business boutique by christy wright – March book club

About This Month’s Book

There’s never been a better time to start your own business. But let’s face it: It can be scary to put yourself out there and tackle the business side of things. Fortunately, you’re not alone!

There is a movement of women stepping into their God-given gifts to make money doing what they love. If you’d like to join them, this is your handbook that will take the ideas in your head and the dream in your heart and turn them into action.

In Business Boutique, Christy Wright will:

• Help you create a step-by-step, customized plan to start and grow your business.
• Show you how to manage your time so you can have a business—and life—that you love.
• Explain overwhelming business stuff like pricing, taxes, and budgeting in simple terms.
• Teach you how to use marketing to reach the right people in the right way.
• Empower you to sell your product or service with confidence.

Christy will help you get your business idea off the ground or take your existing business to the next level. You can do this. It’s time for you to make money doing what you love!
Source: https://www.businessboutique.com/book/

Sarah’s Takeaway:

I am in awe of Christy’s ability in story telling and how she uses her own background as the daughter of an entreprenuer and her own passion for helping women to share the steps to laying down a foundation to succeed as a business owner. She easily defines the steps and actions to take, and is a cheerleader for you as you go thorough the pages of the book. Probably most beneficial, she lets you know you are NOT alone and your voice and approach matters.

Shaunae’s Takeaway:

I absolutely adore Christy and her passion for helping women succeed in their businesses! This book is a great source to get your business started, the correct way. She talks about building a business in four tiers, like a wedding cake (because her mom is a baker.) She works through the foundation (the base) and moves her way up. I love that she gives action steps at the end of each chapter so you can apply what you’re learning to your own business. This book is definitely a must-read for anyone who is starting their business!

Favorite Quotes:

“You were made for more than just getting by; fulfillment is waiting for you in work that you love. You’re not a supporting character in the movie of your life; you’re the lead role. You have permission, the responsibility even, to be in the driver’s seat of your own life. That includes investing in things that bring you joy and make you proud. You have permission to do things that make you like yourself. It’s not selfish; it’s self-preservation, and it’s smart.”

“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.”

“Stop anticipating the sacrifice and start anticipating the reward”

“We undervalue our strengths because they may seem easy and obvious to us.”

“The prettiest ads don’t win the campaign. The best research wins the campaign.” lessons about marketing

“A brand is no longer what we tell the customer it is – it is what the customers tell each other it is.”

“Because here is the reality: It’s your responsibility to make yourself feel good. It’s your responsibility to make yourself happy, confident, and proud. It’s your responsibility to make yourself a person that your family wants to be around, a woman that your husband wants to take on a date, a mom that your kids want to play with, and a friend that people want to hang out with. No one can do that for you.”

Get your copy of Business Boutique!

Follow Christy Wright on Social Media

• Website: https://www.businessboutique.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christybwright/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialChristyWright
•  Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChristyBWright
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1CHQyZ5-MTJzuSCvSVw_qg
•  Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/wrightchristy/do-what-you-love

Podcast Transcription:

Shaune Teske 0:00
You know, talking about your life, it doesn’t have to be…you just go and do what you think you’re supposed to do. You can go after your dreams and your passions. And here’s this quote that I really love that said, You were made for more than just getting by fulfillment is waiting for you in work that you love. You’re not a supporting character in the movie of your life. You’re the lead role.

Sarah Schrader 0:30
Welcome to the Creative Legacy Podcast, a podcast to help creative entrepreneurs build their business, while leading a life of intention, joy and adventure. I’m Shaune and I’m Sarah. So for this month, our book club, Shaune recommended the book Business Boutique. And we had both heard about it, I believe through Dave Ramsey, correct?

Shaune Teske 0:50
Yes.

Sarah Schrader 0:51
Okay. So I had heard about it a few years ago, I had wanted to read it, but I put it off. And when you mentioned it, Shaune, I’m like okay, yes, I can finally read it and sit down and get it. And I absolutely love the author Christy Wright of a business boutique. I love her writing style I was so just, I love her storytelling ability and her telling about her passion for helping women entrepreneurs, to stand in their power to use their God given talents and shine and succeed and grow their businesses. And I was absolutely in awe of her writing style for that.

