What if chasing the next big revenue milestone isn’t the only way to succeed in business? In this Deeply Rested episode, host Maegan Megginson chats with the inspiring Tarzan Kay, a renowned copywriter who’s made waves in the online business world. Tarzan takes us on a journey from her early days of living a free-spirited, bohemian lifestyle to building a seven-figure copywriting empire. Along the way, she reveals how pivotal decisions skyrocketed her business growth.
Tarzan spills the tea on the key moments that took her from hustling for seven figures to building a business that’s aligned with her values and mission. She gets real with Maegan about her journey of prioritizing well-being over endless growth and the wake-up calls that made her hit pause. Tarzan doesn’t hold back when discussing with Maegan the challenges of running a business in a capitalist and patriarchal world—and why it’s so important to redefine what success really means.
If you’re feeling the pull to align your business with your personal values, or just need a reminder that success doesn’t have to come at the cost of your well-being, this episode is for you. Tune in and get ready to rethink what success looks like for you!
Here’s a peek at what Tarzan shares in this episode:
Tarzan’s unexpected path to becoming a copywriter (00:46)
Going from music teacher to email marketing superstar (04:10)
How a professional connection skyrocketed Tarzan’s career (05:30)
The challenges of navigating rapid growth and hard truths (17:09)
Moving from burnout to business realignment (36:51)
How Tarzan is finding balance and embracing ease (47:49)
What’s next on Tarzan’s journey (53:12)
To watch a video version of this, check it out on YouTube: https://youtu.be/nn6wS-znC0o
Connect with Tarzan Kay
Join Tarzan's newsletter at https://tarzankay.com/newsletter.
Mentioned in this episode:
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[00:00:26] Tarzan spent the last three years quietly dismantling her seven figure boss babe empire and building a more inclusive online business that prioritizes people over profits. And that is exactly what she and I get into in today's conversation. Tarzan opens the door to walk us through when she started her business in 2016, through the height of her revenue generating empire in 2020.
[:[00:01:17] but actually generates way more happiness, time off, peace, rest... everything that the deeply rested message is all about. I can't wait for you to listen to this conversation, and I hope that you find as much personal inspiration from Tarzan's story as I do. Enjoy this conversation with Tarzan Kay.
[:[00:02:24] Tarzan: Hey, Maegan.
[:[00:02:27] Tarzan: Well, I've been looking forward to this for a while.
[:[00:02:40] Tarzan: I'm a little offended that it took you this long, just going to say.
[:[00:02:45] Yeah. I apologize. I apologize. I'm really excited for this conversation. This is something that you and I have in common. And, I'm really excited to open the Deeply Rested podcast with some storytelling and some self disclosure about why someone would walk themselves backwards in business from a seven figure empire that everyone aspires to have on the internet to something smaller, more intimate, more inclusive. You've had a pretty wild journey in your business the past couple of years. And today I'm, I'm hoping we can start at the beginning and learn what you have learned from start to finish or from start to where you are right now.
[:[00:03:36] Tarzan: Well, that would take several days, but let's see where we get.
[:[00:03:44] Tarzan: Okay.
[:[00:04:13] looking for a good mastermind. And now we're friends, and I've loved this journey together, but I actually don't know a lot about your origin story as a business owner.
[:[00:04:34] Tarzan: I did very little before my copywriting days. Like I started my business when I was 31 ish. And prior to that, I had never really had a very serious job. I taught music lessons for many years. I just sort of lived, like the most I ever made in a year was 15, 000. And I had to get really creative with my taxes because that was more money than I'd ever made, and I hadn't put any aside for taxes.
[:[00:05:21] So I have to do something. So I had been traveling and I had picked up some freelance copywriting work, which was actually in retrospect content writing, but I didn't know the difference. I was writing social media updates and blog posts. And I kind of thought maybe that was what a copywriter did.
[:[00:05:49] And I did always want to be a writer. You know, I have like assignments from my earliest days, homework assignments from when I was in grade two in my box of mementos, and it says, I want to be a writer.
[:[00:06:07] When I started my business, I started taking programs right away and immediately niched down into the online program space... well, niche down to email, first of all. Because I discovered early on that email was something I was really good at.
