2024 has been a tough year for a lot of us in business, but there are so many opportunities for us to pivot as business owners when we need to.

Kelsey Sorenson is here to share how she's had to make difficult pivots in her business, how she navigated those changes, and how you can shift your business when things aren't going as planned.

⭐️ Resources Mentioned:

• Educate & Rejuvenate by Kelsey Sorenson (FREE: Chapter 1 + guided meditations)
• The Surrender Experiment
• Who Not How
• Follow me on Instagram @podcastingforeducators 

🔗 Connect with Kelsey: 

• Check out her website
• Listen to her podcast, Educate & Rejuvenate
• Email her at connect@educateandrejuvenate.com
• Follow her on Instagram @educateandrejuvenate

🎤 Recommended Podcasting Resources:

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• Transcription: Otter.ai
• Project Management: ClickUp
• Private Podcasting: Hello Audio
• Podcast Playlist Toolkit - use code PODCAST to grab it for $17!
• Launch Your Podcast: Free Podcast Launch Guide & Podcasting for Educators Prep School
• Level Up Your Podcast: Podcast Like You Mean It
• Leverage Podcast Guesting: Free Guesting Planning Guide & Guesting for Educators Mini-Course

Show Notes: https://podcastingforeducators.com/episode176

Some links mentioned are affiliate links. This helps to support this podcast at no additional cost to you. 

Sara Whittaker 0:00

Kelsey Sorenson 2:52

I am so thrilled to be here, Sara, and we talked about, like, doing podcasts A while back, and so I'm glad we're finally here and finally doing it. And I think that this topic of, like, when business is hard, or, I don't know, whatever we're going to call this, like pivoting, or, you know, facing challenges, surrendering to what is right, all of that is so important because they know a lot of us, especially, I mean, I know there are a lot of people who listen, who might be TPT sellers, a lot of people who aren't. But there's TPT algorithm, there's the economy, there are so many factors that I've noticed a pattern that a lot of people are struggling right now. And so I think that normalizing, that it's not always the highs we have, the highs and the lows, is going to be such an important conversation.

Sara Whittaker 3:35

Absolutely, I couldn't agree more. I think the past, like, especially the past year, I think, has just been a really difficult year for a lot of people, a strange year. I think, like, things that we are used to are shifting in terms of, like buying behavior, and things that used to work aren't working anymore. And right, I know a lot of people are feeling they're feeling frustrated. They're also feeling a little like down on themselves, because maybe their sales aren't where they used to be. And I've just had so many conversations with people about like, where do I go from here? What do I do? A lot of people wondering, like, is this the point where I need to stop my business and figure something else out? And you know, I think there's a lot of different directions that people can go in. So I'm excited to talk with you about this today and just kind of have, like, an honest conversation about this, because sometimes that's what it takes, is like hearing other people's stories and hearing, yeah, that other people are dealing with this too, and it's not it's not you, it's not something that you're doing. We're just in kind of, like a really weird time right now. So I know that you have a story about how you've had experience with having to make a really difficult pivot in your business. So can you kind of talk us through that, and how you how you dealt with that, how you navigated

Kelsey Sorenson 4:50

it? Yeah, well, I mean, I would say we've had that multiple times. Yeah, okay, we're gonna pivot here. We're gonna pivot there. So, I mean, the first, like, big one, I feel like my first years of TPT were. Was kind of smooth sailing, because they did Teachers Pay Teachers, right? For those who maybe not know the acronym, I think most people probably do, but yeah, I started my store, and it was just going up and up and up. And I never had a down year, right?

Sara Whittaker 5:12

What year did you start?

Kelsey Sorenson 5:13

Sara Whittaker 7:02

just to kind of clarify for people who might not know what this is. So Kelsey has a membership where, when people join, they get access to her all of your CBT resources,

Kelsey Sorenson 7:11

right? Well, and it actually has changed, but at the time, that's what it was, okay,

Sara Whittaker 7:15

okay? And they pay a monthly fee to access this. Yes, yeah. And there's a lot of like, mindset stuff that comes with that, like, Oh, what did people just join and then download stuff and leave? Yeah, exactly.

Kelsey Sorenson 7:23

So I was like, um, this could, like, cannibalize my whole business, right? So I, like, did some mindset work around that? And then we launched it, and then it was great, like, it did help us get, like, a steady revenue. Our TPT sales didn't dip from that specifically. But then it wasn't too long later that the whole TPT algorithm fiasco started happening. We're established sellers. We're no longer ranking in the search. Not to mention that, right before the TPT algorithm shake up happened, I hired two full time employees. Oh my gosh, of course. We're like, gonna, because we're gonna go all out, because we're like, Okay, we're gonna have this membership. We need new stuff coming out all the time. This was another mindset thing I had. I thought I had to have new stuff, like tons of new stuff coming out every month, otherwise people wouldn't stay right. So I, like, hired all these people because they knew I couldn't keep up with that. So I'm like, Okay, well, if we can keep all these subscribers, it'll be worth hiring these people to make new products all the time. So we did that, and then the TPT algorithm shifted. So now I'm like, paying these salaries and sales are down. But I was like, it's okay, because when back to school comes, that's going to pay for it, right? And then the next but next back to school came. It did not. It did not. It was worse than the year before. And I was just like, Oh my goodness. What do I do from here? Like TPT is just going down and down and down. And I, and I've talked to friends, and I know a lot of them are in the same boat, and I know others are not. So if you're listening to this and your sales are up, or even, even, I mean, a pop for you, yeah, perhaps for you, cheer for yourself, because it is so much. It's been really bad for a lot of us, so rough out there, yeah, if you're in that boat too, then no, like, a lot of us are there with you. So I feel like those are some crazy pivots we've had. We with the membership, we started an event. I feel like I'm like, not, there's so much it's hard to even like. I'm like, Oh yeah, I didn't mention that. We started a live event with our membership too, and I eventually certified as a life coach as well. So now the business has taken on, like, a whole new direction. Like, for me, that pivot was really like, okay, TPT. And it's not this thing for everyone, right? A lot of people were like, No, I'm really gonna put some effort into TPT. I'm going to do SEO. I'm going to really figure out what is unique about my products and everything. But what I realized is that for me, I feel like that season for me is not like, it's kind of like, okay, I'm kind of done with that, you know. Like, it was fun for 10 years to focus on creating products and resources, and we still do some, yeah, but like, but you

Sara Whittaker 9:52

saw how scary it can be if things take a turn. And like, all of your eggs, so to speak, are in that. Ask it, and you realize, oh my gosh, things can change so quickly, and all of our income was coming from this one place. So you guys have kind of, like, diversified things and changed really, like, what your business is from what it used to be. Yeah.

I mean, over the past year, we've even rebranded. So it was wife, teacher, mommy, our company, and that's because it was a TPT store. And, you know, a lot of people your TPT store is, like, your name or something about you, right? But then as we started building this, like event and the club, which we called wife, teacher, mommy club, and then we'd have people be like, I'm not one of those things, or I'm a guy, or, like, I don't have kids, or we'd have, you know, I'm single, I'm not married, like all these things, and it's like, okay, but you don't have to be those things. But I can see how that is kind of like, oh, not as inclusive. So I wanted it to become more inclusive once we were becoming a community. And then our new brand name is called Educate and rejuvenate. And it's actually a really funny story how we ended up rebranding to that because, like I mentioned, so the membership, we started in 2021 right? So we had that year in 2020 of, like, pivoting, the resources and stuff. And then it was summer of 2021 we launched the membership, like we were it was preparing for a while before that. And then when we launched the membership, I promised an event. I was like, we are going to do an awesome event, wife, teacher, mommy, live. It's going to be amazing. We like, you know, as we were doing launch, we talked about it. And then after we got the memories, it was like, Okay, now what? I have no clue how to put on an event, but it just promised it so, like, I have to now. So we just kind of started doing it right. And then it was figuring out, what do we name it? So we were throwing around a lot of names, and eventually what we landed on was educate and rejuvenate. Because we're like, oh, I want this event. And at the time, we were just naming the event to help teachers not only teach but to rejuvenate themselves as well. Because we noticed a lot of teachers like, again, this was right after COVID. But I mean, always, teachers are feeling burned out, like we did a survey. We're like, how can we help you more? And they were burned out. So we're like, okay, we're going to kind of bring, you know, teaching concepts and rejuvenation concepts into this one event. So we did that, and it did really well, like we spent a ton on Facebook ads, but we grew our membership with it. Our first year with the event was just absolutely incredible. So good, right? We got so many members. We had over 3000 attendees and everything, wow. And then we did it again. We've done it again two more years, and each year. This is another struggle. I'm being real candid right now. Yeah, I love it. I've talked to everything. I've talked to other people post events too. That first year we had way more people than we've had at the next two now, we did increase the ticket price. So that's one thing that we did that we're like, Okay, well, that's going to do it. But then this year, so it was like over 3000 people the first year, over 2000 people the second year, and not even quite 2000 this year in 2024 so it's like gone down. So it's 2022 is the first event, right? Because we launched the membership. But then we had a whole year till the first event, and then 2023 2024 and it is october 2024 as we're talking right now. So it has gone down each year in the number of people, and every year we spent about the same in ad spend, right? So this year we actually came to where we were doing the event, and I was like, Oh my goodness. Like, this event is not even going to be profitable. We're not going to make money unless we do something about it. Yeah. So it was like two weeks before the event, and like, we have to figure something out. So instead of actually really focusing on the membership and getting people in in two weeks that came up with a high ticket offer amazing, which was a life it was a lifetime membership to the Educate, rejuvenate club, and that's what we focused on, instead of the subscription. Now I knew that this meant we weren't going to get the recurring revenue that we usually get from the event. So I knew that this was kind of like a Hail Mary for like this is going to save our butts for this event and the revenue that we need, but then we are going to have to get working on getting those subscriptions throughout the year, right? So we did that, and it went really well. We had, I think it was 80 people sign up for that lifetime membership. So we didn't need as many, right? Yeah, because it was like, it was instead of like, spend $37 a month. It was like, um, 997, like, yeah, come join this offer. And because we had to spend 10s of 1000s of dollars on ads, so we needed to get that back, right? Yes, we did. We got, we got a bunch of lifetime members. Some of them were our current members. Some of them are brand new. And so we were able to do that. So it's kind of making hard decisions, because I realized about, yes, that's saving us, but actually now it's kind of making it so, like, we lost some of our members because they joined the lifetime, right? And then we didn't get new members at nearly the scale we normally would have, because normally, like at these events, we get like 500 members, and instead, we got a bunch of lifetime where it's like one time coming in, but we didn't get those recurring. So again, we are still kind of troubleshooting that, and it's partially why we're now doing a winter event where we're going to do a free summit model and try to build subscriptions from that. So it's kind of like we're just going with it, and we're trusting, and we're like, you know, we're in a season where I've been, this year has been really rebrand, launch a book, launch an app, all these new things, and then so next year we're really going. Focus on marketing, all the things we've built this year, now that we've kind of completely pivoted the model of the business. But I just wanted to share that that's not easy, you know, like, it has been a crazy, wild ride.

Yeah, oh my gosh, I'm I love hearing about stories like this and just like, kind of behind the scenes of people's businesses. And I mean, props to you, Kelsey, seriously, for, like, for pivoting, and for making those like, fast decisions, like, two weeks before the event goes and I'm so glad that it worked out for you. I think that's awesome. And as you're talking I mean, I hope that this gives encouragement to people, because for me, as I'm listening to you talk about this, what I'm taking away is, like, there's so many opportunities out there as an online business owner, and there's so many ways that you can shift things and kind of make things up as you go. Honestly, we're all doing okay. Might not look like it, but we're all figuring it out as we go. So I just I like, Thank you for kind of sharing all of and let me

tell you how terrifying that was, and that is like, I've only kind of touched on this, but I'm a certified life coach. I've been working on mindset work, like regulating my nervous system all of this stuff for a couple years now, like in my personal life and now my professional life as I certified as a life coach. And yet it was so hard to do the mindset work and everything too big. Yeah, I'm going to, you know, go out on this webinar, and I'm going to say, Hey, pay me 997 although, I mean, it was 897 because we did, like, a fast action offer, but it's like, yeah, 897 to teachers. Yeah, right. No. Like, yeah. It was terrifying. I was like, am I going to get like, you know, cussed out? Am I going to people going to be like, Oh, how dare you, like, if you're trying to help teachers, why are you charging them that? But really, I mean, when you look at the life coaching industry, which is really the industry I'm going into now, like, that's honestly such a low price. But we also have to keep in mind the audience somewhere before at with, you know, inflation and everything too. So, but inflation is tricky because we also have to keep it in mind as business owners, that, yeah, our expenses are going up and we need to make money too. So it's really finding that right balance where you're giving enough value, and that's why I had to figure out, like, how do we give enough value that I am going to get people paying this price? Yeah,

so much mindset stuff comes into play when you do that kind of thing, but you also have to be like, you know, I'm going to put this out there, and if people don't want to buy it, they don't want to buy it, but it's going to ultimately help people who who want it and who might like they'll be happy that this is available to them. You touched on, gosh, there's so many things we could go into here, but like you touched on, I mean, having people on your team, when you see these like downward spirals in your business, is so, yeah, because you feel responsible and new, yeah, and you don't want to, especially like full time employees, that's a totally different thing than even contractors. Like, when you have full time employees, it's like, gosh, I have to, if I do end up having to let this person go, it's hard, and you have to give them enough notice, and you're taking that hit financially. Obviously, you know, you kind of touched on some things, some the financial aspect of some of these shifts that you had to make. Are there any other from, like, a financial standpoint, any other challenges?

Yeah. I mean, a lot of it is really, I honestly, and I would love for people, because they know you mentioned that maybe a lot of people here don't have full time employees or a full time team yet. Yeah, I would mention going a lot slower than I did with that. I listened to some podcasts. Honestly, I got really excited about I listened to, like, who, not how, that book that's really popular, like, oh, just get the who's and instead of the how. And then, you know, it's just gonna grow, because it's an investment, right? And it's true, if you get for one, if you get the right ones, and it is even the right thing your business needs, but I feel like that's a muscle that you need to learn to exercise. Like, how do I find the right people? How do I train the right people? And I was in over my head, hiring way too many people trying to become honestly, comparing myself to other people who are like, Oh, my friend, she's now a multi million dollar business. I can totally do that too. And that's totally what I want. Where, when I really tune in, I'm like, do I want a multi million dollar business where I'm have this huge team that I'm having to manage all the time? And, yeah, I mean, I've now kind of realized that, like, if that happens, amazing, if the revenue gets there, it has not gotten there. And now I'm totally fine with that. And now I'm like, You know what I would I'm happier more with profit than revenue. I've learned that revenue is just a vanity thing. That I

was just gonna say billion business owner, yeah,

or multi million dollar business owner. And then, like, like, How

much money are you actually? Yeah, your pocket. Yeah, right. And

then the other thing, like, with employees too, it's so tricky because, like, obviously they want to get raises, and then if you can't do that, it gets really hard, because you you get to know these people so well, and you want to take care of them, you feel almost a responsibility for them. And yet it's like, I have to take care of my business and myself too. We went through a period where we were hardly paying ourselves. And like, why am I working so hard to pay these other people? People, like I was we were not getting paid, like I was not paying myself, and I was working full time. There were times where I was like, why am I doing this? Like, really struggling with it? And then I'm like, No, I know my why. I know I want to do this, but it was kind of that's where it was eventually, like, I really did need my team to get smaller. And luckily, it did kind of happen itself, because people ended up finding other jobs or things they needed, as far as the employees go. But there was a time I had to let go multiple contractors. I mean, you know this because you were doing my podcast, and I was so bummed that I had to pull that in and just had my employees do it because I'm like, I can't did it because I like finance. I had to let go my business coach too, who I loved. I had to, you know, so many people were who I was, like, doing contract work with where it was like, Okay, I feel more responsibility for these employees, so I'm going to give them whatever I can. But it's been so tricky, and so now I'm really trying to be very mindful of like, I do want a team. I do think building a team is such an important thing, like getting people who have other strengths working together collaboration. But I'm now like, I want to keep my team small and mighty, like, I want to make sure I have the right people doing the right things, that we're only working on what actually matters. Because I felt like sometime we were sometimes we were like, doing things that it's like, why are we doing this? You know, like, we could just not do that and be fine. So it's like, we're really focusing on, like these events, like getting the app and membership going, all these things are going to, long term, drive the business forward. So I think that's really important as well, just making sure that you know what you're doing as you're bringing in a team and making these financial investments, not overdoing it. I mean, other things I did is I did that life coaching certification that was very expensive. And we did physical planners, which I now wish we never would have done. We did, like, a large inventory order, and honestly, I'm not, I'm not blaming anyone else, but like, there were also like, outside pressures where it was like, oh, like, You should do this. This would be a really great idea. And at one point it was like, we were about to put in the order, and I, like, had this gut feeling like, I don't feel like we should do this, but I was like, but I already paid the designer to design the planner for like, $500 but then I paid like, $19,000 for the planners. I should have stopped.

Yeah, right, but you're like, I already made some sort of an investment. I have to keep going, right?

You feel pot committed, but it's like, sometimes it would have been better, just like, okay, yeah, let's write that off, but let's not invest any more in that, and let's move on. Because now we've gotten rid of a bunch of planners, but we still have so many microage they have my old brand name on it.

Oh no, you know, oh my gosh. And we realized that I

don't want to get in the physical product business long term. And my accountant is like, if you're selling these on your website or whatever, then you're going to need to do different things with sales taxes, because with physical products, it's different. I'm like, Well, I want to get out of the physical product business, so I'm not going to start that. So now, like, we're just using them as, like, incentives, mainly for when people join the membership, or we do have it on Etsy, because he said that would be okay, but it's not really gaining traction there a whole time, so I don't know we'll get rid of him eventually. And that's kind of one of my 2025, goals about what creative things can we do with these planners and, like, have fun with it. But yeah, it is like, where I can look back and be like, yeah, if I would have listened to my gut, I never would have placed that order. So that's one thing I've really been working on this year. Is slowing down, not being as much in the hustle of making decisions, making decisions from a dysregulated place where I'm like, No, I have to do this. I have to do that. It's kind of tuning in and be like, No, well, what do I need to do? What do I really want? Yeah, that's actually one of the chapters in my book is called, What do you want? And I kind of compare it to in in the notebook. Oh, you know, you know, because you edited another podcast, right? Explain this well. And honestly, that scene, whenever I hear that, yeah, that scene, oh, yeah, what pops into my mind? Yeah,

I'm just like, Ryan

Gosling. He's like, What do you want? Stop thinking about what your parents want, what he wants. Parents want, what he wants, what I want, what do you want? And she like, can't answer. She's just like, well, it's not that simple, you know? And honestly, when I'm life coaching, so many times like, ask a question and the answer is, I don't know. And it's the same for me when I'm like, with my coach or with my therapist, like, it's like, oh, I actually don't know that. And it's because we are so we're not as in tune with ourselves as we could be if we slowed down. We're in such a fast paced society where it's all about Go, go, go. It's all about hitting the next milestone. It's all about, you know, making sure we hit the numbers. Because, I mean, and there are parts of that that are important, right? Because, like I said, we do need to pay ourselves, and I now am like, I refuse to not pay myself. If it ever gets to that point again, it's like, I will just have to make the hard decision to, you know, you know, do something about that. But, but we're not there now, right? So that, and that's the good thing, because we've made the changes we needed to do in order to not be there anymore,

right? Yes, no, I think slowing down is such, such good advice. Because when we're in that space of like, okay, things are not going as well as they were before, and it's that like desperation, of like, I need to change this quickly, yeah, because this is my income and I need to figure something out. And so we make these rash decisions. And hiring, gosh, hiring. Can be so addictive too, because you get that like, Oh, this is amazing. Like somebody's taking this off of my plate, right? But slowing down and really deciding, like, Okay, what would be the best hire for my unique business? Maybe that's not the same hire that my business friend made, because we have two different businesses. Just yeah. So such good advice. So tell us a little bit about because I know you've you are a certified life coach now, which is so so cool, and I love hearing you talk about all the stuff that you've learned there. So when it comes to, you know, making these changes and these pivots in our business when things aren't going as planned, how do you kind of learn to accept that and to kind of surrender to what needs to happen.

Yes, and I feel like this is a lesson. Like one thing I've heard is that, like a problem will keep repeating itself over and over and over until you finally learn the lesson from it. And I so believe that to be true, because I've been up and down and up and down with all these struggles these past few years in my business and honestly in my life too. And I think the lesson that I really needed to learn is that like to slow down, to look at what is like, which is like, Okay. This is where my business is at right now. This is where my weight is at right now. This is where, you know my marriage or my personal things in my life are at right now, and just like, being like, okay, that's how it is. Like, I really love and really this year, I've been getting into, like, yoga and mindfulness and meditation and just really realizing that being in tune with the present moment and noticing, like, Yeah, I'm safe, everything's okay, like, I'm not worrying about the future, I'm not fretting about the past, like it's just this moment and what is and bringing myself back to that and just remembering that it's just one baby step at a time. There's a book well, and actually his main book I haven't read. Have you heard of Michael singer? But he wrote this surrender experiment I did one of his audio books that is, like a course based on the surrender experiment. But it was really good because it talks about this concept of surrendering, which is really just, like, fully accepting. Like, what is it's about, not just so hard wishing it were another way. It's just like, Okay, this is my reality. And noticing, okay, this is what's going on. This is what I'm thinking. This is what I'm feeling. But you're honestly kind of detaching from it a little bit to observe and to notice, like, as if you are at a movie, like watching with a big bowl of popcorn and a Diet Coke, and you're just like, Okay, what's going on? This is really interesting. Like, and just noticing what is, you know, there's always ups and downs. We're going to have both, and we're going to learn from all of them. I feel like I'm just rambling at this point.

No, no, no. I think that that's such a good concept. It's hard to put into practice, I think. But I like the idea of, kind of, like, these are the facts. Kind of take your feelings out of it, almost in the moment, and being able to kind of, I like the idea of, like, being an observer of what's happening

well, and it's not even that you're like, I'm not feeling it. Is that you're noticing that you're feeling it. You're like, oh, okay, here's what is going on. I'm feeling this tightness in my chest. My pulse is racing. That's always the tightness chest, yeah, you know, that's always the first thing I say. Or my jaw is tight, yeah, my back hurts, like, you know, from all the, you know, yeah, oh yeah, all the too much computer online working all of us are doing, right? Yes,

all of us are gonna have terrible back problems. And I just feel like we're all so anxious all the time, yeah,

it's so bad. So just actually noticing that. And the funny thing is that when you notice it, it actually starts to simmer down a little bit and really just, like, processing and moving through those emotions, because so often we're trying to just push them away. But no, I, like, I'm feeling anxious, but I'm trying to, like, push through the anxious. Because I can't just sit here and be anxious, because I have to get this thing done or else, like, my business is going to explode. Or, you know,

now, now I'm anxious about feeling anxious, right? Yes. Okay, so for you know, there's obviously business owners are listening, and a lot of them are also podcasters. So like, whether you are a podcaster or not, I think we can all really relate to this conversation, especially at the time that this airs. We're going to be approaching the end of the calendar year thinking, I know everybody's already kind of thinking about the new year, so this is, I think, like the perfect time to have this conversation. So if anybody is experiencing these like setbacks in their business, and they kind of are at this place of feeling stuck and just almost like that paralyzed feeling of like, okay, a New Year's coming. What can I do? Like, how should I move forward? What advice would you give to them? Yeah,

I mean, I would just say to start with that observing that we were talking about. It's actually I created this three step framework. So first is to observe yourself, right? That's where we want to do. Just. Exactly what we were talking about. We want to kind of pull back a little bit look at what am I thinking, what am I feeling, what am I doing, what result is this actually giving me in my life? Once we do that, then we need to become more conscious and choose our direction. We need to understand this is what I actually want in my business. This is what I do not want, and that is a big part of it, like, what what do I want? What don't I want? Because a lot of times we think, like, for example, for me, it was like, oh, I want to hit seven figures. I want that so bad for other people might be I want to hit six figures, or I want to make hire my first contractor. And it's because of how you think you're going to feel when you get there. It's not because actually, like, oh, I mean, and sometimes it's like, oh, yeah, my life will be better. But it's because you you'll feel more secure, or you'll feel better about yourself. You think, until then you're gonna have the next thing that you want, right? Yeah. So really, it's about what, what do I really want if I were to create what I want in my life, what that I can even do right now? Like, for me, it was like, Okay, I actually don't want to be working 40 hours anymore, and I figured out a way to make that happen, even though my business isn't exactly where I need to be for so long, I was like, No, when things are really good, when they're just rocking and rolling, that I can pull back and now be like, No, I need to pull back. And actually, this is what my business needs. Because what was working, or what I thought I needed to do for so long was just keeping me in this place where we're just keep running into things like, that's not fixing it. So maybe my point back is actually what I need to do a little bit. Yeah. So, yeah, yeah. I

think some sometimes, like the setbacks that we experience in in life in general and in our business, are like blessings in disguise, because you realize that maybe there were some things involved in that that you don't want, and now you know what you don't want your business to look like, and you Right? Like getting the opportunity to change things and to pivot is maybe the best thing that could happen to you and to your business, absolutely.

And that's what I've seen, too, is that so much of this, and I'm glad that I experienced it, because I learned so many lessons that I wouldn't have learned any other way. So kind of like being like, Okay, what do I want? What did I learn from all this observation? And it's not be like, Okay, I just want to go a different way. It's like, what do I learn by looking back, by observing myself, my thoughts, my feelings, my emotions, what I've been doing, what I haven't been doing, that I actually want to be doing. What can I learn from all of this? And how do I want to move forward consciously from here? And then the third step is just to align yourself. Is to keep going that direction, reassessing if that's the direction you want, because you can always change. It's noticing. It's continuing, and they're adding on top of each other. We're continuing to observe the whole time. We're continuing to choose again, right? And then aligning yourself is really again, following through with your goals, your routines, surrounding yourself with people who are going to lift you up and help you. That's a huge part of it. Yeah. So again, if you can just do that, observe yourself, choose your direction and align yourself in your business, in your life, in your health journey and whatever is going on, yeah, apply to like any part of your life, really. And what I love about this framework is that it's not like you have to do things a certain way. Because I know there are, like, coaches and experts are like, you have to do it this way. You have to do it that way. And what I realized it is, there isn't a right way, but these tools are really just like, they're self driven. They're like, this is how I get to know myself. And then what I need, which my business is going to look a lot different than your business, and then each listener's business, right? So that's what I love about it. It's very personal, very tailored, and yet we all have similar experiences too, so we're able to talk about

