Be It Till You See It

Lesley and Brad dive into a powerful conversation with seasoned investor Steve Selengut, who shares his best advice for building a portfolio that generates consistent income. With 45 years of experience, Steve breaks down complex financial concepts into easy-to-understand insights that will empower you to take control of your wealth. Whether you're new to investing or looking to refine your approach, this episode is packed with valuable takeaways on how to make smarter financial choices.

If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at [email protected].

And as always, if you’re enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Why most people don’t talk about money—and why you should.
• How Steve’s 45+ years of experience shaped his investment philosophy.
• The importance of diversifying your financial portfolio. 
• How to generate consistent income from your investments.
• Why market downturns can present great buying opportunities.
• Understanding the 4%–5% rule for living off investment income.

Episode References/Links:

• Cambodia October 2025 Retreat Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.com
• Spring Training - https://opc.me/events
• Pilates Studio Growth Accelerator - https://prfit.biz/accelerator
• Accessories Flashcards Waitlist - https://opc.me/flashcardwaitlist
• Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It - https://a.co/d/dhpZ3Lj
• Retirement Money Secrets by Steve Selengut - https://a.co/d/caqcgnT
• Ep. 352 with Tess Waresmith - https://beitpod.com/ep352
• Ramit Sethi Interview - https://beitpod.com/ramitsethi

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Episode Transcript:

Lesley Logan 0:00  

People don't talk about money in their own households and their own marriages and their own relationships. They don't talk about money. And the truth is, if you don't talk about money with someone in your life, you better be talking about it with yourself. 

Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.

Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the influential convo I have with Steve Selengut in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that one, go back and listen to that one, then listen to this one, or listen to this one and then listen to that one. Look, we're talking money. 

Brad Crowell 1:09  

We're talking money, money. 

Lesley Logan 1:10  

Investments and over here at the Be It Pod, we want to make sure that you are wealthy in your health and in your finances because then you can be as generous as you want to be in this world. And let's just be real, like you got to have something to fall back on these days. So I'm really excited for you to learn from Steve, because he, he had some really good advice. I understood it and when it comes to, like, the stock market and investments and portfolios, sometimes I'm like.

Brad Crowell 1:36  

Yeah, fascinating conversation from a career investor, 45 years. 

Lesley Logan 1:40  

45 years. 

Brad Crowell 1:41  

Of investing for people, and then now he's a coach. He guides people through the process. So pretty interesting, really, really enjoyable. 

Lesley Logan 1:48  

We're gonna dig into our takeaways in a moment. But first, today is February 6th 2025. It is Pay a Compliment Day. About this day, nothing tears a person up quite like hearing someone say something nice about you. It's time to return the favor on Pay a Compliment Day. And although we shouldn't need a special day to show our appreciation, most of us need a little nudge right? We’ve often walked away from interactions wishing we had said what was in our hearts. “Will I embarrass myself?” “Is it appropriate?” All questions that plague what should be a simple articulation of the heart. Let’s redeem ourselves on Pay a Compliment Day. Wanna give a shout out to my mom. We were in Nevada at our annual little (inaudible) moment and. 

Brad Crowell 2:25  

That would be Arizona. 

Lesley Logan 2:26  

Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh, that was in Arizona. You guys were, I'm getting there today. My tummy is like on some antibiotics, and we're getting there, so I'm gonna make more mistakes. Thanks, Brad for being here to catch. 

Brad Crowell 2:37  

Got you covered. 

Lesley Logan 2:38  

So what (inaudible) with my mom is people just walked by, and my mom just gave, every random person got a compliment. Oh, I love your bangs. Oh, your sunglasses are so beautiful on you. That's a great sweater. Oh, that looks so soft. Like, like, every single person got a fucking compliment. And I was just like, how is she able to notice something nice to say to every single person? Also, anytime she would say, like, oh, you look like so and so, it was never an ugly actor or actress. It was always a beautiful person. And I just like, so you know what? She's a first grade teacher who has to, like, do everything on her own all the time. If she can pay a compliment to random people, you too can do that today. So just give it a try. Give it a try telling someone like, oh, I really like your shoes. And just walk away. You don't have to have a conversation. Just walk away. 

Brad Crowell 3:25  

Yeah, you can just walk away. What's one of my favorite things to do? It is give people a quick little compliment and keep going, because then they go, oh, feels so good. 

Lesley Logan 3:33  

Yeah, feels so good. So okay, go do that and let us know how it goes. Today is inching even closer to us going to Cambodia. I think we're like a week away, a little over a week away. 

Brad Crowell 3:42  

From us leaving. 

Lesley Logan 3:43  

We go to our February retreat. 

Brad Crowell 3:47  

It will be February 23 is when things kick off over there. 

Lesley Logan 3:50  

Yeah. It's pretty late for you to add yourself to that one. 

Brad Crowell 3:53  

I mean like, you are more than welcome to make it happen, if you can. We'd love to have you. 

Lesley Logan 3:56  

Yeah, but we're not going to stress out about it, because you can come on October. 

Brad Crowell 3:59  

That's right. We have an October trip that we are lining up and, well, it's already lined up, so go check it out. The dates are on the website crowsnestretreats.com, crowsnestretreats.com. Come join us in October. Why? You ask.

Lesley Logan 4:14  

Because it's amazing. 

Brad Crowell 4:16  

It is absolutely amazing.

Lesley Logan 4:17  

You get to do Pilates with us. You get to go to the temples with us. You get to go to a lotus farm with us. You get to go on a boat ride with us. You get to be in another place in this world where someone has already planned the entire thing out all you have to do is just show up. Show up to the airport. We'll pick you up from the airport. Like that is pretty freaking cool. You know? It's really, really cool. So. 

Brad Crowell 4:36  

Your name on a sign. The whole nine. 

Lesley Logan 4:37  

Yeah, oh yeah. You get a name on the sign. Oh yeah, you do. So go to crowsnestretreats.com to snag your spot. We already have people signed up. April, we're gonna have spring training, which is for our Pilates lovers, so about a week long of Pilates events for those of you. And we're gonna nerd out upon a subject. More details will be to come. We might have also released them, and you would know if you were on the email list for the events. So opc.me/events, is where you can get deets on spring training. We're going to keep having some fun with Pilates stuff, and this is gonna be the only thing that we're doing on a virtual setup for public Pilates stuff outside of OPC. 

Brad Crowell 5:11  

Yeah, no summer camp this year, we're doing spring training instead. That'll be the end of April. So make sure you get on that events waitlist. Next up, if you are at all taking money from clients, then you run your own business, believe it or not. So whether that is small and you've got four clients or a full blown studio or home studio, or you're renting from someone, I want you to come join me for a free webinar. We're going to talk about money. We're going to talk about how do you get new clients. We're going to talk about how do you connect with those new clients that you're going to go get. These are three big secrets Lesley and I have learned after coaching more than 2500 business owners, just like you, just like us, and it's allowed us to pass along this experience, this knowledge that we have. And I want you to join me for this free webinar. Go to prfit.biz/accelerator that is profit without the O dot biz slash accelerator. Come join me live. And finally, we have. 

Lesley Logan 6:07  

The final Pilates flash card exercise deck is almost ready. I know. So at the time that you're hearing this, we are done with the edits. I'm almost pretty sure. That's the goal. Our deadline was about this week.

Brad Crowell 6:21  

Photo shoot is done. First draft of the cards are done. They're probably putting them onto the. 

Lesley Logan 6:26  

They're already on. 

Brad Crowell 6:27  

They're already on the (inaudible) digital cards. That's how the edits are happening. 

Lesley Logan 6:31  

How much Brad's a part of the whole process. 

Brad Crowell 6:33  

We are darn close. We're darn close. But if you want the hookup, you gotta be on the waitlist. So, where are they going? 

Lesley Logan 6:43  

opc.me/flashcardwaitlist 

Brad Crowell 6:45  

There you go. 

Lesley Logan 6:45  

Yeah, it's the slash and flash that's the problem. So it's the opc.me/flashcardwaitlist. That's where you're gonna go, because if you're not on that list, you won't hear about the presale and the presale's the best price it's ever gonna be. 

Brad Crowell 6:57  

Yep, yep, yep. All right, so this week, we had an audience question for one of our tour attendees in Phoenix, Arizona. 

Lesley Logan 7:05  

The last stop. 

Brad Crowell 7:06  

The last stop. What an epic tour it was, by the way, my gosh. I mean, over 600 attendees. We did 8000 miles. We had an opportunity to see states we've never been to before. It was just lovely.

Lesley Logan 7:20  

Yeah, I loved it. I really enjoyed all of it. I had so much fun. And so when I got this question after the last public workshop on the last day of the tour, I was like, I was so impressed with myself, actually.

Brad Crowell 7:35  

Here's the question. She asked, "How do you keep your energy up after doing all of these events?" I think it was like 45 events, or something like that, over 34 days.

Lesley Logan 7:45  

And also, somehow, my team approved a class and two workshops after my bedtime. Truly, truly, if you guys are in my calendar, it says done for the day at 4pm so, and these things were at like 4:00 and 5:30 and six-something. And I was like, who did this? And my sister-in-law said. 

Brad Crowell 8:05  

She's pretty sure it was my fault. 

Lesley Logan 8:06  

Yeah. She said that would be your husband. That's exactly how she said it. That'd be your husband. 

Brad Crowell 8:10  

That'd be your husband. 

Lesley Logan 8:11  

Yeah. And I was like, no, ever, never, ever, ever, ever. So anyways, how do I keep my energy up? There's not one answer, okay? And like, also, I think you can take parts of this and apply it to your life, where you are and what you have access to. Okay, so first of all, last week, we talked about FemGevity a lot, and that's because part of the energy that I have is due to actually having someone really evaluate my health and make sure that what I eat is really good for my body, my hormone levels are really good for my body. That right there. If you're eating foods that inflame you you're going to be tired because your body's inflamed. So please, please, please, if you haven't called them, call them or work with a professional who is going to listen to you and make sure that what you're eating and how your hormone levels are appropriate for where you are in your life. Second, my Pilates practice is a priority, priority number one. So when I'm at home, I do it five to six days a week, sometimes seven, and I'm sitting here sore, just like getting back into it, because on tour, I don't get to do 30 full minutes, or even 15 full minutes. Sometimes I get like 10, but my Pilates practice is a priority. So when I'm on tour, every day is like, where are we going when I get my movement in, my movement practice is what allows me to have energy for you. It allows me to have stamina for you. It's allows me to not resent that you get to move and I don't get to move. So my personal practice is priority. I get almost 14,000 steps in a day, and all of that helps with my energy levels, that I can gift to you, that I can pour in to the people that I'm teaching. And then lastly, I've been really focused on sleep for the last couple of years, where this is the year we're really focusing on it. We're currently working with like a sleep situation that makes me hot or makes me cold, or whatever it needs to do, and that is a focus. And if you can get your hormones and food right, you can get your movement right and get your sleep right, I promise you you have energy for things you don't even want to do. You will. You just will. So did I miss anything? 

Brad Crowell 10:03  

I think, like you said, it's been a combo of all the things. I think you're also relatively consistent with your schedule, and I think boundaries are really important part of that.

Lesley Logan 10:12  

You remind me of something I wanted to say. Thank you so much. That was a key word. That's why you're here, babe. 

Brad Crowell 10:17  

Take it away. 

Lesley Logan 10:17  

Okay, so there is a book called Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It, and I think we ordered it, or at least put it in my cart. At any rate, I haven't read it yet, but somebody said this about boundaries, and I am as what Brad said, I am a stickler for my schedule, and that is because then I can break the rules, right? But if I don't have a schedule, I don't have boundaries, and I'm gonna be tired all the time because I'm gonna be reassessing my boundaries and all that stuff. So my boundaries are really key. But in this book, Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It, it says. 

Brad Crowell 10:45  

By Kamal Ravikant. 

Lesley Logan 10:47  

Yes. If you are burning out, it is because you don't love yourself enough, because if you loved yourself fully, you would love yourself so much you would say no to things, because you know that it's actually a terrible thing for you to say yes to it. And so, like, to me, I was like, so proud of myself. I was like, oh, this self-love journey is working because I am not burning out.

Brad Crowell 11:13  

Well, even on the tour, and that's the thing, the environment completely changed. The morning routine completely changed. So there still had to be, even though everything was chaos, there still had to be boundaries, and it took us, this is our seventh tour, y'all, so how do we scale it up to be 34, 35 days long? Well, we've had a lot of practice, and we've got a lot of trial and error, and what we realized is that we don't want to teach more than six days in a row. Right? In fact, three or four days is even better, and then at least one day off, so that we can rest. We can enjoy some enjoy ourselves and like, help hit that reset button each time because we are go, go, go, go, go when we're on the road. 

Lesley Logan 11:55  

And also to boundaries, like, your boundaries can change, might have to change depending on your environment. When I'm at home, I have one set of boundaries of how I work and how late I'll work till or how many days in a row. I don't work six days a week when I'm at home. But on the tour, we have different boundaries, right? My only responsibility when on tour is to do the tour, to do the social posts and to keep up with the team and our members. That's it. I know that sounds like a lot, but like, when I'm at home, I'm writing newsletters, I'm writing blog posts, I'm making videos, I'm making classes, I'm doing podcasts. Like we have so many other hats we wear, none of that happens, so that we don't burn out when there is chaos. So we have boundaries. So I think boundaries would be, of those four things that I said, sleep, hormones and digestion, and personal self-care and boundaries, right? If you take one thing away, pick one of those things that you go, you know, I really that is where I'm like, it's like, seepage. Is that what it's called seepage? Like, when you're like, losing there's like, a technical term in the world of, like, money or business, but like, you're losing energy, and it's going out faster than being put in. Look at those four areas and see which one you need to, like, plug a little hole, and that might be able to change your energy. So don't try to change all four at once. That's impossible. It's really, really hard. But change one, yeah. 

Brad Crowell 13:14  

All right. Well, that was a great question. 

Lesley Logan 13:16  

I loved it. 

Brad Crowell 13:17  

If you have a question, you can ask them. You can text us at 310-905-5534 and just say hey question for the pod, or you can ping us on Instagram or leave a comment on YouTube, generally, just reach out. And stick around. We'll be right back. We're gonna dig into this fantastic convo with a professional investor who breaks it down for us non-professional investors in just a minute, so we'll be right back. 

All right. Now, let's talk about Steve Selengut. Steve is a seasoned expert with over 45 years of experience as a professional investment manager. He managed over $110 million in assets for more than 130 families, focusing on helping clients achieve income independence through smart investment strategies. He is now an income coach, and he no longer manages money for other people. I think he was very happy to retire. He told us on the pod he's about to turn 80 years old. 

Lesley Logan 14:13  

Insane. 

Brad Crowell 14:14  

Which is amazing. 

Lesley Logan 14:15  

And he's like cruising, and he's like doing all this, because he likes to help people with this. He's got all this information, and it can really help you make money on your own. 

Brad Crowell 14:23  

Well, Steve teaches individuals how to manage their portfolios to generate consistent income, and he shares insights from his book, Retirement Money Secrets. 

Lesley Logan 14:31  

Get the book. It's really informative and really easy to read. You know, we were out visiting some friends, and she and I were talking about getting help with our portfolios, because if you don't start when you're younger, at any age, where you feel like you can have some flexibility in trying things out, it can get scarier, and then you're limited on what your options are. So here's what I loved. He said a portfolio is really all your investment accounts. That's all part of your investment portfolio. You can have multiple things. I'm gonna use a bunch of acronyms right now. You can have your IRAs, your Roth IRAs, your 401(k)s, your portfolios got to be, you hear the word diversified, you got to have these different things in it.

Brad Crowell 15:08  

Yeah, it's stocks, it's bonds, it's insurance, all those things. 

Lesley Logan 15:10  

If you're like, nodding along. 

Brad Crowell 15:11  

Investment properties. 

Lesley Logan 15:12  

Yeah, if you're nodding along and you're like, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. Okay, but here's a really cool way he described it. He likened a portfolio to merchandise on the shelves at the department store, okay? And then at the department store, I set a target price and a target markup, and I sell that merchandise because I know I can replace it. He said, when the market downturns, it's like putting things on sale. And this is where people get really nervous, and they actually start selling when the market downturns. But he actually wants, actually said, like, actually, when they're down, you shoot their bargains, just like anything that's at a department store that's on sale, it's a bargain, right? 

Brad Crowell 15:45  

That's when you should be buying. 

Lesley Logan 15:46  

That's when you should be buying. And so the same goes for the stock market. And I really like that because I have no idea what's going on in the stock market when this episode comes out, but we just had a meeting with our wealth managers a couple weeks ago, and I had not looked at the stock market, and it was like, very down. And I was like, okay, you know? And I was like, and we just gave you some money, and so you bought it on a bad day, which means we're getting a really good deal on some good stuff, and it's gonna go up. This is how during the Great Depression, that's when all these people got super rich. They bought all this stuff, and people freaked out, sold all their things, and these other people just scooped it up really cheap. And you don't have to, you can be like them. You, too, can buy your stock on a bargain in a department store and have some fun in your portfolio.

Brad Crowell 16:22  

I love it. Well, he also gave four practical principles of risk minimization, which are right out of his book. Okay? So, it's quality, diversification, income focus, and number four is avoiding emotional decisions. So let's talk about those. So, quality. What is quality? He said focus on companies that are profitable, well-established, and they pay dividends. You need to research how long has it been in business? Is this a profitable business? Are they paying out dividends to their shareholders? Okay? That's the game he likes to play. He focuses on only those kinds of companies. Diversification, number two. Avoid over-concentrating in a single sector or trend. When you dive into investment, you can start to realize, oh, I'm in the tech sector or I'm in the this sector, I'm in the that sector, the medical, the, all the stuff. And he said be diversified. Avoid over-concentrating. Don't put all of your investments into rapidly growing industries such as AI. Sure, have some industry AI stuff, but don't have everything in the AI basket. Third, income focus. Invest in securities that generate consistent income. 

Lesley Logan 17:29  

This was a really interesting part of the interview, which, like, we don't have to go into because you can go listen to it. But there are ways of getting paid more regularly than just gathering up wealth.

Brad Crowell 17:39  

Yeah. Okay, so securities are, generally, they're understood as stocks, bonds, mutual funds or other financial instruments, but stocks and bonds, right? So when he's saying securities, generally, that's what he's referring to. He said many people make the mistake of automatically reinvesting their income into the same securities over and over again. It's a big mistake. So he didn't explain why it's a big mistake, but he alluded to it, and then I'm assuming he talks about it in-depth in his book. Number four, avoiding emotional decisions. He said stay objective and avoid falling in love with stocks that perform well temporarily. He said always prepare for market corrections. I think he talked about it in a way that was pretty funny. Basically, he's like, yeah, these guys are all working for me. Their company goes up and then I sell, I might buy them back again later, but I'm not stuck with these people for the long haul. He said that's not how I'm doing it. There's definitely different kinds of strategies for investing. It does take more focus. It wasn't quite a set it and forget it. He did talk about that a little bit, but it sounds to me like he's paying a lot of attention. 

Lesley Logan 18:40  

He's different. Like, if you're like, Lesley, how is this different than Tess? He specifically said, I heard your interview with Tess, I do things differently, and so I wanted to bring him on, because I think it's important to have different ways of doing things. Tess really empowered us in a great way. And her course, was really great on, like, not a set and forget it, but kind of like, here's these things and watch these things. And like, don't stress so much, which is great when you're busy, got other things. And Steve is, like, here's how you can actually have an approach. It's a little bit more you're into it, and you can also have an income coming from it. You can sell, you can buy it back, and so it's a little bit more hands on. But I also think if that interests you, like, if you're looking for a hobby, why not try this? I don't know, our friend's husband, this is his hobby, and he.

Brad Crowell 19:24  

Yeah, so test this episode was 352, by the way, Tess Waresmith,. 

Lesley Logan 19:27  

Yeah. So I was really intrigued with it, by the differences and what's possible. And I think we get scared of these things. I was listening to a pod you and I.

Brad Crowell 19:35  

(inaudible) overwhelming. 

Lesley Logan 19:36  

Well, you sent me a podcast with (inaudible). And he was like, no, people don't talk about money in their own households, and their own marriages and their own relationships, they don't talk about money. And the truth is, if you don't talk about money with someone in your life, you better be talking about it with yourself. I think that if your partner won't want, doesn't want to talk about these things and like, you need to educate yourself, and you need to figure out a way to create a portfolio for yourself. You need to have these things. Because the reality is, is I really, truly want to make sure that anyone listening to this podcast is secure financially in case something happens. And Steve's book and Steve's interview, to me, gave really great insight on how you can make the market work for you and have income that isn't produced by you, necessarily, it's by you diversifying and making different decisions and checking in with things, and then also you need to practice being not emotional about things. I'm gonna let that go. I'll come back later. You know, I thought it was really informative, and I got really excited about it. 

Brad Crowell 20:32  

Yeah and the podcast I shared to you was from the Smart Passive Income Podcast. He interviewed Ramit Sethi. He coaches people on building wealth and generally navigating money conversations between couples, and I thought it was a really interesting episode. We'll include the link to that in the show notes here as well. 

Lesley Logan 20:49  

And because you're unlikely to get any coaching with for me, what's cool about Steve is that his book, he'll coach you through it, and that's really cool. 

Brad Crowell 20:57  

Yeah, yeah. Stick around. We'll be right back. We're gonna dig into those Be It Action Items that you covered with Steve. 

All right. So finally, let's talk about those Be It Action Items. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo with Steve Selengut. He said hey, take a look at your portfolios. This is like the number one thing he suggested to do. Oh, actually, I'm gonna let that be to you, Lesley, the number one thing. This is the number two thing. Take a look at your portfolios. Look at the actual income production, where it says, dividends received this year. Dividends received this year. Okay? So you get a statement, the statement has a line item that says how much did you get this year? Dividends received. Or an amount what can you expect to receive over the next 12 months? Because they actually do give you a forecast, and you want to see what that is as a percentage of your portfolio that will then go into (inaudible).

Lesley Logan 21:50  

My takeaway. So your portfolio's income production, and that should say between four and 5%. So if you're working with your investor to adjust investments to generate steady income that's in the four to 5% range. And you know, people might hear a person who's like that, go, that's not very huge. Y'all, no one gets rich overnight. It really doesn't happen. Everything is like little steady changes here and there. So work with your investor to adjust investments that generate steady income in the four to 5% range. This range, here's why it's important, this range is critical for covering living expenses, especially in retirement. So the goal is consistent financial stability, regardless of what's happening in the market. So like, the market could be going up and down, but you are getting consistent things that you can live off of these investments, so you can be in retirement.

Brad Crowell 22:35  

Yeah, so a couple things to consider here, and this is what he was talking about why he ended up with the four or 5%. If you look at the market over the history of the market, it's like raising up an average 8% a year. So obviously, you want to be doing everything you can but the market is not necessarily your entire investment portfolio, right? The market is only one piece of the investment portfolio. So even though they say you want to be able to make that in the market, but then there are these other things. When you hire a financial advisor, you're also paying them a percentage. You're paying them fees in some manner. And so the number one thing is to make sure that they're making more than the fees that they're taking. But the second thing that they need to be making is money on top of that, because here's what the average person does when they retire, when you are no longer generating an income, your six-figure salary from your job, and you're ready to hang it up and enjoy retirement, let's just hypothetically say, you have a million dollars in the bank. If we said a million dollars, what are the (inaudible) times .4%, .04, that's $40,000. So the question is, if you have $40,000 can you live on $3,333 a month? And so he said, on average, people are living on the four to 5% of the money that's in their retirement portfolio when they retire where they're literally drawing that out, and that's what they use to pay for life, right? So if you have a million dollars in your portfolio, and you're living on four to 5% you're bringing in 40 grand. If you have $2 million you get to double that, right? So that's the goal here, is to understand how much money do you want in retirement, and then you can work backwards from that understanding, okay, I need to have X in the portfolio in order for me to live this lifestyle that I have for myself, have built for myself, right? So that's where he's coming from. He's clearly also had a lot of other success around that. But these are general investments tips, so. 

Lesley Logan 24:35  

I really love when someone comes to the show that has had decades of experience in one thing, and is like willing to share so much information with us. 

Brad Crowell 24:43  

Yeah, especially since we're not experts in that, that's pretty amazing. 

Lesley Logan 24:46  

No, we're not. And he was really cool to me. He's like, you gotta read this book. Read my book because it's, everything I'm gonna say is in this book. And so I just really think that if you are someone who this is overwhelming, read his book, because it's, sometimes, reading the words is different than hearing the words, and then in the more you hear it, the more it starts to make sense. I know when we work with our wealth managers, I'm just like, okay, I actually understand what you said. You said words. I've heard those words 10 times. You've explained it seven, and now I know. So don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to reach out to experts. But please don't put your head in the sand and not talk about your money, even with yourself, you got to be honest with yourself, because you'll need it someday. You really will. So, I'm Lesley Logan.

Brad Crowell 25:26  

And I'm Brad Crowell. 

Lesley Logan 25:27  

Thank you so much for listening to our podcast, or being part of our audience, for coming up and telling us you listen like it really does mean the world to us. When we're on tour we get to meet so many of you, like, I did this from the podcast. I have (inaudible) because of the podcast. Like, all these different things, and so, we are so, so grateful for you, and the show goes on because of you. So thank you, and make sure you share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it. These money ones are really good ones to share, because someone in your life is like struggling with this right now and needs some help and needs some advice, and you don't have to be that person. And until next time, Be It Till You See It. 

Brad Crowell 25:58  

Bye for now. 

Lesley Logan 26:00  

That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.

Brad Crowell 26:43  

It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.

Lesley Logan 26:48  

It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.

Brad Crowell 26:52  

Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.

Lesley Logan 26:59  

Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.

Brad Crowell 27:02  

Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Lesley Logan dives into financial independence with Steve Selengut. Discover actionable insights on managing your portfolio, minimizing risks, and building income-producing investments. Steve shares decades of expertise to help you achieve financial security and freedom.

If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at [email protected].

And as always, if you’re enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.

In this episode you will learn about:

• The meaning of income independence and why it matters.
• Breaking down portfolio basics for beginners.
• How to use diversification to minimize financial risks.
• The value of income-producing investments like dividends and bonds.
• Why emotional decision-making can hinder financial growth.
• How to vet financial advisors and ensure alignment with your goals. 

Episode References/Links:

• Steve Selengut’s Website - https://theincomecoach.net
• Retirement Money Secrets by Steve Selengut - https://a.co/d/caqcgnT
• Vetting An Investment Advisor - https://beitpod.com/article

Guest Bio:

Steve Selengut is a 40+ year professional investment manager, advisor, RIA, and IAR who now coaches both individuals and fellow advisors on creating what he calls “income independence.” He wrote Retirement Money Secrets, his second book, which uses a conversation-style narrative to guide readers from chasing market value to building sustainable portfolio income. A former private investment manager for 44 years, Selengut personally oversaw around 325 individual portfolios in the U.S. and abroad. Drawing on a “department store” metaphor, he treats each portfolio asset like “merchandise on a shelf,” taking strategic profits while reinvesting for consistent growth. Selengut retired from day-to-day portfolio management in 2022, devoting himself to a coaching practice that frees investors from market-driven stress and uncertainty. He remains one of the few investment authors who have directly managed other people’s money.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.

