How I Make Decisions When Things Aren’t Working with My Marketing

INTRO: After generating over a million dollars in sales and selling one of her businesses with a single email, your host, Kathryn Thompson, takes an unconventional approach to marketing and sales. So if you're ready to tap into a more powerful way to be seen, heard, and a sought after entrepreneur in your industry without having to spend endless hours marketing your business and chasing clients, you're in the right place. Be The Sought After Entrepreneur Podcast is here to help you ditch the cookie cutter, one size fits all approach to marketing and use your unique energy to effortlessly attract the most aligned clients. When you do this, you can spend less time marketing your business and more time doing your soul work and enjoying the richness of your life. Welcome to Be The Sought After Entrepreneur Podcast. And here's your host, Kathryn Thompson.

Kathryn Thompson: Hey, hey, Superstar Theatre in this week's episode. I cannot wait to dive into today's topic [00:01:00] because I want to unpack and sort of reveal some behind the scenes things that are happening in my business and really show you my thought process behind that when it comes to making.

Did any type of decision in my business and how I go about doing that and how sometimes the things that we've set out to do don't turn out the way that we want to oftentimes they don't. And I don't think a lot of mentors, coaches, gurus, you name it, showcase what I call sort of the in between. Uh, in between where we are at the moment from taking action on something that maybe didn't pan out the way that we expected and then we still haven't reached that quote unquote quantum leap or success.

A lot of stories we see out there are like, I was here and now I'm here. or I'm achieving all of these things, right? We see all of the success being shared on social. It's like that highlight reel that we will see, right? And I want to [00:02:00] paint a different picture. I want to paint a much different picture about how not all things go tickety boo, not all things go according to plan.

In fact, they rarely do. And what We don't often see as a result when we're sharing just highlight reels or when we're sharing these regs to riches or down in the dumps to hero story, we don't actually see the things that happened in between. And that for me, doesn't do us any service in my opinion because it all it does is create this expectation that, Oh, this person was here and then they went to here and I want that too.

But I don't actually know what it's going to take to get there. I don't know what it took that person to actually get there. I don't know how many sleepless nights that person had. I don't know what it took to I don't know how many failed attempts they had until they got there. Right. We hear some of those stories.

I think of Dyson cause Dyson shared [00:03:00] that, that story around, you know, how many failed prototypes and pitches Spanx shared sort of a similar story. But when it comes to the coaching space and the online course creator space. We rarely hear the in between. We rarely hear literally, in real time, obstacles CEOs face, right?

And I get it. We don't want to share these stories because what if we share them and then we don't look like the expert? What if we share them and then people have doubt in us because we're going through these obstacles and if we can't figure something out right now in this moment, then how can we expect them to support us?

And I want to share something with you. When I look for a mentor, a coach, I look for a mentor, a coach can navigate challenge. I look for a coach, a mentor that can navigate obstacles. I look for a coach that can sit in the discomfort of me bringing my discomforting feelings to the table and navigate that with calm groundedness.

Peace, intention, [00:04:00] possibility, right? I look for a coach that doesn't get rattled when I show up to the table going, okay, this isn't working, or this isn't going the way that I thought I was going to be. Like, what do we do now? Right? I look for coaches and mentors that are going to support me through the obstacles and challenges, not A kosher mentor that has this rag to riches story that miraculously got there in, you know, 60 days or 90 days or whatever.

I'm not looking for that. I want to look for somebody that's one going to be transparent with me about the challenges and obstacles they've faced, transparent about what they're going through in their business, the things they've had to navigate. Those are the people that I want to work with. And that's the type of mentor that I am when I show up.

When I show up to my people in Spellbound, I'm coming with that grounded, intentional energy, and I'm coming with it like, I can handle the obstacles. I can handle the discomforting feelings. Bring it. The more discomforting feelings you bring to the table, the more I'm going to lean in. I'm not going to [00:05:00] absorb them.

I'm not going to take them on as my own. It's not my responsibility necessarily to fix it, but I'm going to be there to support you. And that's what I look for in mentors as well. Um. I want to share with you this sort of example of something that happened in my business and the decision I made and why I made that decision.

