you
Good morning.
Margot looks like she's at work.
I am.
Thank you for joining us at work. I love it.
No problem. I put it in my calendar. So
I don't know how detailed I'll be able to get in my
conversation. But we'll see. It's pretty quiet here today.
I always feel very
special when people are at work and they still get on like my calls and I'm like
yeah
I'm not important
Arguably more important
Uh, see who's gonna trickle in
The end coming on
Um
Hello theon nice to see you
Um, okay
Well people come on that's great
um a couple of
Announcements to take care of so one we all talked about this. I think everybody has at least heard but don't forget to vote on your
book club or
What book you'd like for us to go over in book club
Um, I know margo and carrie you already voted cn if you want to take a look at that post you can vote as well
um
it looks like
Options two and four are tied for the lead right now, but you know, we'll see what happens
Any of them are going to be good and just a reminder. We'll be starting that. Um, april 7th will be the first day that we discuss
Um, i'm imagining like depending on the book it'll be like the first whatever we're covering whether it's chapter or a set of chapters
Once we select a book danielle will put out a schedule for what we're going to be covering on each week
Um, so don't forget about that
and then a second announcement I have has to do with our event coming up in may and it's kind of
discussion also
so we were
wondering
What the interest would be if we?
made the event
Like more intimate and uh, probably mostly only for members only
um, there's a handful of people who like were in the business or maybe december and january that like
We would open up to because they didn't get they didn't go to the san diego one in january
So they you know need an event, you know as part of what they purchase
Um, but generally speaking be mostly for members and do more of like, um
I don't know kind of like casual intimate like workshop type weekend
um as opposed to like what we did in january was a lot more of a
Production and training like very structured
um
We would probably do like an airbnb more like thing style
um
If we needed to get to airbnb airbnb, so we would obviously but
I don't know
I just want to open that up for a discussion or thoughts or what you guys think about something a little bit more casual
It'd be very much like you come you can work on your business. You could
Not um, I don't know. We wouldn't necessarily plan a lot of like content and training. We would probably have something
I know stevens right now. His focus is very like creating ai agents for a lot of our community
um
Really helping people dig into like maximizing using ai in their business
Um, or just personalized. Um, so it'd probably be geared if anything towards that
But i'd love to hear what you guys think
I think there would be a lot of value and I won't be able to attend may
Which that's unfortunate, but I think there would be a lot of value in
Having it be more intimate. I definitely think I got more value from some of those like one-on-one
conversations like with
the rainmaker staff or even just with other um
members
So and this this like heavy heavily structured event didn't allow for as much time for that
um
So those are just
My thoughts anyways
Thank you. Thank you question. So
The big events going on
With all the other people and then we're parked
In more intimate setting. Is that how or just us? No, just us. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, perfect. That'd be my thought
Okay, and I know cn you haven't experienced an event before so you don't really have from us at least
You don't have anything to compare to
but even on like it does it sound appealing to you to do something like that or
um
Yeah, i've experienced both so i've gone to a lot of conferences
Marketing conferences and i've also did the airbnb thing with my coaching team
Which was intimate and I don't know. I
I like the idea of the intimate. Um, just the team because I think i'd grow more. Okay. Um,
Get more value
The other one would be like just social
you'd still get value but you
more about social and mingling and
Yeah thanks for sharing. So I think there would be a lot of value um that so we start back with Steven.
So April like May kind of we get we have three months left so I feel like that could be a nice
wrap up for our mentorship and you know having some one-on-one might be a really nice you know
even having a more intimate setting where if there's somewhere that we need to really focus on
to set us free so to speak you know what I mean there might be a lot of value in that for us.
Yeah it would be a lot it should be a lot less um scheduled in terms of like okay in the morning
we're training on this topic and then the early afternoon this topic and it'd be probably more
like workshop sessions is I and like I and we were literally talking about this yesterday so
there is no hardcore plan but just based on the conversation um you know we might rotate between
you know who is on for workshop for essentially you know or you know there would be enough of
a schedule so you would at least know what to expect but if you wanted to come and
you know essentially have a getaway you could do that as well you know it would be flexible
for everybody. Hey Christy so you're just jumping into a very important discussion partly
announcement so I brought up um the May event and so I'm looking for feedback because something we
were talking about as a team was potentially doing something just a lot more small and intimate
probably with members only or the handful of like business accelerated people that never that have
to you know didn't take advantage of their trip yet would you know be invited but essentially um
do more of like an Airbnb style kind of intimate group setting where we're not necessarily we don't
have like just a stacked schedule of like speaker for this topic speaker for this topic be a lot
more open workshop kind of working session type um so it gives everyone the freedom like how much
you want to work on your business you can come do that or if you were wanting to just connect with
others you don't have to necessarily work on your business like I think we would still come with
like hey we will do maybe like this little bit of like training um so if you want to join in on that
please you know feel free to but don't feel like you have to so I'm just looking for feedback on
that um because you know just something we were discussing that might be we felt like would maybe
meet the team or the needs of our who's in our community right now best. Gabby can I I'm sorry
Christy before you start can are all the coaches still going to be there would it still be the
entire team or would it just be as far as my understanding yeah I mean um it would still
definitely be like Steven um and Danielle I'm assuming myself although I don't do training
um you guys I'm assuming he's a heart with the hardest one to get there but he's obviously the
farthest away in Brazil so he would be the only one that I think is maybe a toss-up but I don't
see why we why not you know because we were already intending for the team to be there in May anyway
if that makes sense and aside from Steven he also provides a lot of the other
side of marketing AI tech expertise so I think we would want him there
I think I heard on the replay last week you said it was scheduled May 13th through the 15th or
something and I can't travel those dates I already have conflict so I don't know if my opinion matters
too much Margo can't go in but she gave her opinion anyway so I would love to hear it regardless
uh I think that continuously the interaction between other people and like the same phase in
the business or a little bit beyond you is probably one of the best things about the event
and just being able to have a network of people who are supporting you where you are emotionally
and also logistics wise because I think most of us don't have that in our communities at home
and so I think that curating an event that really caters to people making those connections so that
they can bring them with them would be very helpful to people I agree in some ways that some
of those trainings that were at the last event can be a distraction from where I was already like
going and what I was doing and then it was like I had to make decision points of like
is this something that I should implement now or is this something I should back burner
especially because they were giving away free things
that you felt like, oh, okay, let me look into it.