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Episode Transcript:

Steve Selengut 0:01  

It doesn't matter what the stock market is doing. It doesn't matter what interest rates are doing. It won't impact your income, your ability to live your life the way you want to financially. 

Lesley Logan 0:14  

Welcome to the be it till you see it. Podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained 1000s of people around the world, and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self doubt. My friends, action brings clarity, and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guests will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and be it till you see it. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. 

Lesley Logan 0:52  

All right, Be It babe. Here's the deal. We're gonna talk money. I say it straight up on the interview. It's good stuff. Don't be scared. He is going to say words you may not know or you've only heard of, and you usually nod along when you hear about it, but he doesn't talk nearly as fast as I do, so he's gonna absolutely inform you in the best way about how to manage your retirement, how to not even to your retirement, how to manage your portfolio so that you can retire. This is a whole different conversation than what I've had in the past about money investment. That's a new way of looking at it. Honestly. I've never heard of it before, so I have a lot of, I have, like, notes that I'm like, okay, I gotta go research this. Gotta research this. I already have committed to doing the Be It Action Item. And the reality is, it's like, I want you to have whatever you want in this world, and money isn't a bad thing, right? Shitty people with money can be a bad thing, but you're an amazing person who listens to this podcast. You deserve to have portfolios that support you, so that you can support the people that you love, because I know how generous you are. You know, they actually have proven that when women have money, they actually put it back into the community. They support other people. And so I want you to have as much as you want and more than that, so you can continue to do that and be the amazing person you are and have the impact you want to make on this world. But first, let's educate ourselves. So here is Steve Selengut. 

Lesley Logan 2:15  

All right, Be It babe, we're gonna talk money, and I think I'm just gonna stay it right there. Do not fast-forward, skip this episode. I know no one like money, but we have to talk about money and being it till you see it. If you've ever been like, I just want to be good with money. I'm so excited for our guest today. His name is Steve Selengut and he is actually going to help us, really, he's going to demystify all this stuff that you hear. I mean, we hear negative stuff about the economy, we hear negative stuff about the stock market. And I'm really excited because Steve's going to help us understand not all bad things are bad, and how they can be good, and also how we can really take a charge of our money and our retirements the way he has for so many. So Steve, will you tell everyone who you are and what you rock at?

Steve Selengut 2:53  

Sure. Thank you. Good to be on your program. My name is Steve Selengut, like you said, and I guess I'll leave it with what I was for about 45 years. I was professional investment manager where I made all the investment decisions for about 135-145 families, and ran about $110 million for them. Our objectives were always to put them in a position where they were, what we used to call it, income independent, that their portfolios generated all the income they needed to get their lives done, whatever that happened to be, whatever they wanted to do, you know, depending on themselves. Now I'm an income coach. I sold my business last May 23. 

Lesley Logan 3:45  

Wow. 

Steve Selengut 3:45  

A little more than a year ago, and started a coaching business. So now I teach people had to do that. I can't actually do it for them anymore, which is fine for me. Fine with me. I look at their portfolios and I try to put them on a path to what I call income independence. And it's something, it doesn't matter what the stock market is doing, it doesn't matter what interest rates are doing, it won't impact your income, your ability to live your life the way you want to financially. Okay? So that, I think that's a big thing. I mean, I've enjoyed being in that situation for a long time, and I know a lot of people are also there, but I also know there are hundreds of people out there that are really, you know, coming towards the end of their career, and they're saying, you know, I don't think I can replace my six figure income from my investment portfolio?

Lesley Logan 4:44  

Yeah, yeah, no. I mean, that's one of the reasons I like to talk about this. Is because, first of all, so many people aren't taught about investment portfolio. I think the word portfolio might even need to be deconstructed for some of our listeners. And by the way, if that's you, don't be embarrassed. This is not taught in schools. They don't teach this. And I happened to when I was working for a high-end fitness company as a Pilates instructor, my trainer was like, oh, did you get on the 401(k)? And I was like, we have a 401(k)? And he's like, you have to get on there and you should just ask, like, they'll match the max. Just do that. And I was like, okay, that was my money advice in my 20s, was with my trainer at work. And then when I did reach out to someone who could help me, because someone said, oh, this person's helping with me with my portfolio, I was like, okay. I found out after six years of them doing it, that they had me as if I was an 80-year-old. There was no aggressiveness. A snail is more aggressive than what they were with my, so then I got really frustrated, because I'm like, I don't know enough to know that someone's screwing up with my money. And so I think we all would love to be income-independent. But also some people, especially after the pandemic, even though we're several years out now, some people had to rely on their retirement, so they're kind of starting over. So can you, first of all, break down what a portfolio is and then also kind of talk about, if you're someone who's where the income in (inaudible) is so far away, what are some things you need to know or should be thinking about?

Steve Selengut 6:11  

I can try. A portfolio is really all your investment accounts, your IRAs, Roth IRAs, 401(k)s, speaking of 401(k)s, you'd be surprised how many people don't even realize they're investing in the stock market. 401(k). They just think it's a 401(k) is the investment. But all of those things put together your personal accounts, if you set aside money for your kids already and education stuff like that. That's all part of your investment portfolio. 

Lesley Logan 6:41  

Okay. 

Steve Selengut 6:41  

Doesn't include your fancy jewelry and your cars and your stuff like that. 

Lesley Logan 6:46  

Okay. 

Steve Selengut 6:46  

So there's two types of securities, two general classes of assets that would be in a portfolio, and those are equity-based, where you own an interest in a company that would be a stock. You know? Anytime you want to share a stock, you are an owner of that company. They may not treat you like an owner, but you are. And then there's the other class of securities or securities you're in, mainly because they produce income, and those can also be dividend stocks, which produce some income. Some funds do as well, but what's inside is usually bonds, preferred stocks, mortgages, things of that nature, that are really, they're there. Your main purpose is to get income from them. So the combination of the two, like you alluded to, was, you know, when you're younger, it's okay to have more of an exposure to the ownership side of things, stocks, than when you get to be, you mentioned, those people that are 80, well, I'm only a few, six months away from that. 

Lesley Logan 7:57  

No way. Stop. You guys have to be watching YouTube right now. No way.

Steve Selengut 8:01  

But, you know, you, at my age, my account still contains 35% in the stock market, but mainly because the kind, the way I invest in the stock market is also in income-producing securities that just happen to be invested in stocks, and the type of securities that I use are not very well known. You'll never find any in your selection universe for a 401(k), for example, but a lot of people have discovered their use in IRAs and things like that, because they're actually managed to produce income and to give it to their shareholders. Whereas stocks, the company's management is there to make a lot of money and to grow its influence and size, not to give a lot of money back to its shareholders. Mutual funds are there to gain market value. That's their primary objective, because people feel good when their bottom line is high. And the same with ETFs, their focus is on growing the market value. The dilemma, as you again, you mentioned the crisis around COVID, when the market really crashed for a couple of months, fortunately or unfortunately, when we get done with this conversation, you will agree with me that if it stayed down longer, it would have been better. You know? So, you know, so that kind of thing happens, but when you're focused totally on market value, that becomes very painful and very scary, because when the market value goes down, you know, that's what you're, what you're all about, whereas in my eyes, when the market value goes down, I recognize that the securities I have are going to pay the same income, irrespective where the market or interest rates are going. So I see it as an opportunity to add to those securities at a lower price, therefore increasing my income percentage.

Steve Selengut 8:34  

That makes sense to me. Like, you know, someone we work with, they're like, okay, it's an election year. Here's what you can expect. It's gonna go down. It always does. Doesn't matter who's in office, of go down, and then that's when we can invest more, because you can get it for a lower and I was like, oh, okay. 

Steve Selengut 10:23  

Okay, that's, that person has the right mindset, a similar mindset to the one I have as an income investor as so that's what a portfolio is. That's what its content is. And everybody says they talk on radio shows and stuff, but all the uncertainty is way up here. It's so high.

Steve Selengut 10:44  

Is there ever certainty? 

Lesley Logan 10:45  

I know. 

Steve Selengut 10:46  

There's never, ever certainty. 

Lesley Logan 10:49  

There isn't. I know. And everyone's out there like pretending like the past has certainty in it. If we all looked back at how we're feeling, it was pretty uncertain. I've heard you talk about how a portfolio is a department store or like, a shopping center. Is that what you mean we have these different area, like, different types of things that can go in the portfolio. Is that what you mean by a department store or a shopping center? 

Steve Selengut 11:13  

You're good. Exactly, exactly. You have to, my mindset, I, and I guess we have to realize there are thousands of different types of stocks, all different sectors, healthcare, every different imaginable sector, then there is international. We are, regardless of what anybody tells you, a global economy. You know, we rely on China, even though they're angry at us all the time, and we're the same with them. It's a global economy, and you have to position yourself with this portfolio so that you own a little bit of everything. You have a presence in each place. It's difficult to do if you're just doing individual stocks, because it requires a lot of money to have all those different things, right? But when you use income-focused funds that I use, which are called closed end funds, and we can get into more with what they are, but you can get them in all shapes and sizes, all sectors, all focuses, income or equity. So that's what I use. And like you said, I think of them as merchandise on the shelves in my department store, you know, and I set a target markup which I'm comfortable with that profit, and I'll sell that merchandise because I know I have this unlimited supply of others to replace it with on my shelves. And that's exactly how I do it. I say, okay, I got a 5% markup. That would be nice if you had that in department stores, by the way, instead of 15, a 30% markup, 5% markup, somebody wants to buy it for a 5% profit, I'll take the profit and I'll add something else, and I just do that over and over and over, and I just replace them all, because once you are experienced enough to judge their quality, their amount of risk involved in different types of securities. You get comfortable with this. I call it a selection universe. 

Lesley Logan 13:10  

Yeah.

Steve Selengut 13:11  

Comfortable to the extent that it doesn't matter which one you use, which product you put back on your shelf.

Lesley Logan 13:17  

Yeah. And I like the visualization of it, because I think, and you know, you guys, it's okay to hit pause, look something up, you know, and come back to this, because it can be overwhelming. But also, if we think about a department store or a shopping center, no one actually goes to a shopping center that has five shoe departments. They want a shopping center that has, oh, it's got the shoe department, it's got the pro, I'm going there because I can get the grocery, I can get groceries, I can get gas, I can get these things, and so more people are attracted to that. It can do really well, because, in case you don't need shoes, you're still going to the shopping center. There's still going to be something doing well. Am I describing your analogy correctly? 

Steve Selengut 13:50  

Yeah, yeah. And what is the biggest thing that brings you to a shopping center or an individual store? What brings you there? 

Lesley Logan 13:59  

Something you need or. 

Steve Selengut 14:00  

Yeah, but, sale. The sale.

Lesley Logan 14:04  

The sale. Yes.

Steve Selengut 14:05  

There's another part of this analogy, when prices are down their bargains, the same stock market. When the price of Microsoft goes down as short a time as that thing's been in business, unlike Exxon or some of the other healthcare companies, every time it's gone down in price, it's always been an opportunity to buy it and then to be able to sell it. Most people don't sell. 

Lesley Logan 14:30  

Yeah. We can get into that. So you mentioned risk, and I think, like one of the things that makes it difficult for some people, some listeners, to kind of get involved in their portfolios more is like the idea that you don't know enough to know what you're doing. 

Steve Selengut 14:48  

Right. 

Lesley Logan 14:48  

And also to kind of learn, you said, you should get experience with the risk of it, the experience could cost you money. And I think some of us, going back to certainty, were like, ah, I have this money, though. So I would just rather hold on to this than "lose" because if we go off of what you've said, if we actually stick with what is known is that the longer you're in there, it always ends up up guys. So it's almost feels like you're learning on your own dime, and you can lose a lot of money. And I think people get scared.

Steve Selengut 15:17  

That's the way. That's true of most people's entry into the marketplace, and when they get started, and that's a lot of what eventually leads them to a financial advisor to help them with that, especially when the size of their investment gets bigger, and it's scarier if you were to lose it, like, you know, oh my God, as you get older, how am I going to rebuild if I get these losses. In the book that I wrote after I sold my business, it's called Retirement Money Secrets, it spends a lot of time on six principles of investing, and four of them are risk minimization tools. When you're looking at a security, it doesn't matter if it's one of those regular stocks in the New York Stock Exchange or on any of the markets. You're looking at any security, you want to judge its quality. You want to come up with a way of determining what its quality is. And what I look at is things like, how long it's been in business. Is it profitable? Does it pay me a dividend as an owner? I mean, the chief executives getting $12 million a year. If I'm not getting the dividend, that doesn't seem right to me. I'm an owner. 

Lesley Logan 16:30  

Yeah. 

Steve Selengut 16:30  

I'm paying his salary, theoretically. 

Lesley Logan 16:33  

Yeah. 

Steve Selengut 16:33  

So that type of thing. So there are things you can look at to determine the quality. How long it's been in business is a big one. Then the next one is diversification. When I set up a portfolio, even if AI is crazy hot right now, you don't want a portfolio that's all in AI. I mean, Buggy Whips used to be the biggest thing, you know, years ago. So, you know, you just, so you have to diversify. Yeah, I have AI, but I also have everything else. So diversification is a second way to minimize your risk. The third way is to make sure everything you own pays you income. There's two reasons for that. First, you deserve it, and secondly, it's a clear way of knowing if there's something wrong with the company. No corporation wants to cut their dividend, that's why they're so reluctant to start paying dividends in the first place. But what if something happens? They have to cut it. It's a sure sign that they're in trouble. So that's why we want to have something that pays a dividend, because we want to know when they get in trouble. And if they cut their dividend, they can't keep it from us. And it's the same with bonds and things like that. They have to pay that regular interest every six months, and if they don't, everybody's going to sue them and they're going to be gone. So income is a very important thing for that and for the fact that you then have the wherewithal to take advantage of opportunities in the market, because you have income coming in, many people make the mistake of automatically reinvesting their income into the same securities. It's a big mistake, because then they don't have that luxury of having money that they can put back into Microsoft when it goes down, or put back into Exxon when it goes down, that type of thing, or pay a bill, buy Christmas presents, whatever. Those are the big three. And then the fourth one, and this is where most people fail miserably. It's a function of emotions. They fall in love with securities that go up in price. They just totally fall in love. They get convinced, I'm just going to keep adding to this one and adding to this, always goes up. It's wonderful. It's so green on my whole portfolio looks beautiful because this one security, or these three securities, are up so much. But then they go down. Then you have a COVID, then you have a dotcom bubble. Were you?

Lesley Logan 19:05  

Oh, I was around. I wasn't investing. I was alive. But I do remember, I do remember the year where the Super Bowl commercials were all dotcom commercials, and they were terrible. They were awful. And then when they and then they collapsed, and everyone was pissed, yes.

Steve Selengut 19:21  

Well, I remember the first Super Bowls when Green Bay was, the very first ones.

Lesley Logan 19:27  

Oh, the very first Super Bowls. There was no ad.

Steve Selengut 19:29  

My first, my first market correction, big one, was the crash of '87th. You know, it's interesting about the crash of '87 because it wasn't AI and it wasn't high-tech, but it was the first time when they started using computers in the stock exchanges. In the very, very old days, you never had a day where, where a million shares were traded in one day. The Dow was, I don't even know, was at 1000 back in '87 you know? But what happened was they started to put in these programs where people could trade on like a signal would come off, you know, this one went down that triggers a cell. And to me, I was pretty certain little I knew about automation, but it was just a computer loop, because if you you say, okay, you're going to sell, it goes to this level, and everybody sells. And then the mob hears about it, and they start to sell. It goes to the next level, the next level, next level. 

Lesley Logan 20:29  

Right. 

Steve Selengut 20:30  

And it was across the board. Everything was down. It wasn't just tech, it wasn't just this everything. 

Lesley Logan 20:36  

It was just that, you know how the birds, like, they take off, they all fly together. It's kind of like everyone kind of goes, oh shoot. I must, everyone freaks out the same time, because somebody like. 

Steve Selengut 20:46  

Everybody freaks out the same time. And that's how the stock market, everybody does freak out at the same time. 

Lesley Logan 20:51  

Well, that's how the depression was. Everyone went to the banks to take somebody out at the same time.

Steve Selengut 20:56  

Run on the bank, right? Yeah, those days there was no protection. 

Lesley Logan 21:00  

Yes. 

Steve Selengut 21:00  

You didn't have all those controls and protections that we have now in our bank accounts and our.

Lesley Logan 21:06  

I just listened to an episode about Sam Bankman-Fried of how did he do what he did? And like, people lost their life savings. And whenever I hear of them, I'm like, you put all of your life savings in one thing? Like, not that you're deserving. No one is deserving of that. But also, I'm just like you put your life savings in one thing? And what's interesting is, whoever took over, they've actually been able to replenish and pay people back, which I think is amazing that they're very lucky. But I love that you brought up these different risk minimizers, because it does mean, like, things can go up and things can go down, and you're gonna be okay. But there's a part of my brain, and that is like the listener in here, going, how much time does this take every day? Because, how much time do I have? Because if I have a job and I've got, like, if someone wants to be it until they see it and be in charge of all these things, how much time do they need to spend on looking at their portfolios, or do you suggest they don't?

Steve Selengut 22:01  

Oh yeah, no, absolutely. If you're going to run your own portfolio, you better be there to, you can, well, there's two ways of looking at it. There's two streams of income that you can have in investments. The one is the regular distributions, bonds, stocks, whatever pay. And you get that on a regular basis, and maybe once a month, you see how much your cash position is, and you decide what to reinvest it in. So you can be pretty passive with it. And that's one stream of income. And right now in closed-end funds, I mean, even in those that are invested in the stock market, this is what I'm talking about, the spreadsheet with all these things on it. There's 100 of them that I look at and that I own that are yielding over 99% and they've all been tested for, like, quality diversification income, and I do the profit-taking myself. But if you could have a diverse portfolio like this made up of diverse portfolios themselves, you can be very passive, if you choose to. And you know, the income is going to come in at 9% and let's say you've got a million dollars. So that's what 90 grand a year you're going to make. Is that going to be enough for you? You make that decision, you know? So if it is, yeah, you can be as passive as you want to be, but then you have somebody like me who hasn't quite seen all of the world yet, and I'm determined that, while I can still walk, I'm going to see the world, the whole world. So I need more than just that base income is what I call as base income. Yeah, I need more than that, and I know how to get that, because I'm looking, I know how the market works, but I don't know when things are going to happen, because nobody does, but it's a cyclical beast, right? I mean, if you think back and you look at a chart, you can see that it goes up and down and up? 

Lesley Logan 24:01  

Yeah. 

Steve Selengut 24:02  

Highs and lows are not predictable, but you can tell if you're at a higher level or at a lower level, right? You can just look where you are. So depending on where you are, how I do my decision making, I buy less of things if the market is high, I buy more of them if the market is low. 

Lesley Logan 24:22  

Got it. 

Steve Selengut 24:22  

I'm looking to sell more when the market is high. I'm looking to buy more when the market, so all those things go into my thinking. 

Lesley Logan 24:30  

I like that you pointed out based on what you want to make from your investments, can determine the level of your participation in it? 

Steve Selengut 24:42  

Yes, exactly. So with me, I want I set these targets on my profits, just like my store, if it's just looking at the income, you're more like a bank with a very high level of earnings on the savings in the bank. You got this diversified portfolio spitting out all this income. You you don't need to do much except reinvest it selectively. But I want more than that. So what I want to do is I'm going to look at my prices, and if I have somebody comes into the store and I get my 5% markup, or even a 2% you know, when prices are down, I'll take it, and that builds up my capital every time I make a couple bucks. That way I can also reinvest it, add new securities, add to existing securities, and increase my level of income. 

Lesley Logan 25:34  

Yeah. 

Steve Selengut 25:34  

So for example, like right now, when you have an account statement like a fidelity or Schwab, they give you every month they tell you your estimated income for the next 12 months is this, so I know how much mine is for the next 12 months, but I also know that so far as of today, I've made nearly five months additional income by trading the securities in my account. So that tells me, Sandie, if you want to go to Japan next year, yeah, no problem.

Lesley Logan 26:08  

Yeah. I know, Sandie is your partner. And also, have you seen you can go on a two-year long around the world cruise? I already looked. It has internet, so you could totally do what you're doing. You can see the whole world. My husband and I did the math, because I was like, well, how much does this, I heard the price, which can sound like a lot, but I was like, well, just divide it by. 

Steve Selengut 26:28  

200,000 something like that. 

Lesley Logan 26:30  

Yeah, yeah. So then you divide it by like, 24 months, or whatever it is, and you're like, it wasn't much more than my mortgage.

Steve Selengut 26:37  

It's a whole lot cheaper than doing it the way I have, by individual trips. You know, a week in Southeast Asia, two weeks in Australia and in separate times. You know, when you're going here, if we added up all that we'd spent, going to all these places we better be a whole lot more than that.

Lesley Logan 26:53  

I know. I told them. I said, okay, I don't know if we'll ever not have dogs, because I don't know if I could leave my pet for two years. But if we ever got to a place where we had no pets, even if I've seen the place already, what a cool way to spend two years of your life. I hope you do that. I guess my next question for you is just, if someone's feeling overwhelmed, they're with you. They're like, okay, this guy, Steve, he gets it. I understand most of the words he's saying. I'm sure most people don't realize that they're like, stocks could just like income-produce for them on top of what they're already doing, where do they start? How do we take the overwhelm off?

Steve Selengut 27:26  

Okay. Well, you know how they say there's an app for that? 

Lesley Logan 27:30  

Yes. 

Steve Selengut 27:30  

There's a book for that. 

Lesley Logan 27:31  

Okay. 

Steve Selengut 27:32  

And that's why I wrote the book. It's a conversation between, really, my wife and I and this couple we meet on one of our trips in Amsterdam, and they've come into this trip by selling a chunk of their assets to fund the trip and we've come into it by paying a couple months income to do it. And we talked about how we got from A to B, and how they can get from where they are to where we are without really changing anything, because most people have the same securities in their model portfolios or their funds, or whatever they have in their 401(k)s, and these closed in funds that I have that deal in equities pretty much own the same things. It's just the focus of the managers of the fund are in line with my interest. My interests are income production. So I have these guys, hundreds of them, working directly for me, right? Because they're running these portfolios and they're giving me income, and then I am selling their poor souls every now and then for profits, but, you know, I buy them right back again soon, not immediately, but eventually. So that's the thing. You got to educate yourself. Like you said, in this country, most people come out of high school, they can't even balance a checkbook. They come out of college, and they don't have a clue unless they're majors, right? But there are certainly many books that you can read. I know the textbooks that I read in college, and I did take business courses, so yeah, I knew a little bit. You can learn about what stocks and bonds are. I mean, some of the people that are listening to you and I talk today don't know the difference between one and the other, or what they mean, what you know they're and that's unfortunate. You got to know that. You really need to know that before you can say to somebody, I'm going to trust you to manage my money. You don't know what he's doing. You've got to know and you've got to give him some direction. You've got to tell him, I'm not particularly concerned if you buy a stock that goes up and makes me a lot of money, unless you actually capitalize on that, because when it goes down, you don't look so smart anymore, you know? 

Lesley Logan 29:49  

Yeah, I find it fascinating the idea of doing it myself, and also like I'm not in that place of my life where I'm there yet. So I've educated myself to a place where I ask questions of my person and they have to know them. And. I've been really impressed with this person I've worked with recently because no stuttering, definitely had it, got me the information, did better than the things that I asked. And the more I educate myself, the more questions I have. So every meeting we have, and he'll meet with me as much as I want, I'm like, okay, I have more questions that you're still securing your job, because I'm learning more. And so until I am able to do it myself, and that day will come, I just have a lot going on my own business, and I want to make sure that something is happening. But it is true, we have to educate ourselves, and we can't be scared of it. And I love that your book is like a conversation, because I think that that takes the overwhelm off. I read The Psychology of Money a couple years ago, and that was really helpful information from that guy, because he was just like, hey, the type of person you have to be to make a lot of money is not so good at keeping it. And he explained that. I was like, oh, that's very fascinating information. You know? 

Steve Selengut 30:55  

Interesting. That's interesting. The education, the learning what you do, the amount of time you spend again will depend on back to where we were. How much money you really want to make. If you could be happy with this amount of money. Fine. Otherwise, you have to do other things. You have to take charge and trade those things to make really significant. And I mean, really significant.

Lesley Logan 31:16  

Yeah, I'm really excited for what you're doing, your book and stuff like that, because I do think that people need to hear what's possible. I also worry about people who are just relying on their 401(k) or their IRA. I think it's nice and it's important, but also it might not be enough, especially because we're living longer, thankfully, we're living longer and hopefully healthy. But that doesn't always mean so. Things happen all the time. There are disasters that are outside of your control, and so I do kind of worry about people. So I think educating people like you do, having you on it, is really important, because being it until you see it, you could have all these dreams of being this amazing boss who owns this awesome company, but at the same time, there's money behind everything comes back to that money. It's the energy that fuels things, and so having an understanding of how it works and different ways you can work it, I think it's so cool. I've never heard of something. I've never heard of it. I've never dove deep on the idea of the income producing, like getting those dividends, and using that as a measuring stick in that way. I mean, it's obvious once you said it, but it's not something I thought abou because I just thought, well, I want to be aggressive. I want the money to grow. I want these things. But also, like, how cool that you coach on that income-producing investment. 

Steve Selengut 32:32  

What would you say your income is in your portfolio?

Lesley Logan 32:36  

Right now? (inaudible) What's it produced in the last month? Or what's it valued at right now? 

Steve Selengut 32:43  

No, no. Market value doesn't matter. 

Lesley Logan 32:45  

Okay, then I don't know that answer today. I have a meeting next week. 

Steve Selengut 32:48  

Right. Most people don't ask that, and most people who have advisory people, and normally an advisor is getting about 1.5% not him personally, but the company that he works for. So when I used to tell people when I was managing their money, I was telling them that I would make it a point to make more in profits each year than they were paying me in fees. That was the objective as far as that goes. I'm taking care of the fees by making you actual more capital to replace it. I wrote an article recently about vetting an investment advisor. 

Lesley Logan 33:29  

Cool. 

Steve Selengut 33:30  

And that was one of the things that I said, you know? Number one is look at his portfolio first and if what he's got you in is not in his personal portfolio, find out why. I mean, your objectives may be different, but if your stuff sounds more speculative than his stuff, you don't want to take advice from somebody who doesn't have as much money as you do. 

Lesley Logan 33:52  

Yeah. 

Steve Selengut 33:52  

So the young guy just getting started, he's not the one you want as your financial advisor. And I learned that quick when I started, because I had my first two clients to get started with. I don't think I got another client for six or eight months, you know. So there are things to do when you're with your advisor, and one of the things is, take a look at his portfolio, make him assure you that he will take at least enough profits to pay his fees, and that he will produce at least 4% in income on your portfolio. And why do I say 4% because if you ask for advisors as you approach retirement, the key number is you'll have to use 4% of your market value each year to pay your expenses in retirement, unless you're like you and I, where we're going to make enough money while we're working that it's going to provide more than the amount we were making when we were working. 

Lesley Logan 33:52  

Yeah, yeah. 

Steve Selengut 33:53  

That's our objective. 

Lesley Logan 33:54  

Yeah. 

Steve Selengut 33:54  

But normally, people are going to spend about 4% of their market value. So since you're telling me that that's what's going to happen, I want you to make me at least 4% so that means you're going to make me 4% plus one and a half percent every year in income. You can grow the portfolio with the rest of the portfolio all you want, but that's the income I want you to start producing now.