And the decision that I made did not result in me making millions of dollars or having all these clients come through my door or anything like that. In fact, it highlighted a lot of really great things that I think will give you some perspective. And set a different tone when it comes to expectation of what's required in order to create success, specifically if you're in the online space, selling an online course, program, coaching, mentorship, uh, but this also will translate to product based business as well, right?

Not every idea, not everything I put out into the world. And that's what I want to share with you here [00:06:00] today because I think we can get so discouraged when we put something out and we don't get the response we wanted. And then we make a rash emotional decision and I want to support you in honoring that because I think those feelings are very valid.

But I also want to support you in going, here's how I would make my decision based on what I see and what I'm seeing. So for those of you that don't know, and those of you that do, um, I support soulful mentors, healers, practitioners, and coaches really articulate the value of what they do specifically when they're selling something that's not easily described or doesn't have that immediate visible transformation.

It's more so the invisible, right? It's somebody that's. selling the invisible, really put into words what you do. And I do that through a variety of different ways. Spellbound being one of my most prominent offers where I really work with you to do that, but then also build out a marketing system that's aligned for you that allows you to [00:07:00] attract clients consistently in your business.

And I also have some other beautiful offerings that are sort of the stepping stones into Spellbound. The Offer Architect and the Alchemy of Attraction, which are all like self study with some support baked in there with my eyes on some things, um, that really help you set the stage for your business.

They're like the foundation. I always say it starts and ends with an offer, right? If you don't know how to articulate the value of your offer, you're going to have a hard time selling anything. So the Offer Architect really walks you through. And then the Alchemy of Attraction's like, I've got this really great offer, but if people don't know about it, they're not going to buy it.

And so the Alchemy of Attraction is the thing that's designed to bring people into your world and create that awareness for what you do, why you do it, and the offering that you have. Spellbound is something that I'm uber passionate about and I've been running for a while now and I decided to launch some of these other options to create more accessibility, [00:08:00] right?

For people that maybe aren't ready for Spellbound but wanted to get their feet wet and start to build the foundations in their business. So those two offers were what I rolled out in the Fall. And what I've always wanted to do was to get those offers in the hands of more people because I know how challenging it is after working with hundreds of soulful mentors, healers and practitioners and being a highly intuitive person myself, I know how challenging it is to articulate what it is that you do, especially if some of what you do is just instinct knowing.

And so I want to get, wanted to get those offers in the hands of more people. And part of that was to build out a funnel to have people be able to see that at a greater capacity. And I was doing that via ads. So I decided I'm going to run some ads to a sales page and then have that be a funnel, so to speak, that I have set up.

I have a different marketing system and funnel [00:09:00] set up for Spellbound. Um, and that's a whole different topic of conversation. But what I wanted to share with you is, is that I decided to set up this funnel that went to my Offer Architect offer, right? So right now, the only place that you can buy it is on my website, and I don't spend a lot of time promoting it.

Okay. So the content that I put out on social and the podcast has really been designed to add a ton of value for people so that you could take what I'm sharing and sort of run with it in your own way, shape, or form. I don't spend a lot of time on these platforms, just sell, sell, buy, buy my thing, buy my thing, buy my thing.

It's not the energy that I bring into what I do. So my offers are on my website and people buy from them. regularly, right? Without me really having to promote them or anything like that. But I know that I could get the, them in the hands of more people. And that's really what my goal is to really support people in doing this.

And I'm really passionate about that. [00:10:00] So I decided, you know what, I'm going to run some ads to a sales page, um, and build out this funnel so that this can get into the hands of more people, specifically the offer architect. And so I started to do that. And what I realized very quickly after running ads for about a week was number one, that what we were seeing was the cost per result was far greater than what we were willing to pay and we wouldn't end up seeing a profit as a result.

We were going to have to spend a lot of money in order to see a result. And so for me, that wasn't a place that I wanted to be. And so there's a few different options. Obviously it's not a place I want to be. And I wouldn't recommend that for many business owners, right? Like you want your Add dollars to be profitable and things like that, right?

So we, I had a threshold and we had a threshold of what was doable and what was not, and what was going to turn a profit and what wasn't. Now, what I [00:11:00] decided to do was I decided to turn the ads off. And I want to share with you why, because I know that if you have been in my world for a while, you know, I talk about not making knee jerk reactions based on not seeing the results that you're getting.

