00:00:21Hello, and welcome to the women conquer business podcast, featuring discussions with your host, Jenn McFarland. Every week. I discuss a different aspect of building a business while balancing it with an incredibly busy life. I share experiences successes and failures and answer questions submitted by you. The Listener. Thanks for tuning in. Let's get started.

00:01:22It was for me cuz I've been doing marketing and media for 20 years. However, 12 years ago. My husband came home one day and said, honey. How do you feel about moving to Dallas? And we were living in Las Vegas and I've been there for most of my life and all of my professional life. And so when we moved to Dallas all of a sudden here, I was waiting for our furniture to get delivered and I thought to myself. Oh my goodness. I don't know, one single person. What in the world am I going to do? And I have a little pity party, right? You know, I'm sit there thinking. Oh my gosh. What am I going to do? I'm sure we've all done it, right? And you think about it and then all the sudden I thought to myself Patty.

00:03:049 months, but I did it because I had a plan. And I said, okay, how am I going to do it? And the biggest thing was that I decided that I was going to have to become a speaker and I had never wanted to be a speaker even though I've done training and seminars and that type of thing. But being a public speaker, a professional speaker really wasn't something. I'd aspired to be but I decided that I was going to and I told my husband that's what I was going to do. And I put the word out that I was available and a friend of mine asked me to come and speak and here's the part. That's funny. I got on the plane.

00:04:42And so I was like, okay, so I pretty much just said and I laughed now because now for eight years I've been speaker, right? Oh I said to everybody, if you think that what I said, he was interesting and you'd like to learn more, let me know, but here's the funny part. I still have the, I still have it cuz I like to go back and look at it sometime. So, believe me. If something scaring you right now, six months from now, you'll not be scared anymore. In the old fellow, my goodness. But here's what happened. I stood up there in front of everybody and said, but I'm really busy and I can only have like 15 of you. I actually said that from the front of the room. I can only help like 15 people, maybe 17 and and this is what I said cuz I didn't know any better I said, but it's going to cost you. I said that from

00:05:38And I said because I didn't know any better, at least $2,000. That's what I said. And somebody in the front of the room said, well, what we are? We going to get for $2,000? And I said anything, I teach you will be worth $2,000.

00:06:44And that's what I said. And here's the thing. I said, he said how you going to do what I said. I'm going to say yes to every opportunity and two days later. So here's the big and is 2 Days Later, a friend called me and said that he would, you be willing to come and speak on LinkedIn lead generation.

00:07:51I just love that I have to worry. I mean it. I don't know where Sharon all the time, but I think it's really an important story. Because here's the funny part for the next 18 months.

00:08:34No, I'm actually a little bit that are now a little bit better. And, you know, I actually feel like that you can actually do have people start with you for like $200. We know better now, I know about bottles and I know how these things work, but it all starts with learning to say yes. So I was like to say, if you're afraid, if it's making you sick to your stomach, that means that it's something you really should do just say yes. Hire somebody or whatever you need to do to do it because I'm going to tell you. If somebody would have told me eight years ago, when I own a marketing company and would have said Owen Eight years from now, you're going to publish a magazine and you're going to put on your own events and you're going to teach speakers and they're going to have a podcast. I would have been like, yeah, right. And here, I am because I said, yes.

00:09:37I think a lot of times in the thing is, we don't always have to really do every single thing when I decided that I was going to write a book. I was like, you hate to write. I don't even like the blog, I speak fast. I can't type as fast as I speak. And I was like, why would I want to write a book by cochato patio speaker? You need to have a book. Right? And I, I just can't do what I struggle for, like, 6 months. And then I just talked and then had somebody transcribe, it was going to say, yeah, you just talked to transcribe it and sometimes I mean, there's a lot of ghost writers out there. So you just send the transcriptions to somebody and they help you. Like, you don't even have to do all of the writing or thinking, you know, you have to have the idea. I have five books now funny. Like I think about oh, and do you know now it's like all I want to do this and I want to do that. So every time I want to do something or I think about doing something else,

00:11:35Your lifestyle first. Oh, yeah, you want that. And what I want realized I wasn't going to be the same as you or anybody else to write. Sometimes you just have to decide what that is for you.

00:11:54Not only what you want for your business, but you want for your life. That's part of taking charge. I think and being that yesterday. I heard a speaker. And and and she said you need to stop being the chief of everything and start being, you know, so the c o e and you just start being the CEO. Somebody hires me and they're like, what's the first thing I need to do. And here's always my first question. Tell me how you introduce yourself.

00:12:51The more profitable you will be, it'll stop being about generating revenue and I'll be about being profitable because when you're the CEO of your company, you own your calendar, right? You own your time. And if I hear one more person, I have to tell you sometimes, and they say, oh Patty, I can't do this, or I can't do that, because I was going to do it, but then somebody came in that wanted to hire me. If they wanted to hire you, they wanted to hire you in an hour later too. If there's something in your calendar, you owe on your calendar. Nobody decide for me, what my calendar is going to look like No, And it did took me a long time to get to that point, but I'm the same way. I have time or don't have time. And the people who really value you and who really want to work with and honestly the people that you want to work with understand that you have a calendar and you on that calendar.

00:14:40And if it does, then I want to know more. If it doesn't, I have to make that decision, right? Then and there that this is not the right time, does it mean? No, but it means no not now. And the sooner, you can get yourself knowing what your criteria is and just think of that table opportunity comes to the table. Make your decision and then move on. That's the best description. I have heard about setting priorities and making a line decisions. Thank you for that. That's great. That's great. I actually did a really beautiful one and I used to keep it hanging on my wall. I actually use it a lot in my speeches. When I, you know what I'm teaching at. I hand them out to people and stuff cuz I really think that if you can be sure, I don't have to look at anymore. It's in my head but a lot of times you can analyze to your paralyzed, right?

00:15:57One way or the other, right? Well, I have what I call a parking lot. That's what I call. I have a parking lot and I have this book and it's called and this book at the journal and it is called brilliant, awesome ideas. And so what happens for me is every time I have those ideas if I can't do it right now. I just put it in the book and my rule for me is that before I can take something out of the book and incorporate or Implement a new idea? I have to finish that idea. I already have because what happens a lot of times as an entrepreneur, you have all these things going on and you don't finish any of them and if you don't finish any of them, they don't make you any money. And if they don't make you any money, you're spending time away from your family and your life for no reason. So if it's not working then it needs to go, maybe come off and go back into the parking lot, right? Sometimes I think that's important. And I also think it's important that every area of you.

00:17:42I couldn't agree more and I think sometimes it's hard for people to let go of those passion projects. But if they're, if they're bleeding money, then they're not worth it because it's also draining you in other ways and taking away from

00:18:25I think that's true if that's been the case for me. I think that because it's just authentically part of who I am is the service but it also is magnetic and bring people in.

00:19:39First of all, I have to tell you what always happens for me as I do do, do do do and then all of a sudden I hit a wall and I'll think this is happened to Aaron. If it ever happened to you. I have literally told my husband honey. I am so busy and I have so many projects that are on Deadline that literally I don't have time to take a shower or heat for the next three days, right? You know, and I do my best work Under Pressure. He says I know I would feel like I do stuff with for your help though. And so I finally had to just tell myself I needed when I get to that spot. What do I do? Right? And so I have what I call a personal Advisory board. So it is three women that I trust with everything, right? And when I hit that wall and I'm like, okay, what am I going to do? I'm like, I need to see my personal Advisory Board and we get on a zoom call and they're on there and I lay it out. And then I have to be quiet. Then I have to be

00:21:30Who's on speedometer when I'm going to have a meltdown. I can you know that and they know because if they know what you've done so far. They also can give you advice because I have history. I don't like a best friend. I ain't you don't have to tell her why you reacted this way. She already knows she knows everything about you. You need to have that in your business as well. And you need to have it with people that you can trust.

00:22:03Well, I feel that if I'm the strongest person in the room, I mean that smartest person in the room that I'm in the wrong room, right? I love surrounding myself with people that are eclectic, and when I really love is being in a room with people who do marketing just like I do, because I think that I'm very abundance. Guided marketing is a huge umbrella and I do more business with people who do what I do than anything, I think, right? That's all about having the right mentality. Realizing the only competition you have is or what you did yesterday, right? There is really no competition. And so I think it is really important although

00:23:39When's that do that? And we asked them, what, what should I charge? And what do I think? They're, that's ridiculous? Why are we doing that? Right? Right. Do your market research? What's the OU you bring to the market place? So I think it's really really important to ask yourself. The right questions. Asked the right people surround yourself with people who are going to give you answers, not just the ones that you want to hear, but that their expertise is able to do that. I'm going to tell you again. There was a time where I was coaching with this one coach, he was male and every time he would push me and push me sometimes to tears. I had to have another coach wise to call her up every time he put me on the ledge. So she could walk me off the ledge right before I finally realized that it was time for me to find a new coach, but I think it just really kind of all depends. So I always have at least one or two. Sometimes three depending upon what it is that I want to do, but find the people

00:25:15You have to be able to invest in you or nobody else will. So that's where your first investment needs to be in yourself. And you can't ever think that you are a master. I love that you say that you meet with other people in marketing because I think one of the biggest things we need to do is to be opened and continue to learn so that we are continuing to grow and our own profession and then have that openness to take advice from peers and people that you really trust. I think that's part of the learning environment and makes us better at at our work.

00:26:42That you build with somebody, right? So that's Integrity. So I only work with people who have integrity. I never overstepped because how confusing it is to somebody. If they said, oh, well, she told me to do it this way. And now you're telling me this way and somebody else coming to that. They can't make a decision and they can't move on. We're the experts edify each other support each other work together because ultimately, we're here to serve the client. Yeah, and if you truly want. Yeah, if you truly want them to have the best result, then that's how you have to do business. Exactly. I was like to say all the time, Google's in the information business YouTube than the information business Facebook and information business. I'm in the transformation business, right? So I think it's really, really important to know why you do what you do. And I think that's really, really important and surround yourself with those people. Hire the right people, and then know who you want to work with this. Well,

00:28:02Sure, I would love to have them. Come check out the magazine. The magazine is no cost. But what I love about the magazine, it is my community, give back really because I have built such a great community of experts. What I love to do in this magazine is have them, contribute. What's working now? I think what's really important is what's on train now. What was working last year or the year before? What is working now? What is working in your business right now? What's making you money? How are you leveraging? What's the strategy? So that we can pass that on right now? So that is really, really important to me and you can get the magazine by going to Patty that. Why do Patty farmer.com, forward magazine? Buy some music. That's great. I will put it in the show notes. So if you're listening to this, you can always click from inside iTunes or Google play or Google podcast. I always get all these things. Confused are so many platforms now,

00:29:13Thanks so much, Jen.