Lesley Logan 35:22  

I like this, okay, that article you wrote, I would love to link to it, or you can, you know, put it behind a lead magnet. I think it's such a cool way for people to be armed with that because they don't have that information.

Steve Selengut 35:34  

It's on LinkedIn. 

Lesley Logan 35:35  

It's on LinkedIn. 

Steve Selengut 35:36  

It's on my profile or my articles. 

Lesley Logan 35:38  

Okay, cool, cool. 

Steve Selengut 35:39  

It's the last article I wrote. 

Lesley Logan 35:41  

We will link to your LinkedIn for sure. We're going to take a brief break, and then we're going to find out where people can find you, follow you, work with you and your Be It Action Items. 

Lesley Logan 35:49  

All right, Steve, where do you hang out? LinkedIn, sounds like and you said you advise people or you coach them. How can people connect with you? 

Steve Selengut 35:56  

Theincomecoach.net I have two Facebook groups. One is called The Retirement Income Independence Coach and the other one is called Closed End Funds for Retirement Income and Equity Trading.

Steve Selengut 36:05  

Cool. You are busy for someone who is retired. 

Steve Selengut 36:14  

Yeah, right. I get that a lot. I'm busier now schedule-wise than I was when I was managing money, because that was a, you know, couple hours in the morning, couple hours in the evening. Now it's all day long, with podcasts, writing a book, coaching, meetings and so on. 

Lesley Logan 36:33  

And speaking of your book, Retirement Money Secrets, where can people order that? Can they get it wherever books are sold? Can they get it at your website? Where should they (inaudible)? 

Steve Selengut 36:33  

Wherever books are sold, they can get it. The audiobook is only available on Amazon. All the other forms can be gotten anywhere. 

Lesley Logan 36:39  

Yeah, well, you guys, it's money. You should probably read it instead of listen to it, because you want to be able to highlight, research, all that stuff. Amazing. Okay, you've given us a ton of amazing stuff already. But for the person who is ready to take some action, bold, executable, intrinsic, targeted steps people can take to be it till they see it. What do you have for us? 

Steve Selengut 37:06  

Bold execution things is the one that I just asked you to do. Take a look at your portfolios and look at the actual income production, where it says dividends received this year or amount you can expect to receive this year with the portfolio just as it is, and see what that is as a percentage of your portfolio. And then the second action thing is, either yourself or your advisor approach them and say, I want that number to be about between four and 5%.

Lesley Logan 37:06  

I love it. I'm gonna take you up on that before I even do this recap, because I have a meeting with my advisor. So already scheduled. It's to go over, it's to go over my rest of my year. And am I supposed to be spending a little bit of money? Am I supposed to be investing in a certain way? How can I make that tax write off a little bit different? So I got a big meeting. I'm going to add this to it. I know that, especially for those of you who are over 40, you've got a lot going on. It can be just really overwhelming. But honestly, the more you educate yourself, the more these terms and words don't seem so crazy. And you can start with where you're at. And if you're going to start with an advisor, you can read Steve's article on how to vet them, and you can demand that they do that. And you know what? That's kind of why they have a job. So they can certainly rise to the occasion if they can't go find someone else. Until you want to be like Steven, do it yourself, which is impressive and amazing. Thank you so much. Until next time everyone, Be It Till You See It. 

Lesley Logan 38:43  

That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.

Brad Crowell 39:26  

It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.

Lesley Logan 39:31  

It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.

Brad Crowell 39:35  

Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.

Lesley Logan 39:42  

Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.

Brad Crowell 39:45  

Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.

In this final FYF of January, Lesley Logan continues her spotlight on trailblazing women—plus listener wins that highlight the impact of perseverance. From an inspiring $30 million investment in women's sports to personal triumphs shared by Stacy and Melissa, each story emphasizes that every step forward is worth celebrating. Lesley reflects on her own month of journaling and wraps up with a timely mantra, reminding you that no beginning is too small to honor.

If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at [email protected].

And as always, if you’re enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Spotlight on a historic $30 million women's soccer donation
• Real-life wins from community members Stacy and Melissa
• How minor steps like part-time roles can relieve stress while building dreams
• Lesley’s personal journaling practice for self-awareness and calm
• A new mantra on releasing harsh judgments and embracing growth
• Overcoming external pressures by focusing on daily wins

Episode References/Links:

• Melissa Kang - https://www.instagram.com/p/DCjul3bRMwG/

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.

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Episode Transcript:

Lesley Logan 0:00  

It's Fuck Yeah Friday. 

Lesley Logan 0:01  

Fuck yeah.

Lesley Logan 0:05  

Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.

Lesley Logan 0:49  

Hello, Be I babe. We made it. We made it to the end of January. You did it. You're in. You're one month in. And if that makes you freak out, you should probably listen to this episode more often. You should listen to Be It Pod more often. I am calling in more ease in my year. I'm really, truly trying to do that. I am calling in more joy and also not letting things outside of my control steal my joy. I mean, good fucking look up for me. But that is what I'm doing, one of the things that I want in this year. And we started a new segment around here in the FYF where we celebrate some women who've just inspired the fuck out of me, and I hope they inspire you, because I think we need a little more of that. So Michele Kang pledges historic $30 million to US Soccer for women and girls soccer programs. The investment from Kang will scale competitive opportunities for youth players, expand and improve talent identification, and fuel professional development for women players, coaches and referees. You guys, this is so cool. This woman donated $30 million and it's for women and girls soccer programs. Because sometimes we're so focused on the professionals, and we're like, they're not making enough. We're not paying women equal. And you know what? If we can focus more, we should do all of that, and someone will do that. But we can also as a group, or as listeners, or as people who love something or have a passion for them, like, how can I support the youth in that? How can I create foundations so that there's something to stand on? So when we get, we should have more equal pay, but as we have that, we have people coming in to continue to take those spaces and enjoy the fruits of that labor. So way to go, Michele. So Kang's $30 million donation over the next five years is the largest philanthropic investment in U.S. soccer's women's and girls programs, and the most generous donation ever made to U.S. Soccer by a woman. Brilliant. Way to go, Michele. So cool as there's a lot of women out there who do some amazing donations, and there is proof that when we make money, the communities that they live in benefit. When women make money, they actually put it back into the communities more than men. And to the few good men who are listening, this is not like a nag on you, but it's just like, what studies show, okay? So don't come at me, like, I do a ton of stuff. I'm sure you do. Thank you. Keep doing it. And maybe get your friends to do it too, you know. So, thank you, Michele. I don't even play soccer. I don't even watch soccer, but that got me super excited. Do you see how you can see wins in things that have nothing to do with you, they affect you in zero way. 

Lesley Logan 3:10  

Okay, so Stacey Extence is one of our Agency members, and she said one of her wins is having a great conversation on the phone with Kim Young, another member, today, comparing notes and discussing our Pilates pass. We also agreed to meet regularly. moving forward. Doing contract work for the studio I rent from. We are moving I'm in transition phase until 2025 and could use the income and they want to help with marketing things. I got a part time job, 20 hours a week that offers me a set schedule, great for building my Pilates business more and health insurance. Love it. Made a connection with a breast cancer nonprofit offering them a sample class to their team, so that they will encourage folks to come to see me for lessons. I will also fundraise for them each fall. I had melanoma removed from my knee recently, was told that they got all of it, so I am cancer-free. Stacey, your wins are so cool. And I just want to highlight something. A lot of times people think that they have to make their main thing the main thing right away, and it is okay you guys to take a beat and get like a part time job, make sure that the hours work with when you don't want to be teaching, you don't want to be doing something that you're trying to build, so that you can have just some consistent income and, for Stacey, health insurance so that when she's not doing that, she could focus on building her business. And so when her business can't support her, then she could let go of that. I think sometimes we put a lot of pressure on things to happen sooner than they're ready, and then we freak out, and then we make decisions that are in freak out. No one benefits from that. And you end up making decisions that actually won't affect you in a kind way. It just happens that way. 

Lesley Logan 4:37  

All right. So then we have our wonderful Melissa Nagai from Canada. I had a retired Pilates teacher contact me this week to start lessons. He says that he practices daily, but he hadn't had his own teacher for a few years. I'm excited to meet him. I'm restructuring my teacher training. I'm happy with the work I've got done on this. My apprentice is slowly teaching more and more. She's doing great. We're going to start having her work with a couple private clients. Way to go. Melissa, I love this win because you have, a long time ago, needed to get some teachers in your studio. Your studio is so busy and it's not easy to build someone up for your clients to enjoy, and you have done that even while being busy, and the reputation that you've put out into this world is getting out there because now a teacher wants to work with you, and you are truly someone, I hope you're listening, who is so consistent, just consistently work on things, and that is why you have these amazing wins. And I love that you celebrate them when they're small. We're not waiting for the apprentice to be done with all of her hours before we celebrate how great she's doing. So thank you so much for letting us have that. 

Lesley Logan 5:41  

Okay, a win of mine. We haven't been home quite a month, and we're gonna be leaving soon, but I started journaling. Found another journal. I love to do a journal, and I got away from my morning pages for a little bit. I do them different times. I started using Mont affirmation cards and pulling them to journal towards. But I got this new journal for this year, and it's really fun, because it lets me explore the moon and where it's at in the day that I'm journaling, and so I can really, truly understand, like, what is happening outside of my control that could make me feeling the way that I'm feeling, not that the moon is, like making me an angry person or anything like that, but my moon is cancer, and cancer is the moon, so I'm affected by it a lot, and I love to look at it. I think it's so fun. And I have had this desire to have more ease. And for years, I thought, what would it be like if I tried to make my work and my goals align with when the moon is getting bigger and when the moon is getting smaller, and what would that be like? And I did that years ago with my cycle. And so I'm just like, my win is that I've just been journaling in this journal and noticing the moon and where it's at and what's going on with the stars, and just going, okay, not gonna wait to do things, but I'm also not gonna push so hard either. There's a difference between pushing and being pulled. And there's an energy out there that wants to support me in everything I wanna do, and there's an energy that wants to support you in everything you wanna do. And sometimes we actually are trying to shove things through, when, really, if we just took a beat, someone would come right up and pick it up and take it for you. So my win is this new journal. I've been loving it. I've done it for 31 days. Really proud of myself, really loving it. Do you have a journal you love? I would love to hear it. And if you do journal every day, you should be celebrating that win, because not everyone does. A lots of people want to and you are doing something a lot of people want to do, meanwhile not giving yourself credit for doing something that's not easy. So I want to hear you celebrate your journaling. I want to hear all of that. 

Lesley Logan 7:31  

All right, let's pull out a mantra affirmation. This one says don't judge your beginnings harshly. Don't judge your beginnings harshly. Don't judge your beginnings harshly. 

Lesley Logan 7:44  

You are amazing my loves. Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. I hope these wins inspire you. Notice how this whole entire month not a single one of mine has been taking a lot of action on anything, and that is because we don't need to wait to celebrate the things we did. We can actually talk about and focus on what we did do, which might have been just actually getting your dreams on a calendar. So thank you, and until next time, Be It Till You See It. 

Lesley Logan 8:08  

That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.

Brad Crowell 8:50  

It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.

Lesley Logan 8:56  

It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.

Brad Crowell 9:00  

Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.

Lesley Logan 9:06  

Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.

Brad Crowell 9:10  

Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.

Lesley Logan and Brad Crowell recap a thought-provoking conversation with Kristin Mallon, co-founder of FemGevity. They explore the importance of prioritizing women’s health, redefining challenges, and flowing with life’s changes. Discover actionable insights on embracing wellness and taking control of your health journey.

If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at [email protected].

And as always, if you’re enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.

In this episode you will learn about:

• The importance of rephrasing challenges for a mindset shift.
• How women can better prioritize their health and well-being.
• The value of integrating medical and holistic approaches to health.
• Viewing life as a river: learning to flow rather than resist.
• Actionable tips for overcoming self-doubt and embracing personal growth.

Episode References/Links:

• Cambodia October 2025 Retreat Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.com 
• Spring Training - https://opc.me/events
• Pilates Studio Growth Accelerator - https://prfit.biz/accelerator
• Accessories Flashcards Waitlist - https://opc.me/flashcardwaitlist
• FemGevity - https://beitpod.com/femgevity

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.

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Resources:

• Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!
• Lesley Logan website
• Be It Till You See It Podcast
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube
• Profitable Pilates

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Episode Transcript:

Lesley Logan 0:00  

You gotta be in tune with things. So you have to have your goals and have your visions and have your dreams, and then also make sure that you're doing little check-ins with how it's going so you can go with it. 

Lesley Logan 0:10  

Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.

Lesley Logan 0:51  

Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the enriching convo I had with Kristin Mallon in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that interview, feel free to pause us now and go back and listen to that one, or listen to this one, then listen to that one. It's really okay. I know people don't like spoilers, but there's no spoilers here. It's just sometimes hearing things twice really helps you. And also I really wanted to have her on to talk medicine and health, and at the end, I really, we like went a whole different direction that changed my whole day. It changed my whole mood. I'm really into it. 

Brad Crowell 1:23  

Yeah, it was a really fun conversation. And also, I was surprised having the other partner from FemGevity, I don't know, a hundred episodes ago? And then I didn't realize that Kristin was in the lineup too. So that's really cool. 

Lesley Logan 1:35  

Yeah. Well, we're obsessed with FemGevity and this is not the ad that will run later, but you guys seriously, seriously, may this be the year that you take care of your health. Please. Come on. 

Lesley Logan 1:44  

So today is January 30th 2025 and it's National Draw a Dinosaur Day. 

Brad Crowell 1:49  

Oh, that's right. Say it one more time. 

Lesley Logan 1:50  

It's National Draw a Dinosaur Day. 

Brad Crowell 1:52  

Yeah, you heard that, right. 

Lesley Logan 1:53  

Shout out to your nephew, our nephew, I guess, right? It's our nephew. We call him Ace. He calls himself Bubba. He got, like, a dinosaur, I don't know, shark, kind of hoodie, and he just walk around the house going, roar, right? And I just thought it was the freaking cutest thing. He's like, not even three. I was like, that is adorable. But do you want to know something? I have a journal that's like, doodle. What your doodle something here today? And I was like, how do I even doodle anymore? Like, I don't even have a pen anymore to doodle with, so I thought it'd be fun. And I think it's kind of in alignment with Kristin, because she had such a wonderful idea of like so what? Go draw a dinosaur, see what comes out, and throw it away if you don't like it. But National Draw a Dinosaur Day celebrates the mysticism and magic that surrounds these magnificent animals that once roamed the world eons ago. On this day, kids and adults paint and sketch all types of dinosaurs, cute, scary, jovial, wicked, etc, and have fun while doing it. So get creative. Have so much fun. By the way, this reel came across my Instagram that people are finding dinosaur bones all the time. They're finding them all the time, like you can just find them they're around. 

Brad Crowell 3:00  

That's crazy. 

Lesley Logan 3:00  

I know. I think that's really insane. People said to him, I don't find him. He's like, well, are you looking for them like you're not just gonna stumble, like you're just not gonna walk across. 

Brad Crowell 3:07  

I don't find them. I don't find them. Where's my dinosaur from? 

Lesley Logan 3:11  

Where's my dinosaur? Where's the fucking entitlement some people's comments online. I just want to go, what? Who raised you, what? And then I don't even want to blame their parents, because, anyways, whatever. Go draw a dinosaur. 

Lesley Logan 3:24  

All right, upcoming, we are two weeks away from leaving for Cambodia for our February retreat, which means our October retreat is on the countdown, and you need to sign up for our October retreat and join us at crowsnestretreats.com. We're going in October. And if you keep saying, oh, next time, next time. This is your next time. 

Brad Crowell 3:41  

This is your next time. You should totally join us. You know, we love this place. The experience continues to get better. We even have a few opportunities to join us before and after the retreat for some extracurricular activities. So if you are, like, super adventurous and a big hiker, hit us up, because we may be planning some things that we usually don't get to include in the retreat just because there isn't enough time, but we still like to go do them ourselves, and you might (inaudible) 

Lesley Logan 4:09  

Smaller groups, but you know, we want to have a big group, because it's a big family, so come and then stay a little longer and have some fun with this. 

Brad Crowell 4:15  

Yeah, what's coming up in April? 

Lesley Logan 4:17  

So we have a spring training guys, and this is not baseball, but think baseball. So we're gonna do a really fun spring training in April, because it's all about Pilates. And spring training is, like, a couple weeks long in Arizona, and we're gonna do it online in a week, and it's gonna be for any Pilates lover of any level. We're bringing all the OPC teachers in on this. It's gonna be a lot of fun. So we'll have more details for you, but if you go to opc.me/events, you won't miss out on any of those details, and you'll be sure to hear about things first, in case there's anything special you could sign up for ahead of time. 

Brad Crowell 4:46  

All right, for those of you who run a Pilates business, okay, that is a studio owner or a home studio owner, or if you are renting space for someone, if you are taking money from your own clients, technically, you run a Pilates business, and we are here to help you. Profitable Pilates, Lesley and I have been coaching businesses just like yours, just like ours, for more than seven years now. We literally have coached more than 2500 business owners just like you. And I am running a free webinar. We want to invite you to it, go to prfit.biz/accelerator where you're going to learn the three biggest secrets that we have uncovered after having been asked countless questions, creating so much content and creating so many courses and coach so many different people just like you. So come to this webinar. Come join us. You'll be able to put these into practice in your own business and move things forward. So go to prfit.biz/accelerator that's profit without the O dot biz slash accelerator. All right, finally. 

Lesley Logan 5:46  

Finally, we have the last and final deck. It's getting closer and closer to the pre sale. And so if you want to nerd out on the accessories, and by the way, this deck is as universal as the mat deck is. Yes, there's a guillotine and a Ped-o-Pull in there, and don't let those words scare you. But most of the deck are things you can make from things at home or use household items or the props are not very expensive to purchase. And if you go to, where do they go, Brad, for this actually? 

Brad Crowell 6:15  

Yeah, go to opc.me/flashcardwaitlist. 

Lesley Logan 6:17  

Oh yeah, that's why I blocked it from my mind, because my list (inaudible) stuff doesn't like flashcard waitlist. It doesn't like that combo. So go to opc.me/flashcardwaitlist to get on it. So you get the amazing presale price when that happens, and it's going to be in the next couple of months. So it's all around the corner. 

Lesley Logan 6:38  

All right, we are going to get into Kristin's amazingness, but first we have a question from the audience. 

Brad Crowell 6:43  

Yeah, we do, YouTube here, @etain.pilates asks, "Is it better to put the box over the shoulder blocks over gearing out the carriage if it has that option?" So obviously, we're talking about the short box on the reformer. 

Lesley Logan 6:59  

Yeah, this actually came from a question on a question. So we actually did a live. We go live every Sunday on 9 am Pacific Time, you guys, on YouTube. So for my people who are listening to this podcast for Pilates, then Sundays at 9 am you want to join us for our live, where we answer your questions, unless you're an OPC member, then we answer them in the community, of course. Answered a question about, like, where the box goes for short box, because honestly, on the tour, I kept seeing people put the box in the wrong spot for their height. 

Brad Crowell 7:27  

Yes. 

Lesley Logan 7:27  

So here is the deal, my loves, I don't care what style of Pilates you're teaching, I don't care what reformer you are on, the box placement matters. It actually needs to help you have long, strong legs while doing the short box. And so if you were on the shorter side, you put the box in front of the shoulder blocks. If you're on the taller side, it's gonna go over the shoulder blocks. Usually there is a peg, a peg sent a little Canadian. There a peg and a shoulder block. There's like a peg. 

Brad Crowell 7:52  

Oh a peg. I did not understand that. 

Lesley Logan 7:53  

There's a peg. Can't say it peg and shoulder block. And there's space in there for the box. Please be kind to the box. Put it there. What etain is asking is because in that video, I talked about how you could also gear out to create more space for the legs. And so she's asking, is it better to gear out versus put the box over the shoulder blocks? And what I will say is, it's better to go over the shoulder blocks, if you can. Now, if for whatever reason, your box would be uneven or unsteady or unsafe, then obviously gearing out is fine, but ideally it is much faster just with a box over the shoulder blocks than it is to gear the carriage out. Remember, in Pilates, no matter what your style is, you're trying to actually allow for each exercise to flow into the next. You don't want that much time in between setting your equipment up because you lose your connections. All right? I hope that answers it. Send your questions in to us, and we'll answer them. Here, you can send personal questions, then you can send Pilates questions, and you can send whatever you want. We'll answer them. 

Brad Crowell 8:52  

Yeah, stick around. We'll be right back. We're going to dig into this awesome convo that Lesley had with Kristin Mallon, the co-founder of FemGevity. We'll be right back. 

Brad Crowell 9:00  

Okay, welcome back. Now, let's talk about Kristin Mallon. Kristin is a certified nurse midwife and certified obstetrical nurse, and she's passionate about advancing women's health and well-being. She's the co-founder of FemGevity. She focuses on providing personalized healthcare solutions that address the unique needs of women throughout different stages in life. With over 20 years of experience, Kristin combines medical expertise with integrative approaches to empower women in optimizing their health and longevity. 

Lesley Logan 9:32  

Yeah, talk about integrative. First of all, the first thing that I say that I love is we talked about a shared mindset and practice of redefining situations and challenges. So she said specifically to watch your definitions. For example, instead of saying it's hard to do X, she said, use phrases like, I'm working on doing X. I'm getting better at doing X or improving my X. It's a different definition than it's hard. What a great way to catch yourself. And you can actually include people in your family about this. You can say, if you ever hear me say, I can't, or it's not possible, or it's hard, then stop me so I can say, I'm working on, I'm getting better at, I'm improving. And see how that changes your brain waves and your energy. 

Brad Crowell 10:15  

Yeah, it was, like you said at the beginning here, she is a wealth of medical knowledge, especially around female health, you kicked off the whole conversation going through a whole bunch of stuff that she's very excited about, and also a whole bunch of things that she sees industry-wide that are still, you know, needing to come up to speed. But then pretty quickly, the conversation shifted over to like mentality and philosophy, your approach to life, and her approach to life, and then her approach to being in a business having a partner, I just thought it was really fun. It was a great convo to dig into how she sees things while coaching people all around the country through her company. One thing I love that she said was she was talking about being in the moment, and how do you embrace the things that you are struggling with, whether that is your health or I can't remember a specific example, but she said, you know, when she finds herself getting frustrated, she has to remind herself the circumstances around the event don't matter. What matters is that the thing happened right? The state of being matters. So circumstances don't matter. Only the state of being matters. And what she means is that when you look at it that way, the state of being makes your circumstances. You view them differently. It's not what happens, it's what you do with what happens. Right? Things are going to happen, especially things that we don't have any control over, and it's what we do with those things that changes our perspective, our mental output. It even like, affects our body. 

Lesley Logan 11:41  

Absolutely affects our body, but also, like, you know, you hear about these things all the time, like somebody was like, something bad happened to them, and then they created this big company that makes sure that no one else goes for that. I think, you know, if we can, not in a toxic positivity way, not that at all, but just in recognizing that this happened. Okay, take your grief, do your things, and then what are you gonna do about that and having that positive reframing around it so that you can change other people's lives, even. 

Brad Crowell 12:12  

Yeah, she talked about how she views life is like being in a river, going with the flow of the river, versus trying to paddle in a specific pattern, like, if I only paddle in this way, I know I'm gonna get there, whatever there is, but we still don't have control over the river, and the river is gonna take us where we're going. So instead of head down and completely ignoring everything around us, get excited about the things that you're excited about and understand where the flow of life is taking you. My buddy said it to me 15 years ago when we were talking about music. I really, really wanted to get signed by a record label. And he's like, hey, man, each of these projects that we do, it's like a wave, and you just have to ride the wave. And I was like, I don't surf, you know, but obviously missed the point there. And the way that Kris is talking about it here is it's a river. We don't have control over the shape of the river. We are in the river, right? And what we can do is go with the flow. 

Lesley Logan 13:06  

Yeah, yeah. I think that the ride in the wave, Brad, is just because, like, if you got get signed before the wave peaks, then you might miss it all together. If you are too late, then you get tumbled and crap. Like, there's a whole, there's a bunch of different things (inaudible) 

Brad Crowell 13:19  

Or you could bail out of the wave before the wave crests, and then you might not have taken it as far as it could go. So. 

Lesley Logan 13:26  

Yeah, you got to be in tune with things. So you have to, like, have your goals and have your visions and have your dreams, and then also make sure that you're doing little check-ins with how it's going so you can go with it. I think it's brilliant. I think it's very difficult. And so if you're like, ooh, I want to do this, just so you know, you're gonna fail many times at trying, and that's okay, because you are improving on flowing with the river. You are, what is it? You are working on flowing with the river, and you are getting better at flowing with the river. 

Brad Crowell 13:26  

Yeah and look, if the river is at a standstill, then you better start paddling, you know? 

Lesley Logan 13:59  

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a time and a place for all of it. I just adored her and I appreciated her honesty and thoughtfulness around women's health. I like that she was very specific. And also, here's where things can improve, and here's where things are really great, and there is access. You know? Now more than ever, there's access. Now we just have to go do it. And that can be hard for the women listening. It can be hard to prioritize your health and make sure that you are scheduling these appointments, and for you, you are actually making this a priority versus oh, I've got to do this thing in the house. I've got to call this person. Oh, we've got to do this. We got to do this staycation. I'll do it after. I'll do it when I get back. I'll do it next year. As a Pilates instructor, I can say, there are certain things that the sooner you come to Pilates, the easier it is for us to mitigate the things that you're wanting to mitigate. There's ways to improve your posture before it is not so changeable. The same goes for your health. Some of these things, the longer you wait, it's harder to get them back to where they're supposed to be. So, take advantage. 

Lesley Logan 15:01  

All right, we have some, Be It Action Items, don't we, Brad? 

Brad Crowell 15:03  

We sure do. So stick around. We'll be right back for those Be It Action Items. 

Brad Crowell 15:07  

All right, welcome back. So finally, let's talk about those Be It Action Items. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo with Kristin Mallon. She said, hey, the best thing you could do right now is figure out your gut health by taking a gut test. And she said they're still figuring out the industry-wide standard but, generally speaking, she said, if you go in and talk to your doctor and you ask for a GI-MAP test, they will understand what that is, and they will know what you're asking for. Okay, so a GI-MAP test. She said it's really comprehensive. It gives you a clear picture of what's actually happening in your gut health, and it should allow you then draw conclusions. If the conclusions that are being drawn aren't making sense to you, you can take that GI-MAP test to somebody else, such as FemGevity and they should be able to help out. She said, GI-MAP and GI effects are the standard gut tests. So GI-MAP and GI effects. GI-MAP is by Diagnostic Solutions. GI effects is by Genova Diagnostics. So she said, generally, avoid the over the counter gut tests. They're not comprehensive enough. She also said that, you know, the tests about, what was it? What with the generational ancestry mapping or something? 

Lesley Logan 16:21  

Oh yeah, ancestry.com, that kind of. 

Brad Crowell 16:22  

It was the other one. I can't remember, but anyway, she said, you know, that's like the most basic of basic.

Lesley Logan 16:28  

Like 23andMe? 