[:[00:06:46] You know, partly because it was easier back then, and also because I was good at it. Actually the first program I took was B School, with Marie Forleo. And back then it was a smaller program, I don't know how big it is now, but the years after I was there, it, like, doubled and tripled in size.
[:[00:07:07] Tarzan: It was 2016. There were 2000-ish members in the Facebook group. I picked up clients there and then took more programs because I also saw that as a way to get clients, a way to get in front of clients and also learn. It was about like, I think a year and a half, maybe into my career that I was introduced to Amy Porterfield through...
[:[00:07:45] path is laid out, And I've given that up and, and really have embodied something that feels better to me, which is like, just follow the breadcrumbs, you know?
[:[00:08:20] Tarzan: The best.
[:[00:08:43] Tarzan: Oh, that's a good question. And you and I have been in this inquiry for some time. Because something that we have talked about a lot in our private conversations is also being able to sit with the discomfort of not knowing what is coming next.
[:[00:09:04] And I'm continuing to follow the breadcrumbs and try things. Does this work? I don't know. But actually like when I was in my twenties, and I was teaching music lessons, I had a pretty strong sense that I would figure it out eventually, and that I would even, that I would be wealthy one day.
[:[00:09:27] how I was going to become wealthy. And I also lived in a lot of scarcity, and not knowing how I was ever going to pay my credit card bills. So, you know, I think just because you have belief doesn't mean you don't suffer from lack of belief at the same time.
[:[00:09:56] And then, like, taking the action to, to make things come to pass. So, I appreciate you saying that. That like both sides of the coin were present for you at a really early age in your life, in your 20s. You have this trust in life. You have this sense that things are going to be okay for me.
[:[00:10:30] It's like, you danced with that for a while. And then content writing, copywriting revealed itself to you. It just sort of showed up. Hey Tarzan, there was like a knock on the door.
[:[00:10:51] Like, was that as present for you as I want to be a writer?
[:[00:10:58] And even today, I feel like in my career, like the core thing that I'm doing and that's most important to me is writing. Like my career is a writer and all the business, like the business owner side of me is like I wish I didn't have to do it a lot of the time…
[:[00:11:18] Tarzan: But I do it because it allows me to be a writer.
[:[00:11:50] Maegan: All hail Sandra Booker.
[:[00:11:53] Maegan: There's an episode with Sandra actually coming out later this year. So, yeah,
[:[00:12:52] I'm here to write. And then Sandra comes in and says, Okay, great. And here's how you're going to make this a business. Am getting that right?
[:[00:13:19] I'm very deadline driven... like all of the things that are really required to have a business.
[:[00:13:33] And whereas I never questioned... I was like, of course, if I'm, if I'm creating and launching a new product, like I, I first create the plan in my project management tool.
[:[00:13:49] Maegan: That is something unique about you, Tarzan. I agree with Sandra's reflection there. Like, you're very good at following instructions.
[:[00:14:00] Tarzan: I'm a rule follower.
[:[00:14:04] And you're like, okay, I'll have the cash, butThat's not me. This is where you and I really differ, where I'm like, I don't need it. Don't make me do it. I like resist structure at like, at every juncture. And I think that's part of what's made you successful, like you're saying, in business is that you, you have accepted these aspects and, and you've let them work for you, which we'll talk more about that in a little bit. Okay, so 2016, you signed up for B School with Marie Forleo.
[:[00:14:36] Tarzan: Indoctrination. That is exactly what it was. Yes.
[:[00:14:46] Some people might call it a cult.
[:[00:14:57] Tarzan: It does.
[:[00:15:09] it's like, you know, the beast begins to feed itself. And the positive side of that was things started flowing for you in your business. Like income was coming in, you're creating this structure, you have a baby now, and like, that's a part of the equation. And then you meet Amy Porterfield. So let's pick up there.
[:[00:15:56] And, he said he would give me an intro. And he did give me an intro. And my relationship with Amy turned out to be super fruitful. I like to think it was really good for both of us. I wrote her newsletter for some time. I don't think I ever wrote any launches. It wasn't really even a long term project, but there was a couple of things that made it significant, which was that
[:[00:16:40] And I always did like a really bang up job at her events. I knew it was a big opportunity. So I, you know, hired someone to help me put my speech together. Did the whole thing at my own expense, including hiring someone to help me. And then, even another year after that, I went out and I was on stage again.
