. And so, you know, that's kind of extreme. But I mean, we see it all the time. Like, industries get disrupted and they disappear. And I don't think we think about is this growing. So I love that. Thanks for bringing that point up. So share with us a little bit about what you do at the legal apothecary, because I love, I know you do more than this, but I know one way that you serve a lot of your clients is making sure they're doing the right thing online. And that's like, such a whole new thing that so many people are just throwing up their own websites. You know, I mean, I don't mean to say that some people do that very well for themselves. But, you know, creating their own websites, now they're creating their own funnels. They're creating their own Facebook ads. And, and you know, this could be kind of a legal mess. So share with us maybe some of the top mistakes you've seen, and then some top tips for what they should, what our audience should look for. Yeah, so and so much of this is you just don't know what you don't know. And I feel like part of my role is that educational piece, which is what you see on Instagram. It's like all these little things that my clients are like, Oh, I had no idea that I needed to do this. So one thing is, if you are selling on your website, and this is more like the add to cart kind of thing, whether you have a digital product or a physical product, is having a refund policy. And that should be clear and accessible to your buyer before they buy. So that's something that people are often surprised to learn about. And it can either be through your terms of use, and they check a box to say that they read their terms of use, even though we know that they didn't. Or it can be just posting your refund policy in your cart page. That's in a very conspicuous space. The other other mistakes I see, I mean, sometimes on it when it comes to marketing, especially now, especially with chat GPT, and all of the ways that you can use it. One thing that people are really surprised to learn is that if you create something using AI, that that is not copyright protectable. And what that means is, yes, you can use it, you can have it on your website, you can use it in your marketing, do whatever you want with it. But so can anybody else. Someone can copy that AI created content and use it. And there's no consequence because it's not copyright protectable. So that has been a big kind of shock to the online world, because everyone's excited about AI and chat GPT. And then it's like, oh, especially now that Facebook is asking you to indicate if something was made with AI when you post it, which is kind of an honor system thing. But that's what it is right now. You know, anyone can copy it and use it for their own business or for their own benefit. So that's definitely something that people are surprised to learn about. Well, it makes sense, though, because AI is just a collection of other people's work. So how can you claim it's your original work if you did it through AI? But again, I don't think most people even realize that. I've done some deep dives into AI, because yeah, I have some issues with AI. So we won't go there today. That's a whole rabbit. That sounds like a good one. Awesome. Well, Maria, I know I told you we'd get tended a certain time to honor your mom role. But real quickly, if you have a little bit of time, first of all, share with us real quickly about your online library, because I think you've just created a brilliant product to help potential clients who maybe can't afford your hourly rate or don't have the time to deal, you know, spend time with a lawyer. So can you tell us a little bit about that? Yeah, absolutely. So I have created a legal apothecary library, which is a collection of contract templates. But instead of being a word document that you download, it's actually a dynamic set of tools. So we'll use terms of use in privacy policy as an example, since we were just talking about websites. And it'll take you through kind of a questionnaire. So what's the name of your business, all that, all that jazz, but then are you selling products on your website? Yes or no? Are they digital products or physical products? And depending on your answers, the document you get at the end knows, which I wrote, it wasn't written by AI, but I tagged the document so that if you answer this way, then this clause shows up. If you answer this way, then this clause shows up. And so it's customized to the way each of these contracts is customized to the way that you do business. Instead of you downloading a word document and deleting stuff and highlighting stuff and filling stuff in yourself, it's it's customized to your business and the way that you operate. Yeah, I love it. I think it's genius. So again, if you want to find out more about that, check out the show notes. The link is there for you. And again, if you subscribe to the Vixen voice, it will show up in your inbox really easy for you. So Maria, let's wrap up with some fun chat. You know, I love talking about feminine energy and you do a lot of feminine activities and I don't just mean homesteading and being a mom, but like, you know, a lot the way you work, the way you interact with people, like you're very much in your feminine essence often. When do you feel your feminine energy is really flowing? Like what are you doing or maybe not doing? I think that I feel like my feminine energy is flowing when I am cooking. I also feel like it's flowing when I am creating content when I'm and this actually has to do with my human design. I'm a one three profile, but I love researching and like uncovering part of the content that I create is like terms of use that you didn't read. So if you didn't read Canva's terms of use, like I read it and I kind of uncovered all the little hidden things. I love doing that and I feel so like in the flow with, I don't know if it's femininity or just me, my authentic self when I'm researching and kind of distilling information. That's so funny. That's why you love law school. So I need to look at that because I know in my Colby, I'm a three on fact finder and three on due diligence. So I'm like, what the heck was I thinking being a litigator? Like that is so against what I'm designed to do. Like it's mind boggling to me. So my last question is what color would your feminine energy be or what color is it? Magenta. I love it. That's mine too. I love it so much. Awesome. Well, as we part for everyone listening, you know that I always like to encourage you. My message is the world needs more love. So how can you show up more in love with those around you more in love with yourself and more love with strangers on the street? So I'd love to challenge you to go out there and show everyone more love and make it part of your daily routine and daily practice. Maria, what would your parting message be to our listeners? Okay, I'm just going to say what came to my mind because that's the answer. I think showing more love in this world right now, especially in this climate is remembering how to disagree with someone. You can disagree with someone in a way that is loving and respectful and is not, you know, what everyone else is doing in the comments of whatever article or post that is that is what came to mind when you're talking about showing more love. Yeah, no, I love that. And it's so important to remember. Thank you so much for sharing that. See, you have a totally open throat chakra. You do have a strong I love it. Well, Maria, it's been so fun. I can't wait to see you soon. And for everyone listening, thanks for joining us. And I'll talk to you soon. Thanks April. Thanks again for listening to the podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to hit subscribe so future episodes are automatically downloaded directly to your device. And if you want access to today's show notes, including links to all the resources we mentioned, visit vixingathering.com/podcast. Thanks again for listening. And I'll catch you next week for another episode of The Vixen Boys. [Music]