Brad Crowell 16:29  

Yes, yeah, I think it was 23andMe. She said choose licensed medical providers to get accurate information as they use PCR testing, which covers a wide range of pathogens, including yeast parasites and dysbiosis. So I'm sure you all remember PCR from COVID years. That's the first time I ever even understood what that was. And apparently it's just the medical thing that's always been around for other things, too. 

Lesley Logan 16:52  

Other things. 

Brad Crowell 16:52  

How about that? 

Lesley Logan 16:53  

And also, like, I really want to emphasize, like, choose licensed medical providers. There's a lot of people out there who are able to do lots of things, but they're not using all of these amazing tests, and that can create confusion. So make sure you're using people like FemGevity who can really make sure that you're getting the full map. I am currently on a round of stuff because of my GI-MAP test that I did with them. We did a second one to make sure everything was good. And whoo, this is not the most fun experience, but that's not their fault. We're getting rid of some shit, and not specifically shit. We're actually getting rid of bacteria. Bacteria in my gut. At any rate, I've been trying to get rid of this for years, and this is the first time I've been able to get someone who can.

Brad Crowell 17:37  

Identify and understand what's going on. 

Lesley Logan 17:38  

Identify it and give me the appropriate medications to let go of it. So yeah. 

Brad Crowell 17:42  

And this is not the first time that you've had like, a revelatory conclusion drawn by them, and then. 

Lesley Logan 17:47  

No, because the reason this exists. 

Brad Crowell 17:47  

Because you've been with them for what, like almost a year now? 

Lesley Logan 17:51  

Almost a year, almost a year, we're at, like, eight months, nine months, this particular thing was just because we actually did a second test to make sure we got everything, and this little bugger is stuck around, so we get to do it again, and that's not fun. But you know what? I'm super grateful I have them to do this test, because now I know it's not something new, it's something old that's just hanging on. 

Brad Crowell 18:13  

Yep. 

Lesley Logan 18:13  

We're working on improving it. 

Brad Crowell 18:14  

Yeah. Well, what was your biggest takeaway? 

Lesley Logan 18:16  

Okay, this is the coolest thing. This is definitely for my people who are struggling to make a decision, whenever in doubt, follow your highest excitement in any given situation. So there's no insistence or assumption to the outcome, but use it as a bread crumb trail that will lead you to your biggest and best self. So when you're in doubt of like, what to do? Where is the excitement coming from and follow that. And I think that that's really cool, and I also think that that's probably the uncertainty choice, but it's the one that you're most excited about. And when you're excited about something, you'll do it. Trust us. Brad and I have a project that he's going to work on this weekend with the laundry and four and a half years later, so clearly not excited about it, but now we're going to get excited.

Brad Crowell 19:00  

Now we're excited. 

Lesley Logan 19:00  

Now we're excited. We're getting excited. 

Brad Crowell 19:02  

I got excited, took action, and it's all happening. 

Lesley Logan 19:04  

Yes, yes. But you know, that's what happens when you follow the other thing. So follow your highest excitement. I adored her. I want to be friends with her. I want to be friends with her and Michele. I want to hang out. I just think that they're the greatest and what a cool partnership that they are. And I was just, really wanted to start the year off with her. So you guys, you know what to do. You have to share, send a review, give us to a friend. Let Kristin and the Be It Pod know your favorite takeaways. We want to know them. They're really, really fun for us. 

Brad Crowell 19:31  

Yeah. Tag FemGevity. Tag Lesley. Tag Be It Pod. 

Lesley Logan 19:35  

Yeah, yep. If you have no idea how to tag, then just do what you know how to do to get the compliment out there. It's really, really great. 

Lesley Logan 19:41  

Also, we have a special link for FemGevity. 

Lesley Logan 19:44  

Yes, beitpod.com/femgevity. And if you tell them we sent you, then you are going to also get 20% off your first month, I believe. So there you go. 

Brad Crowell 19:56  

Yeah. So we'll put that link in the show notes as well. 

Lesley Logan 19:58  

Yeah, until next time, Be It Till You See It. 

Brad Crowell 20:01  

Yeah. Bye for now.

Lesley Logan 20:02  

That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.

Brad Crowell 20:45  

It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell. 

Lesley Logan 20:50  

It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.

Brad Crowell 20:54  

Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.

Lesley Logan 21:01  

Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals. 

Brad Crowell 21:04  

Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.

Board-Certified Nurse Midwife Kristin Mallon joins Lesley Logan to illuminate how to bridge the gap between “normal” lab results and genuine wellness by harnessing hormone insights, gut health strategies, longevity medicine, and integrative care. From understanding the nuanced roles of midwives and doulas to exploring advanced testing for a deeper picture of health, Kristin reveals how following your intuition and seeking daily excitement can fuel a truly fulfilling life at any age.

If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at [email protected].

And as always, if you’re enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.

In this episode you will learn about:

• The difference between midwives, doulas, and OB GYNs.
• Turning to personal intuition when seeking healthcare solutions.
• Why standard labs often miss suboptimal hormone levels.
• How deeper gut testing supports lasting energy and vitality.
• Using advanced integrative approaches for longevity medicine.

Episode References/Links:

• FemGevity - https://beitpod.com/femgevity
• FemGevity on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/FemGevity/
• FemGevity on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/femgevity/
• FemGevity on Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@femgevity
• FemGevity on X - https://x.com/FemGevity
• FemGevity on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/femgevityhealth/
• FemGevity on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@femgevity

Guest Bio:

Kristin Mallon is a health tech entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in the industry. As the co-founder and CEO of FemGevity, she is passionate about improving women's health through innovative solutions. Under her leadership, FemGevity has grown into a successful company that provides essential support to women who need it most.

Prior to founding FemGevity, Kristin launched Vibrant Beginning, a high-end supplement line of prenatal vitamins. She is committed to making a significant impact in the healthcare industry and enhancing the lives of women around the world. Kristin advocates for transforming the healthcare narrative from solely providing "sickcare" to developing and offering platforms that support optimal health planning.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.

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Episode Transcript:

Kristin Mallon 0:00  

There's this huge gap between optimal health and chronic care and crisis care and sick care that needs to be filled. You know, which is like what we're doing, and there's so much to be done. There's so much and then obviously it gets into the whole prevention of chronic care and crisis care in the long term. 

Lesley Logan 0:19  

Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.

Lesley Logan 1:03  

All right, Be It babe, I have a great human for you to hear from today. So I have been on a mission to help educate women on how to be it till they see it and part of that is you feeling like you have the health and the body and the strength and the stamina and the hormones that take you to where you want to go. And so today's guest is Kristin Mallon. She is part of the FemGevity team. You definitely have to listen to Michele Wispelwey's episode from last year, if you haven't, because the two combined are just absolutely wonderful. I have never had so much hope about women's health since I met them, and now I just feel educated, informed, supported. And so the first part of this episode is gonna feel medical-heavy, ladies, you gotta listen. Those of you, no matter where you are, what's going on, it's really good information. You can share it with a friend. And then, we have a really great, she blew my mind. I'm not kidding. What I expected her to answer and what she answered, wouldn't have guessed it in a multiple choice. And now that I know her, I would always, her tips and some of these things that she does for her life, have me wanting to reevaluate what I want to do in my year and what I want to call in more of. So this is just a chock-full episode. Thank you, Kristin Mallon from FemGevity for being here. And y'all make sure you let us know how this episode helped you. Share this with a friend. Here's the thing, we all have to educate each other and ourselves and support each other and to the few good men listening. Thank you so much. You should know this about women's health. Send it to your friend, your sister or your cousin, because this is how we all get stronger together. 

Lesley Logan 2:36  

All right, Be It babe, this is going to be just so much fun. I have been sharing the reels that this woman has been putting out on Instagram multiple times. I'm like, I'm gonna share this one. I'm gonna share this one. We have Kristin Mallon in the house. She's a co-founder of FemGevity, and I love her. Love Michele. If you listened to the podcast I had with Michele Wispelwey, you know what they are. If you follow me at all, you know I'm obsessed with them and all that they're doing. So Kristin, can you tell everyone who you tell everyone who you are and what you rock at? 

Kristin Mallon 3:04  

Yeah, I'm Kristin Mallon. I'm a certified nurse midwife, and I've been doing women's health for over 20 years, and really focusing on, obviously, being a midwife, the blend of medicine, but also ancient wisdom. 

Lesley Logan 3:17  

Okay, I have a couple of things I wanna just chat with. Is like, first of all, I think midwives feel like, to me, they're becoming more and more popular and more and more accessible. Is that true? And then for the people who don't know what a midwife is, can you kind of break that down? 

Kristin Mallon 3:30  

So, yes and no. I think there's pockets of the country where they're becoming popular and pockets of the country where they're becoming unpopular. There's a big, I think, problem in general, with the, you know, or challenge, I don't always like to say problem with, a big challenge with reimbursements across the board for all people that practice any type of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and so we're not really educating and training enough midwives. I think the desire is there and the demand is there, but then the burnout is high, and there's the business aspect, because most midwives are really altruistic, and they really kind of go into this type of work, because it's their passion. So that needs a little bit more support and needs a little bit more, you know, kind of hand-holding. Midwives are confusing, because people think midwives are doulas, people think midwives are doctors, and then kind of everything in between. So I am a board certified nurse midwife. So that's kind of like the highest level of midwifery training and education that you can get. I have a nursing degree. I have a master's degree in nursing and then I took a board certification that I maintain. You know, every year, there's a certain level of requirement that I have to attain. I deliver all of my births in a hospital, and I do assist on surgeries, and I do minor gynecological surgeries, and I really do everything that an obstetrician does, not really a gynecologist. So someone who's delivering babies working with babies, that's what I do. There's other types of midwives, so there's certified midwives who are midwives that are not nurses. There's lay midwives, which are midwives that are trained in a variety of different ways, usually kind of more culturally-trained. And then there's professional midwives, and their certification is a little bit different. And then all states have different governing boards about how they allow them to practice and not practice. But pretty much, if you're going to have a home birth, you're having a midwife. I know like one OB GYN in my whole career, and I know thousands of people in the birth space that he is a physician that does home births, but 96-ish, 95% of midwives are doing their births in a hospital setting so it's kind of confusing. They really are a nurse and an OB GYN had a baby and that's a midwife.

Lesley Logan 5:41  

Okay, I love that. Thank you for explaining it, because I think I definitely was one of the oh, it's like a doula. And I have a friend who's a doula, so I know clearly my friend is now finding out I didn't know what she did. Okay.

Kristin Mallon 5:53  

Well, and doulas are really, I always like to make this distinction and like the opportunity to educate people, because doulas have no medical training, no medical background, no medical certification, no licensing, they have to maintain and they can't perform any medical procedures. Whereas a midwife can do pretty much everything an obstetrician can do, except they can't be a primary surgeon on a surgical case.

Lesley Logan 6:13  

Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. Okay, so then you have been, so my other thing with what you've been rocking at is that you've been in, like, women's health medical field for 20 years, and I wonder, what have you seen change for the better, and what still needs changing that we can, you know, make sure we're aware of. I'm 42. This is coming out when I'm 42. I love that people are like, wow, you don't look 42. That's great. I would love to stay looking young as long as possible. That's wonderful. But I don't want to feel, I would like to feel young, too. So I'm just really excited about what you do and what you know about women's health.

Kristin Mallon 6:49  

Yeah, so we've come so far. So in the last 20 years, I think we've made remarkable strides in miscarriage care, in contraception and fertility care, in reproductive care, in breast health, just kind of an awareness, a lot of mental health awareness, a lot of cancer awareness, cardiovascular awareness. I think the areas where we need to improve on is definitely access. Not all women have access to the types of care they want. There's just not enough OB GYNs. And, unfortunately, there's not enough OB GYNs, there's not enough midwives. We're not graduating enough to replace the ones that are leaving the workforce on a year-to-year basis. It's kind of a big problem. And then, of course, which is what FemGevity is all about, is I know everybody can relate so well to this. You go to the doctor, you don't feel right, and they tell you, your labs are normal, but something's still wrong. And that's really where FemGevity was born, or birthed, so to speak, is from that sensation, because I dealt with that for 20 years. I was like, something's still, like, labs are normal, something's still wrong. Okay, let me look, let me dig, let me keep going. Let me pull from functional medicine. Let me pull from integrative medicine. Let me pull from longevity medicine. And let's figure that out. And a lot of that has to do with how women change decade to decade. So men kind of have this big change at puberty, and then they kind of peak, and then they kind of slowly evolve and change really gradually. And women are so different decade to decade. And once I kind of really started to unravel that and pull that back, it was easy to apply that to all the different things, including menopause care and endometriosis care, PCOS care, fertility care, reproductive care, women's health in general, from head to toe. And you know, a big thing that we do at FemGevity is a lot of gut health, like the gut is such a big overlooked thing. People think oh, I'm tired. I need to check for anemia, I need to check my thyroid. But we're like, no, you need to check your gut. We need to check micronutrient levels. We need to look deeper. So that's where I think we still have a long way to go and a long way to come, and that's what we're doing at FemGevity.

Lesley Logan 8:50  

Yeah, I think every woman listening is nodding their head when you're like, I went to the doctor and like, everything is normal. I actually had a female doctor in the, I forget what department it was, but it was like in these extreme diseases. And the woman, I got sent to her and she's like, do you feel supported by your doctor? And I'm, no, why am I here? This is the scariest place I could be. I am now very scared. Do I have AIDS? What is going on? And she's like, okay, I think we need to find, it was like a gut doctor who sent me there and because he couldn't figure what's going on, because I kept insisting, I'm not right, something's not right, and so I just got passed off. And, you know, a lot of people have, like, experienced a lot of family or in the holidays or birthdays, and you hear someone going, oh, it's what I ate yesterday. It's what I ate yesterday. I'm like, is it though, or is it something from a week ago? Or is it something? Because the gut is such a complicated, to me, it's complicated, place like it's not necessarily what you ate in the last meal. It could be from another meal that you don't remember.

Kristin Mallon 8:51  

Yeah, absolutely. And I think what you're talking about is it's really not doctors' faults, because the way that the healthcare system is set up, at least in the United States, is it's really crisis care, sick care, catastrophic care, cancer care, you know, the big C's of care. And if you don't have a chronic condition, you're really going to your doctor and you're saying do I have a chronic condition? And your doctor is telling you truthfully, no, you don't have something like diabetes or high blood pressure or cardiac disease, liver disease, kidney disease, etc. And so there's this huge gap between optimal health and chronic care and crisis care and sick care that needs to be filled, which is like what we're doing, and there's so much to be done. There's so much and then obviously it gets into the whole prevention of chronic care and crisis care in the long term. That's where my passion lies. That's what I'm really just I want for myself, I want for my family, I want for my friends. And I'm just like, so excited to let other women know, and men too, that there's an option. There's someone that can help you. There is a medically trained, licensed professional that can help navigate you through that. Well, everything's fine here, but you still don't feel right.

Lesley Logan 10:58  

Yeah, thank you for explaining that, because it is true that if you're not one of those big C's, you kind of feel like you're in this abyss. And it is amazing that FemGevity's kind of hope is like trying to fill that gap, which is really great. But I think I wonder, I obviously worry, if you don't get someone like you, eventually you end up in a few C's. The thing that's been bothering you that they haven't figured out, because it's not glaringly obvious, it's going to lead you that way. So let's just say most of the women here are over 40. What are some of the things that they need to make sure that they're checking as they're planning their annuals for this year and things like that, I guess, preventative wise, and then also just so that they're aware and they could be watching things as their body changes.

Kristin Mallon 11:34  

Well, one of the things that I really noticed working with women for so long is that women are really intuitive, and they tend, you know, some women are born and blessed with this great sense of intuition at the age of six, but most women grow and evolve into their intuition. And so there's so many different things women can focus on in their 40s. And I think a lot of times they know, they know, like, should I be focusing on hormone health? Should I be focusing on gut health? Should I be focusing on exercise, diet, nutrition, sleep? You know, the list goes on. And so what I like to do is, I like to, whenever I meet with a woman, is I kind of like to tease that out of her and try to get a sense from what she's already thinking herself, and really encourage her to go along that path and that trajectory like, you know, well, I've been thinking I should work on my sleep. And I've been thinking I should get a sleep tracker. And I'm like, yes, let's do that. What are your symptoms? Okay, I encourage her and say, I can see how that could be related to sleep, or I can see how that could be related to gut, or that could be related to diet. So I think in your 40s, it's really like you already know, and it's just kind of giving yourself the confidence to be like, okay, I know I need to find someone that's an expert in X that can help me unravel what could this possibly be, and then heading down that path. 

Lesley Logan 12:49  

That's really beautiful. How nice Kristin, we could just listen to the intuition instead of like, sometimes people are trying to get you not to listen to it. It's like, focus on this over here. Focus on this over here. I think that's really wonderful and supportive. 

Kristin Mallon 13:03  

Yeah, I mean, I think if you don't know where to start, sometimes, I think women can also have periods of less intuition, which I think is sometimes, like a leveling up, sometimes a stock will go down before it shoots up. And so maybe if you're caught in that place where you're like, you know, I don't know where to start, my mom says this. My sister says this. My friend said this. Usually it's hormones and gut just start with hormones. Get those checked by someone like myself, who's a hormone expert, who can read between the lines of what a normal lab, because a normal lab is saying, okay, you don't have Addison's disease, you don't have Cushing's disease, you don't have diabetes, you don't have hypothyroidism, but yeah, do you have subclinical fatigue related, a low T3? Do you have not enough conversion of the hormone T3 to T4 which any normal endocrinologist is going to be like, that doesn't matter. You don't have Hashimoto's, you don't have autoimmune disease, but you do have something that's affecting you. So hormones is a really good place to start. And then gut health. I mean, we do so many gut tests every day, and we rarely find someone that has like, a perfectly optimal, normal functioning gut. You know, I would say like, 99% of the time there's room for improvement in the gut.

Lesley Logan 14:06  

That is so funny. As we are recording this, I'm awaiting like, an update on a gut test, because y'all found a parasite the first time. And I was like, oh, well, that.

Kristin Mallon 14:15  

Oh, fun. 

Lesley Logan 14:16  

I know. I was like, well, that's, you know, and people are like, oh, which country do you think you got it? I'm like you can get it from sushi, guys. It's not like I have to leave the country for this. Who knows? So I'm excited to see if it's gone. And also I had some dysbiosis, and I am excited, because I can tell when my gut health is strong. I have so much more energy. I feel like a more confident person. I feel more unstoppable. My sleep is absolutely amazing. It's not a surprise to me that, like, I had a little gut situation while I was traveling, and my sleep is off. I'm like, something's maybe something's going on there. So I really love that. If they're not working with you at FemGevity, what are they asking for? Because I know when I try to ask my female general practitioner for a hormone test, she specifically said, oh, you can't test those. They change all the time. And I was just like, I'm paying for this. I don't really know what you're worried about. So what should they be asking for or looking at when it comes to getting those things tested?

Kristin Mallon 15:10  

Yeah, so hormone health. So really, you kind of just want to get all your sex steroid hormones, which include sex hormone binding globulin, estradiol. If you really want to go deeper, you can get your estrone level done and your estriol level done, which you know maybe might not necessarily be necessary, progesterone, testosterone, free and total thyroid, insulin, cortisol. We do a lot of also functional medicine testing within that so usually, like hemoglobin A1C, homocysteine, CBC, looking at lipid panels, chemistry, liver function, kidney function. That's the general census of like, where you kind of want to go down. Prolactin levels are there too. I can even give you a list, because I'm rattling these off the top of my head, if you want to include it in your show notes, of the hormones I recommend getting. 

Lesley Logan 15:58  

Yeah, we love that. Also, we'll transcribe this guys, so you can just go to the show notes and just take a screenshot. Kristin says.

Kristin Mallon 16:05  

Yeah, and I want to make sure I didn't forget any there too. 

Lesley Logan 16:07  

Yeah, yeah, we'll love that. 

Kristin Mallon 16:08  

For gut health, so there's really two companies that do, I think, so, you know, my business partner, Michele Wispelwey, her whole background was in the diagnostic lab space, so she is like a lab guru and knows everything. And also myself, like working with women and working with labs gone through so many renditions of labs over time, and labs that closed, and labs that were new and startup labs and labs that merged. And so I think there's a pretty standard gut test called a GI-MAP test, and there's another standard gut test called GI Effects. So GI-MAP is by Diagnostic Solutions, and GI Effects is by Genova Diagnostics. And so you can ask for a GI-MAP that's pretty, most really with it, longevity, functional medicine, integrative medicine, doctors are going to know what a GI-MAP test is, and that's kind of your standard gut test. I always caution women about, this is, like, a really classic thing that I saw with the advent so we do a lot of genomics, and we do a lot of genetic testing too. And so 23andMe came on the scene, and everybody was getting this direct to consumer test, and they were giving it to me, and I'm like, oh my gosh, this is so basic compared to what you can get from a licensed physician. And the same thing is true with like, over the counter gut tests. You can get an over the counter gut test that's probably going to cost you a similar amount of money when you go to a licensed medical provider, and it's just not going to tell you anywhere near as much like GI-MAP does, like 88 different pathogens and microbes. You're looking at yeast, parasites, you're looking for H. pylori, you're looking for dysbiosis, commensal bacteria. So good gut bacteria, bad gut bacteria, so many different things. You're getting virulence levels. So you're getting the actual amount. They're what are called PCR tests, which is like the kind of highest standard of care. So this was, like a big thing in COVID, was your COVID test, RNA, or DNA or PCR testing, and the PCR tests were the best tests. So you're just getting so much more when you go with those two companies. 

Lesley Logan 18:01  

Yeah. So how often should we be doing this? We're getting our hormone test every year. Should we be doing a gut test annually? Is this something you have to do more often? How much is too much?

Kristin Mallon 18:12  

So I think once a year is probably the minimum, because you will be able to track yourself over time and be able to have data on yourself to look back at and say, okay, when I was 36 or when I was 46 or 56 my hormone levels were this and I felt this way. Some people check them every day. There's a, I just said don't do over the counter. But there is an over the counter test called Miracare, which is kind of like a fertility tracking device, where you can pee on a stick, and it will tell you what your daily progesterone and estrogen levels are. It tells you LH and FSH too, but that's not as important to the overall daily hormone picture. So you can do kind of anything but, once a year. The other thing about hormone testing is that it's important to know, like women get so much confusing information, do I need hormone testing? Do I not need hormone testing? Someone's giving me birth control without hormones or giving HRT without having my hormones tested. Like, why do I need it? Or why do I not need it? And so the gold standard hasn't been set yet. We haven't really come to a consensus as a medical community about how often should this be done. You know, we know in diabetes testing that someone should get a hemoglobin A1C like, every three to six months. We know in when someone's being put on a thyroid medication for the first time, we should check their thyroid every four to six weeks until it's managed and at a normal level. So this hasn't been set, which is why you have so many different clinicians with so many different conflicting views, including you don't need it or you do need it. The way we really use labs at FemGevity is once you've been looking at labs like I have for 20 years, you start to notice patterns. And even though these patterns aren't written down in a protocol by the American College of Obstetrician and Gynecologists, I'm just observationally matching it up with women have been telling me x and here's what the lab data is showing me. And so I'm using my clinical judgment. To kind of make those decisions. Also, it is true that your hormones can change so much, so when we look at an estrogen level, let's say you could be 33 in one blood draw and then in another blood draw with just a couple months apart, you could be like 133 but the main thing is is you're not zero, or you're not almost close to zero, and you're not 400 so you're kind of looking at it like a range versus an exact number. We do a lot of hormone balancing, and we do prescribe HRT and hormone replacement therapy. And so women will start on a hormone and their levels will actually go down. And so they're really confused. Well, I'm taking this extra hormone, but my levels are going down. And so it could just be exactly to what you said, like where we caught them in their cycle when we tested the first time, and then where we're catching them in their cycle and we test the second time. And if they don't have a menstrual cycle and are having a period anymore, they're still having ebbs and flows. Hormones are pulsatile. They pulse even like any hormone, like thyroid or insulin, insulin is a hormone, too. You can think about it, it just pulses into the bloodstream. And so are you catching it up on a trop or on a bow? And that's why we need to know. You know, let's say we give someone testosterone, for example, are you coming back with a male level in your bloodstream? Okay, that's too high. We need to cut down. So we're not waiting for symptoms to come up, symptoms of too much testosterone. We're checking the labs to make sure that we're in a ballpark. It's not so specific, and I think that can help women to interpret their labs and also to understand the big discrepancy. Well, this practitioner says this, and this practitioner says this, and neither of them are probably wrong.

Lesley Logan 21:34  

Yeah, first of all, I love that you have so much experience. As a Pilates instructor, right, when I was a new teacher, I'm like, okay, I don't know what that is. And then, as I've been teaching for almost 20 years, it's okay most people, when I see that, they have a hard time with this. So let's do this exercise over here, because you start to understand the patterns that are happening, and it makes an art to the science, I think. And also I appreciate you explaining that there isn't a gold standard yet, and that's unfortunate, because they just haven't been testing enough. There just hasn't been we lost a lot of time back when they thought HRT was the worst thing that could happen. I feel like we've we're trying to catch up with I feel like they're in the maybe it's just because now I'm 42 and that's what my algorithm shows. But I do feel like there's a lot more people researching this and coming up and testing things out, so we can have more people explore, and then we can learn more things. So that makes me happy. Okay, you and Michele started this amazing company together. Obviously, you're an incredible doctor. You know so much. What has been the funnest thing about starting a business, and what is the hardest thing that you're that you're like you are trying to because here's why I'm coming at this. I feel like I'm looking at, oh, my God, she is a doctor. She probably has her sleep under control, her hormones under control, all these things. Has it been easy to keep a balance in your own life doing this business and what's been the funnest part about what you guys do?

Kristin Mallon 23:00  

Yeah, so I would say that the funnest part is really getting to work together. Like, we really like each other, and we really get along, and we really have a lot of fun together. And so when we get to work together, it's like you get to work with your best friend. Like every day. It's really a really fun thing. I think, from the challenge perspective, I personally am a really big believer in like vibration attracts like vibration. And so as long as I'm kind of keeping my vibration in check and keeping my self clean, and I'm looking to reflect that reality outside of me, then everything kind of usually everything works out for me, and everything kind of falls into place. It's just kind of been my experience in life. So the challenge is, is that when things get off track, I usually have to remember to look in the mirror and be like, okay, what is it about me that is like, what thoughts or what influences am I allowing to come into my sphere and my energetic field that aren't in alignment with me, because that's being reflected in my outside world. So that's probably the big challenge, I would say. 

Lesley Logan 24:08  

I so understand that, I really do, because it's not at the plate, and ladies, it's not, oh, everything is our fault. It's the, hold on, what did I bring to this energy that is causing this? Because, you know, there are people who just have force of natures, but I find that if I'm feeling a little nervous, if I'm feeling a little frenetic, if I'm feeling like I don't have control over things, and then I go into the business, the way that I ask for something comes from frenetic, non-controlled, not necessarily a specific place, and then it's a domino effect of the communication is off, and it's hold on, you know? So we do have to kind of take a step back and ask ourselves that, and that's the hardest thing to do in the moment. It's so hard in the moment to go. Hold on. Let me take a pause. How's my vibration? What am I bringing to this? 

