In this candid episode, host Isabel Alexander explores a topic many entrepreneurs may hesitate to admit: when your business stops being fun. Isabel creates a safe space to discuss this natural evolution and shares personal insights from her entrepreneurial journey.
As we age and gain experience, our perspectives shift. Isabel reflects on the value of growing older, recognizing that it offers a new vantage point to laugh at past challenges and celebrate what we've learned.
Isabel shares her own experience of reaching a point where her successful business lost its appeal. She candidly discusses the feelings of imposter syndrome and the longing for something different.
But this episode isn't just about challenges; it's about transformation. Isabel emphasizes the importance of embracing change, finding playfulness, creativity, and joy in your entrepreneurial journey, and creating value for yourself and others.
Join Isabel as she encourages you to look at your business and life with fresh eyes, seeking more fun, fulfillment, and a renewed sense of purpose. Get ready to embrace your next stage with excitement and creativity. #Entrepreneurship #BusinessTransformation #TheEncoreCatalyst"
To register for a coaching with Isabel
About the Host:
Isabel Alexander
Your Next Business Strategist and Transformation Catalyst
Isabel Alexander's journey from modest beginnings to global recognition epitomizes entrepreneurial resilience and innovation. With over five decades of experience spanning diverse industries, she has become a driving force in shaping economic landscapes worldwide. Noteworthy accomplishments include founding a multimillion-dollar global chemical wholesale business and earning accolades such as Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women.
As a mentor and advocate, Isabel empowers women entrepreneurs through initiatives like the Lift As You Climb Movement and podcasts, guiding them from startup to maturity. Serving as Chief Encore Officer of The Encore Catalyst, she dedicates herself to coaching and educating emerging entrepreneurs. Her involvement in organizations like RenegadesReinventing.com and Femme on Fire underscores her commitment to leadership and business development.
Additionally, Isabel's advisory roles with government bodies and trade associations, such as Chair of the Canadian Association of Importers & Exporters, highlight her influence in shaping trade policies and fostering international relations.
Driven by her mantra, "Lift As You Climb," Isabel embodies the ethos of mutual growth and empowerment. With dual citizenship in Canada and the United States, she values her extensive family and embraces global connections through travel and professional engagements. Isabel Alexander's narrative serves as a beacon of inspiration, illustrating how visionary leadership and strategic advising can drive global entrepreneurship and economic independence forward.
Founder:
The Encore Catalyst Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/TheEncoreCatalyst )
and
Chief Encore Officer, The Encore Catalyst (www.theencorecatalyst.com) – an accelerator for feminine wisdom, influence, and impact.
also
Author & Speaker ‘Who Am I Now? – Feminine Wisdom Unmasked Uncensored’ https://whoaminowbook.com/
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Transcripts
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Welcome to the Lift As You Climb podcast, where it's all about the
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journey and the joy of discovering who you are now, deciding who you want
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to become, and embracing your genuine identity, influence, and impact.
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In each episode, we'll explore how life's experiences have prepared us for what
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we choose to do next and how to create our Encore, write our own script, and
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star in the next stage of our lives.
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I'm your host, your Encore strategist, and transformation catalyst, Isabel Alexander.
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Let's talk about why your business isn't fun anymore.
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And yes, it's okay.
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This is a safe space to talk about it, to think about it, and let's
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get very honest with each other about it's a natural evolution.
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If your role and your company isn't growing at the same pace, in sync
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with you, then it's understandable that it's not fun anymore.
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It's not fun, it's not fulfilling, it doesn't make you feel free
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to really be who you are.
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The good thing about getting older is that you get a chance to look
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back in your rearview mirror.
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By the way, I'm particularly grateful and excited about getting older.
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There was a time in my life I thought, oh my god, 69, this is
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wow, positively ancient, jump off the cliff with the dinosaurs.
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But now, I recognize it's just given me an entirely new perspective, an opportunity
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to reflect back and to look at myself from a safe distance and laugh and smile.
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What I had learned over the years, I learned by doing, by getting experience,
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by falling down, by making mistakes, by fucking things up royally, but gosh,
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I'm so glad I learned, and so here I am now in this place of saying, yeah!
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It made total sense that I wanted to leave my apparently to the
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world very successful company.
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I had achieved status, eight figure business, in a male dominated
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industry, primarily, that I had no formal education for, and I had
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no prior business training for.
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I got to a stage one day, and it was like, oh my, God, please don't
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make me go there again today.
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Please don't make me do that today.
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Please don't make me have to fake it till I make it.
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Please don't let the world know, or my staff know, that on the
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inside I'm a quivering mass of imposter syndrome, being like, I
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don't know how to make this better.
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I don't know how to grow anymore in this role.
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I don't know what I don't know.
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And that was, in hindsight, the truth, because that's where I fell
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into that whole identity crisis about not knowing who I was at that stage
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of my journey as an entrepreneur.
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I had been working so hard, hellbent for leather for 20 years just figuring
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it out every day, like pants on fire, let's figure this out, making up
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new shit all the time, learning and, oh my gosh, then I got to a stage
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of I don't want to do that anymore,
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I want to learn different things, I want to learn in different ways, I want
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to have different experiences, And I know that's happening with many other
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entrepreneurs around me and I want to be able to help you and to help you
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through what my journey has been on where you get to the stage of saying,
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okay, I want to have fun and that's okay.
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That's actually highly recommended, because in being in that place of
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playfulness, creativity, imagination, expansion, You create more value.
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You create more value for yourself, which is number one.
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We've been spending a lot of time unlearning some training in the past
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about putting everybody else first.
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So please, let's stay on that new track of self education that recognizing that the
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more we do for ourselves to make ourselves feel the happiest, the most fulfilled,
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the most excited about our lives, the more value we are actually creating around the
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world, and that is lifting and climbing.
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You lift your own spirits, you lift your own goals, you lift your own
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perspective, and then you are able to empower others to do the same.
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I want to talk with you about more fun in your years, more fun in your life, more
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time in your life, or life in your time, depending on the perspective of Efren, the
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contractor that I talked about earlier, because I think that was such a brilliant
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philosophical way to look at life.
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I want to share with you some ideas on figuring out how you decide, because
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you're in that caterpillar stage right now of figuring out what's your next
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iteration of Butterfly, and how to get to what that script looks like, what's the
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stage you're going to play on, who's the cast and crew that's going to support you,
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and then how you produce this beautiful next stage of your life starring you.
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That may include...
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the business that you have right now, but it's just transformed, or more
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importantly, your relationship and your role with the business transforms.
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Or maybe it doesn't.
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Maybe it becomes something entirely new.
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But whatever it is, I promise you, stick around.
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It's going to be fun figuring it all out.
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See you soon.
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Thank you for spending this time with me.
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I hope our conversation added value to your day and expanded your
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vision for your legacy and impact.
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Please join me in increasing my impact and expanding my reach to even more people
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by sharing this episode iTunes, Spotify.
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Or channel of choice to catch all the latest from me.
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Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform.
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Connect with me and others in our community Facebook group, the Lift
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As You Climb Movement, where you can engage, be inspired by and grow
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with a tribe of like-minded people.
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As I evolve as a podcaster and spokeswoman for collaboration and
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economic empowerment, your input and feedback are especially important.
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To me, I welcome your suggestions and questions to hello@theencorecatalyst.com.
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Until we meet again, please remember your success may be the foundation
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for someone else's to together we can raise success ladders around the world.
