(upbeat music) - You juggling the challenges of running a business while raising your little ones. Do you crave more ease in balancing your professional ambitions with the demands of parenthood? Well, sit tight, you're in the right place. I'm your host, Alison Caffrey, and I understand the growing pains that come with building a business while nurturing a growing household. Think of this as a soft spot to land when you feel like your ambitions are starting to become just a little overwhelming. Welcome to growing pains. - Hey, and welcome back to the growing pains podcast. I'm your host, Alison Caffrey, and today I sit down with friend and colleague, Laura Sinclair. I loved my conversation with Laura. She is such a wonderful, wonderful soul. I have a feeling that when you jump into the episode, you're gonna be so encouraged and honestly just laughing about all of the fun and exciting insights that she shares. So Laura is a business marketing mentor. She works almost exclusively with moms who run their own companies. And she believes that you and your business deserve to be seen. She has over a decade of experience in building digital marketing strategies for some of the world's biggest brands. And Laura has dedicated her life's work to teaching women how to grow their business and take big leaps into their entrepreneurial dreams through her podcast courses and events. I was actually recently on Laura's podcast, this mother means business. And let me tell you guys, this mother means business. I cannot wait for you guys to hear the conversation that we have all about being a beginner and sometimes being in a position to really refresh your business and look at it, prune back so that you can grow into the next stratosphere. So please enjoy this wonderful installment of the growing pains podcast and I will see you inside. Laura, welcome to growing pains. I am so excited to have you here. We had an epic conversation over on your show, this mother means business. And honestly, I am so, so pumped to have you here. So welcome. - Thanks for having me. - We just like totally got into it too before I press record. It's funny, every time we do these, every time we do these shows and like if we have any sort of like relationship prior, like you and I have been shooting the breeze back and forth for quite a while now and I think we've developed an early stage friendship, right? And so we just got into it. - Yeah. - Here's life, here's business, here's stuff. And I always think about pressing record beforehand, but for the folks who don't know you, who haven't followed along with what you're doing, which we will drop all the goodies from them before we end this conversation. But tell everybody listening a little bit about your business and a little bit about your family out. - Yeah, I love the early stage friendship. I'll take it, Ellie, it's beautiful. No, it's funny, like as an entrepreneur and mom, like we're so busy and then I think when you have an opportunity to actually sit down and catch up, which is rare because there are so many things, you know, like how does one maintain friendships with all of the people that they want to, right? In the season of life. And so yes, I was very excited just to reconnect, but for those that are listening that have never met me, my name is Laura Sinclair. I am Canadian, so if you are wondering, if you hear an accent, it sounds weird to you. I don't hear it, but it's Canada. But I am a mom of two and I am a business marketing mentor for early stage female entrepreneurs. I do focus a lot of my work on moms. So I have a podcast that you mentioned called this mother means business. I also have a community called this mother means business, but really trying to focus on helping women entrepreneurs get their business seen through this lens of how do we do all the things that we're supposed to be doing while also showing up for our kids the way that feels good for us. - Hmm, you know, marketing, I think and say it, like marketing and sales with the holy growth side of the business. I think it scares a lot of women, at least in my experience. And I remember early stage when I was starting out, it scared me a lot too. So how do we start to really find to like where we need to be? Because, you know, every marketer says something different, right, they're like, oh, you have to be on Pinterest, you have to be on LinkedIn or you have to be here. You have to do short form, know you have to do long form and it can be really confusing. And honestly, frankly, challenging, like you just feel like you're never doing enough. So what do we do when we feel like we have to be everywhere, but we don't know where to go? - Yeah, I love this question. It was actually just a conversation I was having with someone else before we started. We have this feeling that, yes, I have to be everywhere. I have to do, that's what they said, that the guru's the said I was on Instagram and they said I needed to do YouTube shorts and Instagram and TikTok and Pinterest. And so I'm gonna do that. And I'm just gonna throw it all out there. And my feedback is, no, we're not gonna do that. We're gonna do the things that are actually going