Shaune Teske 1:28
And she means it that’s what I think is so beautiful about the book, and about her in general is that I think a lot of people can go out and write books. And we’re seeing that more and more now that people think they can just write things. But she really means every word she said and she puts a lot of work and research and time into it. She doesn’t put anything out that she doesn’t think about and work for. So you can tell when you read it. There’s so much info and so much research that went into it that it is here to help you and it really is going to make a difference. It’s not just fluff, it is full of practical tips. And she just has a really beautiful way of explaining that.

Sarah Schrader 2:10
Yep. So Christy Wright, she is the author of Business Boutique, but she’s also the founder of a coaching program by the same name, and she’s also a member of Dave Ramsey’s team. And this book she created is really a guide for someone who wants to start a business or has been in it but hasn’t done the planning or writing down things like logistics and a business plan, essentially, for them like a step by step guide with action plans to go through and create this plan, which is all supposed to help to get you back to your why, and have things in place to know how you’re going to proceed with your business to succeed.

Shaune Teske 2:58
Right, like you said, it’s full of great content and action steps. So at the end of each chapter of this book, it has a review of everything that they covered, and then how you can use it and apply to that business that you’re trying to build. So I really love that it puts it back on you to take the action. Because a lot of times you just read a book, and this is great, and I took my notes, but then you never go back to your notes. So it allows you to really go forward with everything that you learned. And Christy is definitely someone that is now on my list of people I love to meet. She’s fabulous. And I love all the work she’s done. And this book just made me want to meet her even more.

Sarah Schrader 3:41
So let’s dive in and talk about some of the points of the book and what we liked about it. Like, as I was telling you before this episode took way too many notes on like the first three chapters, which are just kind of like an introduction and getting to know her purpose behind all of this. And there was something how we started this podcast with finding your why. I was like, okay, yes, everything goes back to the why. And it was just a great like, okay, yeah, reminder. So when you remember why it matters to you, you can take your eyes off your momentary obstacles and quickly gain perspective to propel you forward. That was a quote in the book. And that was when I wrote down and it’s a good thing to always remember.

Shaune Teske 4:24
Yeah, I love how it starts at the beginning of the book, it all comes down to the foundation. That why and the driving force behind anything you’re doing and she kind of talks about how her mom, you know, was a single mom trying to raise her and she started her own bakery and she made cakes and how all the work and the time and effort that went into it while raising a child. But she knew her why she knew that she was a part of this really special day in people’s lives, whether it’s for wedding cakes or celebrations you know, you’re getting a cake you’re getting it to celebrate so she loved that she was a part of the celebration in people’s lives. And that was she was able to go back to that why when those times were tough. And when she didn’t really want to wake up at 2am and start baking, you know it. And so it was really great to say the book, kind of how we started our podcast and how we started anything is that why are you doing this? What is the reasoning behind it? And I just think that’s so awesome that she started with it. One of the quotes I really loved was that, talking about your life, it doesn’t have to be, you just go and do what you think you’re supposed to do. You can go after your dreams and your passions. And yeah, this quote that I really love that said, You were made for more than just getting by fulfillment is waiting for you in work that you love. You’re not a supporting character in the movie of your life, you’re the lead role. You have permission, the responsibility even to be in the driver’s seat of your own life, that includes investment in things that bring you joy and make you proud, you have permission to do things that make you like yourself. It’s not selfish, it’s self preservation. And it’s smart. And I was like, yes, let’s do it.

Sarah Schrader 6:08
Yes I wrote that down too, I thought it was so amazing.

Shaune Teske 6:11
It was so good. And it was such, like it really propelled me into this, I want to be the star of my own life. I don’t want to just sit in the background, I want to push myself forward. That was really great reminder.

