In this episode: Olivia Austin shares how to price your creative business like a studio instead of a freelancer, follow the pivot even when everyone thinks you're crazy, and build a business around the life you actually want.

Olivia is the founder of Current Design Studio, co-founder of The Studio Co, and host of the Behind the Design podcast. She walks us through the messy middle of entrepreneurship: quitting her marketing job at 24, scaling her agency to $20K projects, and the data-driven pricing shifts that helped her clients more than double their revenue without a single new lead.

We also get into the bigger pivot: relocating her family to North Carolina against everyone's advice, training for a marathon at 4:30 a.m. while her two little kids are still asleep, and what it actually looks like to trust the quiet nudge that won't leave your brain... even when the current version of your life is "good enough." If you're feeling stuck in a business or a life that technically works but doesn't feel like yours, this one's for you.

Key takeaways:

• How to price your services like a studio owner instead of a freelancer — and why the subtle shift in positioning, not undercharging, is what unlocks premium clients
• The data-driven audit to run on your offer suite and lead sources before you "post more on Instagram," start a podcast, or add another funnel
• Why the quiet nudge that won't leave your brain — the move, the pivot, the new offer — is data in itself, and worth following even when every person around you disagrees
• How to make decisions from your next-level self, using Olivia's favorite reframe: goals aren't a place to get to, they're a place to come from
• What it actually looks like to build a business (and train for a marathon) around a full life with two little kids — not the other way around

Connect with Olivia Austin:

• Follow Olivia on Instagram @byoliviaaustin
• Explore Current Design Studio at currentdesignstudio.com
• Learn about The Studio Co and their masterminds and courses for brand and website designers
• Listen to her podcast: Behind the Design

Connect with Teresa

• Join the Becoming Obsessed Playground weekly email for curiosity-led women building a life they love.
• Instagram: @becomingobsessedpod + @teresaajean
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts — it's the biggest thank-you, and it helps ambitious women find the show
• Website: teresaajean.com

On this episode we cover: pricing for creatives, data-driven business decisions, women entrepreneurs, female founders, pivoting in business, intuition-led decisions, curiosity-led living, personal growth podcast for ambitious women

Mentioned in this episode:

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Foreign. It comes down to it, like, still to this day, like, I want freedom. I want freedom to travel. I want freedom to create.

I want freedom to make as much money as I want to make. I just don't want anyone telling me what to do. And I'm a manifester in human design. I'm an Aries, the oldest daughter. I'm the first grandchild.

I am, like, all of those things where I'm like, literally, like, oh, that's a law. Like, the exception. I was looking around at my job and I just was like, this is just not for me. Like, I cannot do this for 30 or 40 years.

Welcome to Becoming Obsessed, where curiosity leads you to a life you love.

I'm Teresa Stasney, and after over a decade of traveling the world, working with small business owners, and creating a couple of businesses of my own, I know a thing or two about playing by your own rules. It's not always easy, and it's often messy. It can be hard, especially. Especially if you're doing it alone.

I've seen way too many incredible women shoot for the stars only to burn out along the way. Or worse, live on default and never chase their dreams. We're done with all of that.

Together we're gonna challenge what keeps us stuck and figure out what it takes to live a life we truly love.

I was scrolling Instagram and came across a reel that said, unfortunately, the more time you spend with me, the harder it will become to ignore the life you're meant for. And I immediately was like, yes, this is the ethos. This is so much what this podcast is about. That's what I hope to be.

And so I had to have the author of that quote, come on, Olivia, I'm so excited to have you on.

Olivia Austin is a brand strategist, designer, and business mentor who is obsessed with obsessed with helping ambitious entrepreneurs create businesses that support their dream lives. You can see why I love her already.

Hi. Thank you so much for having me.

And I should also mention, you are the host of your own podcast, behind the Design.

Yes, I have my two companies, Current and the Studio co, and then I host my own podcast, behind the Design.

Well, walk me through a little bit of your journey of creating Current Design Studio and then kind of expanding it to not just help one on one, but to help other designers and the podcast. How did you get Here, Olivia.

Oh my gosh.

It's hard to not go all the way back, but I think I had a very similar upbringing as a lot of people in the US like, we are told to go to college and after you graduate, get a good job. And I did all those things. Like, I was an athlete in college. I went to undergrad.

After undergrad, I moved out to California all by myself because I just wanted to live by the beach. I was like, get me to the beach. I will literally do anything if I can to live there.

And I got a job in marketing and I worked in the marketing department as a graphic designer. And it was great. But like, after a year I was like, what? No, this is what everyone's talking about. Like, this is the dream.