Kristin Mallon 24:52  

Yeah, it's hard if you say it's hard (inaudible). I always use a quote that I drilled into my mind, which is, like circumstances don't matter. Only state of being matters. And it's the state of being that makes your circumstances. It's not what happens, it's what I do with what happens. And I can usually, almost always have anything that happens be to my benefit and be to my good. It's kind of like going with the flow and being in the river versus trying to, like, paddle in a specific pattern. You don't know where all the rocks are, and you don't know where all the bumps are, and so if you kind of let the river take you, you usually can, you know, it doesn't look straight, and it always you're like, Hmm, I don't know if I would like go all the way over to the right, but then you realize that, oh, there was dead current in the middle of the river, and you needed to get to the side to get to the fast current. So I kind of try to think of that as much as possible. You know, it's not, I don't always win, but I'm winning most of the time, I hope. 

Lesley Logan 25:48  

Kristin, that is so cool. That is amazing. We're clipping that and I'm gonna put that on my wall, because it is, I, especially, most of the women listening to this, they are caring for young children. They have older parents or family members in their life. They have. 

Kristin Mallon 26:08  

Yeah, they're the in betweens. 

Lesley Logan 26:09  

Yes, they have and they have jobs that they have to do. And then it can feel like the circumstances around you are just hard. And so what you just gave us, is such an amazing gift. Is like the state of being, like, how can I focus on that? So do you have tools? Or is it like a mantra that you say, is it that just that the mantra helps or like?

Kristin Mallon 26:30  

Oh my favorite mantra, I can give you my favorite mantra that works so well. Two words. So what? So what? Whatever it is like, so what? I mean, it works for 99.9% of things. If you're like this, that I'm going to be late, I didn't put the sandwich in the lunch bag, and I didn't do the permission slip, and I forgot to put these slides in a presentation. So what, you know? And I think that's something that's always really helped me to kind of see the forest through the trees. 

Lesley Logan 27:03  

Yeah, I can see that because I am someone who's like, we're going to be late. And unless it's the plane, probably going to be most things are fine, (inaudible) catches the flight (inaudible).

Kristin Mallon 27:16  

Even if it is the plane being late might have your benefit, might be to your highest good, because maybe you met someone that now you're sitting on a different flight, or you ended up being able to not miss a phone call that was coming through. So, as long as I allow that type of vibration into my field, I usually end up having those results. The other thing that I think is super helpful, that I also kind of like encourage people to do, is, if you just do it a little bit, it kind of becomes second nature, which is to watch your definitions, watch how you define things. Because even like saying, oh, it's hard to do X, yeah, if you say, I'm working on doing X, or I'm getting better at doing X, or I'm improving my X, it's a much different definition than it's hard. And it's so fun for me. Like, when I first started doing this practice a couple years ago, it was so fun to change the definitions of things and just be like, oh, this happened. Well, that happened because it was so funny. My bra was showing or, I don't know, something happened where I didn't get the job I wanted to get, or I didn't get the client I wanted to get. And instead of it being like a failure, it was a learning experience, or instead of it being a mess up, it was an opportunity for growth or development or internal reflection, or for me to get this thing that I'm talking to you about right now, which is that I can choose how I define things. 

Lesley Logan 28:38  

I really like that, because I do think it's fun. I'm going to keep working on catching myself. But one of the ones that sticks with me, because I was raised in a household that doesn't have a lot of money, and so they'd always say we don't have any money. There's no money for that. No you can't have it. There's no money for that. 

Kristin Mallon 28:50  

I was, too.

Lesley Logan 28:51  

And I was, so was my husband, and we have been really conscious. I can always tell when one of us is in a bad state, because the words we'll say we can't afford that, which is like a not, like a non-sentence in this house, because the better phrase is, we are choosing not to invest in that right now. Oh, you know what? That's great. I'm not investing in that right now. Or that's actually not something we're spending money on today. So it's not that you don't have the money, it's not that you can't afford it. It's just not a priority in this moment. 

Kristin Mallon 29:20  

That's a perfect example of the definitions. That sentiment. So, do you know the book by Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich?

Lesley Logan 29:27  

Yes, I love it. I listened to the old tape or whatever. I maybe I should do that again as the year starts.

Kristin Mallon 29:33  

Yeah. Well, that's the epitome of what you just said. That's one of the big lessons that he talks about in that book. And that book influenced The Secret. So that's (inaudible).

Lesley Logan 29:42  

And everyone you can go to the original source, it's still out there. Do you remember the part? Because you're, I don't know if you maybe it didn't stick with you, but he mentioned the woman who would always put her hand on her left breast and go oh, I'm gonna get cancer. I just know I'm gonna die from cancer. And she'd always say that, and then she died of breast cancer. She like, literally, she kept putting her hand on herself saying she's gonna get it. It's like not saying that anyone who gets cancer did that to themselves. That's not it at all. But it's just like we, our words, have so much power, and we really do. I love that redefining. You guys, how are you going, like, I wonder you guys have to send in to the Be It Pod and to FemGevity which words you're redefining. I think that'd be really fun for us all to see as an experiment. Kristin, what are you most excited about right now? This is out in 2025. What are you excited that's coming up, that you guys are doing? What's going on? 

Kristin Mallon 30:30  

I'm really excited that this concept of, so I think over the years, we've kind of defined it as functional medicine, and then we defined it as integrative medicine, and now we're defining it as longevity medicine, and I'm just so excited to be a part of that ecosystem and the effects that it has. I mean, I work with women primarily, so the effects that it has on women and the aha moments they have, and that feeling that, I think, that liberation that they've been looking for for so long that they're not just like, going down, down, down, down, down, but that they're actually going up, up, up and getting better is like, so rewarding and so fun that I'm just like, so passionate and excited about sharing that with women as much as possible. Anybody who wants to hear me talk about it, I'm like, do you want to hear me talk about optimization of health? Like, I'm totally down.

Lesley Logan 31:20  

I also like that it's changed to longevity medicine because the other ones were a bit vague and hard for I feel like this is what people want. It's not when you're like, oh yeah, I want a functional medicine. I guess that makes sense, but it doesn't sound sexy. I want a long life where I have longevity. I don't want to just be old. I want to have be strong and energized when I'm older, you know, I want all those things. So I think that's really cool. Since you love to talk about optimal health, is there anything else about optimizing our health that we didn't talk about that we should know about, that we should check on? 

Kristin Mallon 31:51  

I always say don't give up on yourself, because I think women, so many times have been told no, or they go to the wrong doctor, or they hit dead ends and they think there's no hope. And if you don't give up on yourself, and you hear a podcast like this, and you're like, okay, I need to find a longevity medicine doctor. I need to find a hormone balancing expert. Or they can come over to FemGevity if they're in the United States, we can usually work with them in some way. There is a path to not just feeling better, but feeling like fantastic and great and energized. And I know there's people listening that are like, yeah, this girl's crazy. There's no way I'm so chronically fatigued. My kids are little, my parents are dying or sick. There is, there really, really, really, is just keep going on yourself and don't give up until you find the right person and the right practitioner to help you. It's worth it. So worth it.

Lesley Logan 32:41  

Oh, I love that. Thank you for that gift. That's a good one. We're gonna take a brief break, and then we're gonna find out where people can find you, follow you, work with you and your Be It Action Items. 

Lesley Logan 32:51  

All right, Kristin, where can people find you? I'm gonna give you the link right now. You can go to beitpod.com/femgevity, because you guys can go and get a call and see how they can help you. But where else on the internet are y'all at?

Kristin Mallon 33:04  

So our website, femgevityhealth.com and all social media channels @femgevity. So we're on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn.

Lesley Logan 33:15  

It's probably really fun to be doctors and researchers that have to then learn social media and all the hacks. And I also love that I've got my captions to actually spell FemGevity out correctly. They can't spell my name, they can't spell my dog's name, but they can spell FemGevity. So that's the way to go, ladies. Yeah, okay, you've given us a lot of great stuff already, but for our action takers who are listening, bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted, steps people can take to be it till they see it. What do you have for us?

Kristin Mallon 33:48  

So my best advice is, whenever in doubt, follow your highest excitement in any given situation. It's a breadcrumb trail that kind of leads you to your biggest and best self. So follow your highest excitement to the best of your ability with no insistence or assumption on the outcome, and it always leads you to the best location, place, time for you.

Lesley Logan 34:09  

Oh my gosh, you're so cool. 

Kristin Mallon 34:14  

Yeah, you too.

Lesley Logan 34:15  

Well, thank you, but, yeah, like, what a great tip. That's so fun, because most people say, like, follow your gut. And I've got these people going my gut's off something's wrong. But highest excitement, oh. 

Kristin Mallon 34:28  

It's easy to do, because even if you think about it, you're like, and as soon as we get off this call, right, there's going to be a whole bunch of things you could do. You could check your email, you could take your dog for a walk, you could stretch, you could do Pilates. But if you just tune into like, which one is most exciting, more than any of the others. It'll lead you down a really thrilling and rewarding path.

Lesley Logan 34:47  

Oh yes, yes, it will, oh yeah, the doctor has ordered that I have to follow my highest excitement. I'm going to do that as soon as I hang up. Y'all please, if you, if this at all has you intrigued, contact FemGevity. It's really nice to have doctors who actually want to look at things and look at patterns, and, you know, don't want to just tell you, it's all good, yep, that problem. I don't know. It's really nice if someone listened to you, and I will just shout out, I was traveling for almost a month, and I got an email from your team going okay, you have to do your call. And I'm like, oh, my God, a doctor that wants me to come for my appointment. They not that other doctors don't. I'm sure I have doctors listening, but you can wait in the waiting room for 45 minutes. You guys make sure. Made sure I made my call, and I'm so glad I did, because I needed that call, and it's just really nice to have someone to look out for my optimal health. So thank you so much for all you do at FemGevity. 

Lesley Logan 35:40  

You guys, how are you going to use these tips in your life? Make sure you tag FemGevity. Tag the Be It Pod. And share this with a girlfriend who, like is frustrated with their health and they're feeling stuck and feeling going in circles. You know, it's kind of nice to be reminded to not give up on yourself. So thank you, Kristin, for that. And until next time everyone, Be It Till You See It. 

Lesley Logan 35:59  

That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.

Brad Crowell 36:41  

It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.

Lesley Logan 36:46  

It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.

Brad Crowell 36:51  

Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.

Lesley Logan 36:58  

Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.

Brad Crowell 37:01  

Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.

Spotlighting determination and joy, Lesley reminds us that the little wins we claim can inspire major change. From a female icon in motorsports to personal shout-outs for real achievements, Lesley celebrates life’s everyday triumphs. Tune in for an uplifting mantra, stories of perseverance, and a call to honor even the smallest success. Get ready to embrace possibility and make space for what fuels your growth.

If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at [email protected].

And as always, if you’re enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Highlighting a female kart racer challenging stereotypes.
• Community wins in achieving personal and business goals.
• Embracing the hidden hustle behind outward success stories.
• Lesley’s personal birthday reflections on growth and gratitude.
• A simple mantra for releasing what no longer serves you.

Episode References/Links:

• Freya Lally on Instagram - https://beitpod.com/freya
• CHANI Deck of Plenty - https://chani.com/products/the-deck-of-plenty

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.

DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!

Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper’s Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox

Be in the know with all the workshops at OPC

Be It Till You See It Podcast Survey

Be a part of Lesley’s Pilates Mentorship

FREE Ditching Busy Webinar

Resources:

• Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!
• Lesley Logan website
• Be It Till You See It Podcast
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube
• Profitable Pilates

Follow Us on Social Media:

• Instagram
• The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• The OPC YouTube Channel

Episode Transcript:

Brad Crowell 0:01  

Fuck yeah. 

Lesley Logan 0:02  

Get ready for some wins. Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.

Lesley Logan 0:48  

Hello, Be It babe. It's my birthday weekend. Thank you for listening to this podcast. It's a birthday gift to me. And if you were like, oh my God, I didn't get her anything. You know what you can do? You can leave me a review. You can show this to a friend. You can send a win in to The Be It Pod. We can shout it out. You can just say, hey, my favorite episode was x. I love all that. I want to hear that. Want to celebrate it with you. 

Lesley Logan 1:08  

All right, so we're going to celebrate someone who inspired me this week on the interwebs. This girl is so freaking cute. This is from F1 Academy. Freya Lally makes history as the first female driver to reach the Grand Finals, securing a top 10 spot in the British Indoor Karting Championship. Let me just tell you that Freya Lally looks like she's 10 years old and she might be. It says, "How do we fuel the future of women in motorsports? It starts at events like the British Indoor Karting Championship (BIKC), the largest single motorsport competition in the world, with over 5,300 participants across categories. This year, Freya Lally made history as the only female driver ever to reach the Grand Finals, securing a top 10 finish in the Cadets and earning a fully funded Club100 championship seat, the next step on the UK karting ladder.

 Freya’s achievement is a testament to the growing presence of women in motorsports, with female participation in the BIKC surging 400%.

In our shared mission to accelerate gender equality, The Female Quotient and F1 Academy are sparking bold conversations and taking action. Let’s come together to challenge the status quo and ignite change, on and off the track." This is so cool that I wish they had said how old she is. I swear to God, I'm not lying. She looks like she's 10 years old, and I freaking love it. You guys, it takes time to make some changes. And if you are sitting here listening to this podcast and being it till you see it, and you're like, there needs to be representation here. This needs to exist. I've got to create this thing because it needs to exist. Just know that absolutely you should do it. And it takes time. And something else that I really love is we're highlighting this girl and she's not necessarily the winner. She was just in the finals. And I think I'm gonna take back my (inaudible). She's in the finals. So often, if the person's not first place, we're like, whatever. It didn't change anything. No, it changes things when someone who's not usually in the top is in the top, and we take time to celebrate that. We take time to go, oh my God, it is possible for me to make change, for me to do something different. If you're a parent for your kid to be the first of 100 to do something. All these things are really, really, really awesome and possible. And you know, we got to celebrate what did happen. That's why this episode even exists. What did you do? Right? 

Lesley Logan 3:14  

So speaking of what you did, here we go. Let's shout out some of our FYF people of the week. Kimberly Craig is an Agency member at one of my OG eLevate grads, and I just am obsessed with her. Happy FYF, it's my 50th birthday on Tuesday, and my sister and bestie made the day phenomenal. I felt so loved and celebrated the entire day. My sister and I got matching tattoos, and they are the epitome of us and our relationship. Cute, fun, silly and sentimental. My other tattoos are hidden, so it's out of my comfort zone to get it on my hand, but I love it, and it makes me smile every time I look at it. When we clasp our hands together, they're hugging. I don't have the pic for you for this. But I did see it and it's really cute. Little tattoos are hugging. I just did my first live virtual workout of my 50 Days of Pilates sessions this summer. In honor of my milestone birthday, I'm celebrating that with the people I have. Each live workout is making more than my magic number, which is awesome because I only charged $50 for it. I had a few people join live, including a new person who said she had no idea what Pilates was, but loved it. It was so much fun. This weekend, my son is racing his first pro motocross race, and so I'm going to cheer him on and celebrate. It's been a long road getting there. He's been running for 17 years, and was the last kid in every race for about 11 of those years. If that's not a testament to baby steps and perseverance, I don't know what is. It's a great reminder that just because it doesn't look like things are happening doesn't mean they aren't changing massively. So true for life, business and your Pilates practice, Holy freaking molly. I just want to say, you guys, I read this when, months ago, when it came in. We have, obviously, we have a few. We try to get a couple every week. So I don't ever want to skip over any so I want to get them to you. But sometimes they're like, and I did not realize that I picked the go-kart girl and the same guy as the motocross kid. But check these people out. Perseverance, yes, oh my gosh. Kim Craig, your wins are always fabulous and I would just love celebrating you and happy 50th birthday. On my birthday weekend. I know, we don't have the same birthday, but we're celebrating together now. 

Lesley Logan 5:01  

Okay. Tania Tsiora, she is an Agency, ex Agency member, and I just loved working with her. She says hello, several new clients who started this week compared to last year's. Let's see how it goes and who stays the course. In half an hour, we have, in the studio, the first teachers practice, teachers from other studios. We will be four. I'm so excited, because yesterday, one more registered for the retreat next month in Greece. We have two more spots available. Also my win for this week, it's how grateful I am to celebrate one year in Agency with you, Lesley, Brad, Kirsten, Maya, Roxy, and all of you. And how much has this helped and guided me, for both myself and the studio to grow. You know, Tania, I love that you were able to take a moment to compare yourself to yourself and go wow, this week, this week, you got more new people than it did a year ago. In a week. These are the things we have to do, especially when working towards something, because we don't realize how we are always going up. It is always growing. It's just that sometimes you go down to go up, down to go up, down to go up, but you're going up. It's like the stock market, even when it crashes, it goes back higher, right? Like it just does that. So, at any rate, thank you ladies for sharing those business wins, those personal wins, the moments in between. Like we're not waiting for perfection before we celebrate around here. No, we are not. That is the 2025 thing. We do not wait until it's over to celebrate the win. 

Lesley Logan 6:18  

So my win, I mean, I was born this weekend. No, my win is as I literally turned 42 this weekend, don't feel older. I feel more energized. I feel more supported. I feel calmer in doing less. I feel proud of doing less. And when people go I know you're so busy, I literally say I'm not that busy. It just looks that way. What do you need? And if I can't do it, I'm like, great, here's who you need to call instead. My win is that I hope that I am the things that I've heard women who, when they turn 50 and 60, say that they no longer do because now they're 50 and 60 and they're living their best decade. I have listened ladies, and I have learned. I have observed, and I'm doing it at 42 because why wait? So my win is I listened to my elders. I made those changes now. And truthfully, I refuse to buy into the I'm getting older thing, meaning that, like time is short on this earth, and I need to rush. I don't need to rush on anything. I get to sit here with you for a couple more seconds as we read the mantra for this week. 

Lesley Logan 7:24  

So this is back from that CHANI Deck. I release what keeps me sheltered from life. I create space for what encourages my growth. I rejoice in the ways that life emboldens my best to come forth always. I don't know why. Lately, all the mantras have been like three sentences, but they happen. So here we go. I release what keeps me sheltered from life. You could just stop right there, like that could be maybe that's the mantra you need. I create space where it encourages my growth. Create space. You guys, just because it's January doesn't mean you have to set goals yet you'd be actually just creating space. I rejoice in the ways that life emboldens my best to come forth always. I'm gonna end with that one. One more time, I rejoice in the ways that life emboldens my best to come forth. Always, you guys, I'm rejoicing you. You're amazing. And please share this with a friend who needs to hear wins and inspiration that things are going well somewhere for someone, which means that it can happen to them. This is not the Pi of support. This is the infinity symbol. And until next time, Be It Till You See It. 

Lesley Logan 8:30  

That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.

Brad Crowell 9:12  

It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.

Lesley Logan 9:17  

It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.

Brad Crowell 9:22  

Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.

Lesley Logan 9:29  

Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.

Brad Crowell 9:32  

Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.

Brad Crowell and guest co-host, author and actor Clare Solly, dive into key insights from Mark Collins’ discussion about releasing imposter syndrome and living a more authentic life. They reflect on how “I Am” statements can ground your identity beyond job titles and external labels. Tune in for practical tips on shifting from life “management” to true mastery, plus why believing in who you are transforms both your personal and professional worlds.

If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at [email protected].

And as always, if you’re enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Why success can’t erase imposter syndrome.
• Shifting from habit-based life “management” to true life “mastery”.
• The power of “I Am” statements for personal identity.
• How daily affirmations spark clarity.
• Seeing yourself as a hero instead of relying on external validation.

Episode References/Links:

• Cambodia February 2025 Retreat - https://lesleylogan.co/retreats
• Cambodia October 2025 Retreat Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.com
• Accessories Flashcards Waitlist - https://opc.me/flashcardwaitlist
• Pilates Studio Growth Accelerator - https://prfit.biz/accelerator
• Clare Solly's Website – https://claresolly.com
• CliftonStrengths - https://beitpod.com/cliftonstrengths
• Mark Collins Website - https://www.freedom-for-life.net
• Life Mastery - Life by Design by Mark Collins - https://a.co/d/bf0KDuo
• Mark Collins Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FreedForLife
• Mark Collins Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_freedomforlife
• Mark Collins YouTube: https://beitpod.com/markyoutube
• Mark Collins LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mark-collins-freedom-for-life

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.

DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!

Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper’s Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox

Be in the know with all the workshops at OPC

Be It Till You See It Podcast Survey

Be a part of Lesley’s Pilates Mentorship

FREE Ditching Busy Webinar

Resources:

• Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!
• Lesley Logan website
• Be It Till You See It Podcast
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube
• Profitable Pilates

Follow Us on Social Media:

• Instagram
• The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• The OPC YouTube Channel

Episode Transcript:

Brad Crowell 0:00  

We talk about "I Help" statements a lot when we're coaching our clients because you got this elevator pitch of what you say to someone else, but we never talk about the elevator pitch that we say to ourselves.

Lesley Logan 0:10  

Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.

Brad Crowell 0:54  

Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap. Brad here again today with a very special guest of ours, who, if you've been listening over the last couple of weeks, she's joined us, stepping in for Lesley, Clare Solly. Clare is one of Lesley's, yeah, welcome back. Clare is one of Lesley's besties. They go way back to just after college they got a chance to work together, and they started a shoe company together then you guys had a blog together when you were living across the country, all the things. I mean, I don't know, I feel like I might have, you might have been one of the first people I was introduced to when I ever met Lesley, even though I think you were already in New York at that point. 

Clare Solly 1:27  

Yeah, I was, yeah, yeah. 

Brad Crowell 1:29  

Pretty cool. I think it's amazing. So basically, Clare is an actress, actor. She's an author. She's Lesley's slingshot friend from New York City all the way back in episode 19, and today I have the pleasure of having Clare join me to talk about Mark Collins. We're going to dig into that transformative convo that Lesley had with Mark on our last episode. If you have not yet listened to that, feel free to pause us now go back and listen to that. And actually you might want to listen to it twice. It was like nuggets of wisdom, like boom, boom, boom, kept coming and to the point where I was like, can I just rewind 30 seconds and let him say that again and rewind 30 seconds, I mean, it was pretty.

Clare Solly 2:06  

I rewound. Get your finger ready on the rewind button.

Brad Crowell 2:10  

Well, Clare, tell us about today. 

Clare Solly 2:12  

Today is January 23rd and I'm very excited about this one. It is National Clashing Clothes Day. 

Brad Crowell 2:20  

I'm so excited. I love that. Hold on. I was just reaching for something that I could clash with. So I want to put on my blue and green hat at the same time.

Clare Solly 2:27  

Although, you know, that's complimentary, but, oh, but yes, but, yeah, fantastic, beautiful. I tell everyone sometimes I dress like a kindergartner because I'm like, I want to wear that shirt and these shoes and those pants and this too, too. And sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. So National Clashing Clothes Day is the fourth Thursday of January every year, mark it in you calendars and people are encouraged to dress in head to toe clashing clothes anything neutral, like a black, a gray, a white, not allowed today. 

Brad Crowell 3:00  

Yeah, no dice. That's a no go. 

Clare Solly 3:03  

No go. 

Brad Crowell 3:04  

Burn it.

Clare Solly 3:04  

Have fun with your clothes. Make people ask questions. Why not? And mix colors, prints, textiles, be clashtastic. Go for it. 

Brad Crowell 3:13  

Clashtastic. I love it. Well, y'all, why don't you be clashtastic with us in Cambodia, we're going back in just a few weeks. We'll be there at end of February. We've got to retreat, but we have another one coming up in October of this year. And I think that we just had an offer that may be coming to a close right now or just closed, but if you hit me up and you say, hey, I just heard this on the pod, can I make sure to get that offer? It's a big offer. Okay? It's basically the early bird special, and only the people on the waitlist got that offer. If you're not on the waitlist and you want to go see what we're talking about here, go to crowsnestretreats.com, crowsnestretreats.com. Check out the dates for October. Go take a quick look and see if that offer is still happening. If not, just just ping me and I will sort it out for you. But it has to be like right after this episode comes out, if you're listening this six months from now, I can't honor that, so I love you very much. I'm trying to take care of you. Go check it out. crowsnestretreats.com. Lesley and I will take you to our house and our favorite place in the world. Siem Reap, Cambodia. 

Lesley also has been working super diligently on the flash cards accessories deck, the sixth deck in the series. Get on the waitlist for that, go to opc.me/flashcardwaitlist, so that you can get 30% off offer, because only the people on the waitlist get that. Go to opc.me/flashcardwaitlist. If you are feeling stuck in your Pilates business, I want you to join me for a free Profitable Pilates Pilates Studio Growth Accelerator webinar. Okay, if you're feeling.

Clare Solly 4:40  

And why would you not hang out with Brad for free?

Brad Crowell 4:42  

Yeah come hang out. Come hang out. It will be so fun. We were feeling like, how come I'm not making enough money, or I'm barely making enough money? How come I'm not getting any new clients, but I need new clients? Or I don't know what to do for my social media or my newsletters or any of that kind of stuff. Lesley and I have been able to coach more than 2500 businesses over the past seven years, and we've boiled it down to three massive secrets that I will be sharing with you for free on this webinar. So go to prfit.biz/accelerator. That's profit without the O dot biz slash accelerator. So come hang out with us. It's going to be a blast. But before we get into this convo that Lesley had with Mark Collins, we have an audience question. And the audience question is Lesley asking Clare directly, do you do a handwritten or do you do a digital calendar? Love Lesley.

Clare Solly 5:58  

It feels crazy that this question was being asked of me by day, I daylight as an executive assistant, so my life is a calendar. 

Brad Crowell 6:06  

Don't tell your boss, that's your daylighting. 

Clare Solly 6:09  

Yeah, huh? 

Brad Crowell 6:10  

So don't tell your boss, it's only daylighting.

Clare Solly 6:12  

Oh, yeah, I'm in it to win it. I'm here for you always. But yeah, I mean, I work on a calendar, so I am 100% digital, almost to my detriment, because among the many things I do, I run a couple of theater companies. And so it's like, there's a theater company calendar and Clare Solly's calendar. And then I have a Bookstagram calendar, rewind to the last episode recap if you want to talk about Bookstagram. 

Brad Crowell 6:35  

Oh yeah. 

Clare Solly 6:36  

And then I have, like, my personal whatever calendar, and every grand once in a while I catch myself up and I don't cross calendars, but yeah, thank goodness that they all integrate these days and then I'm good at color coding. 

Brad Crowell 6:48  

You're right on the money there. The color coding is the secret because we live exactly the same way. Because, I've got my personal calendar, then I have my work calendar, then I have a Brad and Lesley shared personal calendar, then a Brad and Lesley shared work calendar, and then Lesley has her personal calendar and her work calendar, right? And we are sharing two of those, but we've got all of it, and that's just our stuff. Then we have all the things that we do with a company. We've got this calendar and that calendar and those you know, when we brought on our executive assistants, the first thing we had to do was debrief why it's such a crazy (inaudible) thing, but it's a system that works, and color coding is the secret. I can visually just identify what's happening in my day, generally. That's for the win. But that wasn't the question, do you do a handwritten calendar? 

Clare Solly 7:37  

I have. Above my desk at home, I have a handwritten calendar. 

Brad Crowell 7:42  

Okay. 

Clare Solly 7:43  

That I put, it's funny, I put anything I have that's fun on. So when I'm at work, I can look up and be like, oh, I'm traveling in 10 days, or oh, I have theater tickets next week. 

Brad Crowell 7:56  

Nice. 

Clare Solly 7:57  

So the handwritten calendar is for the fun stuff (inaudible). 