to move the needle in our resist. And so question one becomes, okay, where is your client, where are they hanging out right now? Like where are they spending time? Whether that's online or in real life or on consuming media, like whatever it is, where are they? And then we're gonna go there and it could be a platform, but it also might be through a person. So who is the person that or the people or the brand that holds the keys to that particular community and how can we integrate your business that way? And so I think sometimes we just think, oh, I'm gonna start a social media account. I'm gonna go on Instagram. But my question would be like, is that actually the thing that's going to make you get the clients that you need or make the sales that you need the fastest maybe, but also maybe not? And I know that's maybe not the most like to the point, do this advice, but it's really aligning yourself with somebody who can help you figure out what that is, right? Where are your people, where are they hanging out? Then how can you meet them there or partner with somebody who holds the keys to them? - Honestly, that's really elegant and biased, Laura. And I wish like I knew that a little bit earlier on. When I first started, I was only posting and or doing content in places that I frequented. And that wasn't necessarily where my clients were, right? That wasn't where the people that I needed to reach were hanging out. And so if I spend most of my time on Instagram, but all of my people are on LinkedIn, then I have a fundamental disconnect, right? From the people that I could be serving. - Absolutely. And I see it a lot. You know, people say, well, I'm gonna be on Instagram because that's what, you know, this other coach or this person that I saw says, I have to be on Instagram and there's so much opportunity there. Okay, yeah, I mean, there is, but if the person you're trying to reach isn't on there, like you are literally screaming into the abyss and hoping that someone's gonna hear you and they're probably not going to, at least not at the right that you need to build a business that's actually sustainable. - And maybe someone will hear you, but it's like your aunt who comments on all your stuff. It's not the actual people that you can help. - Yeah, but you mentioned fear, right? You talked about like that fear that happens with early stage two, right? Where you're like, you wanna do all the things, but then there's also like, you're telling me I have to show up somewhere? You're telling me that I have to like put my face out there. And like, yeah, you do. And so one of the things that I work with people on is, yes, the strategy piece and like where, this is where we're gonna go and this is how we're gonna be there. And all that. But one of the things I've learned is it's so much easier for me to say to someone, okay, Ali, we're gonna do exercise at things. Whole other ballgame for a person to actually do it, right? Because there are all these layers of fear, accountability, the reasons that we come up with, the excuses we come up with, why we can't or we shouldn't. And usually it just comes down and I'm afraid. And so one of the pieces that I find myself working with, more than I ever expected that I would, is this fear piece, like how do we move through the fear of judgment or the fear of looking silly? But the reality is when you are starting a business for the first time or your early stage, you're trying to break through, you're probably gonna look silly for a little bit and that's okay, right? And just accepting that, hey, that's part of it, showing up as part of it, wherever it is that you're supposed to be marketing your business, like doing the thing. Yeah, it might look a little silly to some people, but that's okay 'cause eventually they're gonna be looking back wondering like, man, I wish I had the guts to do what she did earlier. So it's definitely an interesting place to be, right? You're trying to figure out what to do, but also working through this sense of dread for some people, truly, around actually showing up and doing it. It's so tough. There was a friend of mine years ago who told me they were like, you know, don't be on video if you don't wanna be on video, like write and figure out how you can meet people with written word, right? Or if you're really excellent on video and you're horrible with written word, you know, try to do some of that stuff. I think that a lot of folks, especially with fear, are resistant to showing up in places where they just feel uncomfortable, right? If they're not comfortable on video and they want something super scripted and super edited and hyper lit, then maybe they're in a position where a video might not be their thing, right? It might not be the thing that is easiest for them to access in terms of getting results. So do you help folks kind of identify that too? 