Sarah Schrader 6:25
Yes, definitely. Um, you mentioned that her mom was a baker. And I think that’s a good point to bring up because the face that she had her own business making cakes, even reflects into how this book is set up. And so she brings you through different tiers. And she labels it kind of like a cake. So you have your base layer, that we’re talking about the why you’re doing this, it’s just that big bottom layer of a cake. And then you have the smaller layers that build on top of it and are supported because the bottom layers are bigger, or she mentioned how you could put dowels in a cake, she really got very technical there. But each one of those builds on each other.

Shaune Teske 7:02
And it made me hungry for cake. But it was a great visual. So when you’re thinking about building a business, and you think about, okay, I want to market it and do all that stuff. Well, that’s the top level of the cake. And you’re not going to start with the top level, you need to build the cake up, you need to start at the foundation of the solid base, and that’s your why and kind of all the reasons you’re doing things and then it kind of grows into your systems, your location, where you’re going to be all that stuff. And then you’re really your last level, that top tier, is finally sharing what you’re doing and putting yourself out there. But you can’t get to that top tier unless you do all the work and the foundation work of the bottom levels, or it’s not going to be steady, it’s not going to be able to sustain or even stand up. So I really love that she walked us through that it felt very visual, it was easy to comprehend. And then like I said I wanted cake.

Sarah Schrader 8:00
Yes. In the second chapter of the book, she talks a little bit about fear. And there was another quote in there that I really loved. It said Fear establishes your limits of your life. The bigger your fear, the smaller your life.

Shaune Teske 8:13
I love that I love any chapters about fear or in any book because fear is my big thing. I think it’s a big thing for everyone else too, that to go forward. If you haven’t done it, you’re afraid. And there’s a quote from that chapter too that I wrote down. It’s so short, but it’s so true. And it’s just that fear is normal. It’s totally normal to feel like this. It’s totally normal to be afraid. It’s just what do you do with that? And then she she quotes like Joyce Meyers which is one of my favorite ladies ever. And she, Joyce Meyer has a book called Do It Afraid. And she mentioned that of like, okay, fear is normal. And then you just have to do it afraid that like just keep going forward and just do it, even though you’re afraid and keep pushing forward.

Sarah Schrader 9:00
Yeah. She quotes Maya Angelo a few times in this book. And one of the quotes in there from her that she quoted was saying, every time Maya Angelo put out each book, she would be like, oh, people are gonna figure me out. People are gonna figure me out. And it’s like, this is a time to just, like that imposter syndrome. And yeah, I wrote that down too, fear is normal. And the next two words after that was expect it. Yeah. And she also mentions, in the Bible itself, fear is mentioned, the words Fear not is mentioned 365 times. And then she says, that’s one for every day of the year.

Shaune Teske 9:40
I know. I was like, that’s amazing. I never knew that. That’s amazing. And she talks about, you mentioned that she talked about Maya Angelou, but then she also talked about other famous people, Kate Winslet and different people who they’re always nervous when they put a new thing out. They think they’re gonna be found out. They think they’re an imposter. So even the biggest stars, the biggest, where we see them as successes in their industry, they struggle with this too. So we’re in good company.

Sarah Schrader 10:13
Right? So yeah, after the chapters of the why, and the fear is when she gets into the plan and those tiers. So the four tiers, they were build your foundation, which is your why dreams, mission, vision and goals. And the second is make it yours. So talking about and finding your strengths, your values, the time you’re willing to spend on your business, the space you need. And then the third one is, she calls up and running, which is talking about the services you’re going to provide. Location, if you’re going to have a physical location that you’re interacting with clients and customers logistics, your point of sales, how you’re going to accept money, and looking at your competition just to kind of learn from them, and pricing and protection. And then the fourth one is that one, like you talked about earlier of the fun, putting yourself out there in the marketing and social media, which is where I love but I also know too, and why I do the way I do my business is first, I always find out my clients why and the story behind their brand, because that is needs to be the foundation for everything you’re putting out.