And I think that possibly having a workshop
and dedicated focused couple of days
to work exactly where the person is at
and what they're doing right then
would be maybe a little bit helpful
because I mean, some of us have ADHD
and we get all like pinged all over the place
and it makes it good and bad when you're leaving.
And you have those like hours on the flight
to recollect and like think of what am I gonna do next
whenever I get home
and then you're faced with all these options.
And so I think that probably it would be like
more along the lines of stuff that people need to do,
like need that like retreat to work on their business,
even if they might not say like in a questionnaire,
that's what they would be willing to travel to obtain.
Yeah, I think it's hard
because it's one of those things if you haven't done it,
you're not necessarily willing to spend the money
to go do it until you realize how valuable it is.
I think that's a good point.
Jenna, welcome, it's so nice to see your face.
And I love that people keep popping on
because I keep getting to ask for feedback
on this topic that we're discussing.
So we're discussing the live in-person event
coming up in May.
And either whether you're planning to be there or not,
I'm looking for feedback.
So what we were discussing as a team was possibly
and probably doing a smaller, intimate,
more casual setup in the May event,
where it would be just for members only
or maybe a few outside business accelerator people
that need to take advantage of their trip
and have it be a lot more very like open workshop
kind of style and work on your business
as much or as little as you want slash need.
We wouldn't necessarily do a lot of training
like where if you were at the castle event,
so where it's like in the morning,
we have it set up with this speaker
and then early afternoons this speaker,
early afternoons that speaker and this topic
and it's all cohesive.
It'd just be a lot more like kind of bring what you have.
We would do a little bit.
I just know Steven.
We would do, and you guys,
like we would do a little bit of like,
look at this cool thing that we just learned
or are learning and like here's how it can help you
in your business.
But I just wanna know like,
if that sounds valuable to our community,
even if you can't be there,
like both Margo and Christine know
that they can't make those dates that we're talking about,
but I love to just hear the feedback
of where you guys are at.
Yeah, I think that would be cool.
I mean, I think like maybe for different areas
of where people are at in their business,
it could be like smaller group sessions
where they could discuss,
you know, maybe it's minute ads or maybe it's,
you know, I don't know, smaller groups,
more specific to where they're at.
That could be cool.
So it's like one-on-one, like in-person help
versus like doing stuff over the line, you know?
Okay.
Yeah, thank you.
Carrie, good question.
Would it be Airbnb that everyone stays at?
So essentially you're sharing house.
Yeah, so that's the idea would be everyone is sharing.
If we needed to get to,
we would depending on how many people come
and the size of the Airbnb and stuff like that.
I don't know about family kids.
Typically kids are not invited in, I will say that.
But with it being more casual, I don't know.
I don't have a for sure answer.
I'm just leaning towards, I think the answer would be no.
But the other side of that coin is, you know,
everyone will be just chipping in for the Airbnb.
So if you wanted to, you know, get your own,
because I know you guys, you know,
don't want leaving your son behind a whole lot
and you might want to have all of you come
or grandparents or whoever,
you could get an Airbnb close by or something.
Like I'm sure that you could do something if you wanted to.
But we could get more details on that.
But okay, well, thank you everybody for your feedback.
That's super helpful.
Questions?
Is it still going to be in San Diego?
Yeah, it would still be San Diego.
Okay.
Okay, so let's transition into discussion.
And I have a discussion question for us today
that just kind of like popped up yesterday.
I don't know.
I don't know what, if maybe I was projecting
where my brain was at,
but I kind of obviously want to hear how everyone's doing.
I want to hear like highs and lows of your business
or your life or whatever.
But I also want to hear about what is a decision
that you are needing to make
or you feel like is pushing itself on you to make.
Whether small, big, doesn't have to be business,
can be personal, whatever it is.
I would love to see if you guys wouldn't mind sharing.