'Cause I feel like that's a huge piece. - Yeah, you have to be open. You have to know yourself, right? Like if you are, and I'm gonna say this is so much fun, but if you are trash on video, then yeah, maybe we need to find, this is either maybe we need to find something else or we just need to practice because a lot of these are just skills. These are skills. People say, oh, you know, Laura, it's so easy for you. No, it's not. If you were to watch me on social media now, you would think it was easy. If you were to go back and I'm happy, I need to pull the videos at some point. That is absolutely terrible. And so there's two sides of it. Like, yes, you know, you need to lean into your strengths, of course, but also like be willing to be a student, be willing to get better. I mean, when I launched my podcast, this one other means business, I accepted that the first five episodes I was gonna look back on in two years and be like, wow, those are terrible, but great job, Laura, for trying. Like, I am so glad that you tried. And so I think that's just a piece of it, right? And like, we aren't gonna be good at every single thing and definitely want to lean into at first where you're most comfortable. But we're talking on social media, digital media. It's pretty hard to avoid making videos these days, you know? I really love threads as a platform right now because I don't have to make a picture or a video and that works really nicely. And I can just, you know, say what I think and post it. And that's been a really interesting platform that I've been playing on in my business and starting to get some traction on as far as clients and leads and things like that. But yeah, I think you really do need to lean into your strengths and at the same time be willing to be a student and be willing to be a rookie or be bad at something and know that you'll get better with time. - Yeah, you know, I think we forget that, right? It's that, you know, montage is where like, Rocky is required to go through all the workouts, right? He's required to fall down. He's required to look silly. And so I think we forget that, especially when we learn from somebody online, right? They've got it polished. They built a whole business on teaching somebody how to do this. And then what we do is of course, right? We compare. And so looking at those kind of first five episodes, I love that story that you shared Laura because it's required, right? If you want to build a big podcast and you want to have authentic conversations and be able to position value to your listeners, you have to just get started and some of those might look a little messy. - Yeah. Yeah, I think that if you go in anything, thinking that you are going to be perfect at it, your ego is going to be so sore (laughs) because that's just not how it works. You know, one of the things I like to tell people when they're facing that fear is like, the person that you look up to in your industry right now was where you are today at some stage, like they absolutely were. And none of them knew what they were doing. I mean, I've had the pleasure to be in rooms and listen to a lot of really incredible people. And I'm like, they would all tell you that. Like they never, nobody goes into it knowing exactly what to do and how to do it. They're just kind of figuring it out as they go. (upbeat music) - Hey, Ally here. I wanted to quickly jump in and ask if you would share this episode with a mom and that she means to hear what we're talking about today. When I started growing pains, I really felt so alone in business ownership and motherhood. Our employed counterparts really just don't understand a lot of my friends and family, although well-meaning, they really didn't understand exactly what I was going through, being at the helm of my business and actually having little ones at home to try to balance both sides of the coin. Now, if you know a mom who needs to hear this topic, I would be so delighted if you share. We don't run any advertising to the show and we really get a lot of incredible momentum and listeners from our guests and our community who is willing to share about the episode. So please, please pay it forward to another mom who may be feeling that loneliness and isolation. It is the whole reason why this show exists. Now, back to the interview. (upbeat music) - Yeah. It's so true. And honestly, any scroll through the Neo or YouTube channel will humble any person, like I remember my horribly dimly lit initial videos and there's lots of different haircuts, lots of different face shapes because I was like pregnant with my sons and then not pregnant again. So like my face blew up and then it went back down and it was a whole thing. But I wanna talk about like being a beginner because I think honestly, I mean, I know that you've had quite a year. So I think talking through some of the things that you personally were working through on being a beginner because this is your jam, right? Like you support with marketing, you know, lead gen like the back of your hand. I see your content, you're absolutely pro at what you do. And this year you kind of had to be a beginner again. So I would love to, you know, encourage folks and feel a bit more about that. - Yeah, it's something that I'm like working through figuring out how to talk about. So I appreciate the invitation. I, so January, February of this year, like things were cruising, you know? Like everything was just clicking in my business. Things were going