And She Spoke

What’s in a name? Actually, everything.

It’s been a while since you’ve heard just us by ourselves, and this episode is deeply personal to us – we have a big announcement!

We talk about the complexities of deciding a new name and what brought us here. The dizzying ten months navigating trademarks and words, and the sweet relief of making a decision! Plus, the joy of seeing our clients embracing wordplay.

We also talk about niching – we still believe it’s key, but you’ve gotta know when to niche up and out! At some point it’s time to ask yourself – have I got comfortable here?

Finally, we dive a little into our deeper mission of redistributing wealth, and how a new name just fits that vision better. We hope you enjoy it! We think it’s Marvelous. 

Here’s a peek at what else we discuss:

• Namastream is now called Marvelous.
• Why rebranding is such a massive undertaking.
• The challenge of finding a word to represent and summarize your company.
• Why the idea of wonder is important for their company that facilitates online teaching and instruction.
• Why the word “marvelous” resonates with Sandy and Jennifer.
• Sandy and Jennifer discuss their reasons for rebranding.
• How their name change was informed by a decision to grow bigger and be more inclu-sive.
• Their name change was partially informed by concerns around cultural appropriation and referencing Sanskrit.
• How they’ve wrestled with their mindset around serving a niche market.
• How rebranding has helped make their core mission more explicit.
• Marvelous’s core mission of redistributing wealth and changing lives.

Resources

• WordHippo — https://www.wordhippo.com/
• Jennifer Barcelos on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenibarcelos/
• Sandy Connery on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandy-connery-b29b1a18/
• Marvelous — https://www.heymarvelous.com/

This week’s Joy: 

The joy that comes from making a decision. This idea of making a decision, trusting your intincts and go all in. Don’t doubt. Always know that, you can always make another decision, there is no such thing as a bad decision. 

This week’s Hustle: 

Go and check out Marvelous.

Know Your Numbers

In our business, we're big fans of financial literacy and accountability. Knowing your numbers is an essential aspect of building a successful business and inherent responsibility for any entrepreneur. 

What you focus on grows, so pay attention to your money. We use Bench for our bookkeeping. It's simple, elegant, and saves us so many hours that would otherwise be spent neck-deep in receipts on the other side of a spreadsheet. 

Each month our transactions are automatically imported into Bench and we get on-demand financial reports. We even enjoy opening up our profit and loss statement to review each month. When tax time comes around, we are up to date and ready to go. And this is what Financial Empowerment feels like.

Use this link to save 20% off your Bench Accounting plan for the first six months!

This podcast is brought to you by the Marvelous online teaching platform.

Marvelous is an easy-to-use platform that helps you build and sell your own courses memberships and live-streamed programs. Go from idea to open for business in just minutes. Unlike other startups, Marvelous was created by women for women. If you're looking for a simple, streamlined way to build and grow an online business. You can learn more at Marvelous.

Known to many as the "next-generation feminist leader,” today we had the privilege of speaking to Jamia Wilson.

When Jamia was a child and she felt defeated, her mother would ask her what she could do to “step into her power.” By heeding this advice and sharing her mother’s passion for civil rights, Jamia has become renowned as an activist, feminist, storyteller, media maker, and natural-born thought leader.

Over the years she has been the Executive Director and Publisher of Feminist Press at the City University of New York, the Executive Director of Women, Action, and the Media, and the Vice President of Programs at the Women’s Media Centre.

As a storyteller and activist, she talks about how books shaped her views in her youth and the importance of being able to tell one’s story without persecution. As the author of several books for young readers, she speaks about her responsibility to write stories for the next generation, about her work in activism, and her friendship with fellow feminist and activist, Gloria Steinum.

We also discuss the global COVID-19 pandemic and how, in a way, we are all united in this shared experience of suffering, as well as some inspiring thoughts on hope, empathy, and the future. Tune in today!

Here’s a peek at what else we discuss:

• Jamia talks about what led her to become an author.  
• The role of books in shaping the minds of the youth and the importance of representing the underrepresented. 
• Jamia speaks about the influence of her mother on her life and her passion for social justice.
• The difference between a response and a reaction, both in activism and in life. 
• The lessons Jamia learned from investing in a law qualification that she never completed.
• How she was influenced by feminist journalist, political activist, and friend, Gloria Steinem
• Reflections on the global experience of suffering through COVID-19 and empathy. 
• She shares her plans for the future; to enjoy some of the simple pleasures she has missed.
• Her new role as Vice President and Executive Director at Penguin Random House.
• Jamia’s passion for the french language and culture; how this is helping her expand in the business world.