Shaune Teske 11:26
Right. And you can’t, I love that, like I said, I love this the tiers because you can people like to jump ahead to those last levels, but you don’t have that solid base, it’s just not going to be rooted in anything long standing or that’s going to be successful, you really need to start with that foundation and that why and kind of getting yourself ready for that. Like we talked about, fear can be a way that it stops you and all those doubts and things can come in. And there’s a quote that she’s talking about in the beginning of the book, when you’re getting ready for this and we’re talking about being fear is normal, and she mentions a double Ironman Triathlon.

Sarah Schrader 12:14
oh my…

Shaune Teske 12:14
Oh my gosh, that’s crazy. I barely run like that now, but knowing that there’s people out there that do this, but she has this quote from him and about how he says he talks to himself rather than listens to himself. So literally talking to yourself, instead of just letting your thoughts and your fears and your doubts creep in, you need to say it out, wow, you need to have those affirmations you need to whatever it is you need to start saying. You don’t have to wait to feel positive or feel ready, you need to just start saying it, kind of like a fake until you make it, and you’re asking yourself that you can do this. So I really like the quote that he has. And it says, I’ve learned to talk to myself rather than listen to myself. When I listen to myself, all I hear is fear, doubt lies and failure. But when I talk to myself, I can tell myself anything I want to. I can feed myself good thoughts of hope, competence, truth and victory. I can tell myself I can do it. When I learned to talk to myself rather than listen to myself I realized that there was nothing I couldn’t do. Whoo! I mean doesn’t that just fire you up? Like you don’t have to wait around for you know you to be successful or whatever you can start telling yourself yourself you are, or, if you’re at the beginning stages of building your business like you probably are if you read this book, that what even though you’re building you, can still be successful or this is going to be a success or I’m putting in the work now because I know I want this to last. So I just thought that was really a great way to kind of kick off everything like going into the tiers and going into that you need to start talking to yourself now. And then she gets into the why and all that right after which is great.

Sarah Schrader 14:01
And I think just to really get into this point and why talking to yourself instead of listening to stuff is so strong, this guy that she quoted, so triathlon, it’s you do a swimming and then you do miles upon miles of biking and then running one after the other. So doing it double was in doing that twice all three steps within I think 36 hours it is?

Shaune Teske 14:28
It was nuts.

Sarah Schrader 14:30
Okay, this guy not only did it once he did it six times.

Shaune Teske 14:35
No, no, thank you.

Sarah Schrader 14:37
No, I would never do it either. But to have that mentality and to be able to, when you’re after you’ve done this long swim and you’re biking 100 miles, to be in that and being like, Yes, I got this. I’m strong. I know I can do it. Instead of listening to, Oh, my muscles are sore, and I’m out of breath and you’re just not going to make it.

Shaune Teske 14:59
Right andthat’s such a great example. Because I think everyone can, like I said, No way not doing it. You know, everyone can imagine that, but that’s how it feels. When you are building the business or you are trying to work on something and give it your all. It’s really hard. You have a lot of those same thoughts of I can’t do it, I’m not good enough. I’m not whatever. And you have to push through it. And I’m not saying it’s easy to push through like a physical thing. But you can physically feel yourself not wanting to do it. And that’s the same thing with business, but you can push forward, you can keep going. And I really love that she has lots of great quotes from different people in here too, which is fabulous. It’s not just her, it’s mostly her story, but then she pulled from other people that have gone through the same thing, which is great.

Sarah Schrader 15:53
Yeah, she’s been pulling some quotes from a previous book that we read from Austin Kleon, which was

Shaune Teske 16:00
I can’t, I’m like I read that book. I know what you’re talking about. She has some great, great points in here about that.

Sarah Schrader 16:10
Yeah. One quote that was really a great reminder for me and really resonated with me and where I was at the moment was the world is not a place of limits and scarcity. The options and opportunities and needs in the world are infinite. There is a place for your unique voice and passion and talent.