great. I was, you know, setting myself up for what was to be a really strong 2024. And then in March, the universe had hold my beer and I fell off a horse and broke my leg. And there I was lying in the middle of the road with a broken leg, ambulance, all the things. I broke my right leg, both bones in my lower right leg. So I really, if we're gonna do something and we're gonna like, we're gonna do it full on. And I remember lying there, you know, waiting for the pragmatic, as he's, you know, giving me my morphine, he says, do you want Advil or morphine? It's like, does anyone choose the Advil? Like, why would anyone choose the Advil? - Yes. - I want the morphine very clearly. And he says to me, I bet you're lying there thinking about how you're not gonna be able to drive for the next three months. And I was like, no, my brain hasn't gone there. I haven't, my not there, but thank you for pointing out that I have broken my right leg. So I can't drive. And I have two small children. And a firefighter for a husband, he cannot work from home. That's not an option. And so all of a sudden I went from, you know, having this very, what felt like a very cushy start to cue on. And then I broke my leg. And, you know, I'm in the hospital and the doctor says to me, do you wanna note, can I get your note for work? And I said, well, you can write it, but I'm just be giving it to myself. So no, I don't need that. Thank you, let me see. - I want you to write it and shove it down my throat. Like, let me save you the time. And, you know, if anyone's ever broken a bone, I haven't broken a bone since kindergarten. It wasn't something that I had planned for myself by any stretch, but it is exhausting. I was shocked at how just like physically exhausting it was. Like all I did for the first, I think two weeks of sleep and shout out to my clients who, you know, I'm sending text messages or box or messages or emails and being like, hey, so I broke my leg and I'm gonna need some time. And they were all, you know, everybody was so gracious and awesome about it. And like, of course, let's just reschedule. Do you wanna talk next month? Like what do you need? But once something like that happens for me, I very much could only focus on the things that were in front of me. And it was like, okay, these are my immediate concerns. My children, how am I getting them to daycare? It's cool 'cause I can't drive. How am I caring for them? Because I can't walk. I'm in a giant purple fiberglass cast. I'm on crutches. I can barely care for myself and my husband's gone for 24 hours at a time. No option to work from home. So you just go into survival mode, right? It's like, okay, I gotta find a nanny. I gotta find a nanny within 24 hours to figure this out. I have to deal with childcare. I gotta organize, you know, carpools with people I've never asked for help before from. I have to figure out how I'm given the hospital. Like it was just all of these things, right? And then from a business perspective, I've got the clients that I have in front of me that I have to serve, right? The amazing people that I have to serve. And I hadn't, I just kind of put a stop to the things that I do on a regular basis, right? I'm not doing lead generation. I'm not actively going to events. I'm not, you know, prospecting. I'm not doing any more than what it is that I have to do right now. And so, you know, March 3 is in April. April, I start to feel like I can a little more human. May, my cast finally comes off. I can't still can't walk. You know, I have to learn how to walk again. So you're gonna talk about being a beginner. I'm a person that owned a cross pigeon for five years. And I have to relearn how to walk. I mean, my cast comes off and I've got this, I joked about it on my social media. It's like a really tiny, really hairy little leg, you know? Like this, like everything's just, it's crazy how like everything just after fees. So I'm looking at this like tiny little useless leg and I have to figure it, okay, now I gotta walk. So the cast comes off and you think, all right, you know, great, it's over. No, it's not. It's very much just beginning, right? You still have to learn to walk, you know, you can't. And even that, I think it probably took me, cast came off maybe like 12 days later before I even took my first unassisted step. Actually, it was the first time I ran 200 meters today for the first time, that was my first time running. And it's, thank you, it's a big win. So I'm learning how to be, I'm a beginner in as it relates to my fitness, right, my athleticism, but also my business because by June, I was looking around and a lot of the clients that I was able to serve, you know, we closed our contracts or some of them, you know, stayed on. But my business, I'm a mentor and my business relies on my ability to have new people come into my business. And typically, every summer, I launched my mastermind. So I have a mastermind that runs twice a year. It's called the Emission Mastermind. It is for entrepreneurial moms. And I had my mastermind women that were there in March and then come June, I have to start thinking about this next round of my mastermind. Well, I had