it. Yeah, absolutely. I think that people are going to hear this conversation and have a lot of like connection moments in terms of how we've all felt through our own unique journeys. And here's to 2025. Being a little bit better

for real. I'm

excited. I think it's going to be a good year. And use the advice and that three step process that Kelsey just talked about to, you know, maybe for the month of December, like slow down and give yourself that time to reflect and to observe and think about how you want this next year to go and you know, we're all in it together. Well, Kelsey, I know that you are educate and rejuvenate everywhere, which is awesome. I love, I love a consistent name across all the platforms. Where would be like if somebody wanted to follow up with you, or ask you a question. Connect with you. Where would be the best place? Instagram. Yeah,

they can always DM on Instagram. I would also, since you are airing this in December, we are doing our winter educate. Am rejuvenate, 2024 2025, event, and this one, like I mentioned earlier in the show, it's free, yeah, so you can definitely come and check it out. I would love for you to come learn more about this. I will be doing some sessions about your New Year's goals. We have Leslie Rob coming in doing some comedy. We have an incredible speaker lineup that as of the time I'm recording this, we're still putting together, but by the time you're listening, we'll have it. We even have a few side hustle sessions, which are going to be a lot of fun. So for. Business Owners. We're we're starting to kind of add that in. So I would definitely recommend, I think if you go to educate rejuvenate.com/event it should probably take you there. If you go to the homepage of our website, because again, as of when we're recording, I don't actually have the link yet, I will get you the link. Yeah. And then, honestly, if you just go to educate rejuvenate.com I bet is going to be the bar at the top of the website, so you should be able to find it that way.

Perfect. Yeah, by the time this airs, I'll make sure that we have the link and it'll be in the in the show notes for you guys. And

then just my book I would recommend, if you loved what we talked about today. I talk about so much of these tools that a lot of the examples are education based. But if you read between the lines your business owner, you're going to see that a lot of this has been because of the challenges I've had in my business, all these things that I've learned. So definitely check out the book, also called Educate and rejuvenate. And just a side note, if you're listening and you're like, I would love to speak at one of your events, we're going to our already wrapped up the speaker lineup for December, but if you would love to speak at one of our future events, we do a summer and a winter event. Please reach out at connect, at educate and rejuvenate.com. And like I said, we even do some side hustle sessions. Now, if you're a service provider and any teaching topic, basically, it's very open, like we have, like a lot of we just want to make sure everybody gets whatever they need at our event. So like, math, language arts, organization management and anything really perfect.

Yeah, so if you're a teacher, author of some sort, that would be a really cool opportunity for you. Love that well, Kelsey, thank you so much. It was so good to talk to you as always, and I appreciate you taking some time out of your day.

I appreciate you too. Thank you so much for having me, of course.

Thank you again to Kelsey for joining us today and for being so candid and sharing about the pivots that you've had to make in your business. I know that I can relate to so much of what we've talked about, and I think a lot of you can as well as online business owners. I think we're pretty savvy when it comes to having to make these shifts as the online space fluctuates and we're kind of forced to make changes. If you are feeling stuck right now, I hope that this conversation feels like a big hug and is a reminder that you can turn things around. And there are so many opportunities around the corner. Sometimes we just have to think outside of the box, and we have to put our brave face on and try new things, even when it feels scary. I'm excited for the new year to begin. I think it always brings a sense of rejuvenation and excitement, and I hope you're feeling that too. So here is to rounding out 2024 and gearing up for a new year ahead. I have some plans in the work to be making some changes and some pivots with this podcast that you will be hearing about very soon. Until then, I will catch you here next week. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. To keep this conversation going, connect with me on Instagram at podcasting for educators. I'm always looking for an excuse to talk about podcasting. If you're looking for support in launching, managing or growing your podcast, check out my online course, the podcasting for educators prep school at podcasting for educators.com/prep school. I'll see you here next time you