So I decided to turn the ads off for the interim. And here's why I decided to do that. Number one is, is that in order to be able to truly scale this particular funnel, I was going to need to, very rapidly come up with new creative, new ad hooks, new angles, new copy, all of that sort of stuff. And I didn't realize that when I launched it, I didn't realize the capacity it was going to take to scale it.

And the capacity it was going to take to optimize the sales page, and so I was in it, I was in the thick of it, so I decided to turn the ads off, not because I was in this, what was me, they're not performing straight out of the gate, oh [00:12:00] my gosh, I suck, this is terrible, not at all, I was coming from the perspective of like, What is it going to take from me from a capacity perspective in order to make this really work?

And I want to say that again, because I think what ends up happening is, is that we don't see the results straight away. And therefore we make and draw the conclusion that what we've done is shitty or it doesn't work or people don't want it or whatever. And what I'm trying to show you here today is, is that these strategies do work, we just have to work them.

And, If I had the capacity right now to work it, I absolutely would. I just realized in the moment, energetically, client delivery, all the things going on in my company, what I'm, what I'm building and all of that. I just don't have the capacity in the moment to be creative, to come up with these ideas. and sort of creative ideas that I know I need to come up [00:13:00] with and then also the time and sort of energy to assess the data regularly and all those sorts of things to be able to make the tweaks necessary.

So I decided to turn the ads off after about a week of running them. Now, and like I said, I am somebody who is very much about not making knee jerk reactions. So, I don't want you to look at this and go, okay, my ads aren't performing after a week. I'm shutting them off. They didn't work. Now onto something different.

Not at all. And that's not my decision making process. And that's not what got me to make the decision. My decision to turn them off was the realization that I didn't have the capacity to do what was needed in order to make this strategy work. That doesn't mean that I won't do it. Put in the effort at some point.

It doesn't mean that everything that I've created is, is lost. And that was a waste of time. The ads that we had running, I was able to collect some really great data from, I could tell [00:14:00] why the sales page wasn't converting. I know the initial places I need to change in order to have that page convert to a level that.

I know will be profitable. I know what needs to be changed from an ad perspective because I can tell where people are clicking and why they're clicking and why they aren't clicking and what needs to be changed there from an ad perspective, copy, video, you name it. And I know that because I have the data and I'm sharing this with you because this is what the reality is when it comes to strategy.

Copywriting, Content Creation. And this is the thing that most people won't share, specifically copywriters, content creators, and marketers. And the reason they don't share this is because they don't want to be seen as, Oh my gosh, she doesn't know what she's doing, or he doesn't know what she, what he's doing.

Because if we showcase what actually happens in this process and what it takes to tweak and change [00:15:00] and navigate that, then somehow we're not an expert, right? In reality, I would way rather hire a coach or mentor that knows how to navigate the change, who knows how to read the data and optimize the information.

I would way rather hire somebody who knows how to do that because that's the reality. That is the reality. Every big business, every big entrepreneur, this is how they're operating behind the scenes, whether they're showcasing that or not to you. This is how they're making decisions based on the data, right?

Not an emotionally charged decision of what was me, this didn't work. I suck. The offer sucks. Everything sucks. I'm changing my idea now. No, it's, I'm looking at the data going, okay, it's not working for these reasons. And then I'm putting it into perspective of, Oh shit, I don't have the capacity to change, make the changes as rapidly as I know they need to be changed in order to start seeing results or at least results that I'm, I'm happy with.[00:16:00] 

And. Therefore, I'm going to turn these off for now because I can always turn them back on again. I, I'm going to turn them off for now until I have the capacity to really devote my energy and time to this particular marketing system. And that is the picture I want to paint for you. That is the reality and the expectation that I would love to invite you to step into in your business.

That putting something out for the first time, To a cold audience and people that don't even know you often won't perform right out of the gate. It's rare that there's this like home run winner, ad, creative, um, offer, you name it. What you're doing when you're putting something out into the world, what you're doing when you're, when you're, when you're creating a marketing system is You're putting it out there to get the feedback [00:17:00] necessary to refine and optimize it.

Here's the other thing that I want to share with you is, is that you could put out a marketing system, create a funnel, a marketing and sales funnel, however you want to do that, right? This can look a variety of different ways. I've shared this on many of the podcasts. This could be, um, you know, using search engine optimization to drive people to your website to then purchase off your website.