[:[00:17:06] She always introduced me on stage very generously. So people thought of me as like the amazing Tarzan who works with Amy. Lots of them hired me to write their stuff, you know, sort of thinking it would be one step to replicating Amy's business, which was partially true, but not really true, actually.
[:[00:17:49] and he introduced me to this idea of riding the coattails, and he said, you know, when you can ride someone's coattails, it's really great. It's one way we get ahead in business is by riding the coattails of people that are ahead of us. And also like bringing up like, who's riding your coattails.
[:[00:18:28] I've brought many people to Sandra. You know, and I think that's really important. It's one way that we use our privilege, and it's one way that I use my privilege in online business. You know, there's so many reasons I had a leg up everybody else. And I can pass it on by bringing people along with me.
[:[00:19:16] If you have the opportunity, it's like, there's a high speed train. So let's say like Amy Porterfield's the high speed train,
[:[00:19:36] Like, with intention and thoughtfulness, and I feel like that, that is what you're describing, is really acknowledging people are on your coattails and then being intentional about how can I support you, how can I give you a leg up in a way I've had a leg up? And all of a sudden, the whole concept of riding coattails or jumping on someone's train, it doesn't feel icky to me anymore. It feels human. It feels like building networks of relationships. Thanks for sharing that. That feels like a very important reminder for all of us to keep the web expanding and growing with intention.
[:[00:20:39] And you can fall too deeply into it… I must include everyone. It's my job to make sure everyone is included. And then you actually just can't get anywhere. You're all kind of stuck at the same level.
[:[00:21:16] person to like, right this wrong, the systemic wrong in the field or in the world, it's like, no one needs you to be a martyr. It's not helpful, no one actually benefits. So I, I really appreciate the way that you talk about this, and hearing how this has played out in your relationship with Amy. It makes it so specific. I can really grasp in a practical way what this might look like in the real world.
[:[00:21:47] Tarzan: I was always a contractor, and as we're reviewing this, I don't think I ever did anything other than write her newsletter.
[:[00:22:08] And so we worked together for, let's say, maybe eight months, and we did some really great work in that time.
[:[00:22:36] It's too expensive.
[:[00:22:43] I really appreciate you highlighting that you did all of these extra things to get on her radar and to take advantage of this partnership and this opportunity. You pitched her: I want to speak at your event. Yeah. Okay. So sometimes maybe she said no. Sometimes she said yes.
[:[00:23:08] Maegan: You are so good at being a squeaky wheel. I'll tell you. You're a model for me and just like, you will just knock on the door over and over again until you get what you want, which is something I think female identified business owners in particular need to, to be more confident and just like putting yourself out there asking for what you need. You're good at it. You're good at it.
[:[00:23:37] Maegan: You're tenacious, that's the word. You're like, I will knock on this door…
[:[00:23:42] Maegan: until somebody forcibly removes me from the premises.
[:[00:23:46] Maegan: Okay, so, I love that you had this tenacity in the relationship with Amy and you really saw this opportunity for what it was. And you were willing to invest in someone to help me write this speech. And I'm sure you invested in lots of other things, too, to help you take advantage of this moment in time when you could reach a lot of people, and ride someone's coattails to take that big leap in your own business. I want to hear now a little bit about what you were working on in your own business at this time.
[:[00:24:26] Tarzan: Yeah, that's a good question. I was very focused on affiliate marketing, and that was where my first significant amounts of revenue came from. I started promoting the courses that I had taken and discovered that I was good at it. And also that it was at least as profitable or more profitable than doing client work.
[:[00:25:09] I still got to be me. I got to send emails signing in my own name.
[:[00:25:20] And, that was sort of like my next couple years, you know, let's say my first three, three to four years were one on one and then courses. And then I started to feel like, okay, I would like to learn how to get better at delivery.
[:[00:25:44] Maegan: The season when you were focusing on affiliate revenue, is that when things really picked up? Like, there was a season in your business when things really took off and from a revenue perspective you grew really quickly. When did that happen on this timeline?
[:[00:26:06] Maegan: Okay.
[:[00:26:13] Maegan: From those affiliate promotions?
