Amidst The Chaos

I am beyond excited to bring our guest, Christine Lusk, on the podcast today because her business is not only GENIUS but so relevant to my life situation. Christine in the founder of Diplodash, which provides diplomats support services during and after transition to posts (UMMM HELLO, ME!!!).

Christine talks to be me about her life pre- entrepreneurship and how life of a trailing spouse (though she has properly renamed it a trailblazing spouse) brought on a lot of challenges she hadnt realized. Once she was oversees, she was thinking how nice it would be to have someone send care packages and build shipments from home. She started with a system of information and insights from diplomats on what the would want and would pay for. then she started to build out each section and grew it from there.

She tells me how her husband and kids play such an important role in the company as what the support has meant to her. Then we talk about how she is able to remove herself emotionally from the work, and how much stress that takes away from her clients. We end our talk with one of my favorite tips for anyone who is thinking of starting something but unsure if they should -- make sure you listen how she knew it was time to make the leap.

It was so fun hearing Christine's story and geek over all the ways this is helping diplomats and their families! Make sure to check out her website and Instagram to learn more!

Today's guest has been on our wish list for a while and she DID NOT disappoint! Lindsey Laurain, the founder and creator of EZPZ fun is on today and she opens up to us about so many things -- building the brand and beyond! For those that don't know (if there are any, ha), ezpz creates innovative, developmentally-focused products that make mealtime less about mess and more about fun. Lindsey's story starts like so many mom founders; she had a problem and there wasn't a solution in the market, so she MADE IT! After years in the corporate world, she took the leap to find a solution to the constant mess she found around her during meal times with her little boys.

Lindsey gets into the nitty gritty details of creating a product, including numerous copy cats (some that led to legal action) as well as how she found her manufacturing partners. She also tells me how she brought on her best friends from childhood to join her team -- and how they are still friends and working together! We finish with her diving into the insane trajectory of the company and how they have maintained their brand vision along the way. I am so grateful that Lindsey joined us to chat today and know you will LOVE hearing about her story and the brand.

Make sure to check out their AMAZING products (both functional AND adorable) on their site, and follow along on their Instagram.

When I started this podcast, I wanted to highlight all the behind the scenes takes and insider tips on building something with kids along side. If 2020 taught us anything, it's that working while parenting is NO JOKE! I have loved getting to hear founders' stories, specifically how they handled the craziness of these last two years. I am so excited to have Lisa Curtis, founder of Kuli Kuli, on the show today. She talks all about her brand and what this last year brought up for her.

Lisa tells me what kick started her brand -- she joined the peace corp after college and needed an alternative for her vegan lifestyle. She was introduced to Moringa by some of the locals and she realized she wanted to start selling it as a way to support them. What started out as a way to bring connection to a local community turned into a business after she went back to the states and found herself at a job she wasn't connecting to. She started playing around with different snacks and selling them at the farmers market, which, spoiler, lead to one of her biggest partnerships!

We chat about what CEO life really looks like in the beginning and how she juggled bringing on multiple other founders. Lisa then tells me her plans for the brand going forward and leaves you with a tip for starting a company. Finally, we chat about this amazing contest she started with two other female founders to highlight working mothers, and celebrating all they have been juggling this last year. Check out her Pandemic Super Moms award here.

I love talking with Lisa and know you will love her story. Head on over to her site to snag some of her amazing snacks-- psst, they have holiday flavored ones!

Be honest - how many of you have found yourself scrolling social media during the different pockets of your day? In between Netflix episodes, on your walk upstairs, waiting for your kids to get out of school -- anyone? Well, I definitely have, especially these past two years! I have found myself relying on social media to fill any void in my day. I realized I was subconsciously opening my apps and scrolling before I even gave myself a chance to sit with my thoughts (imagine!) or get something productive done. 

After taking time to really understand how this was impacting my emotional well being, I knew I had to do something about it! I want to share the actionable tips and tricks I used (nothing crazy), that have worked for me these last few months.

Take a listen and let me know which ones you use and if you have any more you think would be beneficial! Social media is amazing in so many ways -- as long as we make sure we are in control of the purpose for it!

Have you ever been to an amazing wedding, party or celebration and thought 'damn, I can't imagine what it took to bring this all together?'! Well, today, you get all the inside scoop on event planning and building a brand that allows you to plan and execute a range of celebrations. I am so excited to have Betsy McKay, founder of Salt events, on the show today telling me all about her experiences and tips on how she built her brand.

Betsy has a super interesting background, from being an executive assistant, to the director of admissions. She found that many of these roles involved event planning and that she was REALLY good at it. She talks to me about how she juggles both a full time job during the day and Salt as it continues to grow -- time management is KEY for her. We then go into how COVID has impacted their industry and what she's learned from others as she is navigating the craziness. Betsy then tells me what her schedule looks like with work and coordinating her kids schedules. We finish off with my favorite part of the discussion -- setting boundaries with clients. She dives right into the mistakes she's made before and how she has had to set rules for herself and how/when to respond.

Betsy was such an easy person to talk to and it was so great listening to how someone can build a service career from something they love and are good at. Make sure to check out her site, and socials - - and if you are in the Memphis area, be sure to reach out for all of your event planning needs!

There are some people who you meet and you realize that they are doing EXACTLY what they were meant to be doing!Kathy Bartelloni started Evolv Hol, providing integrative health tools to support women, mind, body and soul after years of previously professional lives. She dives into how her life has had some crazy pivots and how she has found herself right where she was always meant to be -- as cliché as it sounds, she is so open and honest about the difficulties she has gone through to begin helping others. Kathy's calm presence is so refreshing, I could have listened to her for hours!

Kathy gives me a quick roadmap of her life; starting with life as a military wife, consisting of putting her life on the back burner over and over (ummm HI, me, right here). She then made a big change and went back to school to become a nurse. After years of seeing patients come in, she realized she wanted to be part of the bigger solution and set them up with tools they needed to avoid illness and pain they were going through. She had always loved health and wellness, so dove head first into many different modalities in the holistic wellness world. I was so impressed with Kathy's life path, and more importantly her outlook on it all. She continues to think outside the box on how to get things done, and fully embraces the moments of suck (because, hey, they're inevitable).

Kathy encourages all of us to take the challenges and stages in our lives and let them evolve in different ways. Kathy offers a variety of support solution on her site and her instagram page. And if you are looking for someone who understands the ups and downs of life and wants to help you find your mind body connection, reach out to her!

Adding another product to my list of things I wish I had when my kids were little today -- all thanks to our guest, Beth Fynbo! Beth is the founder of Busy Baby Mat, which helps make life a little easier for Busy Parents everywhere! Beth starts off telling me about her childhood and seeing her dad run his own business, and how she knew at a young age she wanted to do something on her own as well. She then went on to serve 10 years in the Army and when she found herself back into a 'normal' routine, she could not get comfortable in the corporate world. After having her first child, she had a big wake up call -- she didn't want someone else experiencing his 'firsts'! It took a hectic dinner with fellow mom friends to give her the aha moment! She realized that kids are CONSTANTLY throwing things on the floor and forcing their parents to pick them up.

She came up with the idea to create a mat to keep them occupied after she found it did not exists! Since Beth did not come from the toy industry, she really jumped in and took things piece by piece, slowly working towards the next step and asking 'what should i do to get to the next phase'. I found this so refreshing as it can be SO overwhelming to see your end goal and all the space in between you and that spot! She then tells me about her current day to day, how life has changed as her business has grown and how her family plays a role in all of this! She then tells me how her brother is not a part of the company and how that came to be. Finally we chat about her Shark Tank experience, and the insane way that things happened!

Beth is such an easy person to talk to and it was so fun learning from her experiences. Make sure to check out her Busy Baby Mats as well as their other products, and head to her Instagram to follow along!

Any of you out there feel like there MUST be a certain product you are looking for, but when you search you can't find it? For most of us, after we come up empty, we find the next closest thing. But today's guest is not like most of us! Ashi Jelinek was looking for a vitamin infused drink for her kids instead of watering down the juice that was on the market. When she couldn't find anything, the woman MADE IT HERSELF!!!

Ashi talks to me about her life pre Kidsluv and how she slowly starting making iterations and diving into flavors for this product. She dives into how she worked on the branding and really figuring out her audience -- I was blown away with how foreword thinking she has been throughout this whole process! She then talks about how she had these grand visions of launching and having a huge success, but that wasn't the case, and what she did next just blew me away. Instead of giving up, she really dove into making things better and figuring out how to build relationships with retailers. We then talk about the identify crisis you find yourself in as a founder -- where do you fall into this crazy founders world. We finish off with her telling me what a typical day is like and what her biggest tips are for developing a drinks, and then she hits me with a big admission -- she was so naiive as to what building this would entail at the beginning, and looking back she isnt sure if she would do it again!

Ashi was SO SO easy to talk to -- she opened up, was honest and really introspective on her journey. Weather you have kids or not, you HAVE to check out her products (and be on the lookout for new ones soon). Head to their site or instagram page to learn more and enjoy 20% off 16pcks with code LUVVIP20 on Amazon.

Bringing another amazing human, mother and entrepreneur to you all for today's episode! Heather Greco is the founder of Chaos N Cookies, where she helps business owners increase their efficiency and social media impact through her organizational and automation skills, Her main goal is to make sure you are working smarter, not harder!

Heather talks about starting her career in sales and marketing at an IT firm and how she found her way into health and wellness, which was right up her alley as she was a lifelong athlete! She then tells me about how she realized she wanted to help women get more organized and allow them to handle the juggle of life, health and relationships better. All of this lead her to the Chaos Manual -- everything you need to know for your house and how to help you understand how your home works!

We then start to dive into how Heather realized her strengths and how she could use them to support others. She also talks to me about during COVID, when other coaches started reaching out to her about growing their online business as she was so successful and that allowed her to morph her focus into both home and business. Now she focuses on women who may find themselves on their own or need that extra time/organization for themselves. She finishes by telling me the HOW behind some of her great successes- building her email list and growing her Instagram boot camp course!

Heather is truly a wealth of knowledge and I am so excited for you to hear some truth and encouragement to many different aspects of your life! We also take a great detour and chat about enneagrams and how impactful they are with the people in your life -- both professionally and personally. Heather was such a fun guest to have and I am so appreciative of how honest she was about her own personal struggles as well! Make sure to head to her site to learn more and check out her Instagram for endless pieces of knowledge and her bootcamp!

Today's guest has been on our wish list for months now, so I am SO PUMPED to be able to share her story with you all. Jacquelyn Rodgers is the founder of Greentop Gifts, which brings diversity to your celebrations with apparel, home décor and stationery. Jacquelyn dives into her past career at Mars, selling candy to retailers (umm, ok talk about FUN)!! She then jumps right in to why she started Greentop Gifts; she wanted to share the celebratory memories that she had with her mother with her son, but noticed none of the décor matched what their family looked like. She gives me the full details on how she made this idea come to fruition and when she took the jump all in to Greentop Gifts (and wishes she had sooner). She sheds light into how her past experienced helped her jump in so quickly and how she knew it was time to outsource.

Jacquelyn then talks about who her audience is and how she markets to them. We then touch on how COVID has impacted her, but at home and with Greentop Gifts. She also tells me what her family thinks about her business (including the cutest story about her daughter). Finally, we chat about how she preps for holiday season and how that has changed and evolved year over year.

Jacquelyn has tapped into something that is so necessary for our culture today -- she is celebrating diversity and allowing children and families to see themselves in the designs and décor they choose to celebrate with! You will love what Jacquelyn shares with me and as a fun bonus, she is giving our listeners a discount! Use code CHAOS21 for 15% off your purchase -- make sure to check out her site for new products and designs!! Also, for some fun, check out their Instagram and Facebook as well as her personal account for some family insights!