This could be running Google ads to something. This could be running Facebook ads. This could be organically promoting on LinkedIn. This could be running LinkedIn ads. There's a variety of different ways that you can create a marketing and sales funnel. It's about choosing one that works for you. But here's the thing about marketing and sales funnels is the fact that you can build one.

run it, get it to a point that it's working, and then all of a sudden out of nowhere you could say, Oh, wow, my audience has changed and they're not buying the same way or they're not consuming the content the same way. And then therefore what do I need to do in order [00:18:00] to, again, continually optimize it?

Something that people, again, are not sharing. This is happening all the time. We need to continually be optimizing and improving what it is that we're doing, adding different layers to it, more sophistication to it. And again, I want to hire mentors and I want to be the mentor that can navigate that, because, That is the real world and that is real business.

Audiences change all the time. Purchasing behaviors change all the time. And they do because of the market sophistication. The more sophisticated your market is, the more sophisticated you need to be in, in how you're marketing and selling. And this isn't from a manipulative place. This is about understanding your people and what it is that they want, right?

Are people watching masterclasses and consuming them to the length that they have before? Right? And do you know that? And every industry is different. So you have to know your people. I can't tell [00:19:00] you if it's going to work in X industry until we have the data to be able to show us and say, Oh yeah, okay.

People aren't consuming an hour and a half a day. Masterclass Anymore. But to just say that I don't do this, therefore my people don't do this is not the best way to approach it because we can lead with that. We can say, you know what? This isn't how I purchased, so I'm going to set it up this way. But then we have to get the feedback.

We have to get the feedback to really solidify that. What we've created and what we're doing is landing with our people. And that comes with the feedback that comes with people opting in, buying, you name it. So I wanted to paint this real life sort of picture for you about decisions that I am making in my company and how I go about making them and how I know That when I make those decisions, I'm making them from a data perspective, right?

So I'm not allowing my emotions to drive the show. Do I have intuitive [00:20:00] hits and thoughts and whatnot? Absolutely. I do. And I run with that, but I'm always looking for the data to sort of ground that in and go, yep, that was the right decision. Or I look for data to prove me wrong. I'll joke about that.

right? I joke about, I love when data proves me wrong, because it just goes to show that sometimes, no matter how grounded we are in our gut instinct, sometimes things that come up aren't exactly how things are. And so we're human and that's part of the human experience. And then the other reason I wanted to share this with you mainly is for expectation, because I see so many, you know, Entrepreneurs being discouraged with the fact that their offer isn't selling, or their message isn't landing, or you know, they feel like they're speaking to the void, or being friend zoned, and yet when we go in and look from a diagnosis perspective and look at the data, one, lots of times people don't even have the data.

Right? [00:21:00] They're just not seeing that response, but they don't know why it's happening. And for me, we have to understand why it's happening before we can make a decision on how to improve it, which is why if you don't have this and you're not making decisions from this place, then You're going to continue to throw spaghetti against the wall.

That's what's going to happen because every strategy works, right? It's just a matter of how you work it, but also your level of understanding of it, which is why I created Spellbound in the first place, right? I was uber passionate about not just helping people articulate their messaging and get it out there, but navigate the build out of a marketing system and then also truly know how that system works.

Or help somebody who has an offer, validated offer that's selling, but all of a sudden their marketing flatlined or stopped working and they can't figure out how, and they don't, and they're not sort of looking at how to optimize it from a funnel perspective, from a data [00:22:00] perspective. So, that's what we're doing.

that's, those are the two reasons I created Spellbound because I saw nothing like it in the industry, right? A lot of things that are taught are taught from this perspective of like, here's how you do messaging, and here's how you do offer articulation, and here's how you, you know, create the funnel. But rarely do you have a, a coach or a mentor that's going to go, okay, you've got the funnel, it's working, you're seeing results, but you either want to create more and you're not sure how to do that.

and what sophisticated way to do that. You're not sure how to do that. Or you flatlined in your marketing and you can't figure out why that's happened. And you need somebody to sort of reflect that back to you. I have a mentor that does that with me, right? Just because I'm an expert in what I do doesn't mean that I don't have sounding boards.

Doesn't mean I don't have somebody that I can just bounce this off of. And I did. I shared a voice note with this particular person. I said to her, I said, This is what I'm doing and this is why I'm doing it. I'm turning off the ads [00:23:00] because I don't have the capacity right now that I know is needed in order to make this funnel work.

I'm prepared to revisit that when I have more space freed up and. This is another big thing and decision making process that I want to invite you to step into. You know, five years ago, I would have pushed through and I would have grinded and I would have worked every weekend and I would have made it happen.

And then I would have been burnt out on the back end and I would have hated every minute of it. And I know now what my threshold is from a space perspective. How much space do I need to have in my day and my life in order to show up? And Be The Best For My Clients That I'm Currently Serving. And that to me is my threshold.

What do I need to do to serve the people that are in my world right now, first and foremost? And obviously serve myself, right? Like, how do I need to take care of myself in order to thrive, first and foremost? And then, if I have anything left over, what capacity do [00:24:00] I have and what, where can I put my attention?

And I know that this particular funnel was going to spill me over into a place that I didn't want to be in from an energetic perspective, but also from a creative perspective and well being perspective. And so I wasn't going there. Five years ago, I would have absolutely went there and pushed myself to the brink of a burnout, but I wasn't going to do that.

And so that's my journey. the decision making process that I entered into. And that particular person came back to me and was like, this is a brilliant leadership decision. I'm so glad you decided to make that because it's absolutely the best decision for you, right? Like, we don't want to create from a place that feels depleting and where you don't actually have the time to do it.

And you're kind of rushing through it, right? We don't want to do that. But secondly, the data showing us that you need to make these changes rapidly. in order for us to see how this is going to work. And so if you're not able to do that, then it's [00:25:00] best now to just pause it. And I want to say I paused it because I know at some point I'm going to revisit this when I have more capacity to be able to do that.

So this is how I navigate my decision making process in my business. Um, and how I know when It is the right time to move and when it's not the right time to move, right? Obviously, yes, I let my intuition guide the way, but sometimes my intuition gets really excited. It's like, yeah, let's do the thing. And then you get into it and you're like, oh, shit, this is a hell of a lot more work than I anticipated it to be, right?

Which is also okay. And I think that's a big piece of this, right? Is to get into the thick of something and go, oh, shit, I realized that this is a lot more than I anticipated. And so. What do I do now? Right? Where do I go from here? And I think that's another big thing that I think is really valuable to unpack for yourself because let's just say you get into something and you [00:26:00] decide it's, it's, Too much work in that very moment.

Can you then extend it? I think we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to get something done in the time frame we said we would, and if we don't, then therefore somehow we're not committed enough or ambitious enough or whatever, right? Right? And. Our own unique path and journey and our own plate of capacity is our own.

Nobody else can tell us like, Oh, well, you just need to grind it out or, Oh, we just need to do this and get it out there. Right? My particular mentors like, I'm glad you paused it. I'm glad you turned it off because I know myself better than anybody else. And I know what's possible for me. I also know that if I'm trying to create content from a place of forced energy and sort of that depletion.

That is never going to land and that is never going to resonate with people because I'm going to be tired in that, right? And I talk a lot about the nonverbal and that embodiment of the message and me walking my talk is that decision that I decided to make. That is me literally walking my [00:27:00] talk, because that's what I will say to clients, right?

It's like, can we extend the deadline that you've given yourself? Can we give yourself a little bit of grace? Can we just re evaluate then what, where do we go from here? And what possibilities can we still create from this place? If, if this is taking longer than you thought, that's okay. That is okay. And I hear this so often from people, right?

It is that, oh my gosh, I can't believe how long this is taking me. And I think to myself, yeah, I hear you because I will sometimes say that to myself as well, right? But then I think, but what's the rush? And I get it. We want the thing. We want the thing so badly. We absolutely do. You know, I want this funnel to work, right?

Because I want to get these beautiful offerings in the hands of more people. I want it to work more than anybody because I want it to work. in the hands of more people. But I also know that the particular price point that these offerings are at is absolutely [00:28:00] freaking ridiculous. They're like the two foundational things you need in your business.

Literally, you have an offer that can sell, you're off to the freaking races. You know what I mean? It doesn't matter how big your following is. It doesn't matter what your website looks like. Doesn't matter of any of that. If you have an offer that sells, people are going to buy it. And then if you know how to get that into the hands of more people, then more people are going to buy it.

And so to me, those two foundational offerings are like insanely priced for what you're actually getting in it. And for those reasons, I'm equally passionate about getting it out there to people. And so I want this to work not from a like, Oh, I can't wait to make more money, but more from a place of I can't wait to create more of an impact.

Right? I'm willing to invest money into ads to get this in the hands of more people, which means if I'm spending money, I'm not making that full profit off of whether, if they're just sitting on my website at full price, right? That organic podcast. Thank you. [00:29:00] sale doesn't cost the same as a, as a paid ad sale.

And so, but that doesn't matter. I'm willing to invest the money to get that out there for people because I'm so passionate about supporting in this capacity. And so I want this as much as anything else. And yet I'm going, okay, I can just pause. I would rather create from a place of nourishment and creativity and inspiration and just feeling like my cup is full than trying to squeeze this in, in a way that I didn't expect myself when I got into it.

So I really hope that this sort of picture and what I've shared with you today and some of my decision making can set the tone for expectation of what it takes to actually create success when it comes to your marketing. You're messaging, you're off articulation, and that, you know, it's not a one and done thing.

It's a living, breathing entity. And that even [00:30:00] though you can have something that's working for months, years, and all of a sudden you start to see a change, maybe a dip in sales, maybe a dip in, you know, um, people coming into your world, maybe an increased cost and ad spend. Who knows? But maybe you're starting to see that.

And you're seeing that happen and you're wondering, Oh gosh, is my business falling apart? Is, you know, everything going to go to shit. And I would love to invite you to go, this is just an opportunity for you to start to look at different ways that you can reach people, start to look at more creative ways that you can get what you do in front of more people, rather than sit in that like really dense energy of like, Oh man, this isn't working.

You know, because when we're in that really heavy energy, and I've been there, trust me, we're in that heavy energy, it's really hard to see clearly and creatively where we need to go and want to go, because we're so consumed with the worry, the doubt, [00:31:00] the fear, and all of that, and I'm not saying we don't want to feel those feelings and be there, but it's how quickly we can navigate out of that, how quickly we can go, yeah, okay, I see it, I feel it, Got it.

But then what do I need to do now in order to make a decision that's going to move me and my business forward in some capacity? And then the other big one is, is that, you know, honoring your energy, your space, your time, and what, what do you need and setting those boundaries of like, what do you need and what capacity do you have in order to create the success you want and what are you willing to kind of do to do that?

And everybody's different. Nobody knows this better than you. And so. If things feel like they're taking longer than you thought, give yourself some grace. Don't sit there and inner critic yourself to death about why, you know, why things aren't working and you're shitty and things are shitty and all that sort of stuff.

Like, give yourself some grace and then ask yourself, what's the rush, right? I know we live in a really rapid, uh, And I know we [00:32:00] live in a environment that's constantly putting things in front of us that, you know, things are happening in 2. 5 seconds. You know, I made a million dollars in, you know, three days or whatever.

I know those messages can get tiring. And I know they can get really frustrating and triggering for lots when it's like, well, how is that person making that much money? in the shortest amount of time possible. And I've been like grinding at this for six months, and I still am not seeing results, or I've been doing this for a year, and I feel like it's, not happening for me.

I want you to know that, you know, there, there is possibility here. It's just a matter of working that and really getting intentional about what you're tweaking, why you're tweaking it, and how you're tweaking it. And you're doing that based off of data first and foremost, and it's not coming from the perspective of this emotionally charged decision.

So if you've been grinding for a year and that year has been mostly throwing spaghetti, give yourself a big hug. [00:33:00] Um, And, and a part of this is going to be learning to sort of like release and forgive and go, Okay, this is, this happened. I need to release this and let this go. Because holding on to, Oh my gosh, if I just would have known I would be way further ahead.

That's cool. Yes. But that's not going to support you in taking that next step forward. That's just going to keep you in the shame, the guilt, and all of that. And I know that can come when we want something really badly. And so I'm at, so I'm inviting you to really pay attention to how you talk to yourself, pay attention to what you're saying and how you're and how that's making you feel.

And then I invite you to give yourself some grace, right? Because what we don't know, we don't know. So we might invest in a coach or a mentor and we might have realized, Oh, wow, I never should have been in that space in the first place. I wasn't quite ready for that investment or Oh, shit, I invested in this program [00:34:00] and I didn't have the capacity to actually show up and do the work.

I've done that, right? In my early days, I remember investing in an experience and I was at my brick and mortar and the level of commitment that was required of me and the level of capacity that I had. Didn't match similar to this story I'm telling you right now about what's happening in my current reality.

Right. Um, which again, I think that's just how I'm wired. Sometimes I need to get into it. That's, I think that might be a mangen thing or it's just in my DNA is I have to get into it in order to experience it. in order to realize, is this for me? Is this not for me? And that can be a hard place to be, right?

That can be a hard place because it's like, when am I going to learn my lesson? And I don't actually even look at it that way. Because again, like I said, this particular decision I made, I've got a ton of data and information, and I know exactly what I need to do to move forward. It's just not right now in this moment.

And that is okay, right? When I invested [00:35:00] in that particular program where I couldn't show up the way that I know I needed to in order to get the results and whatnot, that was a lesson, right? Was everything lost in that moment? No, because I still have lifetime access to the curriculum. I still, I still actually go into that curriculum sometimes just to see what the updates are.

So I still have the ability to tap into that, right? But I also learned. A lot about myself in that moment. And so I always look at my investments like there's nothing lost or regretful or anything like that, right? If I carry resentment towards somebody or blame towards somebody, like, how is that serving me in any capacity?

It's not, right? And so it's about releasing any resentment or blame that you might have towards somebody because that's not going to get you where you want to go. I promise you that. Like living in that resentment is not, but living in that, that guilt and shame isn't either. And I get, I get the feelings, I really do.

Um, but I'm [00:36:00] inviting you to step forward in a different capacity here. So I really hope that this has helped you. give you a sneak peek behind the scenes of like, what's going on in my world. Um, and also share with you a story that isn't a regs to riches or, oh my gosh, I built the thing and now I'm uber successful or whatnot.

Because like I said, I feel like this story, this nuance of a story is far more common than we hear about. And I want to change that for the industry. I want to change that to. Help, support, I think more than anything, release the shame, the guilt, the inner critic that can go on as a result of us thinking that we aren't doing enough, that we aren't enough, we're not showing up enough, um, and I get, I can get caught up in this as well, but I want to, you know, share my own, thought process, decision making, all of that behind the scenes as much as I can in the moment in real time so that you can see what's actually going on.

[00:37:00] Not, I finally built the thing and it worked. You know, when I was working in academia, I remember a lot of researchers said like, we could probably have a cure for cancer by now if all of us talked about all of our failures, you know, rather than just publishing all of the works that. We're successful, because what are we learning from just the success stories?

What are we learning from that published piece of material? And when all of the failures and the things that didn't work and all of that are sort of getting lost because they're not shared? And I don't want it. Be The Sought After Entrepreneur and creatively owned and what I stand for to be that to just reflect the positive, you know, wins.

I want to share that and celebrate that. Absolutely. But I think we get a lot of benefit from seeing what's happening in the in between. I think we get a lot of benefit from seeing how CEOs and business owners and founders are making decisions in real time. that don't amount to this big money win or this big success, right?[00:38:00] 

I think those are great, don't get me wrong. Let's celebrate the shit out of those. But also let's celebrate the CEO that got really grounded in and navigated a really tough frickin obstacle. Let's, let's celebrate. Let's celebrate the CEOs that do that. Let's celebrate the CEOs that operate in the utmost integrity and transparency.

Let's celebrate the shit out of them. You know, um, let's celebrate that. And let's share more of that. Let's share more real time, real decisions. in the moment decisions and why we made those decisions. Let's share more of that. And I think regardless of the industry that you're in, I think that's just going to make the world that you're in that much better because it's going to be more real and more authentic and more down to earth and more grounded.

And so. I just want to leave you with that and I hope you're having a fab day wherever you are. And if this episode has been any benefit to you at all, or if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out over at Creatively Owned on [00:39:00] Instagram. I'm in my DMs, I love hearing from you and I'm there to answer any questions that you have.

Cheers. Thanks for listening. We'll see you right back here next time. You can also find us on social media at CreativelyOwned and online at CreativelyOwned. com. Until next time, keep showing up as your authentic self.