done no prospecting for the last six months. I don't think I even talked about my mastermind. I was just running the mastermind. And so I'm looking around me like, oh, I cannot launch this. Like, I have nobody that's even going to want to come in it. There might be some women that are in this round that will do it again. But I just wasn't feeling like I was in a place where I could do that. I wasn't getting leads, new planning queries. Like nothing, nothing. Because I just wasn't doing the stuff that I was doing. And so that I teach. And so I really was putting myself back into the shoes of being a beginner, even in my business. And so I think it was just has been this really interesting challenge. And now I can say, you know, that was June. Now that it's August, I think this week, honestly, it's probably the first week. I'd be like, OK, we are back to normal. The things are working. We're getting the leads. We're getting the inquiries, new people starting on in the fall and things like that. But it wasn't all felt a little hairy there for literally-- I was going to say literally, Harry. Like, and Harry in terms of the future of what the heck was going to happen to my business. And I felt a lot of those things. Those are early stage entrepreneur things. Fear, uncertainty, am I cut out for this? Am I even good at this? All these periods of doubt start to come up, because I teach this. And I know fundamentally, right? Most marketing and lead generation activities are on a 90-day cycle, right? So what you're doing today, what's happening today, is like, OK, what were you doing to three months ago? Because that's usually what we start to see, right? And so I had to have that conversation with myself in June. I was like, OK, what was I doing three months ago? I was like, right, I was lying on a road in Oromadante, Ontario. I had just fallen up a horse with a broken leg. Like, that's what you were doing 90 days ago. So I've had to give myself a lot of grace and also really practice what I preach. Is there anything, Laura, that you changed about your business? It feels a little bit like with this beginner, right? Like, you can kind of have the option or opportunity to kind of rebirth a couple of things or shift the way that you did stuff. Was there any opportunity like that that you saw? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. So one of the things that I did, and I've never done before, is I actually removed some women from my mastermind. Because when you think you're tired, right? Like, I think I'm tired, I'm a mom, you know? I'm tired. But when you go through something like that, like you and you are just physically exhausted and you're starting to look at, like really where you want to put your energy. And so for me, I think what's really changed is the type of person that I really want to work with, the type of client, right? I'm not just because you say that you want to work together. Doesn't mean that it's going to be a yes for me, right? And so really starting to look at where do I want to put my energy actually, right? And, you know, yes, that's, for me, it's largely about needing there to be, like, some reciprocity in our relationship as service provider and client. And by that, I mean, like, yes, there's a money, a financial exchange that happens, and that's required in business. But also, I don't want your money if you're not going to do the work, right? If you're not going to show up and do the thing that you said that you wanted to do that I am here to help you with, if you're going to continue to push back, not be open, find all the reasons in the world why something isn't going to work before even trying it, that's not going to work for me. And so going into this round of my mastermind, I think I said no to more people than I said, yes, right? And with love, of course, not in like a, no, you're not welcome here, please. But anyone that felt like they weren't sure, you said, "Come back to me when you're sure." Yeah, we'll do this again in the new year. But I don't want you to come in if you're not sure. I need you to be sure. Because I don't want to spend the next three months trying to convince you that you're sure, that you're ready to do it. And then you're going to feel like you didn't get what you wanted out of this, or what I promised, or what I said you were going to experience, and then that's not good for me. And so for me, it's really just this look at energetically, like what do I need in return from my clients? And then so that I can give them 100% of myself, so that if I ever break my leg again, which knock on one, it will never happen. I will glue myself to my horse and all. You know, I'm just not going to be in that position. So I think for me, it was just this like real assessment of where I'm putting my energy and why. - Probably a lot of people listening, and I know I've struggled with this in early stages of growing my business, that are probably wondering like, how do I start to say no, right? Like money's green, we need to make it work, we need to be growing to afford all the stuff and reinvest back into the business. But honestly, there's basically two things that happen. First, you get to a financial point where you can say no. And then you, the second thing I think, which is the more challenging thing, is you get to a mental point where you can say no, right? Because it's really, really hard to do that. And I've actually seen so much incredible growth and excitement behind the doors, excuse me. How do I phrase this? Like when I'm closed doors, it's like commitment, right? I think Alex Harmosi says, like it's something super, he says it all the time. He's like, I think commitment is the elimination of all other options. And I'm like, yeah, that's what that is. It's so elegant. And I'm like, yeah, that makes a ton of sense. 