Brad Crowell 7:59  

Special occasions. (inaudible). That's a great idea. 

Clare Solly 8:03  

Or both. 

Brad Crowell 8:04  

Yeah, how about that? Both. I think that's great. Okay, amazing. Stick around. We'll be right back. We're going to talk about Mark Collins. 

Okay, let's talk about Mark Collins. Mark is the founder of Freedom for Life and author of Life Mastery: Living Life by Design, Not by Default. It's a leadership guide that empowers individuals to unlock their true potential with a mission to help people overcome imposter syndrome and align with their authentic selves. Mark offers actionable strategies for mastering thoughts, words and actions. Inspired by his own transformative journey, he equips clients to live with intentionality. I think it's amazing.

Clare Solly 8:43  

I love that. Such a good word, intentionality. I loved everything he said in this. Again, it's the gift that keeps on giving. I'm gonna go listen to it again, like I'm gonna bookmark it and listen to it when I'm feeling, you know, down and out. But I loved that he talked about imposter syndrome and identity sabotage and that you can't success away imposter syndrome or anxiety, or any of those other things that we do. It was one of those, yeah, of course, duh. But also, like brain explode moments. And he emphasized that success is amazing, but it's a poor substitute for identity. You are not your success. It's what comes from you being you. I love that. Rather than chasing that external validation, he encouraged us to ground ourselves in our authentic selves, and I feel like that's sort of the journey that I'm on right now. So this one rang so true to me. I was so excited that you asked me to recap them, because often I'll listen to them and I'm talking back during the recaps. I'm like, yeah, I totally agree. 

Brad Crowell 9:49  

That's awesome. 

Clare Solly 9:50  

And I'll probably listen to this recap and agree with both of us here. 

Brad Crowell 9:53  

Yeah. You're like, I agree with that point that I made. 

Clare Solly 9:56  

Yeah, yeah. And speaking of agreeing, I felt like I was kind of on the edge of my seat when Lesley asked him is imposter syndrome beneficial? And I was like and then makes fun. And I was like, wait, is that, like, maybe I'm doing this right or wrong all along? (inaudible) There's no healthy imposter syndrome, because what imposter syndrome says is I'm not qualified for where I'm at.

Brad Crowell 10:23  

Yeah, it's like this own perspective. I used to do this when I was working at the tech company. Y'all have heard me talk about this over the years that I worked for a tech company, and it was like this crazy, chaotic environment, and it was basically survival of the fittest. If you could get along and you could figure out how to get money for your project in this startup house, then you could survive. And I'm good at negotiating stressful situations that I'm also really good at operational catastrophes. When something blows up, because somehow, inevitably, it blew up all the freaking time there, I could figure out the way through. But the entire time that I was doing this really high wire rope act, the story I was telling myself is, I'm just a musician. I don't even know why I'm here. I would never get paid this if I went and worked somewhere else, so I'm gonna stay even though it wasn't that awesome. There were definitely moments of awesome, but as a whole, it was a challenging experience. But the story I told myself is I would never be hired to do this job anywhere else, and this is my opportunity to do it. So I'm just gonna do it. You know and that sucks. 

Clare Solly 11:24  

Yeah. I feel like we all sort of have a story like that too. That was me when I was in the event planning world, like I'm never gonna get this experience. I need to be here and dig in and live this life and be this person, live this life for right now. Because, you know, it's not. 

Brad Crowell 11:39  

Yeah, well, you know, I'm just theater kid, or I'm just a, I'm a trombone player. Like, what am I doing running a company, you know? And so I totally get that. What I also found amazing was his idea about success. He said for one of his clients, success was like, relief. 

Clare Solly 11:54  

Yeah. 

Brad Crowell 11:55  

That was like, whoa, is that me? Holy cow. Because you've built this expectation of success, and what does it mean to be successful? And when you close the deal, because he was a real estate guy, and he's, like, closing a multimillion dollar deal, and like, the next multi million dollar deal he does, he felt like he's just lucky to get it again. And that goes really hand in hand with that imposter syndrome. And kind of amazing. One thing that he said, that I thought was really interesting was really interesting, was he introduced this concept of Life Mastery. 

Clare Solly 12:25  

Yeah. 

Brad Crowell 12:25  

And he said, you know when you live from who you're created to be, when you know who you are, when you live from that, that is the easiest life possible. Okay? And that sounds pretty straightforward, pretty obvious, but that's like, pretty profound. He explained that you're created to be operating at your highest level. When you're not doing what you're meant to be doing, then you're not able to operate at your highest level. The reason I know this is because I built websites. I am not a developer, but could I do it? Yeah. (inaudible) But every time I would, yeah, but every time I'd have to go back and relearn what I should have already known. And like, you know, it was just always a push, always a struggle. So, like, there's the things of, can you do it? Yes. Should you be doing it? Maybe not. And I think when you're doing the can I be doing it? Yes. Should I be doing it? Yes. Now you're living in where you're meant to be, you know, and that is going to really put you in this position where you can live a life, the easiest life that you're meant to be. Things are going to feel like they're flowing. It's also going to be a lot more fun. We've talked about this a million times, if we've ever talked about it, but StrengthsFinders, CliftonStrengths now is what they call it, it allows you to identify your strengths, and when you're operating in your strengths, things feel like they flow. They feel more enjoyable. You feel like you're winning. And so when people come into our company, we have them take this quiz, and the reason we do is because it really guides us as a company to know where is this person going to succeed, and it will help them feel more fulfilled. They're going to be happier doing their job, and they're going to do their job well, because it's going to feel innate to them. That's a recipe for success there. You know, he said it contrasts with life management. And this was another interesting thing he mentioned, where he's like, you know, I've done a lot of self help things. And he said what it often becomes is this series of rules. It helps me in the change in the moment, but it doesn't help me long term, because then it becomes another rule. I have to live my life by long term, and that doesn't feel like it flows. And so I thought that was really interesting, because he said that doesn't sound like transformation or freedom, it sounds like exhaustion. And I was like, wow, that's true, because now you're living this regimented life that you have to do because this is what the thing was so just again, really fascinating stuff.

Clare Solly 14:50  

Yeah, I mean, I think you, Lesley and I, I feel like we have some version of this conversation every time we get together, the good tired versus the bad tired. You're always tired at the end of the day. Because you've had a day, but if you're doing things that fulfill you, that make you happy, and you're living your authentic life, and you're not sitting in this imposter syndrome, you're not working really hard, you're not pushing against a wall, as opposed to, like the bad tired when you're just exhausted and you're just banging your head against a wall and going in the wrong direction, working in those companies, or working in those jobs that you're not right for, you're not fulfilling, or you're sitting in imposter syndrome and you're continually trying to reach for success when you're just questioning yourself over and over and over. So I'm going to listen to this podcast, he knows so much. 

Brad Crowell 15:36  

Yeah, absolutely. Well, stick around. We'll be right back to dig into those, Be It Action Items, with Mark Collins. 

All right, welcome back. I said, with Mark Collins, I should have said, from Mark Collins, let's get into it. Let's talk about those. Be It Action Items. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from Lesley's convo with Mark? I'll jump right in. He said hey, start with an "I Am" statement.

Clare Solly 16:00  

It's harder than you think it is. 

Brad Crowell 16:02  

Yeah, I haven't done this exercise yet, but this is really intriguing to me. An "I Am" statement, who you are, apart from your things, who you think you'll become. I used to nerd out on this kind of stuff when I was in my teens, because I used to like network as my job. I used to intentionally ask people, What do you do? What is the first thing that they always say? 

Clare Solly 16:24  

Their job. 

Brad Crowell 16:24  

Their job. 100% of the time, people would answer with their job when I ask, "What do you do?" Then the conversation would wind down. And then they would ask me, what do you do? And I'd say, I sleep a lot. And they would go, what? Because I wasn't answering with my job, right? And it was like this mental game that I used to, I used to laugh so hard about it, because I realized that that is how we define ourselves. And I thought, when I was listening to this with Mark, I thought, man, this is so poignant, because he says, when you define yourself apart from your things or your job or your work, it's going to help you determine who you are instead of what you do by who you are versus what you do, right? And then he said, once you figure out this "I Am" statement, it becomes your affirmation, right? And you're going to use it to align with who you are. And he said do the affirmations multiple times a day, because life happens multiple times a day. And I thought that was also funny. That's also true is we have these different moments of I mean, if I look at my day, I wake up and I have my morning routine that I really enjoy, right? And I do my morning routine, and that feels like a whole separate day from then I'm like, alright, now I gotta get focused. I'm gonna spend three, four hours, and then I'm gonna, like, eat my lunch, and then hopefully I can get back in the groove and have another three, four hours before the rest of the day, right? So, you know, it is funny how it breaks up into these blocks. He emphasized, the more you tell yourself the truth, the more you will see yourself show up as a hero, that you're created to be.

Clare Solly 17:53  

Loved, that. Loved that. I love that we're rebranding, or we're reusing hero. Because right now, there's so many hero movies, we're all kind of relating to that, like we all kind of put in our cape the little girl with her arms out and being Wonder Woman, you know, Wonder Woman pose that was big a couple years ago. I love this, because hero, even though it's conceptual, it's something we can all tap into. We can all make it real in our lives. We all can be a hero, and that's also something we can strive for. Like, being a hero feels like anti-imposter, right? So I just, I love. 

Brad Crowell 18:30  

That's great. That's a great way to connect the dots there. I really like that. You know, the hero is clearly confident and knows what the hell they're doing, you know, or they should, right, in the way that we envision a hero. You know, there's the anti-hero who maybe doesn't know what they're doing, but the hero, if you think of Superman, you think of the guy who knows how to solve the problem, or, you know, Batman or whatever. So, yeah, I love that. I love that. 

Clare Solly 18:53  

I also had to laugh a little bit because I knew I was coming on and doing this recap with you. And I know you and Lesley talk about being like, one woo, two woo. And I was like, this is like the scientific side of woo. 

Brad Crowell 19:05  

I knew there's a reason I connected with this guy.

Clare Solly 19:11  

I also loved the identifying moments when you are minimizing who you are, or when you're maximizing the issues and challenges that you have in your life. We all do that, like Lesley and I've talked about how we still feed drama into our lives because we knew how to deal with drama, or when you actually can do something, but yet, there's so many people around you that have done it before you or better than you, but they've paved the way. So what am I doing here? Well, I am my authentic self, and I am coming here because I have something to say, or I have a unique perspective, or I just have joy in whatever this is. So let me share with you my little corner of the world that spoke to me and I also loved the affirmations part. I loved the "I Am" statements. It was funny. As soon as I listened to it, I was like, I am, and I went right to job, right to job. And I was like, no, no. We've worked on this before, and my "I Am" statements are that I'm a creator and I'm a muse. Because I like to create things. I like to create stories. I like to create plays. I like to create environments where people find joy. And I also am a muse. I like to get together with people and talk through things and look at ideas and talk about books and pick apart things and go, how is this affecting us, and how are we putting this out into the world?

Brad Crowell 20:39  

I love it. I just decided my "I Am" statement. I, I'm creative, I am fun and I am happy. 

Clare Solly 20:45  

I love this, because that's both, you know, in his sort of trajectory, It's something you are now and it's something you can do. 

Brad Crowell 20:57  

Yeah and also, for me, it applies across what I'm passionate about, which is music, and what I do for work, which is run a company. I can be creative in music and be creative in the company, right? I can be fun in music and fun in the company, and I can be happy in music and happy in the company. When I first was talking about that, kind of had me feeling a little stuck. I like this "I Am" statement. We talk about "I Help" statements a lot when we're coaching our clients, because you got this elevator pitch of what you say to someone else, but we never talk about the elevator pitch that we say to ourselves. So I love this. 

Clare Solly 21:34  

Yeah, it's so empowering and it can change, too. Like, it can also point you in different directions.

Brad Crowell 21:40  

Yeah, he had another example. I find quality answers for every problem I walk through, or I'm going to align my words and actions with the things I am and the things that I do. So, yeah, you can use the I am statement to give yourself instruction, not just speak affirmations, so.

Clare Solly 21:58  

And align yourself with what you are created to be, like, why you're here. I love it. Love it. That's so good.

Brad Crowell 22:05  

Yeah, that's amazing. Awesome. I'm Brad Crowell. Thanks so much for joining us today.

Clare Solly 22:10  

And I'm Lesley Logan, just kidding, I'm still Clare Solly.

Brad Crowell 22:14  

Check out more from Clare and follow her Bookstagram stuff. You can find all that at claresolly.com. C-L-A-R-E-S-O-L-L-Y dot com. We are so grateful that you are here, that you take the time out of your life to listen and enjoy the interviews and then hear us kind of chat about them afterwards. How are you going to use these tips in your life today? I mean, what amazing tips? I want to know. Lesley wants to know. Ping us on IG, send us a DM, or leave a comment on YouTube or send us a text, and otherwise we will catch you on the next episode. Be It Till You See It. 

Clare Solly 22:47  

Bye for now.

Lesley Logan 22:50  

That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.

Brad Crowell 23:33  

It's written, filmed and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan and me, Brad Crowell.

Lesley Logan 23:38  

It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.

Brad Crowell 23:42  

Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.

Lesley Logan 23:49  

Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals. 

Brad Crowell 23:52  

Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Lesley Logan chats with Mark Collins, author of Life Mastery, on why success alone never silences imposter syndrome. They explore how to shift from life “management” to true life “mastery” by discovering who you really are apart from your titles and achievements. Mark reveals how reframing your identity ignites confidence and frees you from fear. If you’re ready for practical steps to live from your true worth, this episode is a must-hear.

If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at [email protected].

And as always, if you’re enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Why success alone cannot end imposter syndrome.
• The power of forming "I am" statements for stronger identity.
• How life mastery outperforms simple habit management.
• How daily affirmations rewire thoughts.
• Practical tactics to affirm worth over old limiting labels.

Episode References/Links:

• Mark Collins Website - https://www.freedom-for-life.net
• Life Mastery - Life by Design by Mark Collins - https://a.co/d/bf0KDuo
• Mark Collins Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FreedForLife
• Mark Collins Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_freedomforlife
• Mark Collins YouTube: https://beitpod.com/markyoutube
• Mark Collins LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mark-collins-freedom-for-life

Guest Bio:

Mark Collins is a personal success strategist and author of the book Life Mastery: Living Life by Design, Not by Default, known for helping business professionals and entrepreneurs unlock their “hero in hiding.” Drawing from over 500 client engagements and his own journey of overcoming imposter syndrome, Mark teaches that success alone cannot substitute for a strong sense of identity. Through his Life Mastery program—a comprehensive course rooted in practical tools and mindset shifts—he guides individuals to master their thoughts, words, and actions so they can break free from fear of failure and self-doubt. Mark’s approach centers on clarifying one’s “I am” statements, ensuring people live from who they are truly created to be, rather than from past labels or limiting beliefs. By emphasizing transformation over mere habit management, he enables clients to excel across all areas of life—professionally and personally—through genuine, identity-based change.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.

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Episode Transcript:

Mark Collins 0:00  

No, there is no healthy imposter syndrome, because at the end of the day, what imposter syndrome says is I'm not qualified for where I'm at.

Lesley Logan 0:07  

Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.

Lesley Logan 0:50  

Okay, Be It babe. Here's the deal. This episode is gonna be one you listen to multiple times. I wanted to, in real time, rewind and relisten. It's so good. Our guest is Mark Collins. He's the author of Life Mastery and I really am obsessed with there's always a lot of people who want to talk about imposter syndrome, and this is the first time I've been like, yes, this guy, this guy actually really understands imposter syndrome and how to not let it master your life or take over like, he's so good, and he's got some great phrases that you will want to put on Post-Its and read every day to remind yourself how freaking amazing you are and what you're here on this planet to do. So I am just fired up. I'll also just be really honest, he's, this was the last Zoom call of a day where I started on Zoom at 6 am and I was like, okay, who am I interviewing? Oh, I'm interviewing Mark Collins. Oh, I really like this guy. The interview does not disappoint. I'm so excited. Now, I will also say this, I'm a fast talker. If you already aren't good at listening to me at 1.5 speed, good job. But you may want to slow this down to one because Mark Collins also can meet me at my speed. And so I recognize we're both fast talkers. We both recognize we're fast talkers. We could work on that. But also, I think our brains are just going a little too fast, so you might want to put us on one or point seven five. You can do that in your app. But also feel free to rewind. And then also on our website, we have the transcripts of the show, so you can also go back, read what any of the parts are that you loved. And I can't wait to hear how this helps you. Please let us know. Please tag Mark. Please tag the Be It Pod. And here is Mark Collins.

Lesley Logan 2:25  

All right, Be It babe. I am super excited because our guest today caught my attention when he talked about imposter syndrome. And you know how we can actually not deal with that, and we can redesign our life. And as many times as I talk about like we have imposter syndrome, and often it's because we're new at something, so you're gonna be an imposter. A lot of times we feel imposter syndrome when we're not new. And so I'm just excited for Mark Collins to join us today. Mark, can you tell everyone who you are and what you rock at?

Mark Collins 2:50  

Thanks, Lesley, and thanks for the conversation. I'm excited to be here. So I was to give somebody a one-sentence scenario about what I tried to do. What I tell them is that I help people to unlock and unleash their hero in hiding in their business relationships in life. We have strategies and tools to do that, but at the end of the day, my desire is to see the best of you come out and be the person you're supposed to be in all areas.

Lesley Logan 3:13  

I love that and that one sentence is like, just really great words in there. How did you get into this? Though? I think before we get into how to unlock that and unleash that and all that stuff, what made you go down this path?

Mark Collins 3:26  

Yeah, that's a great question. You know, people ask that usually about my book Life Mastery, or the course that's titled the same as well. And I tell people this, Lesley, that I didn't do it because I thought I had great ideas for other people to live out to be able to do those things to maximize their life, or whatever the thing is that there is their goal, but it really was something I desired for myself. In walking through, you know, my own personal development and trying to succeed in business or athletics or academics, what I found was some of those things you talked about, that imposter syndrome that came along for the ride. And what I found was you can't success away fear of failure or imposter syndrome, they just come along. And so when you're at that mountain top and you've had that success, if it's a challenge that you've dealt with, and just to be honest, Lesley, I haven't met a person yet who hasn't had something apart from a transformational journey. I've and a lot of people, a lot of them have had the same issues that I had. So for me, it came from a place of finding transformational tools, being able to have more than just habits that I maintain, but a lifestyle that I could live, you know, when you do that, you want to share it with people, you know. And so it started informally and sharing with friends and having thoughts and ideas and telling them, hey, I've tried this at you and really started to formalize it in a system, instead of giving them little nuggets here and there and to say, okay, well, how do I help somebody get from A to Z, from bound to healed, or from stress to set free? And so that's where the course in the systems came from. It came from my own life first, and then the opportunity to work with so many others afterwards.

Lesley Logan 4:53  

That's so cool. You just said you can't out success your imposter syndrome. What'd you say? 

Mark Collins 4:59  

You can't success away imposter syndrome or fear or anxiety or any of the other things that we do.

Lesley Logan 5:04  

You are correct. You cannot. You're totally correct. In fact, the more you try, the more it's almost like you have more imposter syndrome or more anxiety.

Mark Collins 5:12  

Yeah. Well and the interesting thing, Lesley, is a lot of times we think you can, you know, we look for those people that are on our pedestals, whatever those are in your life, and we think, oh, he or she, they've got it all together. They can't have the issues and the struggles and things that I have, and I just need to get where they're at, and all of a sudden, I'll be that person as well. Everything will work out, won't have any anxiety, won't wake up at three in the morning like I've had in my past. And you find out that that's not the case. And it's interesting when I'm always surprised at the clients that I work with that have those levels of success, right? Their name plate's on the door. They're the person who's doing great things, but it's the person that you don't know. It's the person like I said, waking up at three in the morning. So, yeah, success is amazing. It's a poor substitute for identity, and it's never a place where you can overcome issues that are standing in the way.

Lesley Logan 6:02  

Yeah, yeah, you're so correct. First of all, I find it interesting. You said something like, we all like, okay, if I'm just like this person, then I'm going to be like this. Once I get to their level, then I'm going to feel free. And that is actually kind of the impetus of be it till you see it. Because I hate, I can't stand hearing when I have this, then I will. When this happens, then I will. It's, I don't want to wait for that to happen. A lot of those things can are like, kind of outsourced to other people. A lot of those things are like other people discovering you at the same time you're promoting it and also deciding to buy the thing that you have at the same, there's a lot of things in there. And so I'm like, how can I live like that right now? What if I was that person today? That's what be it till you see it is. And that's kind of where it came from. And so I just had to bring that up, because I was, oh, that's exactly what everyone does. Everyone was like, when I have this. I want to kind of go into, for the person who feels imposter syndrome on a regular basis, most of my listeners, hi guys, I see you. Is there any imposter syndrome that is healthy, or are there signs of imposter syndrome they may not know? Two questions there.

Mark Collins 7:06  

Yeah, that's a great couple of questions. And I think, is there imposter syndrome that is healthy? And I would, to be totally honest, and of course, I will be honest, because that's who you're clientele and the people listening want me to be. No. No, there is no healthy imposter syndrome, because at the end of the day, what imposter syndrome says is I'm not qualified for where I'm at, whether it's in your business or relationship, you're in the boardroom, you're creating something on your own, you're a creative individual, or you're just in a relationship, or you're a new parent, right? One of the moments of imposter syndrome for me was having my daughter placed into my hands when she was born, and knowing I'm not qualified. Well, unfortunately, in many cases, imposter syndrome is me saying I'm not qualified for this. Whatever it is. You know? Whatever you've got as your item, that's what it is. And the truth of the matter is, as I talk to the people that I work with, it's in the thing that we talked about, your hero in hiding. I believe everybody has a hero in hiding. You have the person you're created to be, that be it person that you're talking about, and you have the person that shows up. And it's either coming from who you're, what I say, who you're created to be, or your life has told you. Well, imposter syndrome is me looking at my past and having informed my present and creating my future and saying that, well, because I wasn't able to last time, I can't do it this time, or because I didn't succeed in that business, I won't be able to do it this time. It's those thoughts that try and sabotage you, stop you and control the outcomes that you have in your life. So is it ever positive? Absolutely not. But congratulations if you have it. Because at the end of the day, I love people who do because those are the people who are really reaching for something in their life. When I'm comfortable and I've got all the answers and everything's working and I'm not too stressed, I'm not really trying very hard, well, imposter syndrome isn't coming up because it's just me being chill, but it's in those times and places, right, that man and woman who is reaching for higher ground, they're looking for that amazing goal, those wonderful things that they want to do in their life, that it comes up. But what we try to do is help them to understand. The one thing I tell you is, you're the answer to the circumstance you're walking into. You're not the question to be figured out.

Lesley Logan 7:08  

Thank you for that. I really enjoyed that. The whole answer. I mean, it's true. When, I just had the moment of imposter syndrome earlier, before this call, and it was absolutely because I was thinking, what if this doesn't work? And I was basing it off of the things that haven't worked in the past, I totally did it. I used the past to direct the present. Instead of going actually, like, this is going to work because of all these different reasons. And also, if it doesn't work, I will absolutely take the steps to figure out why it didn't work and do it again. I know that about myself, so it's really funny how it can sneak up upon us. And it's also because I really care. I really care about what this thing is going to be and what it can do for people. So you talked about becoming a dad, but can you share any other instances where imposter syndrome kind of affected you and how you handled that?

Mark Collins 9:49  

Yeah, absolutely. In business, right? So my wife and I, we've been successful entrepreneurs, and I'm sure, like in everybody else's business, there's those times when your output of finances don't equal your income coming in the door where, you know it was a client-based business. And so your bills are static. They happen every month, whether you have clients or not, whether they make their payments or not, whether they're late or not. And so, of course, there were those circumstances where, you know clientele would dip because of the recession issues challenges with whatever, right? Everybody has challenges in their life, but the bills are still coming in. And in those places, for me, it was that point of saying, I don't know if this was the right decision. Those things, when things aren't going well, then all of a sudden you question whether you're making the right choices. And if I can unpack something really quickly. So what I tell again, like I said before, if, what I tell people is that you learn from who you're created to be or what your life has told you. Well, we all have a past and a life that's told us something, many somethings in our life, and what we talked about as a foundation of Life Mastery is starting from identity. Who you're created to be. And in that place, you start to unpack and see some things in your life. Well, this guy who's got financial challenges, right? Like with every business, it's not all roses and sunshine. And in that place, you hearken back to understand who you are. And that, for me, was a young man who was struggling in school and having challenges with mathematics, and you know, some of the things that you're doing academically well, that young man at five, six, seven, eight, nine years old, who was struggling in one of his classes. Well, there's an identity statement that comes along with your experiences. It's never just your experience, but what's the experience tells you about you? Because we all have good and bad that we walk through. But the challenge is, what does it say about you? What's the identity statement that you're taking from it? So that young man who's struggling in school, believe it or not, I don't know about the schools you went to, but the ones that I went to, they didn't look too kindly on you if you couldn't cut it academically, and certainly your friends and the people around you let you know that. Well, that young man felt like he wasn't as smart as everybody else. So fast forward. Identity statement. When you're an adult, still succeeding, still doing great things, right, got my bachelor's degree, have a successful business, but then there's a financial downturn, and what happens is those thoughts come in your head. Imposter syndrome is another form of identity sabotage. It's saying this, you're not good enough. And in that place, what do you go back to? Oh, okay, well, it's because you're not as smart as, you're not as qualified as, you're not as good as, or whatever the thing is you're telling yourself. And so for us, it's understanding. How do you unpack it so you understand the truth? See, the truth of that young man was he was temporarily academically challenged. He wasn't somebody that was defective. He wasn't somebody that wasn't as good as. Come to find out, when I went to college, I took mathematics all the way up and passed all the way through calculus, which at that time was the highest level of math you could qualify for. Well, certainly I wasn't somebody who wasn't as smart as everybody else, even though you succeed afterwards, those identity statements come along. And you know this, Lesley, right? Because you know people in your own life, or people in the TMZs and all of the people that are famous where they try and overcome who they believe they are, but the success they have, but they sabotage themselves and ruin everything.

Lesley Logan 12:54  

Yes. 

Mark Collins 12:54  

So it's always you showing up as who you are, and success, as I said before, is just a poor substitute for identity. But when you start to live from who you are instead of what your life has told you now, all of a sudden, you're unleashed into the world as a person you're created to be.

Lesley Logan 13:09  

Yeah, I want to live more like that all the time. Is that even, is that possible? Is it possible to live a life without imposter syndrome and fully as who I am and not what I, what my past is?

Mark Collins 13:21  

Yes, absolutely. 

Lesley Logan 13:23  

Is it something that takes a long time to de- as a deprogramming? How does someone kind of identify those situations, of what stories are being living themselves by? And also, it sounds like there's coping mechanisms, like, it sounds like success is a coping mechanism for the thing that they're trying to deal with.

Mark Collins 13:40  

Yeah, absolutely. And so I'll take the last one first, and what it is is really what we've all been taught, or we all have assumed, right? So whether it's media or family or experiences that we've walked through, we've all assumed that when I've, whatever, gotten that trophy or got that level of income or have that amazing car in my driveway, well now all of a sudden, everything else is gravy. Everything works out. We look at the outside of somebody without understanding the inside. And so it's not any harm or foul by anybody. It's just this is kind of the system, which is why, you know, by the way, my book is called Life Mastery: Living Life By Design, Not By Default.

Lesley Logan 14:13  

Yes.

Mark Collins 14:13  

What I tell people is that everybody I know, apart from a transformational journey, is living from default. And it's that place of understanding that if I change my outward, it'll change my inward. When the opposite is true when I change my inward, everything outside of me changes. Another way of putting it, that I tell people is when I understand who I'm created to be, my world lines up. When I don't know who I'm created to be, my world has to make up the difference, and so I have to succeed to feel worthy. I have to have a relationship to feel loved. I have to have income to feel like I'm a person of value. (inaudible)

Lesley Logan 14:46  

I would have to rewind what you just said, because you just said something the way that we are wanting the world to see us like if we're waiting for the world to (inaudible) in us, that's, that is, I think, how a lot of people are feeling right now, like I've had so many people who are reacting to so many different things that are outside of their control, and they're like, this is gonna affect me this way, and this is gonna affect me this way. And I think that's human nature. But what you just said that if we actually come from ourselves, then we don't feel that way, don't fall out of that control. Am I right?

Mark Collins 15:15  

Exactly. So if I don't understand who I'm created, if I don't understand my identity, then my world has to make up the difference.

Lesley Logan 15:21  

Yes. 

Mark Collins 15:22  

And it is that place of default, which is what we've always been shown. It's what is highlighted on social media. And you know, I mean, there's no harm or foul in any of it, and certainly not for us in trying to use it. But what we find, as you found as well, and I know in my life also is it doesn't work. Success is great, right? But at the end of the day, if success is all I have, then it's empty when I get there.

Lesley Logan 15:43  

Yeah. 

Mark Collins 15:43  

And it lasts for about 10 minutes and then I have to do it again. 

Lesley Logan 15:46  

Yeah. 

Mark Collins 15:46  

I think of a client of mine who had and is having multimillion-dollar transactions in the real estate and business development field. And for him, it was that thing where success was a relief, it wasn't a celebration. Because again, those thought patterns, the imposter syndrome, the fear of failure, those things that come along with it, really, every success was just a momentary ability to prove that you weren't somebody who was going to fail at it. The problem is it never changes you. It just gives you a momentary satisfaction that you have to repeat over and over again, the hamster wheel of success. And so if I could talk to your first question, can you get over imposter syndrome? Can it be something that you don't struggle with? Absolutely. That's actually the goal that we have in our course. A lot of the systems that we use are to give you the transformation. And I make the designation of change versus transformation.

Lesley Logan 15:46  

Okay. 

Mark Collins 15:46  

Because when I was trying to figure it out my own life, trying to become the person, right, that man on the inside that I believed I could be, that wasn't always showing up, and I didn't plan on being the guy that was stressed out, sweating through my pajamas at three in the morning. It was just part of the anxiety and issues that came along with it. But I always believed there was somebody more. Tried personal development in a lot of ways and the problem with many of the programs that I did, they all give you results, and they all have benefits. The challenge is that many of them give you habits to manage your life, manage your anxiety, anger management. Say these mantras, bludgeon your thoughts over until they come into alignment with what you want to be. The problem is they never work. And here's the reason why, Lesley, because the habit I use to get there is the habit I have to maintain to stay there. And that doesn't sound like transformation or freedom. What it sounds like is exhaustion, because I don't believe that we have to maintain habits to again, bludgeon my thoughts into aligning with what I'm trying to believe I am. But what I do believe is, when you live from who you're created tobe, when you know who you are, then that's the easiest life possible. What I tell people is this, it's the easiest life ever living from a place of life mastery, because it's literally me just living from who I'm created to be at the highest level I'm created for in every area of life. What's exhausting is life management, which is me trying to attack my thoughts when they happen. It's that life by default, right? It's trying to attack them when they happen, expect that they'll always be there, you know, even to the point where I had this conversation with somebody who was eight or nine figure, multimillionaire, amazing person, and he said this. He said, with every business transaction, fear of failure comes in, and I have to wrestle with it. He says I guess that's just part of the process. It just drove me crazy, because the truth of the matter is that we're not meant to deal with fear of failure, and again, if you understand who you're created to be and live from that place, it's the easiest thing. I don't have to measure up to be who I am. I don't have to prove myself. I don't have to accomplish things to be who I am. I actually have accomplishment because of who I am, not to prove it. And in those places, you can have tools and strategies. We can talk about some of them, but the truth of the matter is, there's a better life.

Lesley Logan 18:41  

Okay, so I wanted to go into, I mean, I got really intrigued with Life Mastery and you kind of covered that a little bit, but I wanted to go into a couple more stories, because I think, I know my listeners, they see themselves in other people. And some of the things you brought up, I've seen myself, and I'm like, oh yeah, I definitely have been life managing. I want to life master. This sounds so much more fun. You've coached over 500 people, so I feel like you have to have a couple other transformative stories for us to hear about.

Mark Collins 19:05  

Yeah, absolutely. I think of a young man who highly successful in business, working within the government, and he was doing great in his job. The problem is he wasn't showing up at home. And so here's the interesting thing that you and I know, Lesley, it's that we think we can compartmentalize our emotions. And when I have stress at work, man, I'll just compartmentalize it. When I get home, I can be that bubbly personality that I'm supposed to be. The only person who thinks that is the person who's trying to do it. All the rest of us realize that. And so for this guy, he was having success in business, but with him again, living from who you're created to be or what your past has told you. For him, it was having a past that told him that relationships aren't safe. I can't trust other people, which is fine when you're single, but when you're married, it really doesn't lead to a great relationship.

Lesley Logan 19:46  

I'm like surprised he got married.

Mark Collins 19:47  

Yeah, well, you know, you do these things that you believe you're supposed to do, and it's the things that you're trying to do, and you, even in business, the interesting thing is, with people who are highly successful, the people I work with want more, they just don't know how to get there. They're like, this can't be everything. But the challenge is, so even in relationships, specifically, he wanted more in his relationship, he just didn't know how to get there. And so part of it was unpacking some of those lies and the issues that you've had of not being able to trust and therefore not being able to give, and in that place, showing up as a provider in his household, but not engaging emotionally, relationally or substantially within his household, it's that person you talk to which you can't really read, you can't really understand. And so for him, it was unpacking those things. It's starting to understand when I can show up as who I am. Well, I tell people this Lesley, when I understand who I'm created to be, my wife doesn't have to make up the difference. When I don't understand my identity, she does, and it's in every relationship, in all times, which means we need to be good, for me to be good, and there can't be stressor issues or challenges. I can't feel, you know? We can't have a hard conversation, because that could affect me, right? It's in business as well, in boardrooms and relationships with superiors and people that you have overseeing or business and trying to deal with clients the offense of other people in relationships can undermine you when you don't know who you are, when I know who I am, then I don't need you to prove it to me.

Lesley Logan 21:09  

Yeah. 

Mark Collins 21:10  

And so for him, it was that place of being able to say, No, there's whatever the relationship is, I'm a person of worth and value. And in that place, you can give more of who you are when you're not worried about the results.

Lesley Logan 21:24  

I, there's so many good things in there. I think that, especially the couple thing like though, we have to be good for me to be good. Embarrassingly, I'm going to admit you guys, I have been binging out on some dating shows because they're not stressful for me. I'm not dating. I love my husband. We're good and we have a really lovely, healthy relationship. I don't need him to be good for me to be good.

Mark Collins 21:44  

That's awesome. 

Lesley Logan 21:45  

But what you just said there, I watched and I'm like, oh, that's how I can tell who's gonna make it and who's not. Because I'm like, that person needs this person to complete them, and these people are just awesome on their own. You can see it, right? So I agree with everything you're saying there. I want to talk to the person who's kind of just beginning to recognize their battles with imposter syndrome. I think that a lot of people can get pretty far in life just dealing with it. Because, you know, especially if you put yourself in the right place, like you get a job, you do the thing, you can kind of not skate through because it's not going to be fun, but they're just beginning to deal with it, and now they're feeling it. And once you feel it, it's kind of hard to not feel it anymore. Is there anything that's in your book, or any tools that you have that could help them start their journey to the Life Mastery that you've been talking about?

Mark Collins 22:27  

Yeah, I love that. So the book is a mirror of my course called Life Mastery. And so the tools are in bulk. What I tell people about my book is it, I call it the Quick Start Guide to Life Mastery. So where the course is all the bells and whistles, the one-on-one coaching, and some of the other things that we have, you're able to take some nuggets in each of the chapters of the book and apply them. And what I tell people is, you can read something today, apply it this week, and find transformation this month. And so in that area, it all starts with this, Lesley, it starts with identity, who you're created to be. And so very early on, we're going to start to unpack understanding who are you apart from your things. And those things that we're talking about is your position, it's your title, it's your income, it's your possessions, it's the things that we believe make us we don't really say that they do until they're taken away. And all of a sudden it's, oh, okay, I lost my job, or my business is failing, or whatever the thing is, right? In many times we think that because I am okay on the outside, I'm okay on the inside, like I said. So the very first thing we do is say, okay, well, let's take away all of that and find out what's left, your character, your value, your worth. And for us, we tell people to write an "I Am" statement. Statement starts with "I am" everything else you fill in the blank. I am a person of character and worth. I'm a person of strength and value. I'm a person who finds answers to challenges. I'm a person who overcomes every problem that I face, or whatever the things are that are yours. Those are some of mine. It's the person that you are showing up. As I told you earlier, the thing I said was, you're the answer to the circumstance you're walking into. You're not the question to be figured out. When I understand who I am, I realize I'm the answer, which means that I'm fully capable in every circumstance. Doesn't mean every circumstance is amazing. Doesn't mean I have answers to every question that's going to come up. It means that I'm confident that I'm able and fully able to do everything I need to become and create a positive outcome to that situation.

Lesley Logan 24:13  

Oh my God, Mark. Oh my God. I want a thousand Post-Its, put "I Am" statements all over my office because I just want to see them all, and I want to read the transcripts of my own podcast, because you have way too many good quotes in there. You have such good things for like, there's a nugget for every person who's listening. You guys, you can rewind this and listen again. There's just so many good little nuggets you can chew on and think about. So thank you for that.

Mark Collins 24:39  

Absolutely. So what's the outcome of that when I start to show up and start to believe I'm that person, what people don't realize is not just this cool mindset hack and this positive affirmation that I'm telling myself when I'm speaking from the truth of who I am. Then now, all of a sudden, we could get to the neuroscience of it, and I don't need to. I'm a little bit nerdy sometimes. But here's the truth of the matter. Or I tell people this, and it's one of the strategies we use as well, which is mastering your thoughts. I tell them, Lesley, who you think you are, you'll become. And so what happens is, when I come in as the person who's the answer to the circumstance, not the question to be figured out. Now all of a sudden you have those empowering emotions like confidence and assurance and all the things that will bring answers. And so cognitively, you start to get answers. You start to find ideas. You start to get these solutions that may happen and the things you can do, and strategies and ways to navigate and to do those things. When you come as a person who's like, I don't know what's going to happen here. I'm not sure what's going to happen. Oh, this is a huge problem. I don't know how we're going to. Now, all of a sudden, you get disempowering emotions like anxiety and fear and worry and stress. And again, speaking about neuroplasticity, you have those chemicals that come into your body. You know, it's the fight or flight or freeze scenario where you're like, okay, well, stress happens. Or when I was walking through my Life Mastery journey, early on, anger would come up because, you know, oh, I can't believe whatever the things that are happening, none of them is leading you towards solutions. All of them are focusing on a problem. But again, when you show up as you understand that you're the answer. Now, biochemically, neurologically, you actually have answers. So it's not just some fluff and some pat on your back mindset information. It's actually showing up and giving yourself the best capability to be the best you in all circumstances.

Lesley Logan 26:19  

Yes, yes. That is so good. I mean, like, just even the idea of coming into the room knowing who you are, versus being a question to be solved, you guys, that's being it till you see it. Coming into the room as, like, that's just what it is.

Mark Collins 26:32  

Exactly. 

Lesley Logan 26:33  

This is amazing. This is so good. Because I think I get really good at catching the imposter syndrome when it's happening, you know, like, I'm like, oh, I'm feeling the fear. This is a worry. This is me upper limiting. I'm sabotaging this right now. I actually know the answer. I kind of like talk myself through it, and I have told myself that that is fine and normal and wonderful. Am I wrong? And is overcoming imposter syndrome mean I don't even have the moments like that or that I actually recognize them and understand them to be false and can move forward with what I know?

Mark Collins 27:02  

That is a huge victory. That's a huge victory. So, so if you were to look back on our lives right, yourself, myself, anybody who's listening or watching, there's a time when that wasn't happening, there's a time when you would spiral into negativity and worry and stress and whatever the things are. So I tell people this Life Mastery isn't a moment. It's a journey, but it's a journey that has moments, and so in those times like that, I would invite my people to invest in is recognize those moments and celebrate the fact that, wow, I'm changing, I'm transforming, I'm growing. And it's those times when you recognize it, where you're like, what I tell people is this, it's not that negative emotions aren't happening or those thoughts won't come in, but they have no place to land, and they don't get to manipulate your life anymore. That's a huge victory. And then they'll become far and far in between, and then you'll find there's greater and greater levels of stress and challenge you can walk into without even having them show up, and you find out about it afterwards, you're like, I just locked into what I needed to do and got this thing done. I didn't even think about it. So it comes in stages, but every one of them is a celebration, because every one of them is, you know, Lesley or Mark or whoever the person is listening, it's you, transforming and changing, becoming that person. Again, that hero in hiding, showing up.

Lesley Logan 28:13  

Oh, I love that. Thank you for that compliment. Now I'm doing a great job and.

Mark Collins 28:17  

You are, though. That's amazing.

Lesley Logan 28:19  

Yeah, yeah, no. And I also like, what's really cool is they are fewer and farther. They don't happen next to each other, which is really great. And when they do, it's usually the same one twice. I was like, okay, hold on. You didn't really stop and think about that. Yes, listen, I have lots of conversations with myself. I'm an Aquarius. We're in our head a lot. You are a wealth of knowledge. I feel like we could all take weekend courses, but we're gonna take a brief break and find out how we can take your course, read your amazing book and learn more from you.

Lesley Logan 28:45  

All right, Mark, so you said you got a book, and a course, they kind of go together, but I can read the book if I'm wanting to do the light version, or if I need to go all in. Tell me more about where I can find these things and which one I need.

Mark Collins 28:56  

Yeah, absolutely. So first off, where can you find them? I try and be a one-stop shop. So everything is on my website, which is freedom-for-life.net freedom-for-life.net. What's the difference between the two? Well, there's those folks who are like myself, and maybe you, Lesley, you seem to be that type that you know I don't want. I don't want the appetizer. I want the whole meal. I want that one-on-one coaching. I want everything so that I know I have those things, right? It's the all in one process. So that's the course. The course has all of those in there. But the book has value, and it has value in that those folks who are like, I want to find some nuggets. I want to do some things that are really changing my life. I want to engage in this. I really don't know where to start. The book is a great way to do that. I have it as a eBook version on my website, and the reason for that is, I have hard copy. You can get those at Amazon, but I love the fact that you can carry it around on your phone, because it's an eBook. So you can have it anywhere that you're at, so at any time you have so I know you're working with, you're having a lot of business professionals that don't have a lot of time. You always have it available.

Lesley Logan 29:54  

That's cool. I like what you even said about the book. You can learn something today, use it this week and transform in a month, or I'm misquoting you, but that's what it felt like, and I experienced in the month and I actually think that that's really cool. And so if even people are like, I'm not sure I can trust myself, I think you could start there, and then you can always go to the course. You can do whatever you want, guys like, whatever you've been called to. But I really like this. And also, thanks for having a one-stop shop. Makes it really easy on where everyone can click. It's in the show notes, guys. 

Lesley Logan 30:18  

All right, you have literally given so much. I think there's so many different parts we can go back and re-listen, but, we cannot end without our bold, executable, intrinsic, targeted steps to be it till you see it. What do you have for us?

Mark Collins 30:32  

Yeah, so the first thing is the one that we talked about. It the "I Am" statement, do not move past that until you do that. Anything you do to try and create mantras and things that you tell yourself, affirmations, if they're not tied to who you are, then they're really you becoming an imitation of somebody else. So start with that "I Am" statement, who you are, apart from your things. The reason why that's important is one of our, we have a three-step transformational process mastering your thoughts, words and actions. I'll unpack thoughts really quickly, and that is this, who you think you are, you'll become. You know, Lesley, you're as successful as you are because you believed at some level you'd be that person someday. Well, for all of us here, you're not going to be that person you're created to be in every area until you believe it, until you think it. And so that starts with thoughts. Well, what do those thoughts do? They allow you to have actions towards the person you're created to be. What thoughts should you align with? Well, start with your "I Am" statement. I do affirmations, and I tell everybody to do affirmations multiple times a day, because life happens multiple times a day. Thoughts happen multiple times a day. And so I remind myself of who I'm created to be with my "I Am" statement, again, that's the affirmation you're going to use aligned with who you are. The second thing, and this will be the last for us right now, what are the words that you're saying? Interesting things about vocalization and words, they do two things. They confirm who you believe you are, and they give you instructions to live out. Cognitively, your brain listens to what you're saying, and it finds ways of aligning with that. So when you're minimizing who you are, when you're maximizing the issues and challenges in your life, you're focusing on the things you can't control and the ones that hold you back. When I continue to speak towards the things that I am and who I am, and those same vocalizations are in the things that I'm going to do. I am a person of solutions and answers. I find quality answers for every problem that I walk through. You're going to give yourself instructions to live them out. They align with your thoughts, align with who you're created to be. Your "I Am" statement, and now that man or woman starts to show up in every area of your life. What's your "I Am" statement? What are you telling yourself, your thoughts are either aligning with who you're created to be, or they're lying to you, and it's the same with your words. What actions are you giving yourself to live out? What confirmation have you given of who you believe you are? They're either aligned with your "I Am" statement and who you're created to be, or they're lying to you. The more you tell yourself the truth, the more you see yourself show up as a hero that you're created to be.

Lesley Logan 32:51  

Oh, my freaking goodness, so good. I love all these I'm really into it. We just had someone, I just interviewed who actually was talking about, we have to redefine words we're saying to ourselves, because oftentimes we'll say something, it's like rephrase it or redefine it, because the words you say matter and they make a big difference. So this is a double dose. It's a sign everyone that you have, that we all need to be doing this.

Lesley Logan 33:13  

So Mark Collins, thank you so much. You guys, the book is Life Mastery. So is the course. Please take a look at his amazing work, re-listen to this. And I think we all have a friend who needs to hear this. I think we all do. I already can't wait for Brad to hear it. So please share this with a friend, because and only will that change their life. And here's the thing, when your friends' lives change, and they start to be more positive and they don't have imposter syndrome, you do too. We are the average of people we hang out with, so it's really important that we help other people be it till they see it. So thank you all so very much, and until next time, Be It Till You See It. Bye.

Lesley Logan 33:48  

That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.

Brad Crowell 34:30  

It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.

Lesley Logan 34:35  

It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.

Brad Crowell 34:39  

Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.

Lesley Logan 34:47  

Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.

Brad Crowell 34:50  

Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.

Lesley Logan highlights the transformative power of gratitude, sharing her own win of overcoming a nighttime driving challenge with the support of loved ones. She celebrates community wins that embody resilience and progress, from tackling business milestones to finding joy in personal achievements. This episode is a heartfelt reminder that leaning on others and embracing gratitude can fuel perseverance and meaningful growth.

If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at [email protected].

And as always, if you’re enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.

In this episode you will learn about:

• The transformative power of gratitude in navigating difficult times.
• Christine’s creative approach to building her client base and celebrating her anniversary.
• Sonja’s big steps forward in launching her new business and staying focused.
• Lesley’s personal win of overcoming her nighttime driving challenges.
• A reminder that leaning on others can be a strength, not a weakness.

Episode References/Links:

• Havva - https://beitpod.com/havva

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.

DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!

Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper’s Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox

Be in the know with all the workshops at OPC

Be It Till You See It Podcast Survey

Be a part of Lesley’s Pilates Mentorship

FREE Ditching Busy Webinar

Resources:

• Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!
• Lesley Logan website
• Be It Till You See It Podcast
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube
• Profitable Pilates

Follow Us on Social Media:

• Instagram
• The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• The OPC YouTube Channel

Episode Transcript:

Lesley Logan 0:00  

It's Fuck Yeah Friday. 

Brad Crowell 0:01  

Fuck yeah. 

Lesley Logan 0:02  

Get ready for some wins. Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.

Lesley Logan 0:48  

Hello, loves. Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast on a Friday. That means it's Fuck Yeah Friday and it's time to celebrate some wins. And I'm gonna be really honest, we are re-recording this. So I recorded a bunch of stuff before we left on tour, and then this one didn't work, so I am kind of winging it a little bit, and I wanted to repeat some of the stuff that I know I can repeat because I've saved it, and then I actually have to change some things, because now we're in real time with this. So first of all, you, let's be real, it can be really hard to be like, fuck yeah, it's Friday when it feels like everyday there's some more devastating news. Like, on the time that I'm recording this, Brad and I have watched all the videos, and new videos of what is going on in Los Angeles, the place we called home for 14 years, the place our friends still call home, and it's hard, right? So if you, how, like, how do you have a win when, like, you are looking at such devastation. And that comes after we were in New Orleans two days after the terrorist attack, and we live here in Las Vegas, where there was an incident, and it's like, it can just be really hard. So I just want to say, like, I never want FYF to be glib and like, not taking into account that, like, shit is happening, right? I also want to be real and say like, if you're not going through the -ish, then you must be doing things to make yourself strong, energized, generous, like you had, and only way to be generous is to have an abundance of energy, stamina, money, whatever, so that when devastation happens, you can support others without it affecting you in a way that's negative. We had someone come in into an agency group a while back to my first assistant, talking about how to advocate and how to be an advocate. And something that she said, and something that, like, has always stuck with me, is like, you can only advocate, like the, if you look at a Venn diagram, like what someone needs is one circle, what you can do is the other circle. And so, like, the overlap is the advocacy, right? And it's never going to be a circle on top of a circle. It's going to be, sometimes it's going to be a sliver, because you're going through your shit, and sometimes it might be like, like a crescent moon, and sometimes it might be half. But what I can say is, like, if you have the energy, strength, stamina, if you have invested in yourself and in your dreams and in your stuff, you can then have things to give to others when they're in need. It is really nice that I have some time in my schedule, because I created that a year ago, that as information about support comes up, I can share that, right? I have dedicated to have a following that I love and that I care for, and that can look to me for resources, and I can do that. And so anyways, I say all this because sometimes we're like, how, we can feel helpless. And so how can there be a win when it just feels so helpless? And sometimes there isn't anything we can do. And sometimes it's just sitting there and texting friends, like, I'm there for you. And sometimes it is offering up a room. I had a friend offer up a room, and she said, we have dogs, and if your dogs are friendly, you can come and so like, just know that, like, not everything has to be you giving up time or money or place because you might not have it, and sometimes it can just be resources. But most importantly, you can't do anything for anyone else who's going through shit if you haven't taken care of you. So anyways, to my LA people, my people who have people in LA who are going through something right now, who have your friends or your family members or friends of friends have lost everything. It can just feel heavy. And how do you start a year? How do you take action when it just feels like, what's the point? And to that, I say we gotta enter the year slowly, and we gotta figure out, like, what is it that we want more than anything and then truly stick to the values that we have when it comes to making decisions. And it's not going to be easy. No, it never has been though, never has been. It's just that, you know, some of these things haven't felt like they've come so on top of the other things, and they are feeling like that right now. And I don't, I don't have a crystal ball. I can just say that, like, what I focus on first is taking a walk every day, because walks really calm the nervous system, and I really get in touch with myself on what I need. And if I need a break, I take a break. And if I have energy to do more, I'm doing more. And it can be really easy if you were raised to be a people-pleaser or to like give more of yourself than others, to feel like you're being selfish, right, when you are taking time for you. But you know what? It's not selfish because you aren't going to be the version you want to be to others if you don't, just won't. 

Lesley Logan 5:20  

So anyways, that was a long intro. I hope it makes you think. On another win, I'll talk about something else that I'm super excited about, but I'm supposed to be remaking this one. So okay, I'm going to tell you something that inspired me from the internet, because sometimes that can be accessible. But this one is from the Female Quotient Instagram, and it said, "We're not crying. You're crying." When, I'm going to say her name incorrectly, I hope I say it as close as possible. Berru Merve Kul, a visually impaired 22-year-old woman, walked onto the stage during her graduation ceremony, the staff at the university also invited her mother, Havva.

Havva was presented with an honorary degree from the University of Sakarya in Turkey for reading her daughter’s lecture notes to her during her four-year course in law. She helped her with homework as well, as the university didn’t have the resources to help visually impaired students.

Without Havva's perseverance, her daughter's dream of becoming a lawyer may not have been realized. Bravo!" So this mother helped her daughter, who's blind, get a law degree, which is her dream, and so that mother got an honorary law degree. And you know what? Here's the deal, that really does, we can go, why didn't that school have visual, like, impairments resources? Not everyone has these things yet. Not everyone has realized that. Not everyone has done that. And so that does suck, but we can actually focus on the win in it. And that's what the point of FYFs are, is like the what's the win in this? And the win in this is what a cool thing that mom could do to support her daughter, and how cool that Turkey now has a visually impaired lawyer who can actually make change, right, who can actually affect change? I think that's really cool. So that really inspired me. 

Lesley Logan 6:55  

All right, so let me hit you up with the wins of yours that you sent in. Here we go. Christine Eschen, she's an Agency member and eLevate grad. She said celebrating my 27th wedding anniversary with my soulmate and husband today at our third annual blues party, and it was the most successful one to date. Had a client late canceled this week, and I held my boundaries, charged her and enjoyed an extra hour to myself. And I'm continually blessed by a local day spa that keeps my flyer up in front of a cookie jar for everyone to submit their info for a drawing for a private and I keep all the names for my email list. Got together this week via Zoom with my Agency family members, Heather and Kim Young and yeah. So anyways, I love that. I love look at all those wins in there. How freaking cool. Way to go, Christine, and way to just be consistent and keep showing up. And congratulations on your anniversary. 

Lesley Logan 7:41  

This next one is from Sonia Ahmed. She's an eLevate grad and an Agency member, and she wrote I got a lot ticked off, to prep me for my new biz and a new country tax biz number, finalized my logo and new business name, registered my new business name, purchased a new URL for a new biz name. Lots of other little bits, like working on Canva. It feels so good to get some focus back. I still have some way to go, and many other admin tasks, but these ones were the big ones that needed doing first before I could move on to other tasks. So, way to go, Sonia, for taking off the non-sexy stuff, and thank you for celebrating the non-sexy stuff with us so we could celebrate, like, yes, you guys, it is a win to, like, do the logistics in the business. It's not the thing that's sexy, it's not the thing that goes viral on Instagram, but it is the thing that is important in your business. 

Lesley Logan 8:24  

All right, so my win is, you guys, I drove five and a half hours at night and didn't freak out. I share that with you because I don't like to drive, and I get really stressed out. I have to get, like, a really big tunnel vision. I have a really hard time. But we, at the last day of our tour stop, Brad and I bought a car, and it's a car that I've wanted for a really long time. It is a car. It's like a dream car for me, and it's not a new car. It's a new-to-me car, it's new-to-us car, and we call her the OG and we have not had a car since 2018 and we have been kind of just waiting. So I don't, anyways, I don't have a car to, like, go, just to go get coffee, and I just take the OPC huge van to go get coffee, which means it has to have open air parking, right? All the different things. So it's not actually really easy. And then sometimes when Brad and I both need to go somewhere, like, I'm borrowing my dad's car as a 41-year-old. So at any rate, we got a car, and I was just like, let's just ship it. Like, you know, let's just ship it because it's 100 bucks in gas, it's $500 to ship, like, and also because I didn't want to drive at night by myself. But guess what? We decided to do it because one, I was so excited to see her, she's so beautiful. Second, we wanted to get her home, we have things to do. We have a reason we need a car. So I drove her. Brad drove the van. And actually, you know what? To pass the time, I just talked with my husband on the phone and our, his friends, like, through the whole drive. And so I'm calling it a win, because normally that would stress me out. I like, definitely, I will say what set me up to have a win is to have a plan of what to do in the car so that I could, like, not be distracted, because it's new. You know, when you drive a new car, you're like, where are the buttons? Second, you know, I had lean on people. My husband knows I struggled driving at night, and he made sure he was in front of me the whole time and that he, like, he was the one calling friends, so I could just answer with my little click of my air pod. And so it's a win, because I lean on people and accepted like there's just some things about me that are never gonna be amazing. I'm never gonna be an amazing nighttime driver. But I drove five hours at night. We made it home, and I washed my hair, and that's the second win. Way to go. I'm patting myself on the back. 

Lesley Logan 10:25  

So the next thing that we do in these, FYFs, if you're new to these, is, after we celebrate your wins and a win of mine, we draw an affirmation. So this is from a card deck that my photographer, Monica Linda got me like, years ago. And this, I don't even know the deck name, so I can't even give it to you. It says gratitude changes everything. Gratitude changes everything. It certainly does. You know what my therapist said to me one time? She said, gratitude and judgment can't live in the same space. They don't hold the same energy. And so if you are feeling judgmental about yourself, start naming things you're grateful for, and you can change that tune right around. So gratitude changes everything. 

Lesley Logan 11:01  

I love you guys so freaking much. I'm really excited for what this podcast has to offer this year. I'm really excited for the guests you're gonna hear, some guests I'm bringing back. And please keep leaving reviews. Please keep sharing this podcast with a friend. Please bother us and tell us how the episodes are affecting you, because that's how we pick more guests. So please do not ever think I'm so busy I can't respond. I will manage my own time. You can send me in the things that you are loving so that we can continue to support you on this journey. Because you guys, there's no crystal wand that's going to make everything beautiful and amazing tomorrow. So we're in this together, and so we want make sure this podcast is supporting you and where you're going. Love you all so much. Have an amazing day, and until next time, Be It Till You See It. 

Lesley Logan 11:42  

That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.

Brad Crowell 12:24  

It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.

Lesley Logan 12:29  

It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.

Brad Crowell 12:34  

Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.

Lesley Logan 12:41  

Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.

Brad Crowell 12:44  

Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.

Brad Crowell and guest co-host Clare Solly reflect on insights from coach and advocate for high-performing women, Traci Peterson, in her interview about living without limiting labels. They share how to spot when you’re relying on outside validation, why community matters, and how establishing your values shapes your goals and relationships. Whether you’re a parent seeking real connections or a high achiever curious about personal growth, this conversation offers practical ways to Be It Till You See It.

If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at [email protected].

And as always, if you’re enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Identifying when you rely on other people’s approval.
• Shifting negative labels toward strengths and gifts.
• Why setting firm boundaries and sharing values fuels growth.
• Integrating self-reflection into daily routines and family life.
• Breaking old patterns by trusting yourself over social pressures.
• How “value checks” can transform relationships and personal goals.

Episode References/Links:

• Cambodia February 2025 Retreat - https://lesleylogan.co/retreats
• Cambodia October 2025 Retreat Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.com
• Accessories Flashcards Waitlist - https://opc.me/flashcardwaitlist
• Pilates Studio Growth Accelerator - https://prfit.biz/accelerator
• Clare Solly's Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@youwontbesolly
• Clare Solly's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/youwontbesolly
• Clare Solly's Website – https://claresolly.com

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.

DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!

Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper’s Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox

Be in the know with all the workshops at OPC

Be It Till You See It Podcast Survey

Be a part of Lesley’s Pilates Mentorship

FREE Ditching Busy Webinar

Resources:

• Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!
• Lesley Logan website
• Be It Till You See It Podcast
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan
• Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube
• Profitable Pilates

Follow Us on Social Media:

• Instagram
• The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• The OPC YouTube Channel

Episode Transcript:

Clare Solly 0:00  

Yes, I am X-Y-Z and if you need like A-B-C in your life, then we're on the wrong side of the alphabet. 

Lesley Logan 0:08  

Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.

Brad Crowell 0:52  

Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap. Brad here again today with a very special guest stepping in for Lesley, we have Clare Solly. Yeah, welcome back, Clare. Clare is one of Lesley's best friends who has been both a guest on the pod, and she's actually hosted some of these recaps in the past. So those of you who have been listening for a long time, you probably know Clare. She's an author. She's an actor. She is Lesley's slingshot friend that goes all the way back to Episode 19. She lives in New York City, and she actually also you've been doing a whole lot of traveling this past year if I recall.

Clare Solly 1:24  

So much travel. Yeah, so much travel. I was so inspired. I think I've been to six countries this year, and then. 

Brad Crowell 1:30  

That's crazy. 

Clare Solly 1:31  

I'm actually in Connecticut right now I'm talking to you. 

Brad Crowell 1:33  

Okay, okay. I was wondering. I was like this doesn't feel like New York. Love it. Today we are going to dig into the validating convo that Lesley had with Traci Peterson in our last episode. If you have not yet listened to that, feel free, pause this, go back, take a listen. Traci is a rock star, and she's like a super cool mom, a very inflective inflection. She's looking back at her own life, analyzing it, and seeing how she can sow into her daughter differently, and I just thought that was epic. So yeah, that's worth a listen. Go back and listen to that, and then come back here to join us. But before we get into the convo with Traci, why don't you tell us about today? 

Clare Solly 2:11  

Today is January 16th and it is Natural, Natural? 

Brad Crowell 2:17  

Yeah. 

Clare Solly 2:18  

Natural and National Religious Freedom Day. National Religious Freedom Day is observed to promote the message of peace and acceptance. The day is to highlight the fact that everyone has a right to their own religious beliefs, and people can go worship however and whenever they want. And I thought this was actually very timely, because Traci talks about one of the first things she says, like right off the bat, is that you can celebrate whatever deity that supports you (inaudible) subscribes you and that's the word. 

Brad Crowell 2:48  

I think it's also important to remind ourselves that, while there are, it's probably safe to say the majority of the United States, they subscribe to Christianity in some form. I don't think that we remember that our country wasn't founded by. 

Clare Solly 3:07  

It was not. 

Brad Crowell 3:08  

By a bunch of Christians like the Pilgrims came over. They were definitely were trying to get away, and they were being persecuted, and they were Christian. The founding fathers, however, they had mix of religions, including Christianity, but also Quaker, Lutheran, Dutch Reformed and even Roman Catholic. And so when they were setting our country up, it was with this really important idea of religious freedom, and I think that's healthy for us to remind ourselves that different people believe different things, and that's okay. 

Clare Solly 3:39  

Yeah. Well and you mentioned in New York City, there's 72 different nations represented in this city, in my city, and that's fascinating. I can walk two, three blocks. It's like I'm traveling in a different country, because there are different things going on. And speaking of travel, aren't you guys traveling soon? 

Brad Crowell 3:56  

Yeah, that's right. We're actually going to be going to Cambodia here in just a few weeks, I'm so excited. I'm already getting everything ready. We've been making sure we've got the place situated. Our team is already prepping things. We're making sure that the grounds are good to go, and Lesley and I get there a few days early. So end of February, we've got a retreat at our retreat space in Cambodia, and it might feel like. 

Clare Solly 4:19  

Wish I could go.

Brad Crowell 4:20  

Well, you can, you still you can. You can. Hey and you, too, can join us. Yeah, believe it or not, you know, I know it's short notice, but there's still time if you're interested, to join us here in February. However, if that is like, clearly too soon, because it's all the way around the world and flying internationally can be challenging, join us in October. Okay? We're going to go back in October. It's going to be the middle of the month right now. There's an offer going on that you would never know about unless you were on the waitlist. So if you're not on the waitlist, just go to crowsnestretreats.com crowsnestretreats.com. Click on the October you'll see all the dates. You'll see everything that's going on there. If you have any questions about it, just reach out. It is a life changing experience. It's one of my favorite things to do. You've heard me talk about it for years on this podcast, and every single time I go, I still come back rejuvenated, just on fire to promote how epic it is over there, the people are beautiful. The food is incredible. The countryside is amazing. The temples of Angkor are, you know, it just makes me feel like a kid again every single time. It's amazing. The wonder, it's just insane. Well, we're still working hard on these accessories flash cards, right? So if y'all are familiar with the flash card decks that we put out for Pilates, to learn Pilates, the sixth one in the series is coming out. It's the accessories deck. It'll be coming out this summer. Back in November, we shot the, did all the photos back in LA and Lesley's been working super hard on the cards. In fact, she's really excited for us to be in Cambodia because we get to go a couple days early, and she literally is on the opposite side of the world from what our normal life. So no one interrupts her. She can take no phone calls, none of the things, and she always uses that time to sit down and just continue to really work on these cards. She's going to be writing and editing and doing all that kind of stuff. So if that's something that's interesting to you, go to opc.me/flashcardwaitlist flashcardwaitlist, and put yourself on the waitlist. We hook up the people on the waitlist. We don't ever announce publicly that we've got this epic presale offer that is going to happen, so only the people on the waitlist. So put yourself on there. 

Next up is, as you may recall, I've been hosting some webinars recently. I've got another one coming up. And if you are a fitness business owner or a Pilates studio owner or a home studio owner, or you're renting spaces studio, if you are working for yourself in some way, you want to come to this free webinar that I'm putting on. It's called the Pilates Studio Growth Accelerator. After coaching seven years, Lesley and I have been able to work with thousands of business owners just like you, and we boiled down three big secrets that are going to get you unstuck in your money. 

Clare Solly 6:56  

Secrets?

Brad Crowell 6:57  

Yeah, secrets. In your money, unstuck in your client growth. How do you manage a team? How do you change your messaging? How do you connect with these clients that you need to do in order to grow your business? These are the things that we are talking about, and I want you to come join us. So go to prfit.biz/accelerator. That's profit without the O, dot biz slash accelerator. It's a free webinar. So before we get into this convo with Traci Peterson, we had an audience question to respond to. And if you were here last week, you can laugh again, because the audience is Lesley. And Lesley was literally asking Clare a question. So Claire, what are you reading next?

Clare Solly 8:02  

This is a hysterical question. I'm a bookstagrammer, so I'm a book influencer. You can (inaudible).

Bookstagram. You know what I literally thought it was an entire platform called Bookstagram I was like, what? No, it's like a segment of Instagram.

It's a corner of, yeah, it's a corner of Instagram. It's a corner of Tiktok. If you look up the hashtag (inaudible). 

Brad Crowell 8:24  

Wait, it's TikTok? 

Clare Solly 8:24  

Yeah, it's on TikTok too. We'll talk about books all the time. So I'm, you won't be Solly, you can. We'll probably put that somewhere if you want to find it, if you want to go see what books I'm reading. So I read all kinds of different fiction. My favorites are like romcoms and fantasy. I love anything with a dragon, although it's funny, when we get to the new year, I'm always like, okay, I want to get some gritty so I usually read, like, a good biography, or I read something more nonfiction-wise, I'm a tiny bit of a self help junkie, so every once in a while, I'm like, what's the new self-help book? Brene Brown, what do you got for me? 

Brad Crowell 8:56  

Yeah, right? 

Clare Solly 8:57  

But one of these trips that I went on this summer was with my mom, and we were driving, and we saw these old time like 40 year old, 50 year old truck stop places. You know, the movie (inaudible)

Brad Crowell 9:08  

Americana. 

Clare Solly 9:09  

I'm totally Americana. So I'm sort of fascinated by all of this, and it's like percolating in the back of my brain to write something, whether it's a play or a book about these old time pull over by the side of the road and take a picture with the world's largest ball of twine. So I'm sort of.

Brad Crowell 9:29  

There's always these big ass chairs out there, like on the side of a freeway. Like, what are they doing?

Clare Solly 9:34  

Like, I went to Canada in May, and there was a giant moose statue, and of course, I had to take a picture with it. But like, why is there a giant moose just by the side of the road? 

Brad Crowell 9:44  

That's funny. 

Clare Solly 9:45  

I'm somewhat fascinated by these, like, old I don't know why I keep saying old timey, because they're not that old. But as a kid, we used to take roadtrips, and we would stop and like, the moccasin factory. So I'm doing some research, so to speak, on some of these old, older roadside attractions so (inaudible) maybe, maybe I think I'm envisioning more of a fictional story, like a generational grandpa made this thing, put his life fortune into it, and, like, run down and what do we do with it? You know, kind of. 

Brad Crowell 10:19  

Oh, that, you know, what's really interesting, that's a really clever idea. Because then it could be like, the young generation who doesn't give a shit about it, and he's like, what do I do with this thing? But then it could be that the younger person comes to appreciate it, you know? Or they could be like, fuck it. I'm moving to the city. 

Clare Solly 10:38  

Yeah. Well, I mean, and we're kind of all, like, we've kind of forgotten what this is. We've forgotten what these and some people don't even know what they are. 

Brad Crowell 10:46  

Yeah, they don't even know what it is. They drive by without even understanding. That's interesting. You know, I think there's, like, a really a lot there of digging into this idea of nostalgia, yeah. That's a cool that could be a really cool premise, Clare.

Clare Solly 11:03  

Yeah, well, and then passing things down to generations, what have we experienced, or what have our parents or grandparents experienced that we can pass down through generations? So I think that that's important. 

Brad Crowell 11:14  

That's cool, too, yeah, and the meaning, like how I had so much meaning to them, yeah. Well, very cool. I love that. I'm glad you shared that you are doing the Bookstagram, the book Tiktok, that one too, the book talk. Stick around, everybody. We'll be right back. We're going to dig into this amazing convo Lesley had with Traci Peterson. 

Alright, now let's talk about Traci Peterson. Traci is an international speaker, a board certified family nurse practitioner and founder of Elevate Wellness and Aesthetics. She is the creator of Women Lessons, a transformative program and podcast that empowers high-performing women and their daughters to overcome self-criticism, embrace their divine gifts and build unshakable confidence. She's a proud mother of three and Traci leads by example, inspiring others to break generational cycles of insecurity while living a purpose-driven life of faith, leadership and personal growth. It was a very refreshing convo. I really appreciated her mission. There was so much in there. What was one thing that you loved?  

Clare Solly 12:15  

One thing I said that she loved was to look inward and upward for your validation. She said, most of the time, we've had to learn things the hard way, and you're not finding your value or your worth from or your validation from any other person than yourself from your relationship with you and your Creator. I found that gorgeous, because yes, we are, especially women, we are in this moment where we are standing up for ourselves. We are finding our own identities, but we're looking outward for that, and we're still, we still are plagued with magazines and perfection being thrown at us, like from deodorant commercials to clothing ads to car ads, like, what should you drive if you're a Pilates instructor. What do you do if you're a performer and a writer? What do you need to wear? Who? What? How do you need to project yourself? So there's so many hows and whys, and really, at the end of the day, you have to live with yourself, and I am the only person that has to live with me, even if you are living with someone else, even if you are thriving with someone else. At the end of the day, you have to make yourself happy. There's nobody else. I mean, other people can add to your happiness, but they can't make you 100% happy. So I loved, loved that. 

Brad Crowell 13:33  

Yeah, I think, you know, it kind of goes back to what we were talking about last week, about worthiness, validation, if we put that in the hands of the people around us, we're setting ourselves up for failure.

Clare Solly 13:46  

Yeah, you're giving yourself a measuring stick. You're giving other people power to have the measuring stick for your life. And you don't know which direction they're going to go, because you don't know what their goals are and your relationship with yourself is, the one that should be paramount should be the top. And I'm not saying ignore everyone else and only live your best life, but that's not the point of and it's not Traci's point either. But I think you have to be comfortable with yourself first. You know, it's kind of like that airplane mask saying, right? You have to put on your mask first and make sure you're okay, before you're any help to anyone else. And I know that's not quite what she was saying, but at the same time, it's still that that's valid. 

Brad Crowell 14:26  

No, it's super relevant, you know. And I think also, too, she's talking about, you know, inward and upward instead of outward, instead of outward. So absolutely, I definitely agree. I was thinking about, how do you catch yourself in that moment of when you're when you're seeking validation from others, right? 

Clare Solly 14:47  

Yeah, hard habit to break. 

Brad Crowell 14:50  

Yeah, it really is, you know, because there's that sense of validation, I mean, I understand that. If we create a new product and no one buys it, that makes me feel like a failure. We fucked up. We clearly missed the mark. We didn't understand what people were looking for. I can understand that external, you know, looking external to we're talking about world views as well. If your worldview is, I am a salesperson, and you fail at selling like I was just talking about then. 

Clare Solly 15:21  

Well, identity. 

Brad Crowell 15:22  

Yeah, what do you do? What do you do with that? Does that mean life is over now? So when your foundation isn't built on those things, but instead is built internally, it's a lot more challenging to rock that kind of a person. And that's a good thing, that's a good thing. So, yeah, we'll, look, I really loved when she was talking about gifts. She said, listen, not everyone is going to understand your gifts or celebrate them. Those are not your people. And what she was talking about was this really heart wrenching story of her childhood where she was in her early teens, mid teens, and she walked up behind her friends, and her friends were basically talking shit on her, and she ended up going home, and she was telling her mom, and then her mom said something, probably not intentionally, but she said something that was really hurtful and that really rocked her. And she said what she had been told every day is, hey, remember who you are. And she's like, well, I'm loud. I am the person who is in control of the situation. I am all these things. And you know, in that sense, it's positive, but what she was getting the feedback from was that makes you bossy, and that makes you never paying attention, and that makes you this, that makes you this. So suddenly her strengths were being portrayed as weakness. And as a 14-year-old, how do you overcome that? You're going to change yourself so that you can fit in, so that you're no longer going to do those things, and that really shifts into people pleasing and all this other stuff, and that's really, really difficult. It was a sad story to hear. And she said her daughter came from home from school and said, hey, Mom, you know, I need to learn how to be a woman. And the things that her daughter said, well, I need to learn these things, that was like, the beginning of this mission that Traci is on, and that I felt was like so powerful that she had this moment of introspection. That was the word I was looking for at the beginning of the pod. Introspection, she had this moment of clarity, of like, oh, wow. Is this the example that I've set for my daughter, if these are the things that she thinks she needs?

Clare Solly 17:22  

And am I the model for that? I thought that was also very important. Yeah. 

Brad Crowell 17:26  

Yeah, absolutely. And so I think it's so cool that she's come full circle now and she can say, hey, you know what the gifts that I was told are a problem when I was a teen? No, those are still gifts. But the people who are giving me that feedback, those are not my people.

Clare Solly 17:44  

Yeah, and I like, this story resonated so, so deeply with me, because I was like, wait, are we the same person? Because the same sort of situation happened with me. And again, it was, you know, a different topic, a different day. And I'm sure other people, other women, especially, have suffered. And I'm talking from because I'm a woman, and I've talked to many women who have been like, oh yeah, me too. So I can speak from that. And many of us, you know, we just get ripped to shreds. And I'm very tall. I'm six feet tall, and so I have always been the one that was automatically the leader and was put in charge of things. 

Brad Crowell 18:24  

Sure. 

Clare Solly 18:24  

And I learned to speak loud because I'm a big, tall person. And then I also grew up with two stepbrothers, so I had to be loud because there were two boys in my house. And I was known as bossy. And it's so funny, because once I heard that, I was like, when was the last time I heard bossy? And I kind of love now that we have this boss babe mentality, like we've turned it around, that word. 

Brad Crowell 18:49  

Isn't that funny? 

Clare Solly 18:49  

Yeah and what used to be such a negative word, and we're now embracing it. I loved, I loved this, which, you know, brings me back to the embracing your gifts. Yes, I am X-Y-Z and if you need like A-B-C in your life, then we're on the wrong side of the alphabet. I need a W and a Q and a T in there. Go be on your other side of the alphabet. And like we all are in this together, but I'm X-Y-Z, and this is what it is.

Brad Crowell 19:14  

That is something that we, especially as a child, have no perspective on. Our entire world is our class. Our entire world is our bus to and from school. Our entire world is our neighbors, because those are our friends that we play with. I have to imagine that shifted because of the internet, but still, even with the internet and the virtual it's generally still people that we know in real life that we're trying to connect with online. So as we shift change, grow older, we realize, oh, maybe I don't need to be in this community. Maybe this is my community over here. Or these are not my people. Those are my people. Or as business owners, we talk about this all the time to our clients who are building their own business. Maybe the people that we've been selling to are not the people we should be selling to because they're clearly not appreciating the thing, you know, but there are other people who will appreciate the thing. This is also another thing that I think is so important that fits right into this. When we lived in Los Angeles, there were something like 15, 18 Pilates studios within a two-mile radius, or three-mile radius. I can't remember what it was, Lesley and I looked it up at one point, and it was like kind of mind blowing. How was it possible that we all had clients? If we're all competing, we're all doing this the same thing. We're all teaching Pilates. Now, there's different forms of Pilates, but that's not my point. The point is from the person who doesn't know anything about Pilates they just see 18 Pilates studios, right? What sets you apart is you and how you're communicating and connecting with them. Do they vibe with you? Your vibe, them, you know, coming in the door and being like, I like this person. There's something innate there. There's something intuitive there, and that's really a thing that sets you apart. And that's why we're not for everybody, and that's why they might not be your people. You know those people who are critiquing your strengths instead of praising your strengths.

Clare Solly 21:09  

Yeah and I think it also goes both ways. If you are buying into something, or you're giving your time to something and you're just not connecting with it, let it go. Leave it for someone else. Leave the space for someone else. There are many other opportunities out there. We talked about books earlier, like, I have read the same genre of book. I say I read dragon books, and there are some dragon books that I just don't like, and there are dragon books that like blow me away, but there are other people that read them that just don't jive. So yeah, if you're not feeling it, if you're not feeling me, move on to something else. Your life is yours. Live it how you want to. 

Brad Crowell 21:45  

I agree. I totally, totally agree. Stick around real quick, because when we get back, we're going to talk about those Be It Action Items that Traci and Lesley were talking about. So, we'll be right back. 

All right. So finally, let's talk about those Be It Action Items. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from Lesley's convo with Traci Peterson? She said hey, use the energy generator guide, especially if you ever feel overwhelmed burnt out as a mom, this guide, the energy generator guide, it walks you through the step by step. One, write down your top three values. Two, how to get to those in a very succinct manner. The guide helps you do that, and then you start calendaring those values. Have a conversation with your family, your spouse, your child, about your set of values. She talked about instilling this concept into her daughter in a way that allows your daughter to reflect, hey, is this serving me, this thing that I'm signed up for? Is it fitting with my values? And it allows you to also measure the feedback I think that you're getting from people, and be like, do these people agree with my values? Because if they don't agree with my values, then maybe I shouldn't be listening to their feedback. And I just thought that was super powerful to be teaching, you know, someone who's 12. Yeah, she said, sometimes we know what we value, but there's conversations that sometimes need to happen, explaining why, the why behind why you're doing it, so that you can get other people on board. So when you know your values too, you can also use that as a leader, you know, as the person who's the biggest personality in the room, like she is, I just, that's a, that's an incredible life lesson for someone to be passing on to their kids. And also, I think, I don't have any kids, so this is something that, like, Lesley and I would have a conversation about this kind of a thing, you know, do we need to do this? Or why are we doing this? Why are we still doing this? If it's something that we've been repeating over and over and over again? So yeah, that's pretty potent. 

Clare Solly 23:49  

Yeah, I love that she's focused on moms and daughters. Love it. Love it. Love it. I'm a daughter of a mom and don't have children, so for me, I dropped in instead of mom, I dropped in person, and instead of children, spouse, etc. I dropped in support system because I have many, many friends. 

Brad Crowell 24:05  

I really thought you were gonna say my pet. And I was like, yes.

Clare Solly 24:09  

I mean, you should calendar in your pet.

Brad Crowell 24:12  

And you'll have like, a one-on-one. Like, is this serving our values? 

Clare Solly 24:15  

Yeah. What are we, good dog, good job. But yeah. I mean, I think this system is good for anyone. So I, you know if, even if you're not a mom, you don't have a daughter, go take a look at this book, because I think it's very supportive. My biggest takeaway, and again, I love to, love, love this because I'm daughter of a mom, she created with seven woman lessons to look inward and upward for your validation and the lessons were, remember who you are and whose you are. And I loved that whose. I loved that. Gratitude grounds you. Your own, remember your own divine gift. Be selfmore, not selfless. I'm gonna say that again, be selfmore, not selfless. You are more than your body. Amen. Community counts and number seven was living your potential. All of these are brilliant. Again, I think you can even substitute in, not yes, these are great things to teach to a younger person. It's a good teachable moment for yourself. And like these seven guidelines, I feel like I took a lot of notes when I was listening to this one. I was listening out to it fast, and so I had to go back and listen because I was taking and I think it's just great ways to, like, focus yourself. And again, we're at the New Year. It's not too late to start your resolution, or if you have one, or if you don't, or even just looking forward to, like, where do you want to go? And these are steps and guidelines to move you forward or move you and your team, you and your people forward. So loved it.

Brad Crowell 25:45  

I have a lot of awe for people who take the time to reflect back on their years of life and pull out the like distill concepts like this. This all comes back to that conversation she had with her daughter about, like, Mom, I need to learn how to be a woman. And from that came an entire platform, you know, where she is now able to not only support her own daughter, but support other moms. And now she's hosting retreats and for mom and daughter retreats, and doing all this amazing stuff that came back to this one moment of absolute clarity. And then now she's got this system that she put together. And, you know, high level, these things sound like, oh, okay, that's great. Gratitude grounds, be selfmore not selfless. That's cute, actually. I like that one. But there's still so much thought that went behind each one. Why are these the seven, there's clearly a reason, and I think it's worth digging in. So I love that. All right. Well, everyone, well, I'm Brad Crowell. 

Clare Solly 26:48  

And I'm Lesley Logan, just kidding. I'm Clare Solly.

Brad Crowell 26:52  

Thank you so much for joining us today. If you want to hear more from Clare, go check her out at claresolly.com C-L-A-R-E-S-O-L-L-Y dot com. We are so grateful that you are here. How are you going to use these tips in your life? Let us know by sending us a DM to the pod on IG, or leave us a comment on YouTube. We will definitely catch you on the next episode and in between here, Be It Till You See It. 

Clare Solly 27:14  

Bye for now.

Lesley Logan 27:16  

That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.

Brad Crowell 27:58  

It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.

Lesley Logan 28:03  

It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.

Brad Crowell 28:08  

Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.

Lesley Logan 28:15  

Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.

Brad Crowell 28:18  

Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai