357 Roundtable Conversation with 4 of my clients! (The highs & lows of entrepreneurship!)
Unfiltered Entrepreneurship
Finding Harmony, Overcoming Doubts & Embracing Your Unique Path.
In this special roundtable discussion, Kelsey brings together 3 incredible clients and Mastermind members…
April Miranda, Angela Lopes, and Heather Haigh—to explore the intricacies of entrepreneurship, from the initial spark of inspiration to the challenges of balancing the many hats we all wear.
We dig into candid reflections on the importance of self-care, the power of community, and how to navigate both the highs and lows of running a business.
Finding Work-Life Harmony:
Our guests, April Miranda, Angela Lopes, and Heather Haigh, shared their personal stories about balancing the demands of entrepreneurship with personal life. Heather Haigh's reframe from "work-life balance" to "work-life harmony" offers a fresh perspective on managing our time and energy.
Embracing the Entrepreneurial Roller Coaster:
April Miranda talks about the identity shifts and challenges she faced, especially navigating her business alongside motherhood. Her journey from yoga teacher to Reiki practitioner highlights the importance of staying true to your evolving passions.
Overcoming Social Media Comparison:
The roundtable addressed the all-too-common trap of social media comparison. Our discussion emphasized the importance of creating rather than consuming, setting boundaries, and being authentic online.
Staying True to Your Unique Path:
Heather Haigh reminds us that not every business journey needs to be the same. The value of saying "yes" to a variety of opportunities when starting out is emphasized, allowing for discovery and organic growth.
Episode Time Stamps:
[06:36] Unscripted entrepreneurial journey
[10:05] Entrepreneurial Pivot to Wellness Coaching
[12:50] Entrepreneurial Journey After Yoga Studios
[17:35] Time Management and Harmony
[17:13] Second energy leak: thinking everything is urgent
[19:53] Work-Life Balance Choices
[24:27] Navigating Social Media Comparisons
[32:45] Freedom from Corporate Routine
[37:32] AI’s Impact on Business Energy
[42:05] Trusting Intuition Over Logic
[46:41] Breaking the ‘No’ Mindset
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Access the transcript for this episode:
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You're listening to the Visionary Life Podcast. I'm your host, Kelsey Reidl.
Each week I'll bring you conversations with the most visionary humans on this earth in hopes that you'll be able to absorb their wisdom, avoid their failures, and feel less alone on the roller coaster ride that is entrepreneurship. This season, I'll be chatting with creative thinkers, masterful marketers, brick and mortar shop owners, brand builders, and people just like you who have a story to share or a vision that inspires. If I can share one quick secret with you before we get into the episode, it's that we all have a little bit of visionary inside of us. You know, that spark that nudges us to pursue our full potential in this lifetime. But perhaps somewhere along the line, it got covered up. I'm here to tell you that it's never too late to explore that inner voice and access the brilliance deep down inside of you. It's in you. It's in all of us. Let's dive in. Hey, visionaries. Welcome back to the show. I am so excited to be back with you today, sharing another episode that I recorded in person with three of my past one on one coaching clients who are now Mastermind members. And that is with April Miranda, Angela Lopes and Heather Hay. So this one's pretty special because it's. Not often I do a four person round table. So you're going to hear a bunch of different voices. And let's just say this would be like if you wanted to listen in on a bunch of really passionate, ambitious women who also want to talk about, you know, self care and making sure there's time for rest and all the other things we want out of life besides chasing the business growth, then this is that conversation. I know for me, as somebody who I have a lot that I want. To accomplish every day, every week, every. Month, but sometimes I'm like, okay, can anyone else relate to me? Like, why do I want so much out of life? Why do I want to squeeze every ounce out of every day? These women are those women too. So we are going to just have a very chill conversation. I think you're going to enjoy that. It goes all over the place. Like I mentioned, we actually recorded this in person in Toronto. So you'll see on some of the video clips that we're all just like kicking back. We've got a mic in front of us. We had a really cool podcast studio. And the fact that all four of us had not been in person together ever. Actually, I've known some of these women for as long as 10 years. And some of them I only met a couple years ago and the four of us came together and we just decided let's just like turn on the mics and share the true highs, the. True lows of what it is to. Run a business, what we're currently thinking about, what's on our mind, and that is that conversation. That is this conversation rather. So I hope you enjoy it. If you want to connect with Angela or April or with Heather, I'm going to leave all of their links in the show notes so that you can go reach out to them, follow these incredible human beings. And if you love the conversation too, you'll definitely want to consider joining our mastermind. You can learn more about that at the link in the show notes. And you may also want to grab one of those final tickets for our March 28th event if you can come to Paris, Ontario. All right, you guys, without further ado, let's get into this roundtable with April Miranda, with Angela Lopes and with Heather Hay. Enjoy. Visionary. In case you didn't hear, we have an amazing in real life event coming up in Paris, Ontario, Canada on Friday, March 28. We have rented out the most stunning riverside venue to gather female entrepreneurs. Why have we done this? Because what we've realized over the last 10 years of running our businesses is that posting on Pinterest, creating a viral reel, designing your website, having a fancy logo, none of that matters if you don't have a community of people who celebrate you, who share your work and who rally behind you in times of need and in times of celebration. Your community is everything. The relationships that you have are everything. And that's why we want to invite you out to join us for this amazing real life daytime event. So what is a wave event? Well, we have guest speakers, we've got the founder of Mabel's labels coming, a company that sold for $13 million. We have Sheila Cummins who helps women access the capital that they need in order to thrive and build a seven figure business. We have money Mama coming. She talks a lot about money mindset and managing your finances. And there's going to be time for connection. There's going to be amazing food, there's going to be incredible fireside chats or actually rivers chats. So if you've been craving more real life connection with female entrepreneurs from all over Canada, then you have to get your ticket. You can go to kelseyridle.com Paris D 2025 again Kelsey rle.com Paris P A R I S 2025. And as a podcast listener, you can save $50 by using the code WAVE50 at checkout if you're in driving radius to Paris, Ontario, and you can get yourself here on Friday, March 28 from 11 to 3. Do not miss this event. Do yourself a favor, grab one ticket for you. Grab one ticket for a friend and come together. We gather the most amazing women in business and we would love to see you there. So again, kelseyridle.com Paris 2025, use the code WAVE50 at checkout to save yourself $50 and I will see you in March. All right, welcome, guys. Thank you for coming. We have a first which is getting the Wave mastermind crew together in person for a visionary life podcast recording. So officially welcome and thank you, Heather. Thank you, Angela. Thank you, April, for being here. Thanks for having us. Thank you for the invitation. You're welcome. Okay, so I mentioned before we started recording and there's cameras on, so we might be addressing the cameras, but we might just me in a cozy, intimate moment that we're going to be chatting today about the highs and lows of business on this podcast. It's never scripted. I love chatting with entrepreneurs who are in their first days and first months of running their business, as well as seasoned entrepreneurs and just having real and honest conversations. Because I know when I started my business eight or nine years ago, I looked around one day and I'm like, I don't really have any friends who are entrepreneurs or doing this freelance thing like I was doing at the time. And for me, podcasts were a saving grace. I would put them in my ears while I was biking downtown Toronto, while I was doing the dishes at home. And I really feel like it was the secret sauce. So I'm excited to pick each of your brains today and have a compilation of our success secrets, as well as just some very raw chats. So first off, I'm going to pass it over to Heather. Heather, can you just tell us a little bit about what your entrepreneurial journey has been like, if you had to summarize it in a minute or two? In a minute or two. So, yeah, I spent close to 20 years, 18 years within financial services for one of Canada's leading wealth management firms before starting my own business? And I honestly thought during that career that I was a coach. And. And when I left that opportunity and got certified as a coach, I realized I was a consultant who is coach, like, and so really had to, you know, sort of reframe my thinking, reframe my mindset. But I Specialize primarily in financial services. Because of that background, eight years running, my own practice, mostly as coach, one on one team, and leadership coaching as well as I do a lot of workshops within that space, too. So what would you say has been the hardest part about being in business for yourself? Like, if you're really reflecting on what one of those sticky points has been that really has never left you or that has never left your entrepreneurial journey, what has happened? If you had to boil it down to one. You know, yeah, it's hard to pick just one. You know, I think community as you kick things off is the most important thing. You know, as a social creature, making sure there's a community that surrounds me, while not hard, was necessary. I would say the hardest thing was I was always striving and putting so much pressure on myself to do everything, you know, as a. As a top performer in my past career. And it was really hard letting that go. You know, you can't slow down as an entrepreneur necessarily either. But the whole point of going out on your own is to have more control. Right. So recognizing my own patterns of striving and, you know, having to really intentionally work on doing. Doing more great work but working less hours. Yep, absolutely. It is such a crazy, just thing to jump into when you've only ever worked for someone else, and then all of a sudden you shine the spotlight on yourself and you're. You're like, now I fill all of these roles. It's wild. Angela, over to you. Do you want to share a little bit about your journey and one of the hardest moments or just one of those challenges that you feel like has been, you know, a lot to navigate on this entrepreneurial journey? Yeah, sure. So I started my entrepreneurial journey, I guess, after Covid or kind of midst of COVID So I hit burnout really hard, and it took me some time to go on that healing journey and to just figure things out and to ask those hard questions. And after doing all that work and taking some courses, I realized that I wanted to do things where I was able to help people more and help them on their own healing journeys and wellness journeys. So I, you know, did a course with the University of Toronto, and I started inspiring mindful growth, which was my first business. And that was life coaching, life and wellness coaching, holistic practices that could help people with managing anxiety and stress. And then as I thought deeper as to what caused my burnout, I realized that I wanted to branch into the corporate. So I'm working on doing more corporate consulting for wellness Right now. And I'm hoping to help businesses and organizations reduce the toxicity in the workplace and create a more positive environment so that people want to come to work, they enjoy coming to work. And in turn, that means that, you know, there's more productivity in the workplace. So that's where I'm at. One of, like, the biggest struggles for me is, you know, getting out there and actually making those connections with the corporations. Like, I'm great with people one on one, but it's finding that person, that in those corporations and those businesses that I'm able to connect with and teach them why it's so important to incorporate wellness into their company. And so that's been one of my bigger struggles, just because I don't like to feel salesy. And so I've kind of held myself back, but now I'm getting out there more and doing it in a less of a sales approach and more of an understanding of why wellness is so important in the workplace. I think that's very relatable, what you share of, like, you have this product and you want to expand your consulting business, but we don't know who is the gatekeeper at the company that we need to talk to. And it's like, I know there is someone or a small team that's responsible for the wellness of hundreds or thousands of employees, but we don't know who that person is sometimes, and it can be really hard to break in. So it's a very relatable piece of your journey, and we'll definitely crack back into that in a bit. So. And April, over to you. Do you want to share a little bit about your entrepreneurial journey and just some of the highs or lows that you've had along the way? Oh, when I met you, I was a yoga teacher. And stepping into that entrepreneurship, I think, is starting with workshops, you know, and then Covid hit the pandemic and pregnancy, and then all the yoga studios closed. And then I feel that was when I became 100% an entrepreneur, you know, and with all the yoga studios closed, I had to revisit who I was because I didn't have a place to go and teach. So it was whether it's online classes. But then I pivoted to becoming the Reiki mastery practitioner, because I did my Reiki level 1, 2, and 3 years ago. And it was my husband, who's an RMT, he's like, I have the table where you can receive clients. And he was like, why don't you just step into that? And that was the pivot and navigating that journey with all my different offerings. However, it's just been a roller coaster. But fine tuning what I'm obsessed with through the Wave Mastermind, with Kelsey's coaching, Emily's mindset, I'm getting clearer and clearer that that is who I am. So I think the biggest challenges was going through the identity shifts. And the reward is, yeah, like stepping into that control with that independence. Mm. It's so crazy too, because I remember we taught classes together. We would be at this studio, Downtown Toronto, at 6am, I think it was Thursday mornings. And we would unlock the studio. And I knew we shared this common thread of we just want to follow our hearts and build community and teach in some way, shape or form. Like here you were showing up gathering women, teaching yoga at 6am I was showing up, gathering people, teaching a spin class. And we didn't get paid a lot. We were hustling. Right. Like you have to travel to the studio, you have to teach the class, Kind of wait for everybody to leave. But there was just something in that that I felt like was very entrepreneurial and it's almost like a launching pad. And it really taught me the value of just one on one connections. Like every single member deserves a hello, how was your class? Could I do anything better? And then just that feeling of having five or 10 or 20 people in a class, you're like, there's no greater feeling than holding space for community. And I feel like you have continued to bring that forward with you in your career. Teaching Reiki and hosting workshops, which you just did one, writing your book so that you could gather people around a message. I would love to continue chatting with you around. Being so multi passionate. And now as a mama, how do you know what to focus your time on? Time management. As someone who has a lot going on but also has a family, running a business, when you look at your week, is there any practical tip that you could share in holding space for all of these buckets or areas of life? I giggle because I feel like I'm still navigating that. And we were talking about the difference between work, life, balance, and now with Heather's reframe, she's like, no, it's harmony. You are the same person as a mom and as a business owner, wife, entrepreneur, healer. And so it is a dance switching these hats. However, I am getting clearer that it just needs to be written down in a calendar that where you pen to paper. I love also a Google calendar. And so it's really time blocking that so that's like, I work with energetics. That's the masculine, that's the safety, that's the boundaries, the container. But then there's that space to be feminine, to flow, to be creative and be 100% in that, you know, so when the kids are with the childcare, then I could be 100% present with business, entrepreneur, networking, connecting, following up. But then when it's time to be Mama, I am 100% a present mom. And I know that is something that I'm really proud of. That's so beautiful and so powerful to be able to close down the work version and say, now my intention is to be a present mama. Angela, I know you are somebody who loves to plan and you have your own system that you actually take your clients through. So I'd love to hear from you. Do you have any tips around setting intentions for the day when, as an entrepreneur wearing many hats, you could do a million things right? What's your practice around this? How do you plan your day? How do you focus on the right things and not all of the things? So I think it's a matter of also looking not only at the day, but the week ahead and so prioritizing things within each day. But I love what April said about, like, harmony. So, you know, it's not necessarily that you're always going to have that balance, but it's a matter of making sure that, you know, the top priority tasks are getting done and then you're switching off when you need to switch off. As an entrepreneur, the hardest thing to do is to switch off, because especially when you're in momentum and you're really focused on something. But if you're time blocking your day and your week accordingly, there's a reason for it. And so if you stick to it, you're gonna be more likely to succeed with that time management. But also, like April said, when it's, like, supposed to be family time, it's family time. It's just a matter of organizing the week so that everybody is on the same page of when that time is going to be. Yeah, that's a really good tip that I want to double tap on is making sure that you loop your family in on what the intention of the day or the week is. Right? Like, hey, I'm going to be in Toronto recording podcasts. I won't be available for a few hours. And it almost gives that peace of mind of I'm committing to work and then everybody knows I'm not contactable for the foreseeable future. Right. Instead of feeling like I have to be kind of checked in at home and kind of checked in while I'm doing my work. So I think that's a really practical tip. Heather, something that April mentioned that you talk about is work life harmony. What do you mean by that? Because I feel like that's not a term that we're used to hearing and we often think that it has to be a balance or that it has to be an all or nothing. How do you approach work life harmony? Yeah, well, I would say it's evolved over time. So, you know, I think, I think we're all sold the bill of goods. That work life balance is what we should be aspiring to. It's the goal and it's just not accurate. It's not possible. There's no way to say, I'm 50% with my family and I'm 50% with my business. There are times when business is really busy. And so, you know, the more you can communicate with, if you have a partner with your family, let them know when those busy times are and when you're willing to