'Cause then you say no to more things natively, right? Then you say yes to. And I think as moms and as entrepreneurs, we're somehow, we're just like hardwired to yes. Everybody, we're like, oh, totally, I can do that for you. Oh, totally, I can do that for you. And it just becomes this like default setting. And especially for service providing moms, I find this to be true is we're always like, going above and beyond and saying yes to things and working with people to support them that we might know in the back of our minds that aren't actually a fit to work with us. So how like, I don't know, how did you start doing that? Did you like make a list of the characteristics or how did you know when it was time? - No, I did not make a list of the characteristics. For me, it's always a feeling. Like I'm a person that, you know, while I live in the heavy strategy world, I can feel people's energy pretty, pretty easily. And it does affect me. I can wear another person's energy pretty easily and like feel their emotions pretty easily. And so for me, if somebody is a no for me, I can like quite literally feel it in my body. And I think a lot of us actually can do that. We just ignore it, right? We just ignore the fact that we would like, I'm feeling anxious, I'm feeling stressed out. I don't want to talk to this person. I'm dreading this call, right? Like any of those sorts of feelings, it's like a tightness in my chest or like a hollowness in my belly, right? Where you're just like, oh God, here we go. And so for me, it's learning to listen to that, right? Like if I'm not excited to get on a call with the client, for me, that's a problem because of the work that I do, right? Like the work that I do is so, it's so enmeshed with who that person is, right? Like I'm really helping them guess in the strategy, but also like stepping up and actually doing the thing, right? And if you're not, if I'm getting on a call and I'm like, oh God, here we go. That's bad for everybody, right? And so getting into that and knowing that, you know, for me, you're talking about the space that kind of opens up, that's always been the case for myself and any of the clients that I've helped, you know, eliminate a client that creates that because you kind of learn, yes, money is green, but there's really no money in the world that's worth your piece, right? And you start to resent your business, like that's bad for everybody, even the clients that you do love. And so I think like just knowing as who is this sounds, like knowing that when you do end a relationship with a client that isn't serving you, it actually just releases your energy to go find one that will. And that's been the case with everybody that I've worked with and myself as well. You know, it's just opening up space for the energy, right? Like the amount of energy that you put into something that you don't enjoy, right? The amount of dread, the amount of like truth, like the fuel that you use in your body to get through a conversation you don't want to be in or a call you don't want to be in or write the email, like just repurpose that energy, like 10% of that to something positive. And that's, it's always found its way back. - It has longevity, right? When you enjoy it, like 10% of bad energy could easily be extrapolated into 50, 60%, right? Like longevity wise, for good energy. And I find that with our clients too, it's interesting. I was just on a call with the prospect earlier today and she was like, what makes an ideal client for you? And I was like, I'm glad you asked because I was just about to go into that. And it's really, really helpful. I think when you set the stage, even if you've decided that you are going to take on a client that maybe you haven't quite been able to listen to your intuition yet or like you're like, we got to pay these bills or we got to meet this thing, there are reasons to take on clients and/or projects that you're not like excited about, right? And I know that that feels probably to some listening who might be earlier stage. Like, this is a luxury, you can't say no to people sometimes but you can't always say no. And the interesting thing I think is even just teeing up the relationship in a really succinct and intentional way and just being like, listen, I am your partner in this and that does not mean that you don't have to lift a finger in order to get the result that you want. And so here's what this looks like. And I really wanna partner with people who really do view this as a partnership, right? Really