And then I also, of course.
love it when we all respond for whoever wants to go first and it can't be Margo.
I can go first. Awesome. I just got off Stephen's call like halfway through stuff
to go back and watch it. So I met up with Danielle last weekend
and I was just like oh this is what we're talking about and it wasn't what we were talking about
and it was basically um and I'm agreeable because I totally understood it wasn't like I wanted to
be like I need to make money now type of thing and help me pick a direction and it's just like
you need to get right with God type of conversation. You need to like go to God because I have a lot of
like we talked about my fears like disappointments. Disappointments in relationships.
Disappointment in like thinking I'm doing what God's asking me to do and it's just a crap show
and like she just kind of like went um totally dialed in a lot of stuff and then I'm like I
left the call like I need you need to process all this stuff. You need to pray and go to God and I'm
like sorry I cuss um I'm like no I need I mean I'm like okay yeah I mean I'm like I'm in agreement
you know but I'm like I just want to make money. Can we run back to make money and um so I sat
down this weekend and journaled a lot and did a lot of the prayer and different different things
and um even like before this call I was just like I mean I got a lot of release and um in you know
breaking free from co-dependency and different things and and just finding out this whole
stuff goes way way back like I thought it went back a few years but it like goes back a long time
years and um so this morning I'm like I kind of think I'm like I just need to make money
going back again it's like yeah I went through the process and everything and then I had this
like conversation with God and it's just like and I'm like I don't want to do anything where I'm
automating or building systems and um and then I'm like how can I how can I you know just writing
that in my journal this morning and I just got like a download new download this morning of
kind of a business where I'm not building automation but yeah I can still like have
videos or whatever and I'm like okay I'm loving TikTok I'm loving doing the TikTok thing and the
things that I'm moving into and now it's just like I have like three different business ideas
I mean it's like I really love the AI employees and what Steven's teaching the AI
and um he gave me some he always is like gave me some ideas and um so now it's just like there's
three business ideas it's all kind of the same um so now I just have to make some decisions
but it's like I'm like oh my god I have this powerful download it's awesome that's amazing
so yeah conversations with Danielle never go where you think they're gonna go oh anybody else
want to attest to that um that's great so you so your decision is which business essentially
you want to move forward yeah and they're kind of all the same I mean I still teach people
business I mean this is like okay I'm like okay doing the AI employees and building something
like 8fig with my own thing I already have like 21 AI employees um or um being an affiliate doing
the affiliate for this program or doing being like um I have another program that I bought into last
year uh you know you know teaching how to live like a laptop lifestyle type of thing because
that's what I wanted to do and also help women who are starting over and so kind of a few options
like how that how that looks and how that's going to work I'm not totally sure but um I mean I'm not
going in a huge different direction except for I'm pivoting from making revenue it's more like
lifestyle um it's a it's just a little different okay anybody have any response first hand
or just thoughts that came up as she's talking I need to know these 21 employees
the 21 AI employees that you have I probably need them too it's like what is that well I
have some for real estate agents I have a couple for like clarity focus type of thing
one for branding and marketing because my background is in branding marketing
Funnel building automation, so I probably have 3 or 4 systems, like, oh, revenue recovery was the latest one I built, so it's just probably more about packaging and making it look really sexy.
That's awesome.
So, I also had to face a decision on, you know, what business am I moving forward?
And how did you make that decision? How can you help see and make that decision or what to think about?
I didn't decide, I just paused some things. I would say, like, the way that you choose what to pause and what to keep pushing forward are based, for me, how close it is to revenue.
And what's the risk of pausing something? Will that market go away or will you otherwise not be able to enter the market in the same way?
And so, it would be, for me, because I'm a numbers person, a completely numbers-driven decision based on revenue and how much investment I have to get to make to achieve the revenue.
Well, you've said the revenue word lots of times because the answer would be to my revenue program that it's all about making money. It's all about fixing revenue leaks.
And coaches, businesses, business coaches, businesses. And I'm already writing ads to it, but it's still like, if I'm going to do it, I need to tweak something to make it feel better.
The other idea you have, like, all of them can bring revenue. Just because something is a business of passion doesn't mean that it can't make money.
I kind of like the way Christy was, so the variation of what Christy was saying that I do in my brain a lot of times is I think about points of friction.
So, I evaluate my options and I'm looking at what friction is coming up for each of those options.
And this will take, for me, this takes some self-awareness because I think sometimes you need to know, like, is there a point of friction that I need to, like, overcome and push through?
Or is there a point of friction that is something that I need to move away from? Or not move away, but, like, put on a pause, or it's for a later time.
So, I like what Christy was saying and just looking at those different options and looking at all the data of each option.
And to me, I know that I would feel a sense of clarity on which one is kind of calling my name to, like, move forward right now.
You kind of have to know yourself a little bit to know, are you going to feel that clarity? Is it going to be, like, you know it in your gut?
Is it going to be, you know, you've looked at all the data and this one has the most green flag, like Steven likes to say.
So, that's kind of what my thought process is. And ultimately, if you're not sure, it's okay to move on something and you will figure it out along the way.
If you have enough grace to, like, to say to yourself, all right, this wasn't it, I'm going to pivot or whatever, like, you'll figure it out along the way.
So, a point of friction, is that like a wall? What does that mean?
Yeah, so, could be, well, for instance, like your current business that you have, a point of friction is that you're not feeling any joy in it.
You're kind of, you want, you're feeling a desire to go somewhere else. So, that's a point of friction. Like, you could continue doing it, but you honestly just kind of don't want to.
Another point of friction could be, it takes a lot more, another business idea might take a lot more upfront investment, financial investment. That's a point of friction.
You know, there's, it could be emotional, it could be financial, it could be something tangible. Points of friction can be anything that is deterring you from that option.
Okay, so, with the revenue thing, I'm like, okay, I'm going to have, like, a tiny challenge. I don't know if you know what that is. It's like one person on a Zoom call, sales call.
But I'm delivering puppies, and our puppy business is like the high cycle right now for the next three or four months.
Meeting people, because I was like, oh, I can meet people, and I can do this, and make it happen. It ain't going to happen with me managing our dog business, and having to sell puppies, and deliver puppies, and all the things that comes with the, that, our family business for the next few months.
Very time consuming.
Yeah, so I'm like, okay, I need to build something right now that I don't have.
have to, it's evergreen, basically.
Yeah, that's great clarity to have.
So you're looking at your options
and looking at what gives me the most time freedom
to work on my puppy business.
So you're just evaluating all those points.
Does that make sense?
Yep.
Okay.
Thank you.
Yeah, anybody else have anything to add on
before we go to the next person?
Okay, does anybody want to volunteer to go next?
I'll go, but I'm way off topic.
I don't have an answer to anything you asked,
but I'm hitting a wall with imposter syndrome.
And I know where it came from.
I know it was a spiral like,
and it just, I just keep hitting the,
like, who am I?
Who am I?
Who do I think I am?
And, you know, I was talking to Sean this morning
cause it hit me and I just, I said something to Sean
and I said, you know, when is it my turn?
When will it be my turn?
When am I going to make it?
When am I going to get a win?
When am I going to get, you know, recognized like,
and it's Global Pet Expo right now in Orlando.
And there's this brand that got recognition.
And like, I follow all the literature
and stay up in the world.
And this brand got recognized and I got so upset
because I'm like, why do they get recognized?
Like they claim they're all natural,
but then when you read their ingredients,
like they're not good ingredients,
but they get to get away with saying they're all natural,
you know, and all that kind of thing.
And I just, I get so upset.
And I'm like, why not me?
Why don't I get recognized?
I said, I really am what I say I am.
I really am all natural.
Like, I don't have crap.
Like I just went on this whole tangent.
And I was like, when, and he's like,
you need to shift your mind to not,
when will it be my turn?
But it will be, or some, like something like that.
He switched the wording and I was like, yeah,
what you said, but I have to believe it.
When was the first time you remember having a thought
that was like, who am I?
It started this weekend.
So this market that I'm at,
the one girl got a casting call for Shark Tank.
And so I went and checked out her stuff
and not a dog bakery, just totally different business.
And I went out and checked her stuff
and I was like, kind of lame.
And I was like, how did she get a casting call?
And Sean's like, well, probably cause she applied for it.
And I was like, yeah, but there has to be criteria.
Like they don't just take anybody.
I'm like, I'm sure there's numbers you have to meet
or something like this.
And I was like, she has a really good story,
but it was just like, it's just not,
it's not Shark Tank to me.
You know what I mean?
And I was like, so why does, and that's where it started.
And then the spiral started.
And then I'm just beating myself up all weekend long.
And then we're still working on this freaking email campaign
and we just keep hitting snafu.
And I'm just like, why can't anything go our way?
Why?
Like we are fighting so hard and trying so hard
and working so hard.
And it's like, when, when?
Did you ask that business owner,
like all of those questions?
Like what was the process like?
And why did you decide to apply?
And all of those things, like asking for information.
No, but I will.
You should, because I do, I agree with Sean
that there don't just hand out Shark Tank offers.
You have to ask for it.
You have to be applying for it.
And that person may have even like gone
through multiple rounds of applying
and shaping her application to what she learned
she needed to know to be able to get there.
And whenever you apply to external awards,
the people like in Orlando,
they probably applied to get that recognition.
And they probably went through a process
where they had other people looking at their application
to hone it to whatever the judges were looking at.
I mean, I get a lot of grant funding
whenever the government decides they want to fund science.
And it's a very, very tedious process
where you're basically pandering to the reviewers
and positioning yourself to look attractive
to the reviewer.
And honestly, like you do deserve it.
Like you should be applying for all of those things.
And the people like us,
we don't feel like we should apply
because we feel like we're doing so good
that everybody should just like know it.
And unfortunately that's not how the world works.
It's like the people who asked for it, get it.
Even if on like, you know,
They don't have all natural ingredients,
but if they're the best one of all the ones that applied,
then they're the ones that get the recognition.
And it's a true,
like if you've ever had somebody promoted over top of you,
that you basically do their job for them,
you will know that they asked for that promotion
and you didn't tell the people that you wanted it.