commit. So for me, I made the decision two years ago that I don't do facilitation in the summer. So I take the whole summer at the cottage and I still coach my one on one clients, but I'm not available for certain services. So that's a commitment to be really present with my family where other months are really busy with workshops and so I may not be as available. Why it's evolved is because my life events have changed. So from losing one parent and then losing my second parent and some challenges going on in my family, balance is impossible. But harmony allows for some grace that says, I had plans to do work today, but something else is going on that requires my attention. And I'm going to allow that without beating myself up and saying I'm clearly not a professional because I'm having to change plans. And so I think that when you live in harmony and you allow for flow, you recognize that there are things that are unplanned that we need to be able to shift to without so much abuse of ourselves. So being so hard on ourselves, like we're way harder than any of our clients or even friends and family will be. So grace is a big word for me that in the last couple of years and. And work has become actually more of a vacation from life sometimes. Right. So giving myself time to focus on work, when things are really chaotic in my family, it's shifted. And so being able to have that flexibility. That's why harmony, to me, just makes so much more sense. That is such a hard dance. I don't know if you guys feel this too. Between going with the flow and, to use April's words, like, more leaning into the feminine of I'm not feeling it today, so I don't want to push. Or I have life things that are really traumatic or things going on outside of my office that need my attention, versus the whole other end of the spectrum, which is structure, masculine energy. I said I made a commitment, and I will show up for it. And practicing discipline. April, maybe you want to comment on this. Have you found a way to dance between the two? Do you check in with yourself as female entrepreneurs? Because all four of us, you know, we're in that bucket. We're in these masculine energetics. We want to grow and see revenue, and we have big goals, but we're also raising families, and we do tend to be a bit more sensitive to the world around us and what's going on. How have you found that sweet spot? And any tips for somebody who feels like they can kind of skew from one side to the other but don't how to manage it or control what's going on? Yeah, no. Thank you for asking that. Even just to reflect on, like, what is working. And I do see time blocking. Put in your calendar is the blueprint, and then there is space for you to do a pulse check. Hey, where am I at? Energetically, like, honoring what's happening in your life. I love honoring my moon cycle, what's going on Energetically. And I'm realizing that before I've been tuned in as a feminine, you know, as a woman, I would be highly masculine. Go, go, go, go, go. Hop on a bike, teach a class. Hop on a bike, teach a class. And then becoming a mother, I see as a rite of passage. And you are pretty much forced to be mother to stop you, to nurture, to support. And it was. Yeah, the birth of my firstborn. Bella was like the teacher to be like, okay, you gotta just stop and listen and choose to be present and put that mother hat on. And so I guess it is a dance between the masculine feminine. Right now. I just see it as tuning into nature, tuning into aligned energy. And we love talking about human design and honoring that. I'm a generator. Seeing my husband honoring that. He's a projector, you know, so even just tuning in, like, oh, I have the capacity. I do have the energy to do the entrepreneur stuff and the mother stuff. So I guess my Advice to answer your question is to tune into what feels natural, you know, and I think it is the balance between the structure and the strategy and then the creativity in the flow and self care. I'm even realizing the word advice sounds so masculine. Like, give us advice. Well, yeah, and it's interesting just listening to April talk about this because I think that one of the things that's so hard for women in particular, but I actually would say it's for everyone, is this social media. Everyone else has their stuff together except me. And so to not compare, which sounds really easy, but it actually is a really hard thing to do, is to figure out your own vibe, your own jam. Like what works for you in your flow and in your. If you're, you know, scheduling. What kind of scheduling works for you? Some people will say time blocking works for me, and then other of my clients say time blocking doesn't work for me at all. I completely ignore it. It's not helpful. So it's. It's figuring out your own rhythm and turning off the volume of comparisonitis because that's what causes us to beat ourselves up, is to say so. And so Angela's got it together so much better than I do. Right. Look at April and everything she's doing versus going inward. And what do I need? What's going to be in service to me and what's going to be in greatest service to my clients? How do you stay out of that comparison trap? This is open question because the moment we flip open social media, which is crazy because for most people, that's the minute they wake up, right? Yeah. So how do we stay out of that? Because I know that as soon as I am inundated with other people's content or ideas or what they need from me, I almost lose all creativity for the day and it's gone. Right. It's like once that boundary has been released, it's just like, oh, now I'm operating on everyone else's ideas and not my own. Do you guys have any tips? I think for me and you know, some of the things that I teach some of the youth that I work with in coaching is, you know, I've seen footage that like their parent has sent me and then I've seen footage that actually gets posted online. And I. So one example is an ATV situation. So one of my youth actually tipped the atv. But what was posted online was this like amazing ATV trip and nobody would have even known that had happened. And so I use that example for her. I'm like, see, nobody Even knew this existed. We see what people want us to see on social media. And I just use that as a constant reminder. Like, the reality is life is messy. And, you know, if as long as you're in peace with yourself, peace is such an underrated thing. And as long as you're in peace with yourself, then you're free and you're free to live. So, you know, I really just hope people look at social media and realize that I would say 90% of the time that's not all factual. It's like a staged environment or a staged thing to post on social media. And that's kind of how I remind myself to not, like, fall into that trap of thinking the world