Resources:

• Jamia Wilson
• Jamia Wilson on LinkedIn 
• Jamia Wilson on Instagram
• Jamia Wilson on Twitter
• Young, Gifted and Black by Jamia Wilson
• Step Into Your Power by Jamia Wilson 
• Gloria Steinem  
• Elizabeth Lesser And She Spoke episode 
• italki
• Jennifer Barcelos on LinkedIn
• Sandy Connery on LinkedIn
• And She Spoke Podcast
• Namastream
• Namastream on Instagram

This week’s Joy: Jamia’s joy is learning languages, but she stopped when she became busy with work. During the pandemic she started using the extra weekend time she had to start diving back into language and learning French. Shortly after that, she was asked to do a speaking engagement with a French feminist organization and she now has a couple of books that are in French and are getting translated into French.

This week’s Hustle: Jamia’s hustle is the same as her joy. Learning languages is helping her hustle because it's expanding how she’s thinking about her business in the world and allows her to work with people directly in French.

Know Your Numbers

In our business, we're big fans of financial literacy and accountability. Knowing your numbers is an essential aspect of building a successful business and inherent responsibility for any entrepreneur. 

What you focus on grows, so pay attention to your money. We use Bench for our bookkeeping. It's simple, elegant, and saves us so many hours that would otherwise be spent neck-deep in receipts on the other side of a spreadsheet. 

Each month our transactions are automatically imported into Bench and we get on-demand financial reports. We even enjoy opening up our profit and loss statement to review each month. When tax time comes around, we are up to date and ready to go. And this is what Financial Empowerment feels like.

Use this link to save 20% off your Bench Accounting plan for the first six months!

This podcast is brought to you by the Namastream online teaching platform.

Namastream is an easy-to-use platform that helps you build and sell your own courses memberships and live-streamed programs. Go from idea to open for business in just minutes. Unlike other startups, Namastream was created by women for women. If you're looking for a simple, streamlined way to build and grow an online business. You can learn more at Namastream.

The event of the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the way in which many of us interact with each other, including finding a sense of belonging in our communities. Many people are feeling isolated, lonely, and depressed.

Today’s guest is Emilia van Hauen, a Cultural Sociologist, Author, Marketing Expert, and International Keynote Speaker on modern ways of life and social trends.

During our conversation, Emilia sheds light on how communities have changed in modern times, and people now have the freedom to create their own identities and find specific communities where they belong. She also explains how, paradoxically, this freedom creates a sense of pressure for people to succeed, which can have negative consequences. She goes on to explain how COVID-19 has affected our ability to engage in healthy relationships, and how things may be different in the post-pandemic world.

This episode provides fascinating sociological insight for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider (which is apparently 99.5% of people), so don’t miss it!

Here’s a peek at what else we discuss:

• The prevalence of people feeling disconnected from their communities in today’s world.
• How being an outsider can be a positive thing.
• How society is moving away from the ‘bound communities’ that we are born into.
• How COVID-19 and living life online has affected one’s sense of community.
• The importance of good relationships in living a happy and healthy life.
• How relationships have been affected by the physical distance created by COVID-19.
• How relationships and communities may be different after the pandemic.
• Thoughts on whether or not the trend of digital nomadism will affect one’s sense of community going forward.
• How a sense of belonging, or being ‘owned’, is often more important than a glamorized sense of freedom.
• Being in a relationship and being independent doesn’t have to be contradictory.

Resources:

• Emilia van Hauen
• Emilia van Hauen on LinkedIn
• Emilia van Hauen on Twitter
• Emilia van Hauen on Instagram
• The Harvard Study of Adult Development, a Ted Talk
• Jeni Barcelos on LinkedIn
• Sandy Connery on LinkedIn
• Namastream
• Namastream on Instagram

This week’s Joy: 

Emilia’s joy is a symbolic dragon sculpture which she bought not only because of “Game of Thrones” but also because of a conversation she had with a friend of hers about dragons — that they are free, creative, and strong. She shares that the normal story we hear about dragons is that they have to be killed by a prince in order to save the princess from the tower. But what we need to understand is that instead of killing the dragon, we have to tame it and then we take flight with it. Every time she meets a problem, she thinks about it as a dragon that she needs to tame and it can take her on a flight.

This week’s Hustle: 

Emilia’s hustle is watching a lot of TV series because they tell a lot of stories about different people — about how we live and how we live together. By watching a lot of stories, she is able to understand all kinds and ways of living together, and it’s fun, too!

Know Your Numbers

In our business, we're big fans of financial literacy and accountability. Knowing your numbers is an essential aspect of building a successful business and inherent responsibility for any entrepreneur. 

What you focus on grows, so pay attention to your money. We use Bench for our bookkeeping. It's simple, elegant, and saves us so many hours that would otherwise be spent neck-deep in receipts on the other side of a spreadsheet. 

Each month our transactions are automatically imported into Bench and we get on-demand financial reports. We even enjoy opening up our profit and loss statement to review each month. When tax time comes around, we are up to date and ready to go. And this is what Financial Empowerment feels like.

Use this link to save 20% off your Bench Accounting plan for the first six months!

This podcast is brought to you by the Namastream online teaching platform.

Namastream is an easy-to-use platform that helps you build and sell your own courses memberships and live-streamed programs. Go from idea to open for business in just minutes. Unlike other startups, Namastream was created by women for women. If you're looking for a simple, streamlined way to build and grow an online business. You can learn more at Namastream.

Speaking up is a superpower, and more women need to be heard. At least that is what today’s

guest, Elizabeth Lesser believes. 

Elizabeth is a bestselling author and the CoFounder of Omega Institute, the renowned conference and retreat center located in Rhinebeck, New York. 

Her latest book, “Cassandra Speaks: When Women Are the Storytellers, the Human Story Changes,” reveals how humanity has outgrown its origin tales and hero myths, and empowers women to trust their instincts, find their voice, and tell new guiding stories. 

Elizabeth’s work with the Omega Institute is recognized internationally for their workshops and conferences in wellness, business, spirituality, creativity, and social change. She has given two popular TED Talks and is one of Oprah’s Super Soul 100, a collection of 100 leaders who are using their voices and talent to elevate humanity. 

In this episode, Elizabeth digs into women, voices, stories, and power. She also shares some personal stories, so make sure to stick around until the end to hear her hustle, where she shares a new technique for meditation. Tune in today!

Here’s a peek at what else we discuss:

• Elizabeth provides an introduction to who she is and what she does.
• Learn more about her book, Cassandra Speaks, the ancient Greek story of Cassandra.
• How money and power are stacked against women, especially advocates.
• While the most emotionally wrought stories wake you up, sometimes they make you feel as if your own story isn’t so bad.
• The different superpower that Elizabeth wants women to uncover; to be heard.
• The value of a cofounder relationship that both balances you and acts like a launchpad.
• Why history told through the lens of men frames women as scapegoats for evil and tragedy.
• What it would look like for humanity if women had contributed to our theories and stories.
• Elizabeth’s opinion on the progress being made in electing diverse representation; how history looks forward, not backward.
• The importance of finding your voice, using it, and knowing when to push and when to love.
• Whether or not Elizabeth considers herself ambitious, and the shadow side of ambition.
• Why women often don’t claim the words ‘ambition’ and ‘power’; it’s about redefining them!
• Elizabeth shares a few words about imposter syndrome and how to work through it.
• Hear how Elizabeth believes women are infiltrating the way the world does business.
• The importance of staying open, soft, and kind, and having your own back.

Resources:

• Elizabeth Lesser on Twitter
• Elizabeth Lesser on Instagram
• Elizabeth Lesser
• Omega Institute
• Cassandra Speaks by Elizabeth Lesser
• Women & Power Conference 2021
• The Tending Instinct
• Jennifer Barcelos on LinkedIn
• Sandy Connery on LinkedIn
• And She Spoke Podcast
• Namastream
• Namastream on Instagram

This week’s Joy: 

Elizabeth's joy is spending time with her grandchildren and says to make your joy free, simple, and available.

This week’s Hustle: 
Elizabeth's Hustle is her new meditation that she came up with, it's called the 'Do No Harm, But Take No Shit' meditation and she explains the name behind it and how to do it.

In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Naomi Clark, who is a Feminist Financial Consultant and Coach.

Naomi partners with women to help them thrive financially by creating cashflow strategies that support their values and lifetime goals.

What stands out about this conversation is Naomi’s belief that the major reasons women struggle with making confident financial decisions are the patriarchy and debt-shaming culture, two oppressive systems designed to keep women feeling unprepared, doubtful, and distracted when it comes to their money.