Shaune Teske 16:30
Yes, because she mentioned that, in that section I believe that you kind of have those fears of well, why? Why am I doing this? There’s so many other people doing it, or what I always hear from people is well, the markets oversaturated and it’s like, there’s room for everyone. You know? I think when people say it’s oversaturated they’re coming from that scarcity mindset, it’s like, no, you know, there’s there’s billions of people in the world and you need, I don’t know how many to make your business successful. I don’t think you need billions. So I think you’re gonna be okay, you know, there’s room for all of us. And I always say this too, you can do the exact same thing, same pricing, same location, but your personality and the way you do it, and what you bring to it, it’s gonna be completely different. So there’s room for all of us, even if we’re doing the same things, and that’s just a great reminder. And she talks about this too of being able to cheer each other on and she mentions, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, both which I love. And they’re doing, they’re basically doing the same thing. You know, they’re female comedians writing and acting and doing all this stuff, and the best of friends, but they could have come from a place of, oh, well, I’m against you, because you’re trying to do the same thing I am. And instead of leaning into that, they leaned into that we’re friends, and we’re going to help each other get there. So it’s just this book is great, full of great.

Sarah Schrader 17:58
Yes, yes.

Shaune Teske 18:00
She also has some other, like I said, we’ve talked about some quotes that we really love, but she has tactical, real tips and things to do. She has one section on how to set a power goal, kind of like the episode we talked about with goal setting. A lot of this book reminded me of a lot of episodes we’ve done actually. I’m like this is so on point with what we already are telling you. But she has a whole section on how to set a goal how your goal has to be specific, measurable has a time limit. I mean, there’s a whole walkthrough of that and how you set yourself up to reach those goals. And I mean it’s full of things like that, that you’ve probably heard us talk about a bunch of times on the podcast, and now it’s just going even deeper into the book.

Sarah Schrader 18:47
Yeah, I think one of the tips that she has, I think is would be so helpful for people is actually in explaining the difference between why mission, vision, dream and goals. She does a really good job of explaining what the difference between all those things. And a quick way to do it, is a dream is I want, a vision is I am, a mission is I exist to, and a goal is I will, like an action. So yeah, I loved how she just broke that up and made it very distinct about the difference because I do feel a lot of those can overlap. And knowing your dream and your vision and what you see, too. One thing I really appreciated was that she talked about, knowing your level of success, and there’s a part in the book about like hiring even and how eventually you’re probably going to hit a capacity of what you can handle. And so there you need to make a choice of do you bring somebody on or not? Do you kind of just level out and let that be where you’re at, and she brought up the points of, a) do you even want to have somebody you’re in charge of? Can you afford it? And there’s one other point I’m forgetting right now. But, knowing that she said like, some people won’t want that. And that’s okay. Right. So just knowing where you want to be.

Shaune Teske 20:18
And she gives examples too, if you know you want to scale or if you don’t, there’s no right or wrong. It’s like you said, it’s your version of success. It’s no one else’s. It’s, it’s about what’s right for you and your family and your life. So I love that. And I think that brings me to another point about figuring that out. And knowing where you can save time and money and all this stuff that builds into your success, because that, again, builds into what you can charge and all that stuff. And I just love this story in here, I have to share it. The burnt toast story, oh, my gosh, I thought this was so funny. But it’s such a good reminder of knowing the operational details of your business. I mean, and that’s hard to like know, right off the bat, but you need to start doing the work to figure out how much time and effort goes into it. But she talks about the sportscaster Jim Nance about how he loves black burnt toast, like so gross. You know, like that really, really, really burnt toast. I don’t know if you like burnt toast, but I like mushy toast. So this is really gross. But he loves it. And he would go and order it all the time because he has to travel for work. And he would tell them, black burnt toast, but I think people are like, okay, but you mean still like normal, and he’d get it and he’s like, No, I want crispy black, send this back. And so he calculated how many times he would send the toast back. And it would it cost him 10 minutes per day, six days per week, which amounted to four hours a month. And he did the math. And it was 48 hours, two full days per year that he was sending this back in. And so he, his wife printed out a picture of black toast and laminated it and put it in his wallet. So now when he goes, he shows them a picture of the toast he wants and so he doesn’t have to send it back. And she’s like this could be silly, and it sounds silly but, you’ve added now 20 days to your life. 20 precious entire days, imagine what you could do with 20 days added to your life, or just two days this year, or just two hours. So really knowing your time, knowing your value that goes into everything can save you time and give you more days back. So I thought it was a really good example of I just love that. But something as small as that you can make a tweak in your business to save you time to save you money, you save energy. And that story’s just hilarious.

Sarah Schrader 22:54
And how crazy is it, like doing that math, that is two full days a year that he was having taken away by having to wait for his toast to be made or burn more? I don’t know how they did it.

Shaune Teske 23:05
Think about that in like weird household chores of like, I love watering my plants. You know, you have to water your plants? But it’s like, how much time a day do I water the plants? And then how much does you know? Or like I have like throw pillows on the bed, and it’s like how many times do I like take them off at night and then put them back on in the morning. It’s like that probably eats up you know, just all this time you didn’t even know about. So I just thought that was a great story of when you do the work, you do the math, like knowing your numbers, knowing what you want to make knowing how much time it takes you to do something, whatever that might be, you know, it really adds into more days into your life, more precious time back to you back to your family, and you’re doing things with a purpose and a mission behind it instead of I’m just gonna do it and whatever.

And yeah, I mean, those are the things that are important to us. So to be able to focus more on those, what our ideal is always and I think that’s a great reminder of what Shana told us in Episode 37 of our relationship with money of tracking our time and how that has saved her so much money,

Right. So you need to do the work. And that’s what’s so great about this book is that there’s so many action steps for you to take with it, you don’t have to figure out what kind of work you should be doing. She lays it out for you. And if you do the work and you take it seriously, your business is going to be off to a really great start because you already know all this research behind it, and all the things you have to do with it. And that brings me to another part of thia, she talks more about the marketing and stuff in this part that I’m going to mention but I just like the quote from it, because I think it applies to that too that it’s not just marketing, I think it’s with any step in your business. And she’s talking about how she’s in school and they’re trying to come up with this great ad campaign, like they’re each in a different groups. And they got the smart car, and no one liked it. And, how are they going to be able to create this awesome campaign around this car. Well, they went and did their research, and they found a petition to bring this car to America, it was in Europe, and they wanted to bring it and they found all these people on the petition that said, they love the the gas mileage, they love that they could park anywhere, whatever. And so they presented it and they were able to put this whole campaign together based on that research. And they won their little groups, you know, campaign and she talked to her instructor after and she said, the instructor said to her, the prettiest ads, don’t win the campaign, the best research wins the campaign. And it’s great for marketing, I think that’s awesome about making sure you’re doing surveys, and talking to your customers, your clients really getting that info, but I think that’s great for all businesses that even I think Sarah, you even talked about it as being a designer. It’s great, you can have an awesome website, logo, whatever. But if you don’t do the research behind your business, what your clients want, all that kind of stuff, that it’s just gonna fall short, you know, and you really need to be listening to what your clients want, who you’re reaching, and there was another quote, pretty close to that. It is Scott Cook, the co founder of Intuit, and it says, A brand is no longer what we tell the customer it is, is what customers tell each other it is. So really doing the research of that and knowing how you’re reaching people, knowing all those different things that goes into a business, you can’t just kind of put out what you want to put out. You need to be doing your research behind everything that you’re doing.

Sarah Schrader 27:04
Yeah, she was talking about branding, like I was just like, Yes, girl, this is exactly what I believe too about branding. And really, it being an overall experience that you’re giving your clients and how they feel as they’re interacting with you. And that’s why I feel it’s so important to just always go back to that. But you were talking about this ad campaign and there was something she said that I think it’s so important to know, for marketing, and that is effective marketing happens when you reach the right people in the right way. So you talked about, I mentioned how I do a lot of research when designing a logo or website or whatever it may be. It’s always a pet peeve of mine, when somebody will just get a quick, cheap logo, because I mean, it’s what they feel they can afford. But then it’s nothing to resonate with them at all. And it’s not going to reach the right people in the right way. Because it’s just, I took your name and made it pretty font, and maybe threw a color or a background on it. Like, really getting into why and having a purpose and meaning behind it always, is just so much more impactful.