do view this as me helping you up the mountain but I'm not gonna drag you up because then you're gonna get cut and I'm gonna get tired and then I'm not gonna be able to make it up, right? Like it's just not gonna be a thing. So I even think just teeing up the relationship that way and doing so in an enrollment or prospecting type of conversation and letting them know ahead of time because then if they like get behind the doors of your offer and then all of a sudden you're like, hey, just so you know, you're gonna be climbing this mountain, they're gonna be like, whoa, this is my thought. - Yeah, I think it's our job as salespeople business owners to look at that. And I will say, you know, when I talk about removing those women who I mastermind I 100% looked at myself. You know, okay, what was it that I did that attracted that person to me? What was it that I didn't say or should have said, right? Like I take full accountability for my side of that too because I think as service providers people are hiring you, right? And if you're marketing yourself, like there's something that you put out there whether it was an energy or if it was something that you said. And so I absolutely looked at my own role in that. And I think we all should, right? If we're bringing clients that aren't aligned for us for whatever reason, there is some of it is on us, right? It's not all entirely on this person. Like we play a role there too. And it could be exactly what you said. You didn't set it up properly. You didn't make it clear to them what the expectation would be. You weren't solid in your boundaries, right? You've allowed that client to walk all over. You didn't set the stage for how it was going to go. And so yeah, for me, it was more of a marketing piece. Like, okay, what did I do in my marketing that made this person feel that this was the thing or what happened in the sales process? What was missed? And so I've looked at that and learned from that. And then in this version of my mastermind was just in this version of my launch was just so clear on like, please don't come in if you're not ready. And this is what ready means, right? And so it's been a different experience, but it's been good. It's great. And I'm thrilled with the people that are in right now and the quality of the clients that are coming into my world. But sometimes it just takes time to figure out. But you're right in that there is a luxury side of it, right? To be able to say, oh, I'm replacing your business, right? You're gonna turn clients down or not. And I think, yeah, I love what you said. If you were to bring on a client, that maybe doesn't feel like, I can't wait to do this work. You really just need to make sure you protect yourself, right? How are you protecting yourself? What are you putting in place to make sure that they don't have access to 20% or what kind of access do they have to you, making sure that we're clear on that and that you're really holding strong on those boundaries? - Yeah, it's all about the boundaries for sure, especially in services. And not for nothing, boundaries too in a container like a mastermind are so, so important because it really is a personalities game more than it is a tactics or strategies. And in some cases, for sure, some strategies. But the masterminds I've been a part of, the ones that are really not gonna have the park and incredible, all have people there who are excited to be there, committed to being there and ready to serve the other members. And so not only are they cool with doing the work, but they also almost have this overflow into serving others. And so the container needs to be really tight and really protected, at least. I've never personally run a mastermind because honestly, I'm a little afraid to do this. But the ones I've been a part of, that I've been really incredible, all of the hosts, they really preach that. They're like, we're super intentional with who we select. We gotta make sure it's personality fit. We gotta make sure it's skill fit. We gotta make sure it's all these things. And I get it, like I totally get it. - It's essential. - Yeah, Laura, what's exciting for you for the rest of the year? You've got a new lease on life. You've got a new leg and you're ready to go. - You know what, I launched, so one of the things that did come out of my broken leg is that I mentioned my podcast this mother means business. And I have so much heart for mom's building business. And not in like a mom printer, cute Z side hustle way, but in that you're a mom who is serious about the work that she does and you're really passionate about it. And you also want to be present for your kids and being able to focus on the thing that's right in front of you at that particular moment in time. And so it wasn't the morphine, I don't think, but I launched the community. So this mother means business is now a community. It's a place for entrepreneurial mothers to come together and have the real conversations around, like what it is that they're working on and to get the resources that they need. And so that's something I'm really excited about. I actually just engaged a branding agency to help me kind of elevate it