Like, I just did not want that. I really. And like, when it comes down to it, like, still to this day, like, I want freedom. I want freedom to travel, I want freedom to create.

I want freedom to make as much money as I want to make. Like, I just don't want anyone telling me what to do. And I'm a manifester in human design. I'm an Aries.

I'm the oldest daughter and the first grandchild. Like, I am like all of those things where I'm like, literally like, oh, that's a law. Like, I'm the exception.

So I just was like, I was looking around at my job and I just was like, this is just not for me. Like, I cannot do this for 30 or 40 years. And originally I was thinking like, okay, maybe it's just this job.

Maybe I need to like, find something else I'm more passionate about or my purpose or whatever that is. But as I searched for other jobs, I just still wasn't finding anything.

And just with, in like in my agency job, I had been working with free freelancers and I met this video editor and he's like going to the beach, you know, at 12pm he's like traveling the world. And then like, I met this other graphic designer who we commissioned and like her invoice was like my three month salary.

And I was like, what's going on? And I had never like, met an entrepreneur. No one in my family is an entrepreneur.

I didn't even know that being a business owner was like a career path.

Like, I just had no idea until I was like out west and like all these people did like gap years and like, like I was introduced to just like a totally different way of life, which I loved. Like, that's why I wanted to go out there. In the first place. And so I really just was like, doing a lot of soul searching.

And like, I was like 23 and I was like, what's my purpose? Like, looking back, I'm like, girl, just drink your mimosas. Like, don't worry about it. But I just very much like, what is my purpose?

And so out of, like, not desperation, but just out of, like, kind of being, like, lost a little bit, I was doing yoga. And they were like, we're doing a yoga teacher training. Like, do you want to do it? And I was like, yes, that's what I need.

I need to, like, deepen my spirituality. I need to like, go in, like, whatever. And I had no intention of teaching. It was truly just self development.

And I think the course was like, $2,000 is the most I had ever spent on, like, literally anything.

Like, mind you, I was making like $40,000 a year, spending all of my money on, like, traveling and bottomless mimosas and like my bike and like, the things that 23 year olds spend money on. So, like, this $2,000, I was like, this is like, huge investment. And it was one of those teacher trainings that was like, very intensive.

It was every single weekend and every Wednesday for like three months. So I was like in it, in this yoga bubble, basically. And through that, I just was like, I have to quit my job. I don't know what I'm going to do.

I don't know anything, but I'm just gonna quit. So I literally woke up one day and quit my job. Now I'm not on here to like, condone that.

Like, now, right now I have a husband, I have a house, I have two kids. Like, I would never do that. But I was in a position where I like, you know, had some money saved up, where I just was like, I'm gonna quit.

And that was really the catalyst of everything. Like, I knew that I wanted to do graphic design. So I started out as like a graphic designer for everyone and everything.

And turned into, like, really finding out that I was really good at, like, brand strategy and, like, seeing the big vision and brand design. And after like three years, I had scaled my agency to a team of five. We were working with like 70 clients a year. And it was really fun.

I had such a good time. I was like, this is everything that I wanted. I was traveling the world. I think I've gone to, like, at this point, like, over 30 countries.

And I was like, I've learned so much from scaling my agency from, like, literally nothing to this sought after agency. And I really, I've always had a passion for teaching and just again, like, teaching people to live life to the fullest.

Like, moving out to California, not knowing a single person. Like, I met my roommate on Craigslist. And then to starting my design studio with no experience to, like, doing all of these things.

It's always been like a gut instinct and, like, intuition to follow. And I was like, I know all of these things, like, I should be teaching them.

Well, I'm on my ninth year, she's on her 10th year of business, and so we bring a lot to the table for designers. But I would say, like, every step of the way is just kind of been like a natural pivot and there's more that I can go into and that as well.

Like, Now I have two little kids, I've completely pivoted my agency. I work 30 hours a week running the two businesses, and we're on another pivot right now.

So really just following the intuition and, like, the way that my life is going and, like, that's the beauty of entrepreneurship.

Definitely. You said something in there too, of like, being 23 and being like, what is my life's purpose?

And it reminded me, I sat down, this is probably a year ago now, but I got coffee with a 22 year old, like, fresh out of college, and she was so concerned with, like, now I have to figure it out.

And I was like, no, no, no, girl, your 20s, you, like, live them.

And do enough things that at 30, you're starting to be like, oh, okay, maybe I see who I am a little bit. And I, like, have figured a little bit out.

But especially through this podcast, talking to so many people, it's like, but maybe you figure out a little bit of who you are, but you don't figure out, like, what you're gonna do for the rest of your life. Like you said, you only find that when you're like, okay, here's the intuition, here's the next pivot.

Like, here's the next level that life is taking me.

Yeah, exactly. Like, you have to live it in order to experience it and then dissect it and go out and like, do whatever that means.

Yeah.

This is one of the things that I always get very curious about is do you remember kind of going from like, okay, I'm doing design to wait, I understand like how to make it very strategic and then to okay, but now I understand the systems behind building a business that works for me. Do you remember what some of those first key like level ups were for you?

Where you like realized or you looks back and you're like, oh, this is the way to make it work?

Yeah, that's such a good question.

Like, and I'm having a flashback of sitting in my like 500 square foot beach bungalow and negotiating with a client who was like, I don't know, she wanted, you know, a cheap logo. And I was like, no, these are my prices. This is the result that I'm delivering.

And like, I had no idea what I was talking about, but I just was like, I'm not doing this if you're not going to pay me what I want to be paid.

But I think like that is like, unfortunately, sometimes, especially with creatives, like, we sort of like reach that rock bottom or like that burnout. And that's like our threshold. It's like, okay, I'm done, like line in the sand.

And for a lot of people it gets that way before you actually like make that decision to level up or even notice like that you're undercharging or that like, I think a lot of creatives are in that like feast or famine cycle because it's that like age old starving artists kind of thing. Freelancer, like you're constant trying to get the next client and get paid and all of that stuff.

But I think the biggest shift for me was when I started operating like a studio owner and like an agency owner versus a freelancer versus there's that like very subtle shift that changes everything where you go from the client doing you a favor by giving you work to the client needing you in order to scale their business.

And I realized like pretty early on that if I didn't have proper positioning, if I didn't have an offer suite to present to the client with pricing, they were going to tell me what to do, where I needed to tell them what I was going to do for them. And that really did make a giant impact.

Another thing is I went from using my name to an actual design studio and that was so intentional for me because I wanted $30,000 projects. I never was starting to like, play small. Like, I wanted a million dollar agency.

I wanted to be the creative director of a sought after design studio and like I was going to work with those big projects and I knew like, that's what I wanted and I took all the steps to get there. When I first started, like, I was charging a thousand dollars for a website and now we're charging upwards of 20,000. But I didn't go there overnight.

I'll never forget, like the first 3, 500 invoice that I sent, I was like, oh my gosh, like, this would be crazy. And then I think she paid in full. And I was like, oh, wow. Like this is unbelievable. And then from there I went to 5,000 and 8,000.

And I think another thing too, there's like a common misconception of like, okay, I did my offer suite, my systems, like, everything's good to go, like, done, Like, I never have to touch this again. And in reality, like, you need to be making data driven decisions in your business. Like, you need to see where the data is going.

We used to do all these different types of websites or like different types of branding.

When I'm looking at like quarterly reviews, monthly reviews, and I'm seeing that clients are only choosing this payment plan and they're only choosing this type of package, it's like, well, why would we even waste our time with anything else when this is what's one delivering results and is extremely profitable?

So I think that's another thing is like we're always as online business owners, sometimes we're like trying all of these different things when the data is actually showing us the direction that we need to go.

Yes, it does. And I want to dig into it further.

I know I said this to you, Olivia, before we hit record, but I feel like we've been hanging out all day because I've just been binging your podcast.

But one of your episodes you were talking about like needing to know your numbers, which is so important and I think is so like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I gotta look at my numbers. But what I loved about the way you did your podcast is you dug into like, here is where you actually need to look and why.

And it's not whatever Instagram is saying, it's not your Google report of like how many website hits you're getting. And so I'm curious.

I know coaching and like everybody's business is a little bit different, but where do people go to start if they're like, you know why? I track some data? But I don't feel like I'm making data driven decisions. Where does somebody start with that?

How can they kind of tap in to be more data driven?

Yeah, I honestly think that people just like, don't even look or like, research. Okay, so I have a coaching client right now and we're chatting, like, before she signs on with me. And she's like, no, I don't think I need a mentor.

I think I need, like a marketing coach. She was going to take like a marketing course or something. And I was like, what is your biggest challenge right now?

And she's like, my biggest challenge is getting clients. I need inquiries. And so I was asking questions like, where are your clients coming from? What type of content are you currently creating?

When you create that type of content, does it get you any leads? Like, all this stuff? And she knew literally zero of the answer to those questions. And I think that's so common because I know I was in the same boat.

Like, when you want to get more clients, you're like, I'll just post on Instagram, I'll start a podcast. I'm going to send out more emails. I'm going to use Pinterest. It's like, you need to look at the data. Where are your top clients coming from?

And a lot of people will say referrals, but maybe they're not their top clients. Those are just where clients are coming from.

For a lot of creatives, they're doing all of the things or they're just like, posting on Instagram, just to post on Instagram because they think, like, that's going to be helpful. When you can look at your clients and say, like, my top client, she came from Pinterest. Okay, then you need to be focusing on Pinterest.

Who cares about Instagram? We have a girl in our mastermind right now. She was like, I think I need to start working on organic Instagram content. I'm like, okay, why? Like, why?

Oh, because everyone else is on there. I'm like, where do your top clients from? Everyone comes from Pinterest. It's like, literally, forget about Instagram.

You could delete it if you want to. Like, it doesn't matter. She's doing multiple six figures a year on Pinterest, which is such an easy thing to do.

So I think all that to say to answer your question, like, it depends on what your goals are. But if your goal is to get more clients, look at where your top clients are coming from. Backtrack those referrals to that very first client referral.

And then another really important set of numbers is looking at your offer suite and your pricing. I literally just did this with another coaching client.

She more than doubled her revenue by just updating her pricing for her, like, recurring clients. She was making like, I don't know, like anywhere between like 8 and 12k a month.

And now she's doing like 27 because from no new clients, just from looking at her offer suite and fixing her pricing. So you need to know, like, how long things are taking you, what your hourly rate is. What's your hourly rate based on your goals.

So, like, let's say Your goal is $200,000 a year and you want to work 30 hours a week, 48 weeks a year, because you want to take a month off. What does that equal of your hourly rate? And then that should be like, you're just like, very, very, very bottom line.

And then usually there's a markup from there on the offer suite. And then if you have a team, then you need to like, continue to price accordingly.

But, like, I bet you half the people listening here don't know that. So, like, if you're listening to this and you're like, what is this girl talking about? Just go look at your offer suite and your pricing.

Not based on competitors, not based on what other people are doing, not based on what you did last year, what your current clients are paying you, but like, what your goals are and then that's where you could start.

Yeah, I love that. And I'll add to it that if you don't know, like, I don't know how many hours I'm working, like, a good place is just like, okay, what?

How many hours were you working? I have had some type of business for a decade now, and every single day I clock in and clock out of every.

If I'm shifting tasks, I'm clocking in and clocking out on a thing called toggle. And it's so easy, I just hit play and hit stop so I can track where my time is going.

So I have that data again to go back in edit and audit and refine. And I want to almost like sum up or replay what you are saying, Olivia.

Because one thing that I just like took from this is when we think we should do something, so often it is because somebody else is doing it, because everybody else is doing it. And so when you feel like you should do something, I'm always like, shed your shoulds. Find the one thing that works for you.

But it's like, okay, how if you feel like you should do something, see if you can find the data to back it up. Like, ask yourself why you feel like you should do that.

And like, you were saying, okay, Pinterest or Instagram, if you're deciding where to spend more time, realistically, you can't do everything. And so look at your data just in those places to see if you can find data to back up why you feel like you should do something.

And to be honest with yourself, if it's just because everybody else is doing it or like, you should do it.

Yeah. Or you're feeling, like, guilty or like, you have fomo. And I think it really, really, really at the root of it is, what do you want?

What type of life do you want? And then, like you said, build the business around that.

That should be always the backup decision maker of every single thing that you're doing in your business.

Another thing that's coming up for me too is so often we talk about, like, building a business that works for you, and that doesn't mean doing it alone or from scratch.

Like, I think of it as, like, find somebody else, like Olivia, who is where you want to be and get, like, 80% of the way there on learning from somebody else's method, who's been there, who's gone through the challenges. And then it's like, that 20% is where you really. Okay, how does it work for me?

How do I, like, reframe this or build it for my life instead of, like, having to just do it from scratch?

Exactly. And, like, I think we all like to think that we're, like, special and creative and, like, we have all these different ideas, which we absolutely are.

Like, I'm not going to tell you. You're not. But why overcomplicate it when someone else has done it?

That's how I got to where I was very quickly because I did invest in, like, courses, masterminds, coaching, because I just wanted to get there and, like, I was following mentors that had done it before me. So it's just you're collapsing time, and why over complicate it when, like, somebody else has done it?

Yeah. The blueprint exists.

Yeah.

Okay. I want to talk about your podcast.

Like I said, I was binging it all morning, and I had actually listened to it a little bit before, and I listened to an episode from January where you were talking about. You had kind of hit.

Paused, and you were resetting, starting it, relaunching it in a way, and you walked through that and actually, like, new episodes of Becoming Obsessed start probably this month, in the next few weeks, because I've taken a hiatus since, like, Q4 of last year. And so I loved the way you show up, very honest in bringing people on their journey with you.

And you talked about going from, like, okay, it was so much about business strategy, but you were starting to feel a little bit. I don't know if you said, like, burnt out on. You had said the same thing so many times.

And I think sometimes we can get stuck in, like, the cage of our own making where it's like, do we have to stay there?

So I want to just hear your take on, like, hitting pause, reevaluating and allowing yourself to take that next evolution even though you had already built something great.

Yeah, I'm in such a massive, massive pivot of my life right now, and I just know this time next year, I'm going to be like, holy cow. Like, that was a crazy time of my life. But, like, look where I am now.

And I think it goes to, like, one of my favorite quotes is, holds the vision, trust the process. And, like, I've always had this vision of my life and this through line.

And like I was saying in the beginning, like, my through line in everything that I do, whether it's through the agency, through the studio, co, through my podcast, is to help others live their life to the fullest. When it comes down to it, like, we get one life to live. That's it. And you have to be messy about it. You have to be a little bit chaotic.

Like, any of my friends and family would be, like, I don't even know what goes on in that girl's head. Like, just crazy. But I've experienced life and, like, I'm also not afraid. Actually, I shouldn't say that. I am afraid to.

Especially when you, like, have something that works. Like, right now, we're in the middle of relocating our house, and, like, we live somewhere that's fine.

We have a beautiful home, we have some friends, we live near family. And, like, we're moving because we don't want to settle. Like, this is not our vision of life.

We know that relocating is going to open up doors for us that we never saw possible. Are we afraid? Yes. Literally every single person that we know is, like, we don't agree with this.

Literally everyone thinks that we're absolutely insane and we're doing it anyway, even though we're scared. Same thing with starting a business. Like, when I started my business, like, everyone thought I was crazy.

You Have a stable job, like, like, you're only 24, blah, blah, blah. Like, that's not a good idea. It's like, this is like my true path. This is just like what I know in my gut to be true.

And then same thing with the studio co and like bringing on a co founder.

And then there's a few things that we're doing with current right now that are gonna, like, shake up the industry and just totally pivot from where we are now. So all that to say is, like, that has always been very true in my nature to pivot when things don't feel right.

Like, I'm very emotional and intu which it has its pros and cons and I'm still in this evolution. So I talked about that in January.

But the reality is, is, like, a lot of my podcast right now is very strategic in training because we have a launch for our course in April and I gotta do what I gotta do. And even though I want behind the design eventually to be more like overall high performance habits and mindset, like, now's not the time for that.

And that's also like an important, like, muscle to flex and like, practice as an entrepreneur is like, I had to learn this early on is like, you can't do everything all at once. Like, you have to pick and choose. And right now it's not the time to like, totally overhaul my podcast, even though that's what I really want to do.

But I am sprinkling things in there. But I think, again, is like going back to holding the vision and trusting the process.

Like, you want to have your life vision and what your vision is for your life. And you don't need to know the how, how you're going to get there.

You just need to know that the steps that you're taking are in alignment with what that goal is.

I think another one of my favorite quotes that I heard, like, pretty recently, like within the last year or so, is goals are not a place to get to, they're a place to come from.

So if you're making the decision as your higher self or your next level self or whatever you want to call it, that's going to completely change the trajectory. Because it's very easy to just like, oh, this is working. Like, why would I stop this?

But, like, you know, in your heart, if you have something that's speaking to you on a daily basis that will not leave your brain, it's there for a reason. Like, nobody else is thinking about that thing. Nobody else is thinking about relocating, packing up their entire house and moving to North Carolina.

No, that's your dream. And that's like, what you want to do.

Like, you're not thinking about that or starting a business or starting a side hustle or leaving your corporate job or whatever. It's in your heart for a reason.

And, like, you could stay in your lane, which is what I would say 70% of the world does, or you can see what's on the other side of your comfort zone and do the.

Thing when you're listening right now. If you take one thing away from this episode with Olivia, I want it to be if something is in your head and it will not leave.

And I'll go as far as to say often you'll actually decide against it. You'll be like, I'm not going to do that. And then somehow the next day, it feels like you never made a decision.

You're probably choosing the wrong option and listen to it and follow that.

What if?

And that to me is like, where the juiciest, like, honestly, sometimes hardest parts of life come from. But they're so beautiful and that's where you can feel so alive.

Yeah. You can change your mind.

Like, even if you started a business nine years ago, 10 years ago, and you've outgrown it, like, it's okay, like, you can try something else. That's my own advice that I need to take.

But, like, if you hear, like, other entrepreneurs that have been entrepreneurs for 20 years, 30 years, like, they've started like 10 businesses, and you're like, oh, my God, I'm, like, holding on for dear life over here, like, for no reason, because for what? My own ego or worrying about other people, like, that's a really big thing. So I think, yeah, like, it's there for a reason.

And your worst case scenario is, like, you can go back to, like, if it's terrible, like, and you hate whatever new venture you're doing, like, you can go back.

Yeah, okay. I'm gonna veer a little bit from business to life because like you said, you're going through this move.

Everyone around you is looking at you like you're crazy. You have two little ones. And something I also talk about on becoming obsessed a lot is community.

And something my partner and I talk about a lot is he has a 19 year old who's in college now, but we always talk about maybe moving. And then it's like, okay, but if we have kids, it'd be so nice to be around family.

And so I'm very interested because you said you're around family and now you're moving away from family. Even with the little one. There's not a real question here.

I'm just very like, I love that Again, it's like going against maybe the status quo or going against what people think we should do to follow what you feel you know you need to do.

Okay, so there's a lot in there. So my husband and I grew up very differently. Like his parents still live in his childhood home. We go back and visit there. It's very special.

Like I love that because I don't have that. My parents are basically nomads. Like they retired a few years ago and they basically travel the world this year.

So far I think they've been home for like a week. They were in St. John, Turks and Caicos. My dad goes to Madrid every month. They lived in Italy for like a month, like six weeks.

They're going on a Mediterranean cruise. No, we're just different. I'm just grew up very differently. Like I grew up in Singapore and Florida. We come from very different backgrounds.

We met in undergrad, lived out in California together and like we've been together forever. Like we've been married for five years, but we've been together for, I don't even know, 13. And we've truly grown up together.

But I'm like, I'm a mover and a shaker. I don't belong where I am now. And it's really rooted in community. Like we don't have a community here.

Like we have some family that's like about an hour, two hours away. So it will be very hard to leave them. But I think that there is potential for us to like see them more often and have more quality time.

And it's not like we have someone 10 minutes away where if the kids are sick they can come pop in. Like my husband's family lives far away. Like my parents are a few hours away.

So it's not like we have that my mom's over once a week kind of situation.

But our move is rooted in that community and finding like minded people of living closer to a city of people that like enjoy being outside and outdoors and bettering themselves in entrepreneurial like area where that we don't have where we are now.

No, but that makes a lot of sense too because living in Omaha, Nebraska I also like, I spent over a year non consecutively in Europe, like six months in South America, Central America and like I also am like very nomadic in my heart and yet I've been in Omaha Nebraska for a good while. And I met my partner here. And of course, like, he has a 19 year old now. So the last few years he was going through finishing high school.

But the only reason that I have been able to stay in Omaha is because I have really strong community here. And so it is. It's like when I'm here, I can feel very grounded.

Me and my partner actually went to Italy for a month, like August, September last year. Yeah. And so I understand so much of like feeling connected to a place. Really can have more to do with the people around you.

Yeah, absolutely. And just like, like minded people. And then especially when you're a small business owner and you have kids. Like, my kids are really small.

My daughter just turned three last week and then my son is one, so they're 18 months apart. And we're in it. Like, we're in it. We're running businesses. Like we're doing the thing.

And like, nobody else around us is no one, which makes it really hard. And it's fine. And like, we could live here forever. It's a great place.

We have like, great school systems, but like, we're looking for something different. And not only like a different location, but just like a completely different lifestyle. We put an offer in on 80 acres.

So like, we're really trying to switch it up. And that comes from like, no shade on like our community and like where we live right now. But it's just again, like, it's in our heart.

Like, I wanted to move for years. This has been like three years of me being like, I got to get out of here. I got to get out of here. I got to get out of here.

And I just was like, a bunch of things happened from like November until February. February, where it was just like, we gotta go. And like, the universe has been cooperating with us well.

So that's how you know when, like, things start to happen so fast. You're like, okay, the universe has been waiting for this. Like, we're ready to go.

Wow. I always love the concept of just like flow and friction. Like, where are you experiencing friction?

And so often when you finally listen to that voice and you follow it, there's so much flow. And like you said, the universe opens up and it's like, boom, boom, boom, here we go.

But I also, one of the things I tried to make sure to do on Becoming Obsessed is never give the like, highlight reel. I knew it. And I made the decision. And so I also love the note you made of like, you felt this for three years. And you are still honoring that.

And it's not that you weren't honoring it in that time, but for everybody listening too. And for myself, things often take time. And time is just construct. Like the timeline doesn't exist. It's all happening at once.

But just noting that it's like, like it's not always, you know, something and then you change your whole life immediately. It takes time. Even when you do have that in your heart.

Yeah, absolutely.

And like, like I said, I've been having kids and I'm realizing now, like, a lot of what's happening now, I had to wait and there were like a lot of really dark times. Like, I'm a Florida girl. Like, I do not belong anywhere that's below 75 degrees. Like, no.

So like the snow in the winter time and like the no sun really, really, really impacts me to an extent of like, needing to go to therapy. But it just like, was not the right time.

Like, I had an 18 month old and a newborn and, you know, was pivoting my business and figuring out how to go from working with 75 clients a year while on maternity leave and pivoting my business that way. Like, there were so many things that had to get me here in so many steps, even though I would have liked to do it yesterday.

But good things do take time. But also, don't let that keep you stuck.

Yes. Love that.

There's so many more questions that, like, I was just listening to you talk about on your podcast where I want to be like, Olivia, go reiterate this and tell me all about this thing. But instead I'm going to tell everybody, go listen to Olivia behind the design. It is so good. I am excited to keep listening to it.

But I have a few final questions for you before we enter them. So first, I know that you've talked about you have your own coaches and you have throughout your career.

And so I'm curious, who are you currently obsessed with?

I'm currently and have always been and will always be obsessed with Lauren Bostick. Like, I love her. She intrigues me. She is a brand leader. She is so business savvy. I never miss an episode of their podcast ever.

Even if I'm like, oh, I might not like this. Like, no, I listen to it, like, while I'm like, doing laundry. Like, I just love her, everything about her.

I would love to eventually, like, have a Dear Media podcast, but I think there's so much to be, like, how you were saying, like, looking at what other people are doing and kind of like, use that as a guiding light. She is very much that for me and I just think like, everything that she does is very interesting.

So yeah, I just love her and I love learning from her. And like, I'm very much in a position of my small business and of entrepreneurship of like, I don't really need more strategy.

I need like wellness and like meditation and to dive deeper into like spirituality.

I ran a marathon last year and like when I tell you that that changed my business more in the last three years than any sort of higher business coach, new avenue of revenue, like, that changed me so much more. So yeah, I'm very much in like my wellness, like, era. And yeah, I just love Lauren Bostick so much.

Well, it is like strategy can get.

You so far, but your business can't.

Outgrow you as a human. Also was part of the growth from the marathon, trying to find time to train.

Like I was so under prepared and I was like, had been traveling and like had just gone through a big.

Breakup and so did you die?

I took six hours and 20 minutes, but I did it and I did it. And my feet were like the little like ball of your foot, like where your toes hinge mine for the last probably like 10 miles. Just felt broken.

So I would like run in four foot in and then I'd walk until I couldn't. But she did it. We did it.

You did it. That's like such an accomplishment. Seriously, it does not matter how long it took you, like running a marathon is no joke, but yes, the time.

And then my son, we had a nanny for, because he was still pretty young, we had a nanny like 15 hours a week. So I was running at like 4:30 in the morning. I was waking up, I was running 15 miles. I was coming back, getting ready.

Then my nanny would come and I would work the whole day. I ran 22 miles before twice.

Only because, I will say only because I ran a marathon like eight years ago and I did what you did where I only ran like, I think I ran like 17 miles and like biggest mistake ever. So the second time I was like, I'm gonna learn from this.

And I ran like the 22 miles, but it truly was like a whole family situation, like towards the end, like, I'd be like, like, okay, husband, I'm gonna go run for four hours. Can you watch our two small children?

And that's like the coolest part though is that like, it's all about the training and not it's not about accomplishing and finishing. It's just the, the journey, finding the time.

Yeah, the journey for sure. Okay, last question.

Especially being a mom and running these businesses, when you do need a recharge, what do you do when it's like playing, resting, getting creative? Like, how do you recharge? What are you currently obsessed with in that area?

Well, we recently invested in the sauna and that's been on my vision board ever since I can remember, both my husband and I. So that's been really great because we sit in the sauna every night and we like, no phones and we just like chat.

And it's like the only time of the day that we could truly be like so present and it just feels so good. This is like life changing after, like sweating out, like the day, just like chaos essentially after, like bedtime craziness with kids.

So like, that's like a main way that I recharge. But another thing that I love is I love driving with the windows down and like blasting music. Like, I love that.

I used to think that like, oh, I should journal because that's how like my biggest breakthroughs come in. Like, blah, blah, blah.

And like, I do love to journal and I do think it's like a very valuable way to like, get things out of your brain, like, and onto paper. But where my biggest breakthroughs coming through are in the car listening to music. And that again, goes to like, intuition.

Like, you don't have to meditate every single day.

Like another thing I'm loving right now is like, it's called the Activations app and it's basically like, like these like pep talks of like, you know, manifesting or like wellness or whatever. But you can listen to them like in the car or when you're walking. And like, some of them are four minutes, some of them are 20 minutes.

So now I just listen to, like, the Activations app. So all that to say, like, you just gotta do what you have to do. And, like, follow the intuition, even if it seems crazy.

Like, I know one of my friends, like, she likes to blow bubbles. Like, she'll just, like, go and, like, sit outside in the sun and, like, blow bubbles because it's whatever regulated her when she was a child.

So whatever weird thing that is for you, like, just do it. But for me, it's like my sauna. Love that. I also work out every single day, even if I don't feel like it.

Like, today I just really walked on the treadmill for two miles, like, and left and then. Oh, and I did the StairMaster because I felt like torturing myself. But I like to do that. Like, movement is also really important to me.

I love the whimsy. Like, the blowing the bubble. It's. Yeah, you find what works for you. And now I have to know what is your go to music?

Like, what are you blasting lately?

Oh, God.

This is really gonna be, like.

What's it called? Like, really showcasing who I am.

I will say before you start, I was on a road trip with my partner last month and I hit shuffle on my Spotify. Like, all liked songs. That shit is intimate. Like, this is how you know you trust a person. So I appreciate you sharing here.

If you ask my husband what kind of music I listen to, he would tell you country, rap. Because, like, I love, like, rap and, like, hip hop and like, that type of genre, like, music that you could dance to.

But I also, like, like, country. I listen to anything and everything. But yeah, we also like reggae. Like, I don't really know. It depends on my mood.

But I listen to music, like, all day long. You guys. Guys can go stock my Spotify if you want.

You're like, pull it up. We're, like, scrolling through it. I've been super into feminine rage lately. That's actually been like, I don't know what that is.

I'm gonna have to listen.

Okay, so Wet leg, this is the song I would start with is Wet Leg is the artist. And then it's called man get out. But it's all one word, so it looks like Manch to. That would be the, like, most aggressive, phenomenal entry point.

Especially if you're just like, dance, but, like, throw your body and just like, like, get some. Get off.

Okay. I'm definitely gonna listen to it. I'm excited. But yeah, I like, love music. Yeah, really anything. Like, my favorite thing to do is, like, go out.

Like, I Mean, not right now, but, like, go out dancing with my girlfriends.

Yes, yes, I'm here for that. Okay. Olivia, how can people connect with you and work with you in all the different ways?

Yeah. So if you go to my Instagram at by Olivia Austin, that will kind of direct you to all the different places that you can go.

If you are a business owner and you want to build a brand and a website, we've been doing that for the last 10 years. And you could go to currentdesignstudio.com and reach out to me however you want.

And then if you're a brand and website designer listening to this and you want to scale your studio to 200k and beyond, we have a bunch of different offers for you. We have our mastermind, the Studio Mastermind that starts end of April, early May.

And then we have our course Studio growth accelerator that is open for enrollment end of April as well. Well, so those are two really great ways to work this and to scale your studio.

Beautiful.

I appreciate you coming on becoming obsessed so much, especially hearing about your 4am morning all the way, like, full, full days and having the two little ones and these successful businesses. I appreciate your time to come hang out with us, and I'm excited to stay connected too.

I feel like we have a lot of similar energy and just being around more people who are doing the damn thing and doing it by their own rules, even when it's hard and messy and doesn't make sense, like, pushes all of us forward.

Yeah, absolutely. Like, and that's what we talk about a lot at the studio. Co is like.

Like, I had a client who she just, like, got accepted for a $25,000 website proposal, and I'm like, yes. Like, this builds the container for everyone in the creative industry.

Like, the fact that you could charge 25k for a website should influence every single person who's charging $500 to raise their rates. Like, if one person wins, everyone wins. And we're just, like, raising the standard for the creative industry.

And, like, we talk about that all the time. So what you're doing here is just exactly that.

Just helping founders get into the right room with the right people so that they can feed off of that energy and go out into the world and make an impact.

Yes. Mike drop with Mark. You're still listening, you're still hanging out.

So go find Olivia or send me a DM on Instagram and let me know what you're thinking about and how you are leveling up your business. Find me on Instagram at Becoming Obsessed Pod and send this to a friend who you want them to live a life that they're obsessed with.

Okay, y', all, let's go get obsessed. You're still listening, which means this episode connected with you, and I want to know how out. Send me a DM on Instagram Becoming Obsessed Pod.

Then send this episode to a friend. If you know someone who is building a life that they love or they're feeling a little stuck and might just need a nudge, send this to them.

Then rate and review, because it also helps us get the word out. And as you know, we're on a mission for more people to live a life they truly love. All right, let's go get obsessed.