Shaune Teske 28:17
Right. It’s not just again, it’s not like he said, it’s not just slapping on a logo. I mean, like, Oh, there you go, it’s really doing the research and looking behind more than just the visual things. There’s so much more than that. And I think you do a really good job of really getting into your clients minds, and really doing the research for them and helping them do the research to and that’s what all great brand designers and things should be doing. Because if it’s just okay, what’s the nice font you like? You know, going to work and the best brand designers out there or, you know, whatever designer you’re working with to if they don’t make you do the homework and do the research behind it, I would just walk away nice, say nothing, you walk away and find someone that is going to do the research, it’s more work on their end. And it’s probably more money, but it’s so worth it for the value it will give your business.

Sarah Schrader 29:11
Yeah, and even just bringing it down to a little bit more of a practical level of something you’re going to do yourself. When you’re creating posts to put on social media, making sure you’re always having that voice to your ideal client to the right person. And sharing them that way. Instead of just putting out a pretty image and a quote because you like it.

Shaune Teske 29:32
Right, you need to know all that information before it’s going out. And you’re just throwing it out there and seeing what happens doing that research and really knowing where your audience is and how you’re reaching them is so important. And that kind of goes into this is all towards the end of the book where you’re where you’re starting to market and you’re starting to do that, but how nowadays, it’s about telling stories. It’s not about okay, can you make this thing for cheaper? Can you whatever…it’s about the you and the brand behind the thing you’re doing. So it’s all about being able to tell stories and share more of you and your business and the why over and over again, because people are going to buy based off that.

Sarah Schrader 30:19
Yeah, she didn’t exactly say it in this way in the book. But the personal brand, too, is becoming so much more important. And always having, like you said, like just talking about you sharing you being authentic, real and having your why behind it.

Shaune Teske 30:34
Right. It’s so important. And I always like to preach this. And people always ask me, like, do I have to have separate, you know, social media for my business and myself? I want to keep things more personal, more separate. And I think that’s great, you can do whatever works for you. But I think you’re really missing a market. If you do that, I really think you need to be putting some of your personal things into your business, your brand. And but doing it of course and in the correct way. And we’ve talked about that before. But if you’re not doing that, if you’re not using your personal Instagram or Facebook to market your business or get it out there, you’re just missing this whole avenue. So

Sarah Schrader 31:18
I was actually listening to a Skillshare class this morning too before we started recording, by Will Bryant. And he was talking in the episode too, how he shares his work, he has a lot of personal work. And he has a lot of commercial work. And he works with bigger brands. And he has found a way to work those together now to share and really tell like, share what he his passion and his purpose is. It’s awesome. There’s one quote is near the end of the book that I absolutely loved. And it hit me so hard, because I am one to always be trying to do everything for everyone else. And that was when you stop trying to be the hero to everyone else, you can finally have the confidence to say no and create a balance in your own life. And

Shaune Teske 32:15
so beautiful.

Sarah Schrader 32:16
And I mean, again, balance is a little bit different for everybody. And she says balance is not 50/50 work and family, it’s going to be probably look a little different. But it’s just yeah, that one really hit me because I am one to go and say yes to way too many things and stretch myself way too thin.