is perfect around me. People certainly put their best foot forward only on social. Right. And that's not accurate. And I think too, we can, because I know a lot of the listeners of the podcast, social media is one of their main strategies. But we don't see a lot of what else it takes to grow a business. Like the relationships, the networking, the unsexy things, the just honoring that time is a factor, right? Years and years of repetition, and it's not always glamorous. But people don't always put forward the more challenging times in business. So I think it is important to just pause and to realize, like, do I have a skewed perception of what it is to be an entrepreneur? Because I'm following unhelpful people who are glamorizing it or who are swinging in a hammock in Cuba and telling me you can make tons of money online. So how do you guys establish boundaries around social media? Specifically maintain your focus, because we know once you're distracted, it can be hard to pull back to any amount of productive work. Hmm. I think it was it you that told me or the group to create versus consume, and that would help me even just that pivot, like, okay, am I consuming? Oh, let me just pause. Like, it is. Is like to just push the pause button to, like, be productive. And then I would just post and ghost, you know, and that helped me. That was a healthy container, healthy boundary for me to, like, okay, I am creating, sharing, marketing. And then I would leave, and then now I'm hearing not to post and ghost because we gotta be social on social media. And so it's like, okay, let me create a healthy container boundary of when I'm going to respond to comments, engage with my followers. And so it's a working relationship with Instagram. I know before it used to be really unhealthy with comparisonitis and the anxiety that, oh, it was not healthy, what, 2017, 2011, but way back when. So now I really see it as a platform where I can express myself, where I can market my services and like to show up for her, show up for my ideal client. So I guess the healthy boundary comes from a little dance of being on the negative side and more of a positive, healthy relationship with social media. Anyone else have tips on that one? I would. I would support April's approach. I think that that's where sometimes, like, if time blocking works for you, it can be really helpful to set a timer. Because if you do like to scroll, it's not to say never scroll, it's to say catch yourself, because you can lose time and two hours can go by and you can, oh, my goodness, I've been watching reels for two hours, right? Because they add up. And so it's one of the concepts that I love is this idea that downtime is not unproductive time. The downtime is actually part of renewal, right? Like that you are replenishing. And some people will say, well, social media doesn't do that. And I would say for some people, if that feels like they're how they want to spend their downtime, like. Like allow for that, right? Like some people want to watch a soap opera. Some people want to, you know, get out and go for a walk, whatever your. Your own jam is. And this is where I say, like, find what works for you. But if you love watching reels, set a timer and hold yourself to. When the timer goes off, I need to shift gears. And if it's hard, I find the best thing is to actually leave the physical space that you're in, right. Whether it's go outside or even just changing rooms, you're changing the scenery. And so that then breaks the cycle of whatever pattern that you've habitually fallen into. I know if I find myself into my bedroom in the middle of the day, I'm in trouble because I will stay in there, right? And then pretty much guaranteed to not be productive. Well, yeah, because when my kids come home and everyone's in the space, like, that's kind of my sanctuary, but it's also not my productive space. So, you know, understanding, again, the flow of individual. And that takes time to kind of figure out what works. I think the other thing as entrepreneurs, so new entrepreneurs getting going, is don't wait for the weekend or vacation to pause. You want to have breaks throughout your day, and not just because it's a nice to have, it's a need to have. When we look at neuroscience today, we know that the stress, the day to day stress, we're breaking down all of the brain cells that support us. So if you're not doing replenishing, you can't be as focused as you want to be. You can't be as effective, you can't listen as well. Right. So building in renewal practices in the day is vital. Right out of the gates. Even when you're just getting started and you're, and you're going hard and you're trying to get the business going, if you wait till the weekend to kind of collapse, you will not be your most productive day to day. Absolutely. That was one of the huge shifts I remember having to make coming away from corporate life where you kind of have to be at your desk for eight hours. You can't just say, I'm just gonna go for a nice wander around the city with my podcast in. And then when I started working for myself, I'm like, okay, why am I so exhausted? I can't think straight anymore. I've been pounding my keyboard and I'm like, oh, yeah, I can get up, go into nature. And it's these things that we almost have to unravel. For anyone making that switch from corporate into leading their own business or kind of going into that path, you get to rewrite the rules, right? And if you're in this for the long game, if you want to run this business forever, to Heather's point, you don't want to burn out. So start those habits, those healthy rituals right from the get go, it's like, oh yeah, I can get up, I can go for a walk, I can, you know, do something totally different to shake up the energy. And knowing that that actually makes me a better person, I don't want to say more productive because that's not always the goal, but I'm more focused and I will actually output what I need to in the shortest amount of time without feeling like I'm glued to a chair. It's like, that's not a helpful mentality that we so often take from corporate, of eight hours all together, just go. It's like, wait, but who invented that system? And is it helpful? Well, I think Angela's on the war path to, to bust that system, aren't you? Right? With the corporations you're going into starting to change the way corporate runs from a wellness perspective. So that's one of the things that I was gonna say is, you know, with my staff team in My corporate job, I do say, you know what, guys? Head out for a walk, take a walk outside, take a mental break. You need to get up from your desk. You need to get up from your chair. Your body needs to move. And I think that it's so important for business owners to do it. But I also think that it's important for