Yeah, I kind of feel like what Christy is saying,
it's like, you gotta go get it.
No one is saying you can't have X, Y, Z, Carrie.
There's no one saying that.
And I don't wanna be on Shark Tank.
It wasn't that.
It was just-
No, I know what you're saying.
I just wanna win.
Like we're trying so hard.
We've pivoted so many times.
We've picked ourself up and dusted ourself off.
We're doing everything.
I feel like we're doing everything right,
or at least trying to.
We're investing in education and mentorship
and all of the things that I feel good about.
So it's like, just throw us a bone.
What makes you think you're not winning right now?
Because we're not.
We're not winning.
But why?
We're moving forward, but we're not winning.
What's the winning?
What's winning?
Winning would be getting launched,
having sales,
like online sales,
not outside of what I do now.
You know, just for the online to, you know.
How do you get to launch without moving forward,
without having that first step of moving forward to launch
or the other win?
Is that possible to get to those wins
without the moving forward part?
No.
It's putting one foot in front of the other.
Yeah.
So is that not a win also?
It is.
I mean, we've grown tremendously
from where we started to where we are now.
I can recognize that.
Yeah.
I think you guys are winning significantly more
than you think you are.
Would everybody in this room agree with that?
Yeah.
So I'm gonna say something really harsh,
but with all of the love in my heart, okay?
Bring it on.
Don't whine.
Keep moving forward and you'll get the win.
Because you guys are, you're doing it.
You are, you really are.
Like the steps, the transformation
from when I've known you guys alone
is like very significant.
And not just in your business,
also in your personal life.
And the wins are coming
and they're actually a lot closer
than they were months ago.
Bye, Jenna.
But also I think, you know, you're like,
you've said this a couple of times,
it's like the imposter syndrome.
And I think, spend time thinking about where you,
when, how old were you when you first remember
like feeling that way or thinking that way,
ever in your life?
Oh, I'm sure I was young, for sure.
Yeah.
It goes back to childhood.
So you're also in the process of breaking that off,
breaking that imposter syndrome belief off,
which is not easy and can be painful
and messy and very emotional.
Like what you're saying,
it's like you have this tug of war of like,
I feel like an imposter, but I am moving forward,
but I'm not at the wins, but I'm almost at the wins.
So you're also just doing a highly emotional thing
aside from the building your business,
which is already a huge thing.
So I think you're winning a lot more,
but there is what Sean is saying.
Like there is a lot of adjust your mindset
because what you have to be careful of
is the more that you allow yourself
to stay stuck in the, when am I going to win?
Then you become the self-fulfilling prophecy.
Yes.
You totally do.
Yeah.
And you're trying to break that off right now.
Yeah.
I know it's a catch 22.
It's a vicious, yeah.
It's a vicious cycle.
That book that I mentioned in the comments is a book.
Somebody, it might've been Steven,
suggested it in something that I was watching,
like might've been two years ago.
It's been a while since I read it,
but he literally talks about the gap being
like where you need to go.
So like looking forward to be like,
how come I'm not there yet?
And then the gain being how far you've come.
So your mindset shifts.
when you're in the gain versus the gap.
Like when you're looking at how far you still have to go,
it's like, it's hard.
And you have to think about all the steps
and all the things that you have to do and the,
you know, whatever.
Whereas when you look at how far you've come,
it like automatically like builds that confidence.
Like I've already done all of these things.
I've already accomplished this.
I've already made this many steps.
And a lot of times when I feel that way often,
like almost every day.
And I always go back to that.
Okay, what's the gain?
Like, where did I start?
Where am I now?
Like, what's the different,
like measure how far you've come.
And then just take the next step
because then you'll be like one step further.
It's a bit of a practice,
but it's a good book.
If, I don't know,
I feel like everyone suggests books and it's like,
I don't have time to read more books.
I think you could probably find it in an audio book version
and listen to it while you're doing something else.
But it was helpful for me just to hear it all broken down.
It was good.
Thank you.
So your decision is to continue believing
the imposter syndrome or to walk in the game mindset?
Not that it's always easy.
Sometimes we all fall prey to the things we have.
Sometimes we do.
But you guys have it.
You got it.
Who wants to go next?
I can't promise I won't be harsh.
I don't really remember the question
that you asked, honestly.
Oh, that's a decision that you're facing,
but you can bring up anything if you want.
Okay.
So I actually have a relevant answer to that question.
Continuously trying to plan for summer inventory
and what to do about placing another bulk order
for the thing that I'm currently selling
versus pivoting in the infinite amount of directions
that you can pivot in.
And yeah, it's definitely weighing on me.
I'm watching my KPIs literally on a daily basis
and looking at sales.
It's kind of sad because right now Q2,
well, we're still in Q1,
but this is not the time for lunchbox sales.
Right now is a very low season
for buying those types of products.
And it's definitely reflected in my numbers
and makes it hard to stay positive
and also to get enough profit
to be able to make another order.
And so without actually gaining income,
I can't be able to make an order.