Naomi likes to say that you can find her at the intersection of personal development and personal finance and, in this episode, she shares her passion for helping women truly tap into their internal sources of power.

Tuning in, you’ll find out why Naomi believes that the world is a better place when justice-informed women have more money and power, why money means nothing until you spend it, and how you can use debt as a tool to leverage.

Here’s a peek at what else we discuss:

• Naomi shares what it means to be a Feminist Financial Consultant and Coach.
• Why it’s important to focus on your internal power rather than just your external power.
• Leveraging the resources at your disposal and learning how to spend your privilege.
• Having the audacity to believe we’re deserving of wealth and power; Naomi’s experience as a woman of color in the US.
• How Naomi helps women build confidence around their finances, starting with the numbers.
• Money means nothing until you spend it; spending towards a life that you cherish.
• Learn Naomi’s perspective on debt-shaming: there’s no such thing as “good” or “bad” debt.
• The importance of looking at your financial picture in a holistic manner.
• How to use debt as leverage; expenses can also be investments.
• Understanding that debt is weaponized to the benefit of some and the detriment of others.

Resources:

• Naomi Clark on Instagram
• Naomi Clark
• The Outspoken Girlfriend Podcast
• Zapier
• Jennifer Barcelos on LinkedIn
• Sandy Connery on LinkedIn

This week’s Joy:  Every day, Naomi finds something that will bring her joy but she loves to start her day by putting on her red lipstick and loves having a good hot cup of coffee, these simple pleasures, no matter what’s happening in the world, that’s what brings her joy.

This week’s Hustle:  Naomi uses Zapier to help her with running her business as a solopreneur.

Know Your Numbers

In our business, we're big fans of financial literacy and accountability. Knowing your numbers is an essential aspect of building a successful business and inherent responsibility for any entrepreneur. 

What you focus on grows, so pay attention to your money.

We use Bench for our bookkeeping. It's simple, elegant, and saves us so many hours that would otherwise be spent neck-deep in receipts on the other side of a spreadsheet.

Each month our transactions are automatically imported into Bench and we get on-demand financial reports. We even enjoy opening up our profit and loss statement to review each month. When tax time comes around, we are up to date and ready to go. And this is what Financial Empowerment feels like.

Use this link to save 20% off your Bench Accounting plan for the first six months!

This podcast is brought to you by the Namastream online teaching software.

Namastream is an easy-to-use platform that helps you build and sell your own courses memberships and live-streamed programs. Go from idea to open for business in just minutes. Unlike other startups, Namastream was created by women for women. If you're looking for a simple, streamlined way to build and grow an online business. You can learn more at Namastream.

Officially one year into the coronavirus pandemic, we are reflecting on how it has impacted our personal lives and the business we are building. 

Tuning in, you’ll find out how our team has grown and the challenges of scaling during a pandemic, what we have learned about navigating change, and what we are looking forward to in 2021. 

We also share our approach to growing our business ethically and responsibly, the reasons behind restructuring our offerings and creating new programs,  and why spending $100,000 on coaching was a worthwhile investment as well as our biggest takeaways from 2020—what we’d do again and what we’d do differently. 

Listen in to find out more! 

Here’s a peek at what else we discuss:

• Before and after March 13, 2020; how the business and coaching platform has grown. 
• Learn more about bootstrapping versus building a company that is funded. 
• Hear about the successes of online format for the Thrive Online 2020 conference. 
• Find out about the timeline of the development of the And She Spoke Podcast website. 
• In addition to adding to our lives, we also went through a process of letting go; how it has allowed us to fully commit. 
• The importance of being humans and friends before being business partners. 
• Sandy’s big takeaway from 2020: the ability to do things when not fully trained or prepared. 
• Jeni’s lesson from 2020: the strength and perseverance of her team in the face of adversity. 
• The value of being willing to fail; if nothing else, you’ll have a great story to tell! 

Resources:

• The Inner Circle 
• Launch With Intention
• The Art of Feminism by Helena Reckitt
• GoodNotes

This week’s Joy: 

Sandy finds the book “The Art of Feminism: Images that Shaped the Fight for Equality 1815-2017 By Helena Reckitt” so gorgeously created which shows remarkable artworks and touching stories of women.

This week’s Hustle: 

Jeni and Sandy are evangelists with paper notebooks but using the GoodNotes app on iPad which allows you to take notes, as well as search and share handwritten notes is ‘crazy and wild’.

Know Your Numbers

In our business, we're big fans of financial literacy and accountability. Knowing your numbers is an essential aspect of building a successful business and inherent responsibility for any entrepreneur. 

What you focus on grows, so pay attention to your money.

We use Bench for our bookkeeping. It's simple, elegant, and saves us so many hours that would otherwise be spent neck-deep in receipts on the other side of a spreadsheet.

Each month our transactions are automatically imported into Bench and we get on-demand financial reports. We even enjoy opening up our profit and loss statement to review each month. When tax time comes around, we are up to date and ready to go. And this is what Financial Empowerment feels like.

Use this link to save 20% off your Bench Accounting plan for the first six months!

This podcast is brought to you by the Namastream online teaching platform

Namastream is an easy-to-use platform that helps you build and sell your own courses memberships and live-streamed programs. Go from idea to open for business in just minutes. Unlike other startups, Namastream was created by women for women. If you're looking for a simple, streamlined way to build and grow an online business. You can learn more at Namastream.

Today’s guest is South African mountaineer Cathy O’Dowd, the first woman to climb Mount Everest from both sides. 

Her many Himalayan expeditions have provided her with extensive experience with individuals and teams, facing stress, risk, and overwhelming challenge. 

Pre-COVID, she shared insights with corporate audiences all over the world through story-driven expedition case studies. 

Post-COVID, she has had to shift her business online like many of us and is grateful that she lives in Andorra in the Pyrenees Mountains, where she can hike every day and run her business from her phone on the side of a mountain. 

In this candid interview, Cathy shares some of her silver linings from the pandemic, what led her to become a mountain climber, and some of the tragic circumstances of her first Everest expedition.

Tuning in, you’ll find out why she believes in teamwork over the competition, opportunities over achievements, and lifestyle over the business. 

All this and more in today’s episode, so don’t miss it!

Here’s a peek at what else we discuss: 

• How Cathy's career as an inspirational speaker has been affected by COVID.
• What led her to become a mountaineer after discovering rock climbing as a teenager.
• How she came to climb Everest at 27-years-old and the circumstances of that expedition.
• Cathy explains why she identifies as curious rather than strictly ambitious.
• What she learned about teamwork and competition climbing Everest when so much of what happened was beyond her control.
• A time when Cathy had to overcome a great deal of fear: working through public failure.
• The value of building skills and confidence through experiences rather than building success through achievements.
• Cathy’s advice for new entrepreneurs: be open to unexpected opportunities along the way.
• Running a lifestyle, not a business; knowing her value and owning her definition of success.
• Bringing her feminine energy to a goal-oriented and money-driven patriarchal world.

Resources:

• Cathy O’Dowd on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube
• Cathy O’Dowd
• Just For the Love of It by Cathy O'Dowd
• Namastream

This week’s Joy:  The discovery of joy brought by walking just two kilometers outside the house and watching flowers bloom which she overlooked before because she was busy on the bigger picture.

This week’s Hustle:  Setting up a whole home office that is fully accessible from her phone. She loves the fact that she can go to the mountains and still closely monitor her emails and clients using her phone.

Know Your Numbers

In our business, we're big fans of financial literacy and accountability. Knowing your numbers is an essential aspect of building a successful business and inherent responsibility for any entrepreneur. 

What you focus on grows, so pay attention to your money.

We use Bench for our bookkeeping. It's simple, elegant, and saves us so many hours that would otherwise be spent neck-deep in receipts on the other side of a spreadsheet.

Each month our transactions are automatically imported into Bench and we get on-demand financial reports. We even enjoy opening up our profit and loss statement to review each month. When tax time comes around, we are up to date and ready to go. And this is what Financial Empowerment feels like.

Use this link to save 20% off your Bench Accounting plan for the first six months!

Namastream

This podcast is brought to you by the Namastream software platform.

Namastream is an easy-to-use platform that helps you build and sell your own courses memberships and live-streamed programs. Go from idea to open for business in just minutes. Unlike other startups, Namastream was created by women for women. If you're looking for a simple, streamlined way to build and grow an online business. You can learn more at Namastream.

Many of us spend what felt like a lifetime on Zoom meetings, and perhaps you struggled to find your voice in this virtual space. This is completely normal because the rules of engagement are entirely different online than they are in the real world. 

Today's guests are Casey Erin Clark and Julie Fogh, the Founders of Vital Voice Training, a voice, and communication company that recognizes that your voice is a powerful tool for connection and expression. 

As trained actors and voice and speech coaches, Casey and Julie understand that real communication happens when your voice is grounded in who you are. 

On this show, after hearing about their business aims, we dive into the disembodiment that many of us are experiencing, and Casey and Julie offer advice on how we might reconnect with our bodies once more. 

We touch on the importance of communicating and teaching rules of engagement, particularly in a virtual space where they aren’t so obvious. In-person meetings are not perfect either, so accepting these virtual spaces for what they are can help us feel okay in them. 

Our conversation also touches on broadening our understanding of power and confidence in the world that deifies extroversion, Casey and Julie’s functional authenticity definition, and the difficulty that many of us have with being authentic on social media. 

Our voices are a marker of who we are. 

It is not about talking the loudest or the most, it is about using your voice in a way that is truest to you.  

Here’s a peek at what else we discuss:

• What Vital Voice Training does and the impetus to start the company.
• How the pandemic affected Vital Voice’s business and the meaningful pivot they made
• Four ways of perceiving the body and the importance of cultivating a connection to our bodies.
• There is so much room for creativity on Zoom with all the tools available.
• The difficulty of not being able to easily switch roles when we work from home.
• Our bodies and spirits are not meant to deal with this level of uncertainty.
• Balancing the humility of listening and the power of sharing your voice.
• Why we need to expand our definitions of power and confidence.
• The difference between feedback that men and women receive in the workplace.
• Defining functional authenticity and why it is important to have this expanded definition.
• Why it is so difficult to be authentic on social media where we can curate what we share.
• You can be authentic and intentional; it doesn’t have to be one or the other.

Resources:
Casey Erin Clark
Casey Erin Clark on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter
Julie Fogh
Julie Fogh on LinkedIn
Vital Voice Training
The Authenticity Code
Casey Erin Clark and Voice Positivity (And She Spoke Podcast Episode)
Brain.fm

This week’s Joy: 

For Casey, Tuesday Night Happy Hours with her girlfriends is her weekly Therapy.

For Julie, her 13-mile walk once a week gives her a childlike feeling that brings so much Joy.

This week’s Hustle: 

Taking Breaks For Casey, as a Type A perfectionist, intentionally builds in time for creativity and makes her outputs better.

Using the Pomodoro Technique for Julie is critical for her to do and has been very helpful in focusing and getting things done.

Know Your Numbers

In our business, we're big fans of financial literacy and accountability. Knowing your numbers is an essential aspect of building a successful business and inherent responsibility for any entrepreneur. 

What you focus on grows, so pay attention to your money.

We use Bench for our bookkeeping. It's simple, elegant, and saves us so many hours that would otherwise be spent neck-deep in receipts on the other side of a spreadsheet.

Each month our transactions are automatically imported into Bench and we get on-demand financial reports. We even enjoy opening up our profit and loss statement to review each month. When tax time comes around, we are up to date and ready to go. And this is what Financial Empowerment feels like.

Use this link to save 20% off your Bench Accounting plan for the first six months!

Namastream

This podcast is brought to you by the Namastream software platform.

Namastream is an easy-to-use platform that helps you build and sell your own courses memberships and live-streamed programs. Go from idea to open for business in just minutes. Unlike other startups, Namastream was created by women for women. If you're looking for a simple, streamlined way to build and grow an online business. You can learn more at Namastream.

Those suffering from chronic conditions deserve normalcy, advocacy, and empowerment!

We had an illuminating conversation on this episode of "And She Spoke" with Nitika Chopra, the founder of Chronicon, a media and events company dedicated to elevating those who live with chronic illness. 

There are so many misunderstandings around chronic health conditions. Through her journey with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, Nitika has found power and meaning without being defined by the work day's rules. 

Since then, Nitika has expanded her business with a talk show, partnerships in the wellness space. Since COVID-19, she has successfully transitioned Chronicon into an online community experience filled with inspiration, advocacy, and support.

We talk about normalizing chronic pain in the workplace, overcoming uncertainty, and how she shifts the non-profit/for-profit paradigm. 

We invite you to listen, learn, and join in the conversation!

Here’s a peek at what else we discuss:

• Her main revenue streams, including brand partnerships and spokesperson work
• How Nitika manages her time so efficiently as someone with a chronic illness
• Nitika explains that she wants to normalize chronic pain; you are not alone!
• Moments in Nitika's entrepreneurial journey where she has questioned her decisions
• How to get comfortable with uncertainty in life and turning that into growth
• What Nitika has learned from going digital with her business
• Marketing her membership: How Nikita attracts new members to Chronicon
• The challenges that come with building a model that helps people while profiting from it

Resources:

Nitika Chopra

Chronicon

Chronicon on Instagram

Resistance Revival Chorus on Instagram

This Joy

The Secrets of Successful Women by Nitika Chopra

This week’s Joy: 

Music! From singing her whole life, and currently, with the Resistance Revival Chorus, Nikita engages with music as a healing modality throughout her day!

This week’s Hustle: 

"The Secrets of Successful Women." For Nikita, listening to this audiobook has been eye-opening about overcoming imposter syndrome, especially as a woman of color.

Know Your Numbers

In our business, we're big fans of financial literacy and accountability. Knowing your numbers is an essential aspect of building a successful business and inherent responsibility for any entrepreneur. 

What you focus on grows, so pay attention to your money.

We use Bench for our bookkeeping. It's simple, elegant, and saves us so many hours that would otherwise be spent neck-deep in receipts on the other side of a spreadsheet.

Each month our transactions are automatically imported into Bench and we get on-demand financial reports. We even enjoy opening up our profit and loss statement to review each month. When tax time comes around, we are up to date and ready to go. And this is what Financial Empowerment feels like.

Use this link to save 20% off your Bench Accounting plan for the first six months!

Namastream

This podcast is brought to you by the Namastream software platform.

Namastream is an easy-to-use platform that helps you build and sell your own courses memberships and live-streamed programs. Go from idea to open for business in just minutes. Unlike other startups, Namastream was created by women for women. If you're looking for a simple, streamlined way to build and grow an online business. You can learn more at Namastream.

Described as endlessly optimistic, Nancy Giordano is a strategic futurist, global keynote speaker, corporate strategist, and gatherer, with a drive to help enterprise organizations and visionary leaders transform to meet the escalating expectations ahead.

Recognized as one of the top female futurists, Nancy is the co-founder of the Femme Futurists Society.

Concerned about applying an outdated, industrial approach to an exponential 21st Century world, she is currently launching her first book, titled Leadering: The Ways Visionary Leaders Play Bigger, which defines and encourages the dynamic, inclusive, and audacious mindset leaders must cultivate in order to build the safe, inclusive, and thriving future that we all want.

“Each of us, from [whatever] space we are [in], have a place that we can contribute and we can create for the future that we want to build.” — Nancy Giordano

In this episode, Nancy shares her vision for the future, and why each and every person has a role in creating it, from individual and solopreneuer to corporate CEO.

Tuning in, you’ll find out more about her career trajectory, what the term ‘leadering’ actually means, and how to prepare for what the future needs and expects of you.

You will also learn about the importance of shifting from a culture of winning to one of caring and why Nancy believes there is too much pressure on the youth to change the world. Tune in today!

Here’s a peek at what else we discuss:

• The role of ethicists in large companies and teams working with futurists like Nancy.
• It’s not about building a utopia; Nancy explains the practical applications of a futurist vision.
• How small businesses and solopreneurs can adopt this kind of thinking.
• How to prepare for what the future needs and expects from us.
• Why short-term thinking is the biggest enemy of long-term success.
• The value of shifting from an orientation of winning to one of caring.
• Nancy’s perspective on the climate and mental health crises. 
• How the narrative needs to shift in order to realize the opportunity we have to build the future we want to build.

Resources:

• Nancy Giordano
• Leadering by Nancy Giordano
• Leadering
• The Future is Faster Than You Think
• Jennifer Barcelos on LinkedIn
• Namastream

This week’s Joy: I have a ritual to watch the sunset for 30mins every day. A place of gratitude for all the things that are working well and thinking about the people in my life I love, and then as the sun goes down over the horizon I ask it to take whatever I’m holding as a negative with it as it sets. And that restores me for the next day. It’s a sanity saver and has worked really well.

This week’s Hustle: Constant learning. Invest into your own learning and curiosity so that it doesn’t feel so scary.

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Namastream

This podcast is brought to you by the Namastream software platform. 

Namastream is an easy-to-use platform that helps you build and sell your own courses memberships and live-streamed programs. Go from idea to open for business in just minutes. Unlike other startups, Namastream was created by women for women. If you're looking for a simple, streamlined way to build and grow an online business. You can learn more at Namastream.com.