[:[00:26:27] I wanted to let that go because I was already starting to feel like there were things about the sales process that I wasn't that comfortable with. And exposing people to other people's marketing meant putting people actually in a bit of a vulnerable position.
[:[00:27:07] There's a lot of competition for that sale, a lot. so you have to treat it like it's your own promotion, which I always did. I went all out. I did webinars. I offered bonuses. I sent tons of sales emails. That was such an enormous amount of effort. It meant when I was launching my own stuff, I didn't really put that much effort into it.
[:[00:27:35] Okay. So now I'm writing more emails. Okay. What if I put the same energy that I'm putting in other people's programs toward my own programs?
[:[00:27:46] Maegan: It was low hanging fruit at the time. 2017,
[:[00:27:51] Maegan: Right? Low hanging fruit. You have this huge kind of list growth, email list growth expansion on the coattails of Amy Porterfield. And you have these connections. You were in B School. You knew Amy. It was, yeah, it was the low hanging fruit.
[:[00:28:36] Tarzan: No. He was born at the end of 2014. So, he was about a year old when I started.
[:[00:28:57] Tarzan: Yeah.
[:[00:29:09] Let's start there.
[:[00:29:29] And, you know, there were other people who, I don't know what they're doing anymore, Denise Duffield Thomas, she had this program about money.
[:[00:29:53] But even if the lifestyle was a bit of a farce, it was still so great to work a regular amount of hours and, you know, have more money than I'd ever had in my life. But I didn't actually know anyone yet who had any real like mission
[:[00:30:18] Maegan: Like I knew people that had a mission statement and would talk about why they were doing the work that they were doing, but I didn't know anyone that seemed to be like deeply connected to their work, like in the ways that I feel right now. And back then I wasn't, either.You were following the protocol. Mm hmm.
[:[00:30:44] Maegan: Right. The protocol was working. And you've talked a lot in other interviews about how the protocol did work, in 2020, especially, the online business protocol, the, the rinse and repeat, strategies and models were really succeeding for so many people.
[:[00:31:45] you know, to go from brand new business owner to making seven figures in four years. You had Sandra when you started, and then at the peak in 2020, how many people were you employing?
[:[00:32:25] And I had so much of it in the bank. it's one thing to say, like, oh, we made 800, 000. But I probably had 500, 000 dollars just sitting in my bank account. Which was, like, I couldn't even believe it. That was very surreal.
[:[00:32:45] I was so loud about it. So new money, you know? But, that year, 2019, I remember having a conversation with my coach, and I said to her...
[:[00:32:59] Tarzan: Yeah, it was like life, more of a life coach who I talked to about business.
[:[00:33:15] Maegan: Mm hmm.
[:[00:33:38] Okay. Period. But I was like, Oh no. Okay. This is a fundamental piece of patriarchy that we just grow for the sake of growing bigger.
[:[00:33:49] Maegan: tenet of capitalism, right. So there's an overlap in these two things, right?
[:[00:33:58] Tarzan: The ladder to nowhere.
[:[00:34:02] So you notice that, like, whoa, I'm in the matrix. How did I get here?
[:[00:34:15] Maegan: It's bigger than you.
[:[00:34:26] but actually from that time, I also began walking it back,
[:[00:34:40] And it was subtle, like it was not an overnight transformation, by any means,
[:[00:35:05] Tarzan: Even just starting by acknowledging that it doesn't work this way for everyone was a pretty big step into trying to figure out what could be next.
[:[00:35:18] There were multiple things... I'm just really appreciating this 2020 2021 season of life for you. I mean, this was the period of disillusionment. You were becoming disillusioned on multiple levels. Right? You're becoming disillusioned with patriarchy and capitalism as a whole, right? This ladder to nowhere. What am I doing? When is it going to be enough, and what am I seeking?
[:[00:35:59] Something's not right. I know you've talked in other interviews about specifically the people that you studied sales from, and how there was a time when you kind of jumped on board with these like large scale selling strategies, and then you start to realize, wait a minute, like something's not quite right about this.
[:[00:36:47] Tarzan: Yeah, you know, this is why the story is so much bigger than one interview because peeling back the layers on my business was like only the first step.
[:[00:37:14] And like my whole worldview of like, if you think the right thoughts, you will have the life that you want.