So I have been investigating drop shipping
as a way to test new products
and also to add to my Shopify store to increase my AOV
and be able to see if I can become more profitable
without having a huge expense to scale up the inventory.
And then I've also been interviewing 3PLs
to see how I can just get off of Amazon.
My return rate is still astronomical
and I have one return in five months on Shopify.
And so the return rates are just amazingly better.
And so I'm just looking towards how can I,
I don't wanna do a full drop ship model
because the margins aren't super great there
and you cannot build a brand in that way.
And so I do hope to just do the drop shipping
as a way to like do product testing
more than like a full business model.
But there's a lot of options for drop shipping.
There's a lot of vendors for drop shipping.
There's also a lot of vendors for 3PLs
and they can offer a lot of different services
in those 3PLs, like they can do branding for you
like order inventory and get it placed there.
And so I'm just making some decisions
about really affordability
and how much money I'm willing,
how much debt I'm willing to continue.
you to take on for this business and how it's like sucking my energy.
And is that really fulfilling like the real reason why I started it?
And that's hard because it's like hard to let go of things.
And it just feels like this drop shipping is a little more aligned with where I
need to be going into the summer months.
And, um, I've ordered, I think six demo products from two different drop
shipping vendors to see all the things like, how does it come?
How long does it take to get here?
What's the customer service?
Yada, yada, yada.
And then we'll see.
I'll pull the trigger once I evaluate the products.
And obviously you have to make social media content.
So I need the products in house so I can make the social media content prior
to launching those things on my website.
Yeah.
Okay.
So, Anne, do you have a response?
Yeah.
Cause I was, this has been on my mind.
I'm thinking about exiting our, our, our dog business and
replacing the income from that.
And I was on a webinar, exactly what she's talking about.
And I, it's just like a Shopify model.
And, um, but it was just like upping, they were talking about
selling very high ticket things.
Like when, when sell you, you could, you know, selling something above
$10,000 and really being able to make good commission on it, like saunas
and different, like fireplace that, you know, just, you know, they use some
examples and, but it got my brain thinking about like, cause I was going
to ask like, how can we teach, how can I do that?
Like, do we teach that system in here?
And it, I think it's just too about, um, cause he was saying like, instead
of selling, selling widgets or whatever, the little toy that costs, you know,
you may even make 25 cents on, you want to build commissions that are,
you know, $2,000, $5,000.
So this drop shipping model, you don't have to have inventory.
I'm not sure exactly how they do it, but it's the same thing
that she's already doing.
But just, um, are you in dog products?
Is that what you sell on Shopify?
No, they're, um, stainless steel lunchboxes.
So maybe if I need something that's just higher point, I don't know.
That's just what I learned, you know, been thinking about this last week.
And how can you make bigger money on Shopify?
Um, I think your point is valid because the real problem with Amazon is that
any person around the whole entire globe can market on Amazon.
And so the people who I buy inventory from the distributors or the manufacturers,
they're also selling their same inventory.
And so they can sell it at a better price than I can sell it at.
And Amazon can be quite a price war.
Um, and that's why I'm looking to go off of Amazon, but, but at the end of the day,
I didn't start this business because I want a job and I am not good with sales or
marketing.
I started it as a way to get semi-passive income to get better returns on my money
than I would from other things.
And I don't, I don't know too much about the high ticket sales, um, platform.
Um, and what types of things they sell, for example.
It was relationship with vendors.
A lot of it was building relationship with high ticket vendors that they're going to
love you for selling their stuff.
You're not going to sell it to them.
I don't know the whole model, but it's like, they are using Shopify, um, to do whatever,
whatever this model is.
Um, but I just remember building relationships with vendors, more high ticket, think cars
or house or whatever, not that high ticket, but you know, um, I hear you.
I like those like cold plunge things or, you know, like a sauna for your house, that kind
of stuff.
Yeah.
I haven't looked into it at all.
Um, because for some reason, like mentally I was like, oh, there's more product development
work with what I'm doing now.
And that's kind of where I, my like wheelhouse is at, but I haven't looked into it at all.
Wheelhouse is that, but at the same point, there's a lot of, I don't need that job of
product development.
What I really.
really want is to have, I mean, I guess if I really want to be honest, like I started
with Amazon, like resaling where I would buy stuff and then I would resell it on Amazon
for the credit card points and I just like rack up credit card points and other people
would pay my, my credit card bill whenever they purchased my stuff on Amazon.
And then I was like, Oh, if I did my own product, I would get credit card points for advertising
and for the cost of goods.
And then I would also make a higher profit margin.
So I'd have way more points to travel with, but that's not the reality of what has taken
place.
And so now it's like the high ticket sales is not something I've like looked into, but
I mean, we'll see, I'm pivoting.
I'm still trying to figure stuff out.
There's not a high ticket sale in lunch boxes.
I can tell you that it sounds like the biggest thing holding you back from completely pivoting
is that if you said it, it's hard to let go because everything else you said is like,
this isn't what I wanted.
This isn't what it's not meeting what I had planned all your listing out that very easily.
And so based on what you're saying, it's like, okay, then it seems like you want, you have
made the decision to move on in some form or fashion, except that you have that.
It's hard to let go, keeping you from actually letting go.
Does that feel true?
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
I mean, I guess I could look at it as like, why put more good money after bad?
It's like, just let go of all of that debt that has already been incurred.
It's like, okay, that was really expensive lesson.
Why?
So why is it hard to let go?
I also have this, I don't want to say problems, it's not a problem.
What's the word I'm looking for?
Personality trait.
We'll just call it that.
It's hard to let go.
But why for you, is it hard to let go of this?
I think multiple reasons first, I don't like to be wrong.
I don't like to admit that I'm wrong.
I don't like to think that I can't problem solve my way through whatever situation that
I'm in, because I've always been able to problem solve and get to a good resolution for myself.
But you just have to wait it out until the time lapses enough where everything works
out.
And then I think the second thing that there's just this culture that very few small businesses
are profitable in their first year.
And I like, okay, I've only really been selling these lunchboxes for nine months.
I haven't even like made it to 12 months.
And I know that this is the slow season.
I was not expecting Q1 and Q2 to produce good sales.
And so I should at least try to do one more Q3 to see if the numbers look promising at
that point.
And so that, I don't know, there's a lot of education about businesses and like how long
should you plan to invest before you reach true profitability.
And so I do believe like statistics, I believe the law of large numbers.
I believe that, you know, it might just be true that I haven't given it enough time and
that the rate at which I work is not the rate at which the world works.
My property manager, she's always just like, you need to give them a second, Christy.
You only have given them two days.
And I'm just like, how long does it take to fix this thing?
It was like two days should have been like, you know, two hours.
And she's like, that's not the way it is.
So you've got to like simmer down and wait it out.
And I appreciate that, you know, my timeline has to be adjusted for real life instead of
my own internal clock.
I hear you.
Mario, for some reason, I'm interested to hear what you're thinking on this.
I didn't understand her question in the chat because it was missing a word.
I was just asking if I feel like you have said before that you don't love social media.
So I was asking if you need help with content creation for social media, because that's
something that I love to do.
So I have a VA in the Philippines and the team in Pakistan that manages my store.
they create a bunch of AI content.
Oh, amazing.
Yeah, I have, they asked me to make videos for them
and then they will video shop it, whatever it's called,
cap cut the videos together.
And I pushed back a little bit,
like I only have so many,
I want them to put like AI generated kids in there too,
like not just my kids and not just me,
like I want to like blend it
so it's not only my kids' faces.
But yeah, and so they do a good job, they really do.
And it's overhead that I probably shouldn't be paying
for the amount of revenue that I'm generating,
but it's also like I won't get any sales
if they aren't doing that
because I'm not going to do it on my own.
Right.
Yeah, but I can send you some lunchboxes
if you want to generate content.
Actually, Canada is like super expensive
because they do these like weird tariffs.
Yeah, we have their duties.
They charge money on bringing,
because it's my life,
everything that I bring in to my own country
is like extremely expensive
unless the company set up for it.
Like the one that I am a distributor for,
if we order from the U.S. like office or warehouse,
they pay the duties, but we don't pay them.
But like they're a huge operation,
so it's different situation.
Gabby's telling me I'm not allowed to help you,
but I also feel like I really love the lunchboxes.
So I would love to see them at some point,
but we can talk about that later.
If I see you in person
or if you come to the U.S. for this May meeting,
I can send it there
and then you can put it in your suitcase.
Take it home.
Also, my fiance was really impressed by them.
I think you were sitting with him at lunch in San Diego
and he was like, did you see these things?
And I was like, yes, I've seen them from a distance.
I think Gabby wanted me to contribute other thoughts
on the conversation.
I've done lots of like shifting and pivoting in my life.
I have more to do also.
But as much as I feel like the conversation
seems to be inclined to like letting go,
I, having worked in retail and sales a lot in my life
would be inclined to perhaps let go a little bit
to pursue another Q3 and Q4.
Because I do think that that's where
your big sales are gonna be.
And I don't know what kind of like barriers are in your way
as far as like getting the inventory that you need.
But I think that you've like already established
all the things and like the products
and the product development.
And I think that you've got,
you have content, social media content,
you have, I'm sure PPC is running
and then you're also selling on Shopify.
And I just think like there's probably a good possibility
that Q3 and Q4 will be different this year
than they were last year.
But I can also see like you're such a numbers,
I'm like, I was funny every time you're talking today,
I'm like, you're such a numbers person
and I love it because I don't,
I should, but I don't operate like,
I work my day job as finance,
but I don't do that in my business as much as I should.
I'm very much like I lead with my heart
and if it feels right, I do it,
which is probably why I do too many things.
Well, if you're learning to know
what is actually feeling right versus what feels right,
you wanna say?
Yeah, that's been a hard process too.
When you were talking about like,
kind of responding to Margo's response,
when you started talking about like,
should I do another, like talking about doing another Q3,
I was like, okay, I was like,
you are such a numbers person.
So in my head, it's kind of like interesting
that knowing that another Q3 and even Q4
would shed a lot of light,
would give you a lot of information, a lot of data.
It's interesting to me that you're questioning
letting go now versus doing that.
My thought there is,
is there a point where you're having a hard time
letting go almost like preemptively?
So like, let's say you did another Q3, Q4,
you invested in it.
It shows you, I'm gonna discontinue doing this.
Would it be hard to let go of the fact
that you then invested?
Oh yeah, if I lost money, like if I broke even at the end of it and then I'm like, okay,
yeah, the numbers just indicate that it's too competitive of a market and not the way
that people shop for these products.
But I broke even I'd be like, oh, okay, yeah, that was interesting.
I know what to do next time.
But if I lost like tens of thousands more dollars in the process, then it would not
feel good at all.
Yeah.
So it's interesting because you're having this dilemma of like, where are you choosing
to let go?
So it's like, do I let go now?
And this is hard for you, period, letting go in periods, right?
In your own words, like it's hard to let go.
So like, do you let go now without really knowing what is this data going to be that
comes in in the second half of this year?
And then on the other side of that is, okay, well, if I commit to doing that, then there
is the risk that I have to kind of release and let go of the fact that I now then invested
so much more money and it didn't go where I thought it was going to go.
So either way, you're really at this decision of two letting goes, but they're very different.
And in either one, there is unknown.
And so then it's like, okay, well, how do we make decisions when we have all this unknown?
And I think it goes back to knowing yourself and knowing when to listen to your decision
making strategy.
You know, that having that discernment of, okay, how do I make decisions best?
How do I know to make decisions?
And trusting that and ultimately, ultimately, trusting either way that you're not failing,
you're not losing no matter what happens.
You are, I know it sounds so like, probably annoying at this point, but all these things
that everyone is learning, all of you guys are learning.
I can't put a price tag on that.
I can't put a price tag on who you guys are becoming.
All the things you're learning, all the growth you're having in all of this, whether your
businesses end up how you originally planned or not.
That to me far exceeds everything that your businesses are doing.
So to me, I'm like, it's not a loss either way you're learning, but I, I've been in,
I am in your shoes too, of like having to make decisions and also having to grasp with
letting go of certain things that are painful or frustrating.
So ultimately, if we're not really helping you tell you what to do is more, how do you
make decisions best, you know, trusting that, trusting that you developed that for a reason.
Yeah, I, I totally agree.
And I think also it's like, you know, how I am, I just really need to distinguish the
signal from the noise and like only allowing inputs into the equation that are valid to
reach the output where I'm at.
You know, Dr.
ChachiPT, my therapist, told me that I need to stop like, you know, dramatizing things.
I'm just like, this is a moment in time.
This is a momentary cash flow issue.
This is not a permanent problem.
And you've gotten like A, B, C, like things to get out of your cash flow crunch.
And so, yeah, I think that, I think that keeping everything in context and like I was
talking to the Pakistani team and we were like complaining about the cost of gas and
how, you know, the global distribution is being disrupted by the war and how things
are being heavily impacted, but mostly consumer response to the war.
And how people are spending money at this point and that the Q2, I was already expecting
to have reduced sales, like March through May, that would be typical.
But I think that people across the board and all consumer sectors, people are like not
spending as much money because everything is like going up in price.
And yeah, it's like, I can't put that in my numbers, like I can't like predict what people
are going to be doing in the summer based on what people are doing right now, because
my financial modeling is not that, what is the word, mature, you know, I don't have enough
data to financially model that kind of thing.
So, I think that, you know, I think that, you know, I think that, you know, I think
that I can't do that because I don't have enough data to financially model that kind of thing.
And so, yeah, long story short, I just need to hone in my inputs and not over dramatize
and directly impact me and just take a deep breath, I guess, like Danielle said yesterday.
like everything that's happening as if it's going to happen.
Yeah. I would be interested to hear, after you spend some time doing that, of taking a deep
breath, not dramatizing, which is a funny way, an interesting way of putting that,
and looking at how you make decisions best. I would be really interested to hear how you feel
about your decision, like if you spend some time doing that. Maybe we can check back on that next
week. Sure. Okay. And Margot, we are out of time, but we will be discussing this. Sorry.
Yeah. We're not going to say it out loud. You guys can say it out loud. Oh, you're plugged in?
Yeah. I have to hop to another call, but we will discuss this either next week, maybe,
or on our call that we have at some point. So, this is not the last you're hearing of it.
When do you have to decide by? I don't really. Well, I mean, I do, but my leave is from July,
beginning of July, to the end of December. So, December, you have to make a decision.
Yeah. I would say I would prefer to know before that, but I'm the one making the decision. So,
when I say I prefer to know, I think the way I have it set up now, I'm giving myself time to
make the decision based on how my business is doing. And I think if I do that, I might
allow myself the opportunity to fall back into the exact position I'm in now. And I'm like,
I think I need to make a stricter call. Track your KPIs and then, yeah, determine
what is the ultimate thing that's like the go-no-go decision metric, right? Which is
probably monthly cash flow or something like that. Yeah. Okay. Well, we'll discuss this more.
So, be thinking of it. Okay. All right, guys, have a good week. I will see you on our calls
or next week. Thank you. Goodbye. Bye.