because I very much just was like, I'll just go on Etsy and pull on a logo and we'll get this thing out the door. And now I'm in a place where it's like, okay, I'm really going to do this thing. We're going to make this mother means business what I want it to be. And so I'm excited about leaning all into building that brand through the rest of this year. And gosh, the universe just keeps throwing me curveballs, but I'm excited to take what was lying in bed, feeling lonely as a female entrepreneur with a broken leg and kids to serve and people to serve into something that's really going to be supportive for women. Because I think entrepreneurship can be really lonely, but motherhood is also really lonely at times and you're on both journeys at the same time. Like that's not a great place to be if you don't have anyone else on your side who understands it, which is a big part of why I started the podcast. And so it feels kind of cool and exciting to have the community as an extension of that. And I look forward to seeing what that looks like. - I love it. Honestly, you and I have such similar ways for starting our shows and hearts for service there. I think it's so beautiful what you've created out of, I mean, truly just a gosh awful situation with your leg and all of those things. But it sounds like you've gained a lot of clarity and even still a lot of purpose. I mean, not that you didn't before, but it does sound like with the clarity that came from the community. I'm so excited to hear more and learn more. Where can folks learn more about this mother means business? Of course, I'll link my episode guys in the show notes so you can go take a look. But where can folks all along and hear more about what you're doing? - Yeah, so this mother means business.com is where you can find information about the community as well as my podcast. And also at this mother means business on Instagram. And if you made it this far, we're officially friends. So make sure you DM me at it's person Claire on Instagram as well. I'm always happy to answer questions or just say hi. I tend to, I just want to spend a little too much time on Instagram. So if you missed me. - Definitely your happy place. And I can attest as a follower of Laura's that she posts really hilarious and amazing and engaging content. So you will feel like you are fast friends. Just like I did when we got connected originally. Laura, thank you so, so much for joining me today on the show. Any last words you want to leave moms with who are growing businesses and raising really connected and intentional fans? - Yeah. You don't need anyone's permission to do what you want with your life. I think it's the big one. I think as moms, there's this idea of what it is to be a good mom, right? What it's supposed to look like. And I think sometimes that kind of holds us back from doing the thing that maybe was on our heart. Maybe before we became moms or the thing that we, you know, have suppressed a little bit because we think we're supposed to, you know, be mom first. And I think you can be mom first and right. It's always an end. I don't think it has to be an either or. And I think a lot of women just wait for someone to tell them that it's okay to pursue the thing. And so if you needed permission, then I just gave it to you. But you also don't need anyone's permission to do what you want with your life. - I love that reminder, such power to that statement. And it changes, right? Like, I feel like there are such seasons where you want to lean into your business and then you want to lean into being a mom or you want to just lean into like, I don't know, how you've always wanted to pursue or something else you want to build. And that's all cool, right? Like, I just, I think it doesn't have to be a one-time decision or a one-time thing, right? You can be like this season for me. Feels really saturated with motherhood and I'm liking it and enjoying it. And so I appreciate you. - Yeah, I love that. I think it's the permission and it can be whatever you want it to be on your terms. - You're amazing. Thank you so much for joining me. - Thank you, I appreciate you. (upbeat music) - Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode of Growing Pains. I know that you have so many things vying for your attention right now. So I am so grateful that you just spent the last hour or so with me. So I hear all the time from mompreneurs, Ali, Ali, what systems do I need to have in place in order to thrive in business and in parenthood? If you go over to allisoncafery.com/checklist, you can grab my kid group business checklist and it will get you started in the right direction around making sure that you build a business that doesn't steal all of the time away from your family. If you loved today's episode, I would be so, so, so honored if you would leave a review on the podcast that helps us reach even more incredible mompreneurs just like you and give them the resources they need to be wildly successful in business and wildly present at home with their families. Thanks so much again and I'll see you next time. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (gentle music) [BLANK_AUDIO]