any leaders that are out there who are working with teams to make sure that they're instilling that within their team. Just because it is a corporate job, it shouldn't mean that you can't get up from your desk. And a lot of people feel that way. Like, if I move, you know, somebody's gonna say, I'm not doing my work or I'm not getting things done. But if you're sitting there and you're at stalemate because your brain is just not functioning anymore, then you're literally probably just sitting there staring at your computer screen or talking to a coworker and actually not getting anything, anything done. So I think it's really important that we instill those practices within teams that we're working with as well. Yeah. One of my very close family members is in this corporate role where he'll tell me that he only works two hours a day, and the other six is basically just busy work, water cooler talk. But you don't say, I'm going out for a walk. You don't say, I'm going to, you know, just like, take a quick mental break. That's not the culture. That would not be okay. But yet people are just sitting there wasting away and afraid to take these wellness breaks. And I think that's one of the big things that, especially as female entrepreneurs, that we need to bust that. And time, the way we look at it, it's like, I don't have to work eight hours. Right. There's something to that that I'm still trying to break down of, well, what if I could do what I feel like I want to do in a day for my business in three hours, Is that okay? Or should I go work five more hours just because I've allotted them? And it's like looking at time in this whole different manner and almost like, can I expand time and contract time and, like, I get to play with it? I don't need to be bound to someone else's version of what the workday has to look like. Yeah. And I think that's so important too, because the reality is life. We have no idea how long our life is. And, you know, if we take for granted the time that we do have and we always put things off and say, you know, well, in next year we'll go and we'll do that. You know, if you have that ability to say, today I'm only going to work six hours, and you know what, we're going to go do this fun activity outside. That is what you should do. I think that, you know, as people, as human beings, we have to be adaptable and we have to be be able to pivot whatever it is we're doing. So as much as time blocking works for me, you know, I need to be true to myself too. If I'm just not feeling something, then I'm not gonna do it because then I'm not gonna put the right energy into it and I'm not gonna give the right energy to the people that I'm about to meet with or do work with. So I think it's also important to find those balances and to be upfront and honest about things like that too. Because, yeah, you know, I think you learn from different experiences in your life and then you learn that, you know, tomorrow is not guaranteed. And so let's make every minute, you know, the best that we can make it. That's such a powerful reminder too. And even just what you said, Angela, about if the energy you're putting into something is like resentful or I don't want to be doing this, or I'm just rushing through it, or I'll just get chat GPT to do it, I think that's felt on the other end. Do you guys feel that way? It's like when I read a ChatGPT email, what I think is AI generated, I'm like, I don't know that I feel the soul in that, but maybe we're still at this tipping point where you can kind of get away with it. But then it's like, wait, I don't know if that really came from a human. And leaning into the energetics of business is perhaps a conversation that's going to be on the rise in 2025. Because I don't think a robot can do the, the work that we're all here to do. But I don't know where it's going because we do rely so heavily on these time saving systems and, well, I can just get anything, a blog post in four seconds, right? Does anyone have any thoughts on how AI is infiltrating the heart and soul of business? Maybe this is just like super deep, but Angela went deep by saying you're not guaranteed Tomorrow. Existential talks. Yeah. And I think you can never replace the heart of a human. The soul you already mentioned and all of that, the coaching, the healing, the mentoring, like, that is real stuff. And that I don't think will ever be replaced. Whether it's, I guess, with, yeah, I being a Reiki practitioner master or my husband Rmt or acupuncturist. Like, yeah, maybe it just wouldn't be the same. It just wouldn't be the same. And so even the. The writing, that. That's art, you know, that is what one is channeling, being a conduit of light, being a vessel for all of this information. And so I do feel it is irreplaceable, you know, like, there is the AI to leverage time or maybe even just get some ideas of a hook or a catchy title. But still having that soul speak, right? And even with the task, like, even choosing to, like, being clear of the frequency behind the task, not just go, go, go for the sake of doing it, like, okay, am I even tuning into my true energetics to be a magnetic match for those ideal clients? And like, even that's. That's what I do when I am typing text. Okay, I just want to speak for them, for her who's looking for the service to feel more joy, clarity, and purpose. Do you? Literally, Because I just saw you close your eyes there. Like, when you are trying to speak to who could potentially be a client or someone who you want to help, how are you tapping into what you need to say? As an entrepreneur, as somebody who wants to help, how do you, like, channel the frequency of where your client is at? Yeah, I honestly go to my past self. You know, she was lost, she was stuck. She was, like, looking for guidance, looking for answers. And I'm like, oh, who would she want to see online? What message would she like to hear? And, you know, being a few steps ahead, it's like, okay, I got the way, I got some tools, some tricks, some words of wisdom to share. And so I guess that's where I go when I close my eyes. I'm like, okay, what does she need to hear? Or even tuning in. What do they need to hear? Your podcast listeners or whoever's gonna see this video or this content? Okay, what do they need to hear? So it is pausing, it is channeling. It's being displayed, present with all of you here. That's so big because we are so busy and we have these to do lists. And I even hear it from clients of mine. It's like, just tell me what to write, tell me what to post, give me 50 ideas. And sometimes I just feel like, have we lost the point? Right? Like, do we really want to help people? And if so, like, we know better than any marketer, any salesperson, guru, how to connect with that person. Because it's usually you of five years ago, of 10 years ago. And I don't think anybody can do that better than us as the founders, right? And, and really, at least being the creators of what is that core message that my people need to hear and not outsourcing that too soon. I think it's, it's really when, when you watch April sort of put her hand on her heart, it's always something that speaks to me because I think if you've grown up in corporate, as many of us did, we were taught to only use our heads. Is it logical? Is it fact based? Can you see the science of it? Right? Like, and that decisions should be informed decisions. And really, as we got older, we were taught to not trust the soul, to not trust the heart, to not even really listen to our own bodies, right? To just be totally living in this headspace. And I think that part of trusting yourself, whether you're an entrepreneur or a leader or even just working in a role in corporate in any capacity, the trust of yourself comes from connecting with the whole of yourself. To be able to not just say, what does my head think? Like, what are the pros, cons list of this? But to say like, like emotionally, what does my heart say about this? Right? What does my soul want? How is my body reacting to this? Because I also think too, our bodies give us cues well in advance of our heads that are like, yeah, that's a no go, shut them down, right? And so the comparisonitis says there's other, you're not unique, there's other people out there doing what you're doing, right? Like you're just another voice in the noise, that kind of thing. But when we go inwards and we trust ourselves and we start to see like, I have a story, I have a unique experience in my journey and the wisdom that comes from that differentiates me from any other competitor out there. And I don't need every person on the planet to be my client. I want to attract the people that are going to appreciate what I bring to the table. They're going to value my unique experience, they're going to connect with the wisdom that I can share and connect on a level where they feel joy in the work we have together. So that's not Everybody that's the right fit. So when I look out and go, there's thousands of other coaches out there, I'm kind of like, thank goodness. Because I only want the ones that really resonate with me. And I'm a whole self business and leadership coach. That sounds like quite a check. Like, right. Because not everyone wants to be working on their whole self. Some people just want to be living in their heads, and that's fine. And those people really need the whole. And they. And they may come to me later. Right. It might be a not now, not a never, but I want to attract the people that want to do that kind of work to recognize when we trust ourselves, we elevate how we show up in work and in life. So it's, you know, whenever I see April doing that, I want to invite the world to connect on that level. Because when you go this way, what we're talking about being, you know, so much work becomes joyful work. I think the key takeaway is anyone working in corporate just needs to walk around. We're gonna get a lot of people fired up. But wouldn't it be cool if no one judged that? Right. Like. Like, wouldn't it be amazing if you could say in a meeting, you know what? I'm just like, I'm energetically. I'm not feeling aligned with that. Like, and people wouldn't go, oh, that's woo woo. Like, really? Because we're. There's so many cues in business all the time where you know that a decision that's being made doesn't feel right. But we've been taught to not listen to it. Yeah. And almost every time we're right. Mm, yeah. Yep. But we're looked at as if we're crazy and, hey, just shut your mouth and yeah. Go with what everybody else is saying and respect power. And I think it's this whole unlearning that we are all hopefully championing this new generation of going back to what we know is true, which is that our body can often tell us before our mind can can our, you know, our. Just that gut feeling when we lean into that we can make better decisions for our family, for our business. But it is hard. It's a hard journey to go back to that thinking system versus the brain thinking system that I think we've been indoctrinated into since. I don't know. When do we start learning, like, there's a right and wrong way to do things? Elementary school. Even before that. Yeah. Like day one, perhaps. And a lot of the times Parents are like, why is their first word no? It's because we're constantly saying, no, don't do that, no, don't touch that. So, you know, we're immediately instilling that's wrong, but we're also doing it in a negative way. So, you know, we create that mindset where, you know, you go into the corporate world and you're working and you're not going to challenge the boss. No, you don't do that because that's authority. And if you have respect, you don't challenge authority. And so it's breaking that mindset, especially when, you know, whatever that, you know, pitch is, is detrimental to people or to the well being of people. You know, you should feel like you can have an opinion against it and not, you know, face repercussions for it. Yeah. And I also think that sometimes it's a reframe, that having a difference of opinion is not something against something as much as it's a different thought process, really embrace. And I know a lot of organizations are talking about diverse thinking and the importance of diverse thinking. I think while everyone wants it, the willingness to accept it is not going quite as quickly as the concept of saying we need diverse thinking. It feels to some people, and this is where I think there's a lot of inner work, again on our ego that if someone disagrees with your idea, they, they disagree with you as a human. Like somehow we equate a dissenting viewpoint as an attack on who we are and our intelligence. And so we respond in that way accordingly. And so a lot of the work that I do with leaders is all about recognizing, like, where, where their response may be not in, in, not in, in alignment with who they want to be as leaders because they're encouraging diverse thinking and then responding in a contrary way to the diverse thinking. And so people shut down to your point, they won't raise their voice as if they feel it's not safe to do that. So it's really on us to say, like, if I want diverse thinking, I have to be ready to receive it openly. Doesn't mean I need to agree with it, but I need to be able to say, okay, like, thank you, I appreciate you bringing that view to the table. That's an important thing we should be considering. What does this mean? If we all look at this now with this, with this other perspective? And so I think, I think there's still. And again, this goes back to head versus heart versus body, Right? The head judges and says someone's critiquing me if they don't agree with my. What I've put in time and investment on. And that's not reality. And I think as a leader, if you feel triggered by that, I think you need to look internally and ask yourself, why? Why do I feel that way? Why am I feeling myself getting defensive? You know, really ask yourself what's happening for me, because it really does come down to you as an individual and, you know, whatever you've experienced or you've been taught. And so it's a matter of reframing your own mindset to say, why can't I accept that, you know, other thought process. That goes for business owners. So the entrepreneurs who are listening today, if a client rejects something and you have, you, you start spinning. That used to be part of my story. And I had to really understand, like, that is, what if that were feedback that's useful, Right. What if I could receive it differently? Marriages, right? You're interacting with your partner and they say something and you just, right. This rage comes out of our bodies. We've never done that. Okay, sorry, I can only speak for myself, but we have a term in my household called anger ball for a reason. And, and that, that anger ball thing is, is purely a. It hit a nerve in me that makes me feel judged by you. Yeah. And that's not actually what is happening on the other side of that communication. So that inner work, the understanding of our own ego and how our ego is that, you know, itty bitty crappy committee that keeps us from really achieving what we want in our work and in our lives once we can navigate that and kind of recognize it and be like, hey, ego, thanks for showing up right now. And we're gonna put you aside and come back to the conversation in a. What did you mean? I know how I'm experiencing what you said. What did you mean when you said that? What was your intention? Something that Heather said was like to feel safe to say, you know, and coming back to how I put my hand on my heart, like, there is a physiology of when you physically touch your body that it is reminding your mind, your heart, your body that you are safe. Right. And whether it's the woo woo, the ego, or physiology with the amygdala, it is like a search engine looking for danger. Like, are they gonna judge me? The fear of criticism, fear of loss, of love, Fear, loss, you know, fear of death. And so coming back like, oh, I am safe. Safe to feel these emotions, safe to speak my truth, safe to shine bright, safe to share my services. And so it is coming back to whether it's the nervous system recalibration or I like using root chakra stuff, it is coming back to self and instead of the external validation on the social media, like okay, even just feeling safe to be 100% you 100% of the. Time, this is like a masterclass in how to begin your entrepreneurial journey. But also just how much our personal evolution impacts our professional journey. And you know, we have tips on leaning into more of that emotional body. Angela really giving us tips on how to have hard conversations and take what we know of corporate and almost alchemize it into how we can be better on our entrepreneurial journeys. Heather with so many practical leadership tips and even just so many amazing nuggets of how to be self reflective in business. So thank you all for sharing your wisdom today. Any last bits of advice, wisdom that you feel like you'd love to drop before we turn off the mics? If you're just getting started, don't niche too soon. Say yes to lots of things. Because I think a lot of times we come into into our entrepreneurial businesses with a very narrow framework and we don't necessarily know what's going to land yet. And so I think say yes to more things at the beginning because you might be surprised with the niches that show up that you didn't expect. You know, the number of women I've worked with who say they want to just work with women and then they get into service and they start working with male business owners or you know, couples or working with youth or, you know, new things show up in the path and if we're too narrowly focused, we might miss opportunities. So when you get going, say yes to more things to really get some confirmation either of the assumptions or new insights. I love that. And staying open. Right. So what falls into your lap? Right. Because if we're so just narrow minded and I've got the plan and I need to execute, we miss those lucky opportunities. Yeah, absolutely. And I think just really staying in tune with yourself and seeing moments of happiness and what those moments of happiness are coming from so that you can really just reflect on the work that you're doing and when you feel at most peace with what you're doing because those are going to be your moments where they give you a little bit of insight on how to take your next steps forward in your business. I would love to end with a friendly reminder to move with love like dropping into your heart and then taking action. Shameless plug for your BookLove CA. We will link all of your social medias and your websites in the show notes. So heartfelt gratitude for all of you. We got to record in person which is so fun. What a special conversation. I think we could have chatted for many hours. So let's do this again. And thanks for coming on the show. Thank you. Thank you so much Kelsey. And thank you for the wave. Yeah, thanks for tuning in to this episode of Visionary Life. I love bringing you these conversations on a weekly basis. So it would mean so much to. Me if you could help me out. By rating and reviewing the show on either itunes or Spotify. It just takes a second. And if you don't want to rate the show, you could also just take a screenshot of the episode and share it on your social media platform of choice. Tagging me at kelseyridle. I'll catch you in the next episode. Hey Visionary. I want to interrupt this episode to share a little bit more about one on one coaching. I work with clients who want to stay on top of the latest marketing trends, who want to bring more ease into their marketing funnel. Or just build a marketing funnel in the first place because maybe you don't have one yet and ultimately take the effort and overwhelm out of your marketing plan. I know your energy is limited and you just want someone to tell you what to do. Should you be on threads? Should you be creating on TikTok? How do you grow an email list? What does SEO mean? Anyways, this is why I offer private one on one business business and marketing coaching for business owners like you who need help with their marketing strategy. You can head to kelseyreidl.com/private coaching to learn exactly what it's going to look like if we decide to work together. And I'm excited because I can give you the precise
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