[:[00:37:40] Like, he was really thrown that suddenly this person that he knew was so different and didn't share many of his beliefs, that was like experimenting with drugs, which was very disturbing to him.
[:[00:38:04] Because I really… I really ripped up my life at the roots, and that led to separation. And so this was 2021. The business is not doing as well as it was in 2020, but we don't know yet what's going on.
[:[00:38:31] Getting divorced is like by far the most difficult, most challenging thing I've ever done in my life, and threw my whole life into chaos.
[:[00:38:48] Like, even though I had employees, and my employees took wonderful care of me... They did such hard work... You know, I always had to come back. I mean, the other thing... Now I had more revenue, but I also, as my revenue grew, my expenses were growing, too. So, I had to keep coming back and keep doing launches. In 2022,
[:[00:39:14] Maegan: You had affiliates, right?
[:[00:39:24] 2021 bit of a backslide. 2022 we're still okay, but we're also still backsliding.
[:[00:39:52] Like how to be a family of three. And also like going through this like intense grief of my family coming apart.
[:[00:40:18] The business needs about 50, 000 a month just to like, keep going, pay everybody's salaries, including mine, which was generous.
[:[00:40:37] Cause the mastermind is like, you know, a 10,000 thing. And, that'll be a nice bump. That'll keep us going for a while.
[:[00:41:08] Tarzan: I also don't have the capacity to lead my team. And you know, Sandra and I had talked in the past about like, Oh, you know, when we could see revenue was declining, and I had moments of despair where I was like, Oh, let's just like. Throw it all in the garbage. I'll start some small thing, you know? And she always talked me out of it.
[:[00:41:44] Other relationships in my life were falling apart. Like it was just a fucking shitty mess.
[:[00:42:11] Maegan: Yeah. Okay, let's pause.
[:[00:42:14] Maegan: Let's take a breath. This is huge stuff. I'm so grateful that you're sharing this. You had what we in the biz call an awakening. And they fucking suck.
[:[00:42:56] It's going to be your business. It's going to be your friendships. It's going to be,your sense of self. It's all of it at once. This is the spiritual growth, you know, experience, and you were so deep in it. And, I hope one day we can have an even longer conversation about the process.
[:[00:43:36] Tarzan: Sequins.
[:[00:43:39] Tarzan: Yeah.
[:[00:44:01] You've been so consistent the last few years of remaining this person who's willing to be seen in your process. And the way you're talking about this right now, like, I just want you to know that people are going to listen to this, and hearing your journey with your awakening, it's going to give them permission to just surrender to whatever process they're fighting against right now because you can't fight it. Like resistance is futile. When it's happening, it's happening.
[:[00:45:59] Tarzan: It definitely doesn't feel like backwards, even though I totally see from one vantage point, it definitely looks like backwards. So I mean before I got to this place that I'm at, which is a great place,there was the year of my divorce plus like a whole nother year after that of just sitting in the void of like, I don't know what to do next.
[:[00:47:12] And it was kind of a full circle moment because I had like, started dismantling my business when I thought I can't run this mastermind. Like I can't support people in that way. And then like a whole two years later to be like, Oh my God, I have learned so much. I have come so far. I have an incredible capacity for leadership, especially leading people through really difficult things and making hard choices in their businesses.
[:[00:47:59] It's rare that I have to deal with someone that's like, difficult clients, or expect something that I didn't offer, or that are just difficult to work with.
[:[00:48:25] Tarzan: which I happen to have learned a lot about.
[:[00:48:53] there's something about maybe it's a thing of going through that awakening, or like midlife crisis... whatever it was, and I have come to know myself so much better.
[:[00:49:22] I know actually now that if my business failed, I would be okay. I would find something else. My work has value. My ideas have value. I have a whole different baseline
[:[00:49:42] Like, woohoo, this is great. You know,
[:[00:50:05] And that is something that is just like, it's priceless.
[:[00:50:25] And you read your mission statement and you're like, well, I had a mission. And we were, we were doing that work. But the way you describe it, it was a little bit hollow.
[:[00:50:39] over the mission itself. And when we choose to prioritize climbing that ladder to nowhere and growing profit quarter over quarter over really sitting with ourselves,
[:[00:51:08] Maegan: I'm going to lead with who I am and what I believe and what I actually need in my life to be happy. I'm going to get really clear about what that is, how much money I actually need, what kind of house will make me happy.
[:[00:51:37] This is when you were talking a lot about persuasion and coercion and, and
[:[00:51:55] I felt it, and that drew me to you, and that made me want to invest in working with you. So just for people listening, I think there's an opportunity here for you to pause and kind of ask yourself, what am I leading with in my business? Am I leading with the capitalistic conditioning
[:[00:52:32] Tarzan: Yeah, I could just say a little bit about that, which is that in 2018 or 2019, I started working with Kate Northrup, and she was maybe the first person to ask me the question, how much is enough? And, to sort of instill in me that it was important for me to know, like to put an actual number on how much is enough.
[:[00:53:04] This is like the most ruinous financial transaction of my life, hopefully. You know, having to really basically start over.
[:[00:53:33] And I fought so hard for them that now I have arrived at a place where I'm like, if I could just like, Lord, please let me keep the things that I have. Like that would be so, so wonderful.
[:[00:53:57] and now I want to sustain. I want to sustain my life, I want to sustain the earth, I want to sustain my business, and the work that I do with my clients, like, I just want to sustain.
[:[00:54:23] Tarzan: That's a good question. So I pay myself about 150, 000 so I need to make my salary and in order to make my salary without adding more work and programs, I need roughly another 200, 000 on top of that.
[:[00:54:43] Maegan: Yeah.
[:[00:55:00] I just think 150,000, if I'm smart with it, if I'm not overly spendy, that's enough for me. And I might have to get a little crafty now and then,
[:[00:55:16] Maegan: I love that, Tarzan. And that's you, just so we're clear with everyone. That's paying you, that's paying Sandra as your consultant...
[:[00:55:41] Maegan: Right, and then there's always, you know, keeping, a healthy budget for yourself, right? You being able to hire a coach or join a program or go on a retreat.
[:[00:56:03] common sort of sweet spot, like 350 feels like this, a sweet spot where you can be supported.
[:[00:56:19] for, you know, the paychecks, feeling like, you know, yeah, if the business doesn't succeed, all of these people on my team are going to suffer.
[:[00:56:47] When you're trying to, you know, get a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand people to buy something from you, a course, a membership, whatever it might be, you're going to lose some quality control on what kind of people purchase. And then,
[:[00:57:06] honest. But when you're operating on a smaller scale, and you're calling in fewer people overall into your ecosystem, you get to know them first of all, which is something that I love. Like I love
[:[00:57:21] And you get to have more stringent filters, right?
[:[00:57:27] you get to really make sure that the people who are coming forward are people that you want to spend time with. And
[:[00:57:40] Tarzan: Yeah. Another thing, I just want to make sure we don't forget to talk about because it's important when we're talking about paying ourselves... I want to take more time off more than I want to earn more money. So that would be like, I guess one goal that I have for the next year... This year, I don't know if I could say how many weeks I took off, but I took off most of August.
[:[00:58:22] Maegan: Thank you for saying that. This is another conversation on the Deeply Rested podcast. It's like, how do you pay yourself as a business owner? And money is just one way that you pay yourself. It's the whole Deeply Rested philosophy that to be Deeply Rested means as a business owner that you are paying yourself in as many non monetary ways as you are monetary ways.
[:[00:58:53] to extricate yourself.I also want to reference back to what you said earlier about the fear of uncertainty.
[:[00:59:17] And it's like there's so much power in liberation and shedding all of the conditioning that has tricked you into believing that there is some way of doing business or doing life where the outcomes are guaranteed. And that's what we're sold, right? Especially in the online business space. Everything is sold as a promise, as a guarantee.
[:[00:59:58] Do you want to say anything else about that? What's that been like for you?
[:[01:00:23] And then she said, you know, but you, you never really had certainty.
[:[01:00:27] Tarzan: Yes, the illusion of certainty. Yeah. And just this morning, like I was sitting down at my desk and I'd been off for most of the summer. So I'm easing my way back in. And it's a little bit gritty. And I was like, like, why do I feel this way?
[:[01:00:50] cushion in the bank, like programs are running well, like there's problems to solve, but like everything is definitely okay right now. And yet, like, there it is.