Shaune Teske 32:36
Right? I used to be like that. And then I said no more and I feel very good about about it. And she does. Like she’s doing more things than she ever has. And it’s feeling more balanced than ever in which I guess I mean, that’s how I’m feeling. I think right now there’s a lot of new things on the horizon. So it’s feeling a little more stressful. But once I get in a schedule routine, I’m totally fine saying no. And that just comes with time, you can totally get there. I think that’s a good lesson for anyone listening that we are struggling with feeling like you are doing everything and you’re not kind of balanced in your own life or you’re feeling like you’d like more balance. It comes with time to start somewhere, start saying no, start making a vision board or something of what your ideal life looks like, your ideal schedule looks like and then start trying to live that out. And it comes with time. It’s definitely a practice to get there. But so worth it. There’s a quote I really loved, like we talked about, you had mentioned that yours was at the end of the book. And this was at the end of the book as well. And this is a good reminder for me because I think sometimes I get caught up in the looking for outside people to make me happy, make me feel good, make me feel successful, whatever it may be, but this quote is a great reminder that that’s my job. I’m the only way you can control my happiness and then that so this is the quote, because here’s the reality, it is your responsibility to make yourself feel good. It’s your responsibility to make yourself happy, confident and proud. It’s your responsibility to make yourself a person that your family wants to be around a woman that your husband wants to take you on a date a mom that your kids want to play with and a friend that people want to hang out with. No one can do that for you. And I’ve definitely been there not even just in business I like that she mentions like husband and kids and stuff too because I’ve definitely been there you know with Matt of tell me, you know, I’m having a down day Matt, tell me I’m pretty you know, tell me, love me. Tell me whatever it is like, that’s not his job. You know, of course it’s nice, but that’s not his job to make me feel good about myself, and keep me at that level, keep me at that positive level, that’s my job. Just like, I can’t do that for him. And I think that’s just a great reminder that we’re in control of it. If we can’t control the situation, we can control our attitude. And it’s our choice, if we’re happier, not if we’re confident, if we’re proud enough, or not, like, no one else can do that. And especially when you’re starting a business and you’re feeling afraid, or you’re scared, or whatever, no one can tell you, you’re doing a good job and all this stuff, it needs to come from within you. And once you know that you’re in control of that. I mean, the world is full of possibilities for you, you can go out and do anything because you know, you can make yourself happy no matter the situation.

Sarah Schrader 35:46
You know what I think, is just beautiful about both of these two quotes that we mentioned, and is really just a well rounded thing, and I didn’t realize that until now. Both of these, stop trying to be the hero for everyone else and you’re in charge of your own life. Go back to the first quote that you mentioned of, you’re not a supporting character in your life, you’re the lead role.

Shaune Teske 36:12
It is it’s so true. It’s like a full circle moment of, you’re in control. You’re the leader all of your own life. No one else is people can play a part in it, but you can make the decisions you want not make them whatever. But it all comes back to you. And knowing that shouldn’t be a scary thing. It should be such a positive thing that you can just go out and and do it. You can do whatever you want. And that’s it. So I think it’s very empowering.

Sarah Schrader 36:41
Mm hmm. Okay. Okay, so if you have been listening to this, and you haven’t read the book yet, and you’re like, This sounds amazing. You guys, you can read the first chapter for free on Christie’s website, thebusinessboutique.com/book, you can download the first chapter for free, and check it out. But also pick it up, because it’s amazing. And if you’re starting out your business, or if you need to go back and make these foundational plans, this is the perfect action guide to get you to that place. And to do that.

Shaune Teske 37:16
And she has all her actionable steps too are on her website. I definitely recommend reading the book first and then going to it or you’re not going to get kind of like the meat behind the steps you’re supposed to take. But she’s really done a great job of giving you lots and lots of resources. She also has a podcast, she’s got so much stuff and even in your personal life. I think she’s like, she has two kids, she’s expecting a third. I mean, she’s just doing all sorts of awesome things. And she’s definitely someone you should get to know and follow. And we will link all her social media and link to this book in the show notes too, so you can get in contact with her awesome content.

Sarah Schrader 37:56
Alright, so next month’s book is The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A…we’re gonna have to figure out how to say that.

Shaune Teske 38:07
A bleep every time.

Sarah Schrader 38:09
Yes, so definitely…

Shaune Teske 38:11
I’ll be like you know the book you’ve seen it.

Sarah Schrader 38:14
So pick that book up. We’ll be reading it and talking about it next month.