[:[01:01:03] Tarzan: Just a reminder, like there is no number.
[:[01:01:17] Then it's like, if I fall down, I have some security, but like, I really don't know that we ever get there.
[:[01:01:26] Maegan: It is always an inside job. And I have seen that with... I know a lot of people who are millionaires, and I see them frantically climbing the ladder, you know? And, and if you ask them, Hey, 20 years ago, what number did you think
[:[01:01:45] And I'm like, well, how much do you have now? Oh, 2. 5 million, and you still feel like a hot mess, like, maybe, you know, maybe, money isn't the solution. But that conditioning goes so deep,
[:[01:02:06] And I'll just share that for me, sort of philosophically, going back to the order of operations, like what comes first, me and my process and my values, or making money and succeeding in business, which comes first? When I'm leading, I want to succeed in business in the conventional way, which is making more money, quarter over quarter, the uncertainty cannot be softened in my body because I am striving for an external goal.
[:[01:02:44] hits, when a wave of anxiety, when a wave of uncertainty hits, I can sit in my own practice, whatever that looks like for you, for me, it's going outside and sitting under a tree and just being silent and just like looking around and breathing and, and reminding myself that I trust that everything is working out exactly like it's supposed to.
[:[01:04:02] Tarzan: Yeah, I guess I also wanted to qualify, like it's not easier. It's just as hard as it always has been and harder in fact, but my capacity is so much higher. And a lot of that is like, because I am rooted in my own values and why I'm doing this. I'm taking care of myself in ways other than just making more and more money.
[:[01:04:29] And, I want a business that is full of ease.
[:[01:04:48] Ease
[:[01:04:50] Of course there's effort. Of course. You know, we want to make four hundred thousand dollars. That's a lot of money
[:[01:05:00] but 400, 000 a year, that's a lot of money,
[:[01:05:06] But I want there to be ease, and I look at you and I'm learning from you and connecting with you, and I'm like Tarzan is someone who is finding channels of ease
[:[01:05:19] all of us. So thank you. I want to end with a question about breadcrumbs coming
[:[01:05:40] Tarzan: Whoa! If only I could see it! What bread crumb is right in front of me...
[:[01:05:49] Maegan: What breadcrumb are you looking at, thinking about?
[:[01:05:59] they're... I'm hosting a retreat tomorrow for the members of my mastermind and I'm reflecting on the running of this retreat last year. And even the whole running of this program last year, like it was the first time.
[:[01:06:40] And like, Oh, maybe this is something that I want to do more of. I don't know. Or maybe it's just noticing that I'm no longer grasping at trying to prove myself, and show people that I'm worthy of this money that they paid me. I'm like, no, I know it. I see it. I'm going to go in and deliver it.
[:[01:07:10] Maegan: That is a delicious breadcrumb. I love it. And the next time you're on this podcast, we're going to follow up on that breadcrumb
[:[01:07:21] Maybe it's super logical and now you are a full time retreat facilitator, or maybe it was like a winding, a winding path towards, towards something else.
[:[01:07:34] lucky to have you, and I would love for you to let the people know where they can join your newsletter and find out more about your work.
[:[01:08:07] And how to do it in a consent based way. So that's really the best way to hang out with me. I reply, I read and reply to most email replies, like 90 percent of them. I'm also on LinkedIn sporadically. Social media is not really my thing, but I'm experimenting to see if that breadcrumb is fruitful…
[:[01:08:42] For anyone who's interested in how to do email marketing in a way, and newsletters, in a way that just like feels really good, that doesn't feel intrusive and like, Oh, do people even want this, read my newsletter, cause I'll show you how.
[:[01:09:04] Maegan: because, like I said earlier, you do such a beautiful job of telling the truth and being honest what it's like to be a person in 2024 who is trying to be human and run a business at the same time.
[:[01:09:20] Tarzan: Yeah, and it's all just my truth and leaves lots of space for people to make their own decisions. It's not about convincing them to get on board with the things that I believe. And I think one thing of feedback that I often get is that the things that I write about and talk about gives people more permission to question other things or even to question me.
[:[01:09:42] Maegan: Tarzan, thank you so much for this conversation.
[: