Be It Till You See It

Today Brad and Lesley discuss last episodes convo with Jessica Burgio, digging into the ideas of how to get referrals, first clients, the gift of gab... And, you'll learn what scares LL more than a roller coaster...

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 power of putting yourself in rooms with people you don't know
• WOO - winning others over
• You are one or two people away from the person you want to meet
• The "gift of gab"
• Exactly how to talk to someone you don't know
• You're always one person away from a referral
• Done is better than perfect

Episode References/Links:

• Sponsor a First Responder
• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• Gretchen Rubin
• Jessica Burgio’s website
• Beauty Inspires Beauty website
• Jessica Burgio’s IG
• Beauty Inspires Beauty IG
• Beauty Inspires Beauty podcast

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.

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

Social Media

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Tik Tok
• LinkedIn

Episode Transcript:

Lesley Logan 0:01  

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 and Brad Crowell 0:43  

Nails, hair, hips, heels. Nails, hair, hips, heels. (Brad laughs)

Lesley Logan 0:47  

I just love it. I don't walk a strut strut strut ... and then a sashay ... I love to walk the dogs to this song, it's one of my favorite songs. (Brad laughs)

Brad Crowell 0:58  

Okay.

Lesley Logan 1:00  

Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co hosts in life, Brad and I are going to dig into the enthusiastic convo I have with Jessica Burgio in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that episode, then feel free to pause this now. (Brad: Yeah) Do the thing to whatever app you're using to (Brad: The thing) to to listen to the other one. And then come back and join us or listen to this one and then go back and then you tell us which takeaway you liked and DM us. (Brad: Love it. Do it) I love it, too. Okay. Aaahh, before we gonna do this, because I love Jessica ... she and I met over leggings. So you know, that speaks my language. But I'm so, I gotta tell you something. I'm really excited to share this. On September 30th, y'all, I will be on the Strong Fitness Magazine's Instagram live. It is National Women Health and Fitness Day. And we are talking about the importance of self care and how it's not selfish care. And I'm freakin stoked about this. And I really, really, really want you to join because it's a message they all need to hear and and that in fact, tell your friends about it so that they come, too.

Brad Crowell 2:06  

Yes, I am excited about that, too. In fact, I think you're gonna be alive a few times that day.

Lesley Logan 2:12  

I know. So, Strong Fitness Magazine is having me on a few times... well I'll be on, I'm on them a few times in a few weeks. But that one is a big talk that I'm really, really excited about. (Brad: Yeah) And so yeah, National Health and Fitness Day, spend it with me over @strongfitnessmag Instagram.

Brad Crowell 2:28  

On the IG.

Lesley Logan 2:30  

Do we have a question from someone in the audience, my love?

Brad Crowell 2:34  

Yes, we do.

Lesley Logan 2:35  

Tell me more.

Brad Crowell 2:35  

We have, have a question about, "I heard you're doing something to sponsor first responders. How do I do that?"

Lesley Logan 2:43  

I love it. I love that people are like, "Yeah, I want in! I'm in."

Brad Crowell 2:47  

I mean, I'm so grateful that you asked this question because we obviously want to talk about it. If you haven't listened to our last couple of episodes, then you're missing out. But we will happily reiterate right here, right now.

Lesley Logan 2:59  

It is so important. So, I am someone who kind of struggles a bit about the fact that... you're you're listening this... live everywhere. Like we have Be It listeners all over the world. (Brad: Yeah) It's insane. Like, there's some countries I didn't even know we're around. So ...

Brad Crowell 3:16  

We're getting famous in India.

Lesley Logan 3:17  

Yeah. Well, that's, (Brad: That's cool.) But like Uzbekistan, or like ...

Brad Crowell 3:23  

... Azerbaijan?

Lesley Logan 3:25  

Azerbaijan!

Brad Crowell 3:26  

Azerbaijan, I think so.

Lesley Logan 3:27  

If you are listening from Azerbaijan. Hi ... (Lesley laughs)

Brad Crowell 3:29  

Yeah, send us a DM and say hello.

Lesley Logan 3:32  

So um, the the reason we chose first responders is that no matter where you live in the world, right now, your first responders are working their tails off. Oh, well, I like to (Brad: Yeah) call it their Thasses off. And so it is, I really struggle, I want to have ways of giving back. And I want to make sure that when you participate in things with us that they can give back to things but a lot of my charities are like, local, not really ...

Brad Crowell 3:58  

Well, generally connected to local stuff, (Lesley: Local stuff, but ...) you obviously you're listening from not here.

Lesley Logan 4:04  

Not here. So this is what's really cool, you can actually sponsor a first responder in our upcoming challenge, which is all about putting yourself first (Brad: Me, Myself and I). Yes, it's all about filling your cup first, and who needs to fill their cup first more than a first responder or essential worker. They, as we all know, have been just really dealing with it in the last 18 months. And so here's how it works. When you go to sign up for the challenge, and obviously you don't actually have to sign up for the challenge in the show notes below. There's a special link.

Brad Crowell 4:35  

You should though.

Lesley Logan 4:36  

You should because like it's, I mean, you sign yourself up as your vote of self care for you. And then you sign your first responder, buddy up or person that has touched your life as an essential worker ...

Brad Crowell 4:48  

And then you can do this together.

Lesley Logan 4:49  

And you can do this together. And here's the thing. So the links below to the act, there's a special link for the first responders. So normally ... (Brad: In the show notes) Normally the challenge is $99, it's about $1139 in value, and then Brad added a special gift. So it's more than that. So it's $99 for the challenge, but first first responder that your sponsor, it's only $30 bucks, because we're splitting the cost with you. And this way your first responder can live anywhere in the world. And they can be touched by this special gift that's actually going to, in the challenge I'm going to teach you and them, how to fill your cup first, you can take care of others and do more of what you love and be there for the people that matter to you. So you don't have to know what Pilates is, we've got special classes for those people who are brand new. You also don't have to do the full class because finishing is optional. We like to say that, but ...

Brad Crowell 5:40  

Yeah, in fact, one of our members said that ... and we thought that was amazing.

Lesley Logan 5:44  

I think we're gonna make it a shirt. So yeah, go to that, click the links below, sign yourself up, sign up, first responder up, and then for 30 days, we are going to ditch the old ways that you think and you have used to make consistency a possibility in your life. And that only leaves you feeling bad about yourself, and actually learned the tools and tips that help you feel really freakin' awesome about yourself. Help you create consistency and guess we'll use Pilates, but you can rinse and repeat all these tips for anything you want to be consistent with.

Brad Crowell 6:14  

Okay, so don't miss it because it's all happening on October 3 is the start date. If you're a day or two late, that's okay, you can still participate in the challenge. But the the anyway, sign up now, don't wait because, you know, we're gonna get started and it's gonna be 30 days from October 3.

Lesley Logan 6:35  

Yeah, I'm excited. Okay. Yey, love that question. Thanks for asking. If you want to ask a question of us, you just send it to @be_it_pod on Instagram. Just say ... (Brad: Send us a DM) I would love to answer it. It can be anything in life. It doesn't have to be anything about Pilates ... itself. It could be anything on your mind that you just would love the opinion of Brad and I ...

Brad Crowell 6:54  

Like where do, where does Lesley find these amazing backdrop hanging banner things?

Lesley Logan 7:00  

I know, we got to get a new one because I'm super over this one.

Brad Crowell 7:03  

Like, how come I look like I'm in a completely different room than her? (Lesley laughs) With my backdrop? Is that real? (Lesley: You know, what? I...) Or what's happening? Are we on the other side of the house?

Lesley Logan 7:15  

No, we're not on the other side of house. But I'm definitely ordering a new backdrop ...

Brad Crowell 7:18  

No, they're supposed to ask so we can answer.

Lesley Logan 7:20  

Well, they can ask me where I get them. But I'm still ordering another one. DM @be_it_pod.

Brad Crowell 7:26  

DM the @be_it_pod. 

Okay, now let's talk about Jessica Burgio. (Lesley: Jessica Burgio) Jessica, known as "The Beauty Mentor," is a confidence coach for Beauty Industry Professionals. She's a single mom at 40 years old, a former salon over, owner. Sorry, former salon owner. (Lesley: I like in over) Over is was was my next word. (Lesley laughs) She has over 20 years of behind-the-chair experience and she's the founder of the Beauty Inspires Beauty podcast. She is excited, enthusiastic and inspiring. If you've not listened to her episode yet with Lesley, you should definitely do so. It is, she's just rad, you know ...

Especially to moms out there, listen to it, because she's a badass, and it's not easy to be a mom in general. To be a single mom, woo. (Lesley laughs)

It was good. It was really good to listen to her, you know, talk about the ... just life, getting to where she is today and how she started as a really excited, enthusiastic 20 year old in the beauty biz. And, you know, kind of killed it right out of the gate and then started looking around going, "How come I'm I'm doing well but all my peers, not all but many of my peers are not?" And then (Lesley: Yeah) realizing that she should find a solution or can find a solution to empower others, all the while starting family on the way. So ...

Lesley Logan 8:57  

I mean, aside from the family all the way, clearly she and I became friends for over many reasons. (Brad: Yeah) Not just my amazing ... (Brad: I thought there was a parallel there.) There was, there was I got really, really fastly busy as a Pilates instructor. And then I was like, "How come my peers aren't as busy as me?" Anyways, we met actually over leggings and then we ended up a group together. So, but you've need to listen the podcast to hera how that happened. Okay, so something I really love that she said is, "The power of putting yourself in rooms with people you don't know." And of course, I've achieved this one for a couple reasons. She and I met because we put ourselves in a room of people we don't know (Brad: Yeah) and that has changed. Not just my career, but my life. Some of my favorite people that I get to talk to every single week are people I've met in a room that I put myself in. I was like, "I don't even know what this is. I don't even know what a mastermind is on anything." But currently, you and I are literally putting ourselves in rooms, pools, parties. (Lesley laughs)

Brad Crowell 9:51  

Yeah. Surprise parties, movie theaters, all the things. So ...

Lesley Logan 9:55  

Well, we do surprise party for a person we know only a couple of times who shopped at their store, and we knew no one else there, and thankfully, we actually ended up knowing someone that was like, "Oh, the only other person we know in Vegas is here. That's amazing!" (Brad: Yeah) (Lesley laughs)

Brad Crowell 10:09  

Yeah, we, as you know, we moved to Vegas last summer, but because of COVID, we really haven't been going out until, like three months ago. So, because now we're vaccinated and exploring Las Vegas, it's been a) fun to like, learn the street names because I literally was like, "I know my street. That's it." (Lesley and Brad laughs) You know ...

Lesley Logan 10:31  

We tell people, "We live over in this neighborhood." And they're like, "Where?" and I'm like, "...you exit the fifteen at..." (Brad: Right) (Lesley and Brad laughs) 

Brad Crowell 10:40  

That's where we know. That's about all we know. (Lesley: And then you make a left) Yeah. (Lesley laughs) So, it's been fun to get to know the city of Las Vegas, and then also obviously, meeting the people here. So, we've been really trying to connect. So ...

Lesley Logan 10:53  

Yeah but but putting yourself in rooms of people you don't know, you learn so much about yourself. Like, it is self awareness time, because you will learn like what you're a little bit afraid to say, what, like a little bit about like, "Ooh, that's intriguing. Oh, that's interesting. That scares me a little bit" like, I don't know. It's scary and super fun. More than a roller coaster, I find, what do you think?

Brad Crowell 11:16  

Yeah, I mean, Well, look, you you know me ...

Lesley Logan 11:19  

Oh, Brad makes friends with everyone. Everyone.

Brad Crowell 11:21  

My, my, my my favorite thing to do is meet new people. My number one strength for a lot of my life was, is/was WOO. WOO stands for Winning Others Over. Which if you like, look at the definition of it. It basically means I love to meet everybody in the room and get to know who they are. And then like, have a conversation briefly and move on to the next person and meet them. And that's just something that I've always done. And so anyway, (Lesley: Always) I love getting out there and meeting new people.

Always done. (Brad: Yeah.) Oh. (Lesley laughs) And it's also really great, because you but but the power of that is we have really connected with some amazing people that we probably... we went to dinner with a guy you met you met in an elevator? I was in that elevator but you met him in that elevator.

Yes, I started talking to him in an elevator that was maybe 60 seconds elevator ride. And we got to the top and we walked from the elevator to the restaurant bar and we and then ... (Lesley: Somehow exchanged phone number) that was the extent of the conversation. No, like, I knew there was more of a conversation to have. And we went, we sat, we had our drinks and our hang. And when we were leaving, I was like, "I'm not finished with this conversation with this guy." And, so I ran over ... I interrupted his party. I literally interrupted a conversation and I'm like waived from him. I'm like, "Yo!" And he came over I was like, "Hey, we got a jet, but we should keep talking," you know. And he's like, "Absolutely." We exchanged phone numbers and then we ended up going to a he was like, he texted me, "I'm coming back to Vegas. You guys should get tickets to this concert. I'm going to go to this concert. Let's hang."

Lesley Logan 13:01  

Yeah. We got tickets to a ... What do you call those things, Rastafari?

Brad Crowell 13:05  

No. We went to a reggae concert. (Lesley laughs) Yeah.

Lesley Logan 13:11  

We did go to a reggae concert with this guy, first went to dinner with him. He and his partner ... his partner in life, but his partner and his business. (Brad: Yeah) They're like big time, financial, something kinds of people. But we ended up having the best time and that friendship is not done. It's not a one hit wonder (Brad: No, it was a blast.) You know, so the power is that like, you are often like one or two people away from the person you want to meet. Like, I am almost positive between one or two connections, we have Oprah's phone number, for sure. One connection away from many other powerful people. And, so I just think it's really important whatever you're, whatever you're wanting to do in this life, you often think like, "Oh my God, I can never get that person to like, listen to me, if only this person knew what I was doing, I would have this." You probably have the literal connections in your contact list and then you just have them, to go put yourself in rooms.

Brad Crowell 14:02  

Well, I'm laughing here because at a completely different point in the conversation. You and Jessica talked about tips for getting first clients and slash the gift of gab, which is a perfect shoe in for...

Lesley Logan 14:19  

Oh, why don't you keep ... why don't you share about your favorite?

Brad Crowell 14:21  

Exactly, that's what literally what I'm saying. So, in that conversation, you were talking about tips for getting your first client / the gift to gab. So, it goes hand in hand with the power of putting yourself in the in a room with people you don't know. Where where, you know there is ... I love it because I do it, right. I meet people and that's on purpose. I was trained in how to do this. Okay, this was slash "innate." My mom is the person who like when we were leaving church would take 30 minutes to get out the door and my dad would be looking at her like, "You said we wanted to go and now I'm waiting on you." And you know, so I ... (Lesley: Same. My mom, same.) (Brad and Lesley laughs) So, I definitely learned that from my mom in that, like she says hi to everyone, she's got a conversation going with them that never ends. It's like, you know, weeks long running whatever. But that's friends and people that you know already and like, you know, you're chit-chatting with them whatever. But I was I was trained in how to meet people who I don't know, how to start a conversation with them and how to influence you know ... like when How to Win Friends and Influence People, right? So go read that book that's worth reading. But the point is, getting over yourself, getting over that fear of, "I don't know what to say..." It's not an easy thing and it just takes practice. And one of the best ways to get over that fear of meeting people is to put yourself in a room with people you don't know. (Lesley: Oh yeah) Right? So ...

Lesley Logan 16:02  

And I just have to say to my introverts out there, I'm just going to be really honest. If you're an introvert, it is important that you learn the skill of gapping with people I know, that's not where you get your energy. That is what bathroom stalls are for at these places. I definitely (Brad: Oh, you mean hiding.) Oh, yeah, I go to the bathroom a lot. (Brad and Lesley laughs) Not always to pee sometimes just to just take a few deep breaths and like regroup and then I go back out there. So, um shy and introvert are different things we talked about in a different episode. But like introvert, like if you get your energy from being by yourself, it is so important that you bootstrap yourself into these rooms, put yourself out there, talk to people have fun, and then go hide in the bathroom for five minutes. No one's gonna notice, I promise. No one is like, "That girl has been in the bathroom for five minutes." They are not, they are not pay attention to you as much as you think, and so ... (Brad: They're. What did you just say?) They're not gonna pay attention to you as much as you think they are. (Brad: Okay, gotcha.) So, so it's just really important that you have this and I, I got the gift of gab from my mama who's probably listening to this or she's watching on YouTube. She likes to watch us. She thinks it's fun. But she she would run into people three hours away from our house. We were in muumus in a mall once. So the gift of gab is important and it's helpful for not to tell your first client but we're all the things.

Brad Crowell 17:25  

Muumus in a mall once.

Lesley Logan 17:26  

Oh, my God. Y'all, 13 years old ...

Brad Crowell 17:27  

But you you referenced that. You already told the story.

Lesley Logan 17:30  

I know. Listen to the podcast episode. (Brad: Yeah) It's embarrassing.

Brad Crowell 17:33  

Okay, so okay, so, but the point is that, you know, you can talk to pe... you have to talk to people that you don't know, in order to find that first client or to make friends. It's like meeting people, you talk to them, right. So on a on a, you know, when you're on a mission to go meet someone new the big question mark is, "What do I talk about?" (Lesley: Oh, tell them) Yeah, I was gonna say, you can prepare yourself with some prompt questions. Okay. And there's, there's, there are many formulas for this, I use a formula called "FORM". F O R M stands for Family, Occupation, Recreation and Message, right. So, maybe your message is, "I'm a fitness instructor, or I'm a Pilates teacher or I'm a whatever." But you need to kind of get the conversation around to that. And you can, when you're like, when the conversation is weird and awkward and dies, you can use the prompts of family, occupation, recreation, in order to jumpstart the conversation again. So when it gets that weird isn't your like, that's awkward, you can be like, "So what do you do for work?" Or, you know ...

Lesley Logan 18:41  

What you do for fun?

Brad Crowell 18:42  

"Are you, are you from here?" Or like, "What do you do for fun?" Like just family occupation, recreation, and then message and allows you to just find a point of connection with that person so that you can then connect to why you're out there in the first place. And one of the things that Lesley used to do in LA, which is a great thing to do is, at a coffee shop in line talking to other people. She would say, you know, this is like the straight to the point of like, "Oh, yeah, I've just had five minutes between clients. I'm grabbing a coffee." Okay, now that you've just left a cliffhanger there for them to go, "What kind of clients?" So you can go, "I teach Pilates." Right.

Lesley Logan 19:21  

Also, I was in leggings and people are not in between clients and like, well, now they are with COVID but they weren't before. (Lesley laughs) (Brad: Yeah) So is a really good talking point. But yes, it's you got to just you have to like have these little things that like are ready for you. So, I hope let us know if you use the FORM. (Brad: Yeah) Family, Occupation. Well, I want to use that. (Brad laughs)

Brad Crowell 19:42  

Well, okay, so finally, let's talk about the Be It action items. What bold, executable intrinsic or targeted action items, can we take away from your conversation with Jessica Burgio? I'm going to jump right in on this one. And this is funny, because I feel like this clearly recurring theme here. (Lesley: You always find a way.) She ... Well, I didn't say it. She said, "You're always one person away from referrals." (Lesley: 100%) Okay. And actually what I thought was amazing is when we're coaching our fitness business clients on how do you meet, get new clients. Obviously, the first half of this episode is very relevant to that. But this is what she said that I that blew my mind. Because I don't know how I haven't thought of this before. She said, even if there's no one at the coffee shop, talk to the barista, (Lesley: oh, yeah) make friends with the girl behind the counter at the you know, the store, the the, the apparel store, right down the street, whatever. They will, that you have such a relation to them in that, you know, you're in it together. "I work across the street. Oh, yeah. Okay, cool." Well, we're clearly you know, working a similar lifestyle and the same hours, whatever, you know, what, however it is, but then, you know, she's gonna say, "Well, where do you work, I teach x, or I do this" or whatever it might be. And then what Jessica said, which I thought was brilliant, was she she said, "I got one of my first clients because someone said, at the coffee shop, 'Oh, I'm really tired of going to my gym class. I'm tired of it. And I'm kind of looking for something else.' And the barista said, 'Oh, you should talk to Jessica. Because, you know, whatever. And, you know, because she teaches, you know, whatever.'" (Lesley: Yeah) And, and so it was like this moment of, like, third party referral of someone who wasn't even in like, had never even taken a class. (Lesley: Yeah) Right. So, it was it's one of those opportunities where when other people around you, they want to be a) everyone loves to be the authority on something, and also want to be helpful for other people. And maybe they're not necessarily even thinking that they're helping out you by referring a client you way. They're showing that they're in authority by telling the person in front of them, "You should go talk to Lesley across the street, she teaches Pilates."

Lesley Logan 22:08  

100% this just happened to me. We went to that party, we wanted ourselves and we put ourselves in a room with people we don't know. And I met a girl who it will be a podcast guest soon owns a facial place that I love now. And somehow this random person on Instagram DM'd me that they're opening a store and I was like, "Oh, that's so fascinating," right? So of course, like I'm like, new to the community. I'm like, "Oh, another business owner and downtown. Like, this is awesome for me. I love I'm making new friends." Anyways. She asked someone to refer her to people who could promote her store, that someone is me, I now have an event at her store. I have never had never met her, we did a phone call and because of the referrals that was ...

From the facial place, (Lesley: From the facial place) Right. Who also hasn't taken Pilates from you.

Also hasn't taken Pilates from me. No. (Brad: Right) Nothing at all. (Brad: So) But because of that the two of us are now working together. (Brad: Yeah) It's based on that referral.

Brad Crowell 23:07  

Yeah, in fact, I believe she lent you clothes for a photoshoot (Lesley: She totally did.) And then you ended up buying some of those clothes 'cause you really liked them (Lesley: Yeah, I love them) You know so it's just as interesting connection that was put together by a third person. And now it's been really fun to get to know this, you know, wife and her family. (Lesley: Yeah) You know, because they're actually coincidentally there in our neighborhood. (Lesley: I know) I mean, it's so random.

Lesley Logan 23:32  

You are always one person away from referrals of any kind I don't care if you listen to this just for life or business. It's so good.

Brad Crowell 23:38  

Yeah, (Lesley: Okay) totally. Okay, so what about you?

Lesley Logan 23:41  

Alright. Done is better than perfect.

Brad Crowell 23:43  

Oh, really? I wasn't, I couldn't have bet money that you were gonna choose that one.

Lesley Logan 23:47  

Obviously. I had to pick this one (Brad laughs) Okay. So first of all, I have been following this mantra for a long time, because Gretchen Rubin wrote in one of her books years ago, we might have been on our honeymoon. And she said, "I would rather host the dinner party and in my messy apartment, then never host the perfect dinner party that I keep planning." (Brad: Hmm.) And I was like, "That's so true. That is so true." And then in our group, one of... because we've been time about messy action and done is better than perfect for so long... and in our group just last week, someone wrote this post, it's like a meme. That was like, "If something is worth doing well, it's also worth doing mediocre or like, partially well or not good. Because doing the thing is better than not doing the thing."

Brad Crowell 24:35  

You know, it's funny, I have said for years that I'm ambitiously lazy, and I would rather do it right the first time then have to come back and do it again.

Lesley Logan 24:46  

I know it's really annoying because you just ... (Lesley laughs)

Brad Crowell 24:48  

Well, it's a lie. I just, it's it's it's completely not true because I I there's there's almost there's very rarely an opportunity for me to get it done perfectly the first time through. It ends up especially in the startup world, you don't end up rolling out the finished product, you never do, it does not happen. (Lesley: No) You end up rolling out a version of it that you already know you're gonna make a second version of it, which you already know you're gonna make a third version of it. And what it comes down to is, how much do I get out the door to have a test case scenario so that people can give me feedback and then that might change my direction all... altogether. You know and and then that way you're providing something that they want. So, I love that, I love this "Done is better than perfect," because maybe done is just version one. And then you know, version two is going to have all the bells and whistles that you dreamt of the first time through, but you just need to get it out the door in the first place. So, I think it's great.

Lesley Logan 25:48  

I am obsessed with it. Y'all, please like put that on a mirror just so you get out the door because you're you're beautiful the way you are. What you're about to do is (Brad: Yeah) good enough ...

Brad Crowell 25:58  

Don't write it in a, don't write it in stencils and calligraphy. Use a lipstick. (Lesley: Lipstick) Done is better than perfect.

Lesley Logan 26:06  

Yeah. Alright, I'm Lesley Logan.

Brad Crowell 26:09  

My name is Brad Crowell.

Lesley Logan 26:11  

Thank you so much for joining us today we are so freakin grateful for you. (Brad: Yeah) Y'all, this podcast is taking off because of you. I'm so ... I'm like ...

Brad Crowell 26:20  

Thanks for sharing it with your friends and family. (Lesley: Yeah) Keep doing that (Lesley: Keep doing it.)

Lesley Logan 26:24  

So tell us how you're using these tips in your life. We want to hear about it, screenshot it. Put your takeaway, tag @be_it_pod. Let us know and you can also send us a DM on to the pod on Instagram ...

Brad Crowell 26:36  

Yeah and the producer of the show said that you should subscribe to our YouTube channel the Be It YouTube channel. (Lesley: Oh) Yeah

Lesley Logan 26:44  

Is that you?

Brad Crowell 26:44  

The producer is me. Yeah. So (Brad and Lesley laughs)

Lesley Logan 26:47  

Yeah. You can subscribe but you can watch these actually filmed them there on YouTube. You can subscribe, follow us ...

Brad Crowell 26:53  

 This damn producers making us plug things.

Lesley Logan 26:55  

On every place that offers podcasts all the freakin' places that offer podcast. (Brad: Yeah, subscribe) Feel free to subscribe, automatically download. (Brad: Yeah) It's like frickin telling us you love us every single time. (Brad: Oh, yeah) Alright. We'll catch you on the next episode, Be It Till You See It. 

Brad Crowell 27:10  

Bye now.

Lesley Logan 27:13  

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 podcasts. 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 'As The Crows Fly Media'.

Brad Crowell 27:45  

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

Lesley Logan 27:52  

Kevin and Bel at Disenyo handle all of our audio editing and some social media content.

Brad Crowell 27:58  

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

Lesley Logan 28:07  

Special thanks to our designer Jaira Mandal for creating all of our visuals (which you can't see because this is a podcast) and our digital producer, Jay Pedroso for editing all the video each week so you can.

Brad Crowell 28:18  

And the Meridith Crowell for keeping us all on po

Jessica Burgio joins Lesley Logan today to share her experience working in the service industry cutting hair while being a single mom and opening her own salon. They talk about the power of putting yourself in rooms with people you don't know, the struggles and joys of being an entrepreneur, and tips on getting your first client.

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 power of putting yourself in rooms with people you don't know
• Social proof
• It's almost good that you don't know what you don't know
• Starting a new career
• Tips for getting your first client
• Connecting with your peers
• Being a recovering perfectionist

Episode References/Links:

• Jessica Burgio’s website
• Beauty Inspires Beauty website
• Jessica Burgio’s IG
• Beauty Inspires Beauty IG
• Beauty Inspires Beauty podcast
• Cat Golden’s Nurses Inspire Nurses
• Lori Harder’s Bliss Project

Guest Bio:

Jessica Burgio, known as “THE BEAUTY MENTOR”, is a Confidence Coach for Beauty Industry Professionals.

She is also a former Salon owner with over 20 years “behind the chair” experience and Founder of the Beauty Inspires Beauty Podcast. Jess has been a successful entrepreneur since 2001 and is so grateful for all the experiences the beauty industry has taught her! During her 20 years in the industry, She has Coached and Mentored Stylists to have their own successful businesses and is now made this her priority to help Beauty Professionals achieve their dreams! With a strong background in fitness and self-care, not only does Jess inspire Beauty Pro’s to grow their Business Confidently, but to do so in a way that focuses on their health and well-being! Being successful in the Beauty Industry is 100% possible with education, confidence, proper strategies and having a set of non-negotiables. Beauty Industry Professionals can absolutely create the life they desire and as “The Beauty Mentor” it is Jess’s true passion to help them do so!

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.

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

Social Media

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Tik Tok
• LinkedIn

Episode Transcript:

Lesley Logan  

Hey you, welcome back to the Be It Till You See It podcast. Oh my Lord. My friend Jessica Burgio is our guest today and I cannot wait for you to dive into this episode. The interview is so much fun. Jessica has lived an incredible life and she is a total badass. 100% we got we talked about how she got started as a stylist, we talked about how she opened up her own studio, her own salon, and then how she went to the coaching business. And then we also dive into being a single mom at 40 and how she does all the things and or not, right, so we go to so many different parts about her. If you are thinking about, you know, really trying to put yourself out there, this is the episode for you. And I want you to make sure you listen because there are some little Be It drops throughout the entire episode that I don't want you to miss. Check out the show notes, we've got her awesome bio, who she is and the confidence coach that she is today. And also how you can listen to her more on her own podcast Beauty Inspires Beauty. Her Instagram handle everything is there. So make sure that you take a look at all those things. Connect with Jessica, and let her know what you loved about this. But please enjoy. They're there, I can't even wait. I I couldn't even stop her to ask her what the her Be It strategies would be. She literally just went right into it, which is incredible. And one of the things I love about her so much is that she just goes out and does it. So enjoy this episode right after these messages.

Lesley Logan  

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 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  

Alright, everyone, welcome back. I am so excited. I'm so excited to talk to my friend Jessica Burgio. I hope I didn't say her name wrong. I pretty much say all of my friends names on this podcast at this point. But she and I met a couple years ago, we sat next to each other, actually, I'm gonna rewind, we randomly met over a jumpsuit I was wearing at a bliss project. And she just said so many nice things to me. I was like, "This girl is awesome." And then we were in a mastermind and we sat next to each other and I remembered you from that moment. And it's just been it was it's been so fun to see how you've grown from that was a time where you didn't know what your thing was gonna be. But you had this idea and you and now you are coaching people in your industry on how they can do what you're doing. And so I am going to let you introduce yourself even better than I could. But welcome to the show. I'm really excited that you're here.

Jessica Burgio  

I'm so excited to be here and it's so exciting to watch you like start this and know that you know, I've seen it from before and to now it's just it's really cool to watch. And I'm kind of in the same boat as you. So yeah, we did. We met I was volunteering at the bliss project and you walked out with your girlfriends and you guys all had amazing hair and you were wearing this rockin like almost snakeskin looking, I thought they were pants at first. And I said, "Oh girl where'd you get those pants from?" And you like whipped your jacket off me like, "It's a one piece. I got a coupon code for you." And I was like, "Oh my God." So we were instant best friends. And that's really like the power of putting yourself in rooms around people that you don't know. And so that's why I love that you created this podcast based on Be It Till You See It. So my name is Jessica Burgio. I am a 20 year veteran in the hair industry and I recently in the last two years, got into coaching professionally, hairdressers and other creatives to six figures and beyond. Kind of taking themselves from being stuck behind the chair just trading time for money, into what other possibilities they could create with their business and their life. So it's been quite the challenge to go from being an expert, expert in something, to then being a beginner. But, you know, I like to take a ...

Lesley Logan  

A beginner expert, (Jessica: Yeah) beginner expert you're like, "I know what I'm doing but I don't know what I'm doing."

Jessica Burgio  

Right right and so it's kind of cool to not know what you don't know because like you almost go back to that child-like, "Well, I can do it like everyone else is doing it. Why can't I do it?" Right? Versus some people get stuck in the, "Well, everyone else is already doing it. I shouldn't do it." I'm more like, "Oh, there's proof. Oh, okay. Like I can try it too kind of gives me permission." So yeah, I'm I just turned 40 and it's it's been an interesting journey to get where I am now. So yeah, I'm sure I could talk for hours on all the things but ...

Lesley Logan  

I feel like we will have to circle back to a few things because I definitely I'm not 40 yet but I am approaching it and many of my friends have turned 40. So I actually was never paying attention my 40th birthday, but when all of your friends are, then you're like, "Oh, oh, it's coming. I don't even know what it means." So we'll, we'll have to circle back to that. But I want to go back to this, um, you seeing like other people doing something as social proof and that like invigorating you. And also, we'll have to touch on like ... it's almost good that you don't know what you don't know. Because I have to say, even with the podcast, right? Like, I was like, "Oh, this is easy. I go live all the time." Like, this is just, you know, we'll just do that and then when you start doing it, they're like, well, we need like, eight episodes for the first two weeks, then we need these and you have to, like, you have these show notes. And I'm like, "Oh, someone has to do all that." (Lesley laughs)

Jessica Burgio  

Well, they're definitely they're like best practices of what you should do to have a successful podcast, right? But you could have done it any damn well, way you pleased? Like there are people who (Lesley: Right) start messy and organized not by-the-book, but you know, you know, now better. And because we've had those experiences with the mastermind, we've had people that have gone before us, create successful, you know, monetizable podcasts, you're like, "Okay, if I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it, right, I'm gonna invest properly, (Lesley: Yeah) put it out the best way I can." Because I think at this stage in the game, if you're gonna play like, it's like, play as best as you can, and like, bring your A game.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, and I think that's like, where the perfectionist can get into the, into the way because the best that you can doesn't mean perfect. It just means the best you can, but a lot of people want the best that they can be to be better than what it is. And they get a little unsatisfied and, and I think that's what holds people back. And it's like, "No, actually," like, even Maya Angelou said, like, "You do the best you can until you know better and then and then you just do better" and, and I have to say, like, the things that I did "perfectly" in air quotes, like big flops, anytime I threw something out messy action, it was like, like, you know, those like posts that you put up, and you're like, "I just gotta get something up there." And you're like, "I'm just gonna do a one line like, this is all I'm gonna say." And it's like, the most love like the most comments, and the times you spent, like, making sure all the comments on the right spot like whomp, whomp. (Lesley laughs)

Jessica Burgio  

Seriously, I know and I'm glad that we have those moments that remind us, and we see other people not being completely perfect. You know, it's like, yeah, it gives you permission to kind of do it your own way, which, I mean, if we all did it the same exact way, like nobody would stand out.

Lesley Logan  

No, no. So you, how long have you been a stylist?

Jessica Burgio  

I just hit 20 years last September.

Lesley Logan  

Wow, that is amazing. That's because you're only 40. Right? And so you're like, "I started this as as 20." So I, so you, you started 20 years ago? And, what is it like because as a Pilates instructor, like I go, I would go into a studio and I worked for a studio and then you're like, gotta get clients. And it's not, it's not exactly like a hair salon, or someone's like, "I'm gonna get my haircut today." And then they just go to the place that's close by, like, you know, is a little bit different. So what was it like to be a brand new stylist? And how did you kind of navigate being new to something?

Jessica Burgio  

Well, fortunately, and unfortunately, there was no social media, there was no other way to get clients, but to learn how to go out and talk to people. So my mom was always that person who like she just literally couldn't be in line without telling the lady in front of her, "Oh my god, I love your shoes," or "Oh my god your bag" or being in an elevator where it's just you and she was like just starting random conversation. So I think it was like a natural skill set that I just learned even though it like made my skin crawl when I was a kid because she embarrassed me so bad. But when it was my turn to go out there and like find clients and they were like, the only way you're going to get people is if you go out and talk to them and you know, pass out your card, tell them we're a new salon in town. I was like, "Okay, I can do it." So I think by being prepared with like, what I was going to say, and then just showing up as the best version of myself, I did my hair, I did my makeup, I put a cute outfit on. You know, even for things like this. I tried to show up as the version I want people to remember me as because it's not just like what you're saying, it's like how you're saying it and how you're looking. So it's funny because I would have super cute like short hair. And people I would talk to people in a bit, "Oh my God, your hair. So cute. Yeah, I'll come see you." And I think to myself, "Well, I didn't cut my own hair. Don't you want her number?" (Jessica and Lesley laughs) Right? Like I didn't actually cut my own hair but okay. But I think it was just like, they figured if you took so much pride in what you look like so it was easier for me to, you know, ask for the business by going out and talking to people and in relation to what a lot of your listeners are in the fitness world. You know, when I started personal training several years later, I did have a clientele base from behind the chair that I could pull from but then I also already knew how to talk to people. So if I saw them in the gym, or if I saw them needing assistance, I felt confident enough to just start asking questions, you know, not put myself on them like, "Hey, you need to work out with me." But, "Hey, are you new here? Do you have any questions?" So I think it's something that luckily, I mean, I still struggle with it sometimes like starting conversations, but I definitely have that in me from my mom where I will randomly just talk to people and so by doing that, it's created so much easy like people ask me for my card.

Lesley Logan  

So my mom is the same, like I remember, oh my gosh, I was a teenager in Santa Cruz, which is like two hours away from where I grew up where we lived. And we were all in matching like family muumuus. If you're you don't know what that is, like, look it up. It's a Hawaiian print thing. And so my uncle lived in Hawaii, and he brought like, my grandparents their own matching set, my family that's all matching set, like my aunt and uncle with their kids. So just like a picture, it's like 15 people walking in a mall, in muumuus ... for a family photo. This is definitely the 90s when you when you walk into a mall for a family photo. Anyways, I was just like, "Oh my God, I hope no one sees me." And my mom ran into someone that she knew from like 15 years ago that she met in a grocery store line, because she talks to everybody. And so as embarrassing as that moment was something I learned as I got older was that she has this like gift of gab, and that she doesn't there's a place to go in this world where she won't run into someone she knows, or she can't talk to. And that made it... because I also started teaching Pilates when Facebook was a thing, but like not a thing, like you really used it to find your friends and didn't promote your business on there. Like that was kind of weird. So so it was very useful to just be able to start a conversation. But I think that's where people get hung up. It's that that starting it, because they think they have to like talk about being a hairdresser or being a Pilates teacher or, you know, being a makeup artist. And it's actually like, "No, you actually just say, hi, I like your shoes."

Jessica Burgio  

Yes. And that's what's so I think, intimidating for people on social media and why I think a lot of people struggle to close sales or to even grow their community or their audience because they don't spend the time just creating conversation and connection. Like, if you're in someone's DM, if you're looking to build your business, or if you're a one on one coaching client, whether it whether you're looking for clients, doing Pilates, hair, makeup, any of the things like you have to actually be social on social media to get people to attract to you. And so if you have a product or service that you're trying to get out to them, just reaching out and saying, "Hey, I had this thing you want to buy it." I mean, 99.9% no one's gonna buy it. Right? Unless you're a brand name ...

Lesley Logan  

It's like the people on the street corner who are like trying to like, get you to buy something like on the street, like you're like, "No, I don't actually, I don't even know what that is."

Jessica Burgio  

No. Right. And so like, there's so many ways that we can talk about helping people with engagement and like starting conversations, there are people that you can pay to start conversations for you, if it's in social media world, but the real magic happens when you can start authentic conversations in your in your, where you're building your business. Because if you're not online, or if you're if you're in a brick and mortar, like there's nothing more important than like connecting with that community, like even the coffee shop people even if those people will never be your clients, you get in a relationship with the guy who serves you coffee down the street or where you grocery shop. Like they're gonna be like, "Oh, there's Lesley as a Pilates place." Like you're always (Lesley: Yeah) one person away from like referrals and I know social media ...

Lesley Logan  

100% I ... I agree so much. And I, I can I remember a couple like smoothie shops, like the people the smoothie shop, because I would get my smoothie every day. And like they knew when I worked and they knew I would just talk to them. And I made sure they knew who I was and what I did. And, and of course, sure enough, I got people like, "Hey, so and so at the smoothie place told me that you're a Pilates teacher, I was like saying I was tired of my workouts and they're like, 'Oh, you should work with her.'" They've never worked with me before they just like me as a human being. And so I think that it's, it sounds so simple. And that's where people really get hung up is that they start to doubt themselves where they think that they have to, like, you know, wow, people, and it's like, no, it just actually it's really about having a conversation and, and you can be an introvert and still have those conversations too, you know, (Jessica: Totally, totally.) So when you first started, like we all first start the first client is like the hardest one, like the for, getting anyone who's like a random stranger to like, give you money is always the hardest thing no matter what it is that you're trying to do. How like, what about that, like, how did you deal with like, you only have one client when you know that you want to have a full scale, or you need to have a full book of clients.

Jessica Burgio  

Sure. So if I go back to when I started, I did multiple things to get me to where I got my first couple paid clients. So the salon that I worked at, so it could be a studio that you work at, if they do any sort of apprenticeship program, or assisting or shadowing or whatever, we would have to go out and get models. So we were not allowed to bring in the same model more than once we were not allowed to bring in family members, we that's when I first learned how to go out and get models. So that was convincing people to even let your let you do their hair for free. So first I had to sell myself my services for free. And then that taught me how to sell my services for you know to get paid. And I think the more you, not give away, but the more that you invest in your business by doing services or giving away training in the beginning, that word of mouth business will will just spiral if you're good, if you can be consistent, and if you can give a good experience with your client, you don't have to be the best trainer or the best hairdresser. But people want to see you win people want to support you. So if they link up with you early on, and they're getting some sort of deal or discount, you know, it really only takes two or three amazing clients to build up your whole book of business like, and that's where I got really lucky. My mentor was overflowing with clients and because I put myself in a situation where there was overflow in a bigger salon that trickled down to me, so I didn't really ever have to sell myself, they knew his clients knew that he had trained me. So that spoke for one and then then seeing a little bit of me and what I was doing that built the confidence and they were willing to let me you know, try on them. And then therefore, they turned into my lifelong clients.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, I um I do think like, I when I think of a hairdresser without hairstyles, I think like, "What was it like to cut someone's hair for the first time it wasn't a mannequin?"

Jessica Burgio  

Scary. Of course super scary.

Lesley Logan  

And I'm like, " What if I cut it wrong? What if I like chopped off my ...

Jessica Burgio  

Oh my God, I cut so many people's hair wrong, but that's what I'm saying. Because I was honest, like, if I did do something wrong, if I did not do what they asked, I wouldn't charge them, I would say, "I didn't quite give you what you wanted, I'm sorry, it's three inches shorter than I told you is going to be, you know, come back in a couple months and give me another try." And you know what they would they would it's like, if someone's going to a new stylist, that you're not expecting you to be like, the people charging $300 for a haircut. And that's why beauty schools exist, because you can practice on real people at a very discounted price. They know what they're getting. Yeah, so there's, there's ways that you can build your confidence in this industry anyway, so. (Lesley: Yeah) But some people just jump out of the gate, and they just start taking clients, I think if you're a natural at it, there you go.

Lesley Logan  

Well, and that's it. Like there's multiple ways to do something. And you can see how someone sticks out, you can see multiple successful people and ask them, whatever it is that you're wanting to do. The good news is that every idea has been done. And so there's always going to be some sort of expert or someone who's known for that thing. And you can look at them, and you can see and go, okay, you're not going to do their exact path, because it doesn't exist, everyone starts at a different point just because of life. But you can go, "Okay, so they went through a really successful studio, and they went through these schools, they trained by these people," and then they, you can kind of see a roadmap. And just because you follow the roadmap doesn't mean it will end up that way for you. But you don't have, it's not like a guessing game either. There's like options for you. So you have been styling for 20 years, and a few years back, you're like, "I've actually become very successful and I'm seeing a problem. And this is what I love because I think a lot of people," like, "What do I do? I don't know what to do." I'm like, there's a lot of things that you're already noticing a problem. And you notice that like a lot of stylists were not as successful as you are, and you wanted to help them do that.

Jessica Burgio  

Totally, I think you know how you say it, you know. Some people cannot see what's possible, they may have gotten into the industry under the impression that they just want a job where they can make their own schedule, where they can maybe charge what they want. But if they weren't put in a salon like I was when I first started at 19 years old, I saw what was possible immediately. So my standard, my levels were just at a different place than people that stayed where I grew up, which was only 30 minutes from where I went into downtown San Diego, and worked in one of the biggest most well known salons where there was over 40 stylists there, there was over 40 assistants at the time. So like you had to bring your A game to stand out. And so watching how these people treated this career, which kind of was an offhand back in the day, like, "Oh, you couldn't figure out what you want to do with your life. So you went to beauty school," it changed the whole conversation around what this industry was capable of. I mean, I saw people driving really nice cars, dressing like rock stars, charging 3 - 400 dollars ahead 20 years ago. And that's when I was like, "Oh, the possibilities are endless." And so by the time it was my turn to go from assisting to being on the floor, like I had a standard of six figures was not even in question like it was done deal. I'm going to get that and three for six months. And so when I see people struggling from the very beginning, it's confusing to me. But I also realize not everybody started the way I started. Not everybody had that experience. So and it's fine if money isn't what you're necessarily chasing, but most people who say money's not the thing they're searching for, they want nice things, they want to be able to travel, they want freedom, and I'm like, "Well, then you need to make money in order to have those opportunities." So let's keep it real, especially if you live in San Diego, where I live, it's like 100 grand a year is barely enough to get by. (Lesley: Right) Yeah. And in the industry. It costs money to work like there's so much overhead. So, you know, I think seeing that there was such a struggling issue. I moved from a big salon to a small space to another big salon. And it was in that time where we were all booth renters. So we were all basically independent entrepreneurs and we did work on one house, but there weren't really like rules for your particular business. And that's when I really started to see the big difference between me and say, the people next to me, you know, there were a few of us that that bounced in those six figures, but not much over 100 grand, it was always around 100 to 200. Like, and that is a really good career, like income in this industry for working strictly behind the chair. But there were so many other people out of those 40 stations that probably barely touched 40,000 a year, work consistently booked, weren't that busy struggled to, you know, keep their books filled, always had second jobs, and just couldn't seem to figure it out. And, and after I left that big salon and went open my own place, I personally was missing the community, missing the hype that I got every day from coming into that place that made me step my game up, dress a little bit better, you know, give my client a better experience, (Lesley: Right) because it's like your environment really does shape your creativeness and all of the things in your abilities. So when I removed myself from that big space, and I had to go provide all that for myself, like the support, the inspiration, I had a really hard time. So it was a combination of those two things, the community and the network was missing for me at that point, especially at my level, I'd already been in the game 15 years at that point when I left a big place. And then also the ability to see people come up in the industry and never quite make it if you will. (Lesley: Yeah) So (Lesley: I know what you mean.) those two things that I was like, "There's got to be a better way, how can I go through the 20 years that I put in and create some sort of manual or system or program that they can follow to understand," because most of us didn't go to college, most of us didn't get a business degree. So we started (Lesley: Right) off the creative who just wants to have fun. And they teach you how to make money in this industry kind of but they don't teach you how to keep it. They don't teach you what to do with it. They don't teach you how to be smart with it. And it's a cash business. So there was multiple things that I knew under that umbrella, why people weren't able to hit those numbers. So I mean, I could go down a rabbit hole of all the things that ... under that.

Lesley Logan  

So here's what you know, I think like, a lot of times when people are thinking like, "What am I gonna do next?" Or "I'm not really happy with what I'm doing?" Like, "What should I do next?" It's like, if you just look around, like the experience that you have, is like, you can't trade, you can't buy that, right? Like, that's your experience and those life lessons. And so you can actually see people who are behind you and go, "Hey, actually, I can help you to do that because I've done that. And I know all the ways not to do that. And there and so I've seen people not do it well, and I've seen people do it well, and here's how you do it well." And it's true. Like, I don't care what your job is, or where you went, like no one's career really teaches them all the things. You know, for Pilates instructors, no one taught them anything about business. I know. I ran studios, I went to one. And you know, my when I asked like, "Oh, how much do I charge?" people like, "Well, you know, so and so the studio renting from is charging this much have been teaching for 20 years, and this person is teaching for five years, and they're charging this much. So you just charge a little less than that." And it's like, but that's not how you know how to make money. Like I was just sitting there going, but then how much money do I make a year? Right? Because I was coming from a job where I had a salary, I was managing a jewelry store. And so I knew that at the end of the year, I will have made this much money plus my commission, right? And so I was just really confused. I was like, "But then how much? Like how much money am I making doing this job?" And everyone around me was like, "There's no money there's no money in Pilates." I'm like, "How is that possible? How can that be no... Why is everyone doing it then? Like, why would you teach it if there's nothing here," and I just learned is that no one had taught people how to like, actually figure out how to make a liv... more than a living, and or a living like even that. And so what you did was just like see, like, "Wow, not only do I want community," so you like, we're solving a problem of your own, but you were also were like, "there are so many people who are missing like this amazing stuff that can take them to the next level." And with such an abundance mindset, you weren't, you weren't thinking, "Well, if I help every stylist out then like there'll be no clients for me." You're like, "No, if I help every stylist down, it's gonna be a better place." I love that so much. So you started Beauty Inspires Beauty two years ago?

Jessica Burgio  

Yeah, I think it's, it's been about two years now. Yeah, the time goes by so fast. So I felt like it needed to have a separate identity from myself. And as much as I like it to be the Jessica show most of the time. I knew that I wanted to create a community that had like a place to live, with or without me, whether I was there or not. So yeah, Beauty Inspires Beauty kind of came from inspiration from Cat Golden and with Nurses Inspire Nurses. She was building that community and helping me figure out how to put one together myself, and she was someone else we met in the group. So, you know, she helped me kind of map out a program and then she helped me map out how to build a community and you know, I'd always love swag, so who doesn't love a cute shirt that says something clever on it. I'm all about comfy, you know, stuff like that. So that part was easy to bring together. And I started these networking branches. And they were basically just a way for us hairdressers to get together because normally, if we go to something, it's like a class where you're learning a skill set, and you get very little time to network and talk with each other. And, you know, I thought if I could put us all in a room together, maybe have a speaker or I would teach maybe some sort of a workshop or something tangible that they could take. But the real point was to get everybody together, and and create community so we could collaborate and create content and do all that kind of stuff. So we had about four of those, they were going really well. And actually, the last one we did was in January of last year, all around reverse engineering your income and figuring out what your hourly worth was in this industry, just like Pilates where people don't know how much they're making, they guess all year long, and don't save enough for taxes like so much bullshit. (Lesley laughs) So that was the last one I actually taught and it was sold out like 25 people at my studio and everybody was hungry for more. And it was like, such a amazing space and then COVID hit. (Lesley: Yeah) And ... I hadn't quite introduced the idea of pivoting in this industry, yet I was still just talking about community and like, you know, getting a better grip on your business. When I tried to take them virtual, it was like be because we were forced to shut down in the way we were, people weren't prepared. So (Lesley: Yeah) really, back in COVID did me a service by showing people now a year later that you need to have other options, you need to have a backup plan. And you need to be in a position where someone's not going to take your only stream of income away from you. So that's (Lesley: Yeah) where I put my money where my mouth wasn't invested in a network marketing company called Monat, which is strictly hair and skincare and a little bit of wellness. And it was just in alignment with my brand and what I've been selling and using and talking about for 20 years. So that's why I chose that route. But if you're passionate about other things like there are so many companies that are already built for you that you can jump into working the little bit of time that you have and get that going. So you can have residual income or create another stream of income that doesn't necessarily mean you're trading time for money. If I don't show up and have that client, I won't get paid. If that client no shows me, I won't get paid. With businesses like this, you can invest, very little to start and they can build as you go. So if and when something like this happens, you at least have options.

Jessica Burgio  

Yeah, and you and you said it right there, there has been an alignment. Um, yeah, I know. I think like COVID well, I think we'll look back in year from now two years from now. And realize like the gifts that were given for a lot of us just like highlighting things that maybe some people were ignoring, some just really getting us more prepared for the future. I want to, so you mentioned to me earlier, it was like, you know, now you're like a beginner at this coaching and this creating this thing. And so it's not it's not a baby, I mean it's still in its infancy as far as businesses go. But with those first few meetups, I think a lot of people get so nervous if they're gonna bring people together that first thing because you don't know how it's going to be, right? So you're just like, "Think that I want this to be good. I think it's going to be good." So I would love it if you could like, take us through like, what did you say to yourself before you went to that first meetup? What it what was it? Because I mean, like that to me is like the ultimate Be It Till You See It because like, you've not actually done this before. So now you've had to do it. And you don't know how it's gonna go. So can you take us through what that felt like?

Jessica Burgio  

Yes. And this is actually a story I haven't really talked about out loud. So I think this is going to help so many people too. And looking back, I'm glad I did it this way. But I also, of course, wish I had done it a little bit differently, but it is what it is. So events that I'd gone to prior had usually not been hosted by one person. Normally there's a couple speakers, there's excitement, there's hype, there's all the fluff in between, like, you know, so I thought in order for me to put on my first event, I had to have all of that right. Hello, go back to our perfectionist moment, right? It has to be perfect. Well, I've planned a wedding. I've planned parties. I planned that. So I was like, I need a DJ, I need mics. I need an outdoor venue. I need drinks included. I need them to have gifts. I need way too much food. I mean, I just did the most. And then I decided I decided instead of me leading the workshop, I needed to have expert guests. Well, the whole point was just the network. But I turned it into, well, it's not gonna be good enough unless I have a speaker who's like world renowned celebrity stylist. And then well, he's coming. So I should ask my mentor to come and speak. Well, I tried to do too many things at once. I had this grand idea that I was going to record two podcast episodes while I was there between the two of them. It was meant to be like a Q&A session so that people could listen in and I could ask questions, and then we could open it up to the floor cuz it was there's about 30 people there. So in hindsight afterwards, the first guy that came on, I didn't know him that well, and he was a celebrity stylist from Vegas. I will name not name names, but this motherfucker took over my show like and at the same time I was trying to be like, "It's not about me," but he made it all about him. He showed up with a screen he showed it up with prompts, he showed up but like a me... guided meditation, and then at the end, let everybody know that he was doing coaching. (Lesley laughs) The etiquette bro, like, like so and one of my girlfriends, you'll know Kiersten she came up to me in the middle of his thing, because he did that she goes, "This is your event, you better figure out how to take it back right now. He's about to steal your show. (Lesley laughs) And at the time I was like...

Lesley Logan  

... that's a great friend to have.

Lesley Logan  

It wasn't. But at the time, I was like, "Oh, this is great. He's doing an amazing," but then I was like, "Well, they remember him." I think like it was one of those moments where you wanted to just let it be what it was. But at the same time, after I walked away, I was like, "I could have handled that, I should have stepped up and done my best nervous or not. And given them whatever I could." And it was funny because it went way longer than it was supposed to. And then by the time we got everybody connecting, which you know, we do at the Bliss Project. And we've learned so many great techniques on how to get people to talk and connect with each other. They don't want to stop talking to each other. And it was in that moment that I was like, "This is really what they wanted to come for." The speakers were great (Lesley: Yeah) but now they're talking to each other. Now they're collaborating now, you know, salon down the streets talking to this salon down the street when they've never met, even though they've worked next to each other for all these years. Like, you usually stay in your bubble in a salon and you don't like collaborate with other stylists or other salon owners. And there's so many like independent suite salons now that people are working alone, especially since COVID. So they don't have (Lesley: Yeah) that community and no one to talk to you about business, about ideas or any of that. And it was in that moment with that workshop that I was like, I got the next ones. So after that the next ones were like me leading me coming up with something, you know, to teach on and to share. And then just really collaborating getting them to talk to each other. And then when I did feedback, that was their favorite part was talking to each other.

Lesley Logan  

I, this is awesome. And I think like, I think back to like some of the things that I've done, where I based on other people's things who have budgets that are, you know, we just only dream up. And the reality is, is the part that people have always loved the most is just the time after whatever they came for, where they just hang out. (Lesley laughs)

Jessica Burgio  

Yeah. And I think ... close to $3,000 on that little, oh, clearly, I didn't make any money. I didn't get my podcast out of it, I got a shitty video, like, nobody could eat the food because they were sitting on this big table. So it was just such a great learning experience. And from that point forward, they were all profitable after that.

Lesley Logan  

But I think you know, even if someone's listening and going, oh, well that like now what do I do? It's like, I think you had to do that one so that you could end up getting the one like having what you have now like you had the first thing the first one do anything. If you may as well go as big as you actually can and afford and with what you have. And then you can get the surveys back and then realize like what people really want you can reflect back on what you really want cuz you just don't always know like (Lesley laughs)

Jessica Burgio  

And don't don't get it don't get me wrong, people were raving afterwards. I was the only one it's like the wedding. We're like a couple things going wrong and nobody knows but you, it was one of those moments like like I would say more than half of the girls that I knew from that that came up to they're like, "Oh my God can you do these every month? We like are excited. Are you gonna have a membership?" Like they were they didn't (Lesley: That so cool.) Yeah.

Lesley Logan  

You know what I love that you bring up the wedding because it's true like people I've done this before ever got married, my friend was getting married and she was stressing about something and this other girl in the bridal party goes just so you know, we stressed for hours over what kind of tablecloth we were going to use. And the tablecloth on the gift table. Like that one was like had to be this particular lace and we were really we like shipped it in from like somewhere else. And she's like, "I got the pictures back. And that tablecloth was never put on the table. (Jessica: Oh!) And I didn't even see it at the wedding." So she's like, just be careful what you stress over. And I just remembered that when I when I got married. I was like, "People don't see the table. They don't remember the tablecloth," you know? So ... I do think that you're right like you the way you perceive things is different than what they perceived. And I think that's also what a great takeaway for people to think is that like, what we perceive is like the worst mistake or like, "Oh my god, I can't believe I did that," is not what people see. Like they're like, you know, I recently I was teaching a live masterclass, and the tech service provider we used decided to end my broadcast and I wasn't using zoom, I was using something else because it's way easier to send out a replay to hundreds of people. And I've used it before it's never had this and just like I don't know, just decided you're done. And I was like, "Oh yeah," and so I could still chat to them. And I was like, "Here's a zoom link" and like I moved him over to zoom and I was freaking out while I was coming over. I'm like take a deep breath. And I thought no one's gonna want to sign up for my thing at the end because they're like, this girl can't even keep her like masterclass, like on a platform, you know, and you know what? Everyone moved over, which is a sign that they were loving it and they were so impressed with how quick I was able to handle it. It was more impressive than I was giving it credit for, so we just don't always know what's on the label more inside the bottle. (Lesley laughs)

Lesley Logan  

Oh my God, that's such a good story too. And honestly, like, I think until you do something for the first time, like, give yourself some grace, if you're thinking about creating something or doing something, just know that you, I could have done that same event for $300. When got their own drinks, like, just all the things you think things have to be a certain way, like, if you have an idea, or if you have something you want to start or build. Yeah, I get another book club. I just wanted to get people together in the industry and say it's only for beauty professionals or, you know, there's a way to start, that doesn't have to be like Lori Harder, or whatever, I think because we stayed around so many women who are powerful and doing big things. Like my little meetup in the back patio of this coffee shop felt like so small compared to but you know, she tells the story, she started small to she started with little wine meetups that she would do for free. It's like, we all have to start somewhere. So like be okay with being a beginner.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. Oh, I love that. Okay, I want to talk really quickly about you're, you're a single mom, and you're 40. And you're writing your own business. And I just think like, that will resonate with so many women listening to this, because I do think that it's easy to get caught up if you are a mom. And you're like, "Well, I've got kids, I have to take care of them, their priority" or, you know, and for you, you you're doing it all. So can you touch on like, what that's like, what your secret sauce is to making it all work, what you're thinking, what you're looking forward to? I mean, there's, I think there's probably greatness and being single as well.

Jessica Burgio  

Okay, so I'm going to answer that in a way you probably didn't think I was gonna answer or maybe even wants you, but you're catching me on a full moon and the week before I'm starting my period. So I'm gonna tell you, I don't do all the things myself, I have a lot of help with my mother, his dad is amazing. So I don't do it all by myself, I literally have the best support system as far as like that backend is concerned. I have always been fiercely independent when it comes to like my business and stuff. So I think that's just been a progression from before I was single or even a mother. So because I kind of had those boundaries, habits, just things I showed up for anyways, it was it was easier, not easy, for them to continue on, even after having a baby. Now, for the not so pretty part. Like yesterday was one of those days, it was ugly here in San Diego. I was in my field, I had a hundred things to do and I didn't want to do any of them. I questioned everything, I called my best friend. And I was like, "I don't think coaching is for me, I don't like talking to people who can't get their shit..." Like, I went down the rabbit hole. So just know, like with hairdressing people think everyday should be fun. You're, you're being creative, it's work, it's super hard. And sometimes you have a day full of shitbag clients that just dump all this bullshit on you. And you're like, "Fuck this," like, you know, so and then the next day you have amazing clients. So everything is an ebb and flow. And because I am like a recovering perfectionist, also being able to be okay, not having a perfect day, not feeling amazing, not being super motivated. Even before I do things like this, I'm like, "I don't really want to do that." Yes, I do. Yes, I do. And when I'm doing them, it's through the power of doing and taking the action that I'm reinspired, I'm really motivated, I'm refocused. Because if you're an independent, if you're a creative entrepreneur, if you're an accidental entrepreneur, you d`on't have a boss up your ass, you don't have someone on a strict schedule telling you all the things you need to do. You see people in corporate if they don't get this, this this and done between nine and five, like they're fired. They don't get their bonuses or the fire. But we don't have anybody doing that for us. So I have to do that for myself, which is extremely difficult, and makes me question that I should go get a corporate job every other month or every six months. I felt like that for 20 years. I've thought every about every five years or so I'll be like, "I don't want to do this anymore. Let me see what else I could do." And just the freedoms that come with running your own business, the creative space that I can give myself like because I gave myself that shit day yesterday. I've been on fire today. I had an amazing workout this morning. I created a whole new business this morning with website and domain name and an Instagram like, "I am on it today." (Lesley laughs) So like that's the beautiful thing like Mondays suck, Tuesday's ... the new Friday? I don't know. So, yes and okay

Lesley Logan  

I know. I can see why you thought maybe I wouldn't like this answer. I freaking love this answer. I love the honesty in it. And I think that that's you know, it's there's not not every day is like highlight worthy or even like worth telling people about and there are days in life that you just want to quit. But I I think that that honesty is exactly equal to here. And then I the beginning I want to highlight is that like, you have boundaries. And I think that that is where I don't care if you've got kids or don't have kids, like if you don't have boundaries, everything hard, and you lean on people who love you. And I think a lot of people think they have to do that I have to do it myself. And it's like no that we used to live in like commute, like commute, like, (Jessica: We used to be in tribes.) So there are people who would pick the food while you were babysitting, like there you don't have to do this on our own.

Jessica Burgio  

Yeah, and I'm going through an interesting transition in my life too, with my son's dad, because he is going to this next level of success in his business, which is requiring him to be gone a lot. And for me to kind of pick up the slack, or I feel like I have to pick up the slack. And as a mom, I don't know if anybody's on here, that's a mom that can relate like when you have, if you had a semi successful or successful career prior to having a kid, nine times out of 10, you backed off a little bit for a little while. And if you had a client based business like mine, those people went somewhere else. So it took me from the time he was born, till probably three or four years later to rebuild where I was, before I had him, not progress, knock your further, not make more money, like I literally had to kind of rebuild and start all over. Because I chose to have my son at 30 versus early 20, so that I could be home more, but then come to the point where you're a single mom, and you're kind of having to balance and do all these things on your own. There was a lot of resentment and frustration I had with his dad now that his career is taking off and things are. it's a lot to juggle. So yes, having boundaries and being very clear about what I need, and definitely being okay with asking for help. If I need a break, "Hey, Mom, can you please take Kai," I know it's my night, but like, I need a night off or I need to go out with my friends or I need to go on a trip for three days to get out of here not do anything. Also the rules to life with social media, I'm supposed to post every day well, I don't feel like it yesterday. I didn't post for like three days. You have to do it on your own terms, in your own way. (Lesley: Yeah) Otherwise, you won't be sustainable. You'll want to quit. You want to give up all those things.

Lesley Logan  

All right. So Jessica, where can people follow you? I mean, I'm in they're falling in love with you, I'm sure but like, you've got a podcast, you're on Instagram. Like what's the best place to find you?

Jessica Burgio  

Yes. So we have the Beauty Inspires Beauty podcast, where you can hear it more of my life lessons from behind the chair, but also just success stories of people coming up in the industry. Similar to what I just shared with you guys today. I really dig into where they started, how they got there and what their plans are. And then on Instagram, if you want more of this good stuff, it's that @jessicaburgio was my Instagram. And yeah, I just I feel like you know, I just want to leave everybody with done is better than perfect. Messy action trump's no action and just start where you are listening to people like Lesley staying around other good, positive propaganda is what is going to push you to whatever your next level is.

Lesley Logan  

Oh, amazing. I mean, you're right that's how you Be It. It's like done is better than perfect. Take messy action. I love. I love all those. It's my I think we have some shirts we're making with them. (Jessica: Yes) I love them. I have a I have a shirt I want to say that says "Nobody wants to be friends with perfect" because it's like, (Jessica: Yes, I want one.) (Jessica and Lesley laughs) We'll send you one, we'll send you one. Oh my gosh, Jessica, thank you so much for taking time out of your life and your business to share so honestly who you are and how you got here and how other people can be it till they see it. So thank you and I can't wait till next time. And everyone thank you so much for listening. Please make sure you screenshot this, tag Jessica and I in it. And let us know your favorite takeaways that is how people more people can hear about us. And, also hear about what Jessica is rocking because if she inspired you and I want you to listen to more that she has to say. Alright, we'll see you at the next one.

Lesley Logan  

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 podcasts. 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.

Lesley Logan  

'Be It Till You See It' is a production of 'As The Crows Fly Media'.

Brad Crowell  

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

Brad Crowell  

Kevin and Bel at Disenyo handle all of our audio editing and some social media content.

Brad Crowell  

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

Brad Crowell  

Special thanks to our designer Jaira Mandal for creating all of our visuals (which you can't see because this is a podcast) and our digital producer, Jay Pedroso for editing all the video each week so you can.

Brad Crowell  

And the Meridith Crowell for keeping us all on point and on time.

Curiosity - the word of this recap with Lesley and Brad. Together they recall the curious convo that LL had with Tina Tang in the previous episode, reflecting on the opinions of others, how we give others power in our lives, and building healthy habits.

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:

• OPC Challenge is coming

• Self care isn't selfish

• Building healthy habits

• Family support when making major life changes

• Following your curiosity, not your passion

Episode References/Links:

• Brené Brown: Why Your Critics Aren't The Ones Who Count

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.

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

Social Media

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Tik Tok
• LinkedIn

Episode Transcript:

Lesley Logan  

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  

Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co hosts in life, Brad and I are going to dig into the profound, we're bringing back profound, Brad.

Brad Crowell  

Oh, yeah. (Lesley laughs) We're bringing it back.

Lesley Logan  

My conversation I have with Tina Tang in our last episode ...

Brad Crowell  

Actually, you know what, I think we should change it to, the conversation that you had with Tina was fun ... It was just a fun interview. I really enjoyed listening to it.

Lesley Logan  

So we're just gonna leave all that in. (Brad: Yeah) Yeah. Okay. It was fun, though. I really love her. I can't wait to see her. Okay, I hung out with Tina Tang in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that interview, feel free to pause this now. Go back and listen to that one and then come back and join us. Let us know if you thought it was fun or profound. (Brad: Yeah) (Brad laughs) And if you would like to insert a word of your own making into the intro to this podcast. You can DM them to @be_it_pod. (Brad laughs) All right. So I'm super excited, Babe.

Brad Crowell  

Tell me!

Lesley Logan  

Because we have over 150 people already signed up for our fourth #100withme challenge. (Brad: Yeah) I I'm like this is amazing. We start on October 3rd and we already have over 150 people.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, it's very exciting. It's it's gonna be a really fun group. We know some of you. (Lesley: Yes) So fantastic way to way you jump in.

Lesley Logan  

I think for the people who are doing for the fourth time, we should probably get him a shirt. (Brad: Yeah, yeah) Yeah, fourth time ...

Brad Crowell  

But but then there are others in there that we're looking forward to getting to know. And then there are those of you who are listening right now who have no idea what we're talking about.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. So first of all, I'm really excited to get to know them too, because a lot of them have never done Pilates before which is awesome. So first of all, this is not a Pilates challenge. Like, how much Pilates can you do?

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, no

Lesley Logan  

This is a consistency ... 

Brad Crowell  

It's not like an ice bucket challenge like, can you (Lesley laughs) do 75 hundred with me hundreds. I don't know. I just made that up.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, I could tell but it's okay. (Brad and Lesley laughs)

Brad Crowell  

So could everybody else that is listening (Brad and Lesley laughs)

Lesley Logan  

So it's it's a consistency challenge and the goal of this is, I am a Pilates teacher in case you didn't know. And so I'm going to teach you how to be consistent in your life with Pilates and also be kind to yourself while doing it. And then what I teach you, you can rinse and repeat for anything, you want to be consistent in because what I'm teaching you how to be consistent with Pilates isn't like, "Oh my gonna work for this ..."

Brad Crowell  

Oh I thought you were gonna pull out our favorite word, "profound." (Lesley and Brad laughs)

Lesley Logan  

So, so anyways, um, we have a lot of newbies, and what, which I'm really excited about because I really do love when new people start Pilates with us, it means no bad habits. (Lesley laughs) And also, we're giving everyone who signs up for our challenge access to our intro series. So no excuses. If you are only pi-curious, let that curiosity (Brad laughs) go and sign up for the 100withme challenge. We do kick off on October 3rd. So you want to go to 100withme.com to sign up (Brad: Yes) and grab your spot. Also, this is ... Brad, you want to tell them we talked about this last week, but like maybe we should remind them. So ...

Brad Crowell  

... Oh, okay, I know and now we're on the same brainwave. Yes, actually, we are, we want to give back to first responders. And we kept thinking how can we do this? Like, what would be a good way to you know, show our support. And we realized that first responders are obviously in need of breather. They, you know, it's been 18 months of insanity here across the board ...

Lesley Logan  

I feel like we're at 20 months at this point. Maybe it's only 18...

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, I don't even know where we're at. (Lesley: ... I don't know) But it's, it's, it's, it's a long time and they're, they've been going full tilt. And you know, we've been hearing stories about nurses resigning and stuff because they're just overwhelmed. And so we thought that was one of the really amazing benefits of the 100withme challenge is the idea of filling your cup first. So that you are at a 100% so that when you go serve others you are actually taken care of. And that's why we thought, "Oh wow, the first responders could use this challenge as me time" as like, "Me, myself and I time" because that's what the challenge is about this time. (Lesley: Yeah) So it's it's such an obvious connection there and what we wanted to do was was empower you to sponsor a first responder. Okay, so there's a special link you're going to need that's going to we're going to put that link in the show notes. But instead of the full price ticket $99 for to join the challenge for the first responder, you can sponsor them, we're going to split that with you and it'll be only $30 and we'll cover the rest of it. (Lesley: Yeah) And you can, you can invite a first responder who is a friend or family member, or if you don't know anybody, you you know, who is a first responder, you can find one and say, "Hey, you know, I'm thinking of you, I bought this for you. I hope that you, you know, take some time for yourself here, because I know how much you need it."

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. So I just I'm so excited. I can't wait to see how many first responders we get to do this with because even if they only do five minutes of Pilates a day, I know that they will have taken a moment for themselves to do that. And the action of laying down on the ground and just doing one exercise is them pouring into themselves first before they go to be there for others. And it's an it's just gonna be a domino effect. And and I say that to you as well. It is called the "Me, myself and I" theme that start with a theme every challenge. (Brad: Yeah) And so that's the theme and it's because I think people are still hung up on self care being selfish, and that self care has to be a reward for something. And no, self care isn't selfish care. That's what our friend Ber... Brenda Cooper said. It's not, it's not the intention. And so when you fill your cup first, then you are practicing doing that in life, it's going to help you give more to others freely, else have more energy doing it. So basically get your booty over to the challenge.

Brad Crowell  

I just one more thing I want to say this challenge actually has nothing to do with Pilates even... that's an ironic (Lesley laughs) statement, right? Because it's about it like what we're using the Pilates to do. It's a tool. (Lesley: Yeah) It's a method. It's just, it's just a small piece of this. The the the main idea here is creating consistency in your life, helping you build healthy habits of working out. And we are just happening to use Pilates for this challenge because obviously that's what Lesley is known for ... (Lesley laughs) But so like for example, if you were sponsoring a firefighter who has never even heard of Pilates, you know, they don't have to worry, it's not about the Pilates. It's about them taking time for themselves.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, so we're gonna we're, there's Pilates classes, everyone, and then there's an intro series for people who need it. But there's also hangout sessions and coaching around habits and also coaching around the mindset that you have to have so that your brain wants and your body wants to create this habit. So ...

Brad Crowell  

Yeah and first responder isn't just the firefighter. You know, it could be a grocery store clerk, it could be your mailman, someone who has been out there the whole time who hasn't been able to work from home, because they because of just the nature of their job. (Lesley: Yeah ... so amazing) So, you know, we're we're definitely thinking broad, you know, grocery store clerk kind of thing. (Lesley: Yeah) So, yeah ...

Lesley Logan  

So anyways, I can't wait to see how many more people sign up because we have plenty of time. But if you do it, say you're gonna do it tomorrow. You probably will forget. So do it today. Okay, so next we have our audience, our Be It listener's question of the week. Babe, what is the question?

Brad Crowell  

Yeah. So, "What do you do if you don't have enough time to get your workout in?" Which I think it's funny that leads right into that.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, that's so fun. I love when that happens. Um, thank you for sending that question in. Well Babe, what do you do when you have enough time to workout?

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, I, I get up early the next day. And and that's actually ridiculous to say that, but that's actually when I when I miss a workout or I don't get it in. I try to go to bed early so that I will get up early the next morning. And that's been kind of how I treated that.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, but you know what I like about that you don't really beat yourself up about it. And that's why your brain is good with doing it tomorrow. A lot of people would be upset with themselves, get frustrated, and they the whole day would be off on the wrong foot because they didn't get that thing and they promised themselves that they would do and you you're you're like, "Okay, I'm gonna make sure I get my work done so I can go to bed early."

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, it's it's been I mean, when when I was in a routine of going to the gym, or the studio to practice yoga, I probably would have been really upset if I had missed my class because it was like part of my world, part of my routine I was in I was always there, whatever, you know, but when everything shifted to be working at home and all the things now it's been way like, like, life seems flexible in sense, you know, somehow, we we've changed the the decision making factor and I, I I hope I'm not alone in that because I'm ... No, I'm trying to make myself feel better. So if you're like me, please DM us and tell me how much I'm not alone. (Lesley: Yeah) if I'm totally alone then good for all of you...

Lesley Logan  

It's okay. He's he's doing the "Me, myself and I" challenge as well (Brad: Yeah, yeah) everyone. Um, so I love this question because I think a lot of people think it's all or nothing. Oh, I wanted to work out at eight o'clock. I slept until nine. So now I can't do that. (Brad: Right) But your, the way the brain works and the way that our bodies work is a little different. Your brain doesn't like anything that causes pain. So if missing your workout causes you to be frustrated and upset. It's actually going to not make your brain look for other places that it can work out in. But if you actually keep that, "Oh, I'm so glad I remembered I wanted to do that today."

Brad Crowell  

Right. And it's like an association with the negative and positive (Lesley: Yeah) like it like for me. Like, it's quick to anger kind of a thing. If I'm like, "Ah, I messed it up!" You know, that's not a great association with the idea of working out in the first place because, you know, now I'm just connecting it to a negative emotion.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, exactly. So so I don't do that anymore. I think years ago, I get really upset with myself, "Ah, I wanted to do that." But perfect is boring and we're ditching perfection over here. And so what I do now is go, "Oh, I'm so glad I remembered I want to do that today." And I look at the calendar and I look and see if what is on here, does any of it have to be on here? Like (Brad: Right) have to be on there? Is there any way I can shorten it? Can I, oh I have a call with Erica, can I take that called Erica while I'm on my Peloton? Can I do this while I'm walking on the tra..? Can I when I do the dog walk? Can I make the dog go a little bit faster? Can I run the dog instead of walking the dog? And so I actually ...

Brad Crowell  

We did get the treadmill (Lesley: Yeah) so that you can do phone calls (Lesley: Yeah, and I have been...) on your walk. (Lesley: I know) And you can, you know get a workout in while you're talking with someone, yeah.

Lesley Logan  

Totally. Especially days like today I'm going to be on there at five o'clock when I have a call with my friend because I've been sitting at my desk all day today ...

Brad Crowell  

It's also insanely hot out.

Lesley Logan  

It is, it's if... they say keeps gonna get cooler, but it's not. So anyways, that's what I would suggest is, celebrate that you thought about it so it's good pleasure in your brain. Look to see if there's any place you can pair something you're already doing with a long walk or on your Peloton. And if you're like, "Lesley, are you kidding? That is glitter and unicorns," then you should be my challenge, because I'm going to help hold you accountable to good thoughts around when you want to work out and it's okay to just do five minutes, especially if you aren't consistent right now ... consist with five minutes every day is going to help you there. So anyways, great questions. I love seeing the questions to them to the @be_it_pod on Instagram.

Brad Crowell  

All right, now let's talk about Tina Tang, (Lesley: Tina Tang) former Wall Street trader and brick-and-mortar jewelry store owner and designer. Tina Tang dove head-first into fitness at the age of 42, after some incredibly challenging life, changes of a divorce and a crashing economy. Now. seven years later, she's coached thousands of training sessions, created the FS Formula to help mid-life women get stronger and leaner, and is a 'Fit at 50' coach. I really enjoyed your conversation with her. I don't even I didn't know Tina. I don't know Tina. I just enjoyed listening to it and I thought ...

Lesley Logan  

Well, you do know, Tina, like but not from a like you've never I don't know you've met her ...

Brad Crowell  

No, I haven't met Tina but it makes me want to like go to New York City and hang out with Tina ... It was great conversations.

Lesley Logan  

I guess you didn't meet her when we were in Mexico. But ...

Brad Crowell  

No, I don't think. Oh, maybe I did for like two seconds ...

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. But but anyways, y'all were in a similar group with her. And so and then I took your spot because I was like, "Get out. These are my ladies." (Brad laughs) So what I didn't know about Tina is that she was a jewelry store owner when I ran jewelry stores. And so she and I literally were talking shop when we were in Cabo because we were both in boutique business (Brad: Right) at the same time. And I just didn't own the business that I left, but she did. So that was really heartbreaking. So I loved it. She's amazing. If you are if you are intimidated by the gym, yeah, I talked to her because she didn't start going till she's 42. So we talked about the opinions of others and I really loved talking about this. And I think it's I mean, we've talked about that in different ways before in different episodes. Here's the thing. Like, I think that we, I think we all just think people think about us too much. And they don't... no one's thinking about us. 

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, but okay, hold on. We have to, we have to reference the opinions of others that she was talking about. (Lesley: Oh) (Lesley laughs) ... I mean, oh my gosh, I was laughing (Lesley: share it) so hard. Well, she talks about her parents, right, who emigrated here from a war torn country, you know, and they're very stereotypical. And, and I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna ruin the joke, you're gonna have to go back to the last episode to listen to it. But I was I was listening to it last night and everyone else was asleep in the house and I'm just listening with my headphones on. And when she told us a story about how her mom introduced her to her mom's friend, I laughed so loudly I'm pretty sure the dog started barking. I mean, I was laughing... it was insane. I was laughing so hard. Anyway, the two of you talked about, (Lesley: yeah) your family support when it came to making major changes in your life. And for her it was for you know, like the economy crashing shifted, her jewelry stores weren't going to survive. (Lesley: Yeah) And so and then she went from there into fitness and and her parents were looking at her cross eyed thinking like, "What are you doing with your life?"

Lesley Logan  

Well, and I think we talked about this before so I don't want to go into, if you didn't listen to recap with Danielle Pascente definitely listen to that. But here's here's something that I had to teach myself because when Brad put me on YouTube, ... all of a sudden there was someone who would be like instant thumbs down like as soon as a video would go up it was an immediate thumbs down. (Brad: Yeah) And you, it literally has been up for three seconds. (Brad: What an asshole) You didn't even watch it, like, (Brad: yeah) "Who is this hater?" And I was like getting, I was like, "How do you find them? I need to block them. This person is attacking me." And you're like, (Brad: yeah) (Brad laughs) "You can't find out who this person is." And I was so ...

Brad Crowell  

But it was like, I mean, it was they were, they weren't watching. It was like ... new video, I would get the notification about new video from Lesley. And then I would go to the video and it was like there's a thumbs down already. Like, (Lesley: yeah) they are out for you.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. It was like, okay, so anyways, I was on a run. And it's so funny how things come up and I was listening to Brené Brown on this interview. And this is like way before she was "St. Brené," but definitely like after her TED Talk. (Brad laughs) And she said, she was sharing her story about how she'd have these like negative comments on a YouTube, TED TED Talk. And she's like, "How do I go in and find out the IP address, (Brad: Oh yeah) and go all the way to their house and shake them." (Brad laughs) And then she's, she's like, she realized like she's spending too much time thinking about the people who don't like her. (Brad: Yes) And so she actually talked about how it's really important that you're clear on whose opinions of you matter. (Brad: Yeah) And I think that means you might even have to compartmentalize it, like, I'm sure Tina cares about her parents and that their opinion matters. But she's probably had to compartmentalize that like, it doesn't matter when it comes to what she's doing for her purpose on this planet. (Brad: Right) So I have, I have a list of people whose opinions to me matter. They know, their opinion of me matters and that's important, because if they compliment me, I'm gonna weight it higher than someone else. (Brad: Sure) And if they say something harsh, I'm gonna weight it higher than someone else. But because they know that their opinion matters and they are, they don't take it lightly and it's in it's important. But if someone does say something, and describes me in a certain way, and trust me, I get the DMs, y'all, I block and bless, block and bless. Um ...

Brad Crowell  

Sometimes they're just ridiculous. It's pretty amazing.

Lesley Logan  

They're ridiculous. And if I if I, if I let give them any more weight than just going, "Oh, is that true?" Then it's taking me from doing the thing that I actually care about. And it would affect I couldn't show up here today if I paid attention to opinions of others. So, what did you love that she said?

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm glad to talk about that because I think that's one of the hardest things for just it with the ... with social, because it's so easy for people to hide, (Lesley: Yeah) and leave, you know, nasty comments and stuff. So, yeah, anyway. So one of the things that she talked about was, how those the combination of going through a really challenging divorce and the economy crashing, you know, like, she really felt like she was at rock bottom. And you know, that it's really interesting. She has a congratulations in the last episode, which kind of surprised me, but having experienced what she was talking about, you know, I get I get where she's coming from now. But one of the things that she said was, you know, when you're going through it, nobody wants to hear, you know, this is going to be better for you. Right? You know, and, and she said, it sucks. It's the worst experience. You know, she lost her her marriage, she lost her company. Right? And, you know, but from that, you know, a) ... it forced her to look at herself, which is something that we honestly, we rarely do. After we've decided we know who we are, and we like who we are, and we don't really go back very often and like reevaluate things from the ground up. But those life altering, those rock bottom experiences will will put you back in that place, and allow you to draw different conclusions about the things that are important to you. And like where, you know, again, who you let influence you, you know, weigh in the opinions that matter, like Lesley was talking about? So, yeah, I really, I really connected with that having, you know, gone through a divorce myself, and had a solid year of shit that I that I went through after that, and, and, you know, I mean, I, it was, it was one of those things where, like, where, like, I would get home and be relieved that I didn't have to put like this fake face on anymore. But then when I was home, I was home alone. And it was just me and my dog. And it was just like, not exciting, either. So you know, but from that, you know, you look at yourself, you make changes, and then you know, you grow. (Lesley: Yeah) So yeah

Brad Crowell  

I, well, I just think that like, there's enough quotes out there about like, you know, like, the cream rises, like all like you get to rock bottom, you come up like other people have said, "You can't take away anyone's rock bottoms." And the truth is, is that like, we have that yoga teacher who says, "You can't have one without the other. You can't have love without hate. You can't have war without..." Like, you have to, they like, if you get rid of war, you can't have peace, because you don't know what that is. And I think that we are so scared of rock bottoms. And as we should be like, no one, I wouldn't wish that on anyone. But some of the most amazing inventions, the greatest speakers that people who've touched you and inspired you. They've done that because they were in a rock bottom, and it got them to think about something that they wanted to do. And they did it and that changed your life! And so, you know, I just keep thinking about the times that like I was at rock bottoms and who I am and the friends I have and even you, I wouldn't have met you If I had not been at rock bottom.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, we talked about that with too, with Sandra Chuma. (Lesley: Yeah) And, you know how altering life, life altering that was (Lesley: Yeah) for her as well.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, so I just think that like, but I do think you know, it is hard because like, when you're someone next to someone who's at a rock bottom, you're like, "Why do I say" and I think I don't actually know what you say but telling people it's, it's gonna be great. It's gonna like I ...

Brad Crowell  

And you know what she talked about that, she talked about moving in with her best friend. She said she crashed on her best friend's sofa for a month, (Lesley: Yeah) you know. And like, you know, her friend wasn't judging her, she's just there, just to be (Lesley: Yeah) there and be supportive and be a friend.

Lesley Logan  

And I think but and I think that's the permission like, you don't have to say anything inspiring to them you just have to be there so that they can have someone with them, have someone to listen to them but you don't have to fix it.

Brad Crowell  

Right. Well you certainly can't fix it if you're the friend. It's not, that's not how it works.

Lesley Logan  

And thank goodness for that like that you don't have that responsibility. So (Brad: Right) you just have to be there so they feel loved and seen and they're not alone. (Brad: Yeah) Anyways, it really is a fun episode ...

Brad Crowell  

No, you know what it made me think like listening to the two of you talk made me think of really happy memories that that we have of visiting New York City and (Lesley: Yeah) like going through those big open you know, like Chelsea Market style, like shopping areas where she described having her one of her jewelry stores I really enjoyed it and then like you know, obviously being in the city and going across to the gym, like I remember doing a lot of stuff like that so it's it was it brought back a lot of really good memories ...

Lesley Logan  

I know. We need to get to New York.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah. It was a fun conversation.

Lesley Logan  

A "Be It pod in New York." Well ...

Brad Crowell  

All right. Finally, let's talk about the Be It action items that you had from your conversation with Tina Tang. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items, can we take away from your convo? There was one that you really dug into with her. And we'll we'll we'll share that together. Basically, it was "Don't follow your passion, follow your curiosity."

Lesley Logan  

And that got us thinking. I hope I got you all thinking because we're like, "Wait, what?" And so I ...

Brad Crowell  

It sounds great. But again, it's like ...

Lesley Logan  

What does it mean?

Brad Crowell  

How do you do that?

Lesley Logan  

So I, well, Brad is very passionate with cactuses. You want to tell him about your passion?

Brad Crowell  

Oh, you don't even know like, I'm learning the, you know the the Latin names for these cactus and all the things, I'm really into it ... There are there are gazillion different types of succulents and cactuses. And it's been mind blowing and I keep, I keep acquiring more cactuses because we're going to create like, a cultural garden in the back that everybody will want to tour. Someday, I'm telling you, it's gonna be the coolest thing ever. (Lesley: But ...) Oh, hey, sorry, see how excited I am? ... See how passionate about those cactuses? ... No, I'm not gonna start a cactus business. Okay, like, that's not my jam. I just really am passionate about them. I really love them ...

Lesley Logan  

He is curious about like, what will grow back here and like how it will go. But like, he's ...

Brad Crowell  

My passion has created curiosity. Yes, for sure.

Lesley Logan  

But, um, one way that I another way to think about it is like, I'm super passionate Pilates, if you can't tell. But something that I can't do is just tell everyone that I meet to do Pilates because some people don't even know how to spell that, how to sound it out, what it is, who it's for. They've he... they tried it, they didn't like it, all these things. And so what I realized, and as been a Pilates instructor, my my passion is more bodies doing Pilates. But my curiosity is, "How do I get those bodies to do Pilates?" And so instead of focusing on what I'm passionate about more about example doing Pilates, I actually follow my curiosity. And where I'm at right now is "Oh, people feel like they're not good enough. They don't have enough time. They don't know what it is or how it will help them." So which one of those things can I actually really make the most difference on? Like ...

Brad Crowell  

Well, I really liked that because it does allow them to be it doesn't mean like I guess then don't follow your passion, follow your curiosity. They don't need to be two completely distinct things, like they can actually be similarly aligned. You know, but so that that's interesting. I think that's a really great, helpful way to look at it.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, but I love it. She said it because like, it's how she's living her life.

Brad Crowell  

Well, here's another thing that I thought was ...

Lesley Logan  

... we're thinking, "Well, why does this how do you do that?" (Brad: Right) And then I was thinking like, "Well, I think I do that. I'm doing that."

Brad Crowell  

Well, I went back and I counted. In your interview with her. I think you use the word "curious, or curiosity," like seven or eight times.

Lesley Logan  

That's so weird. (Brad: And why... I know) Why even use that word in life?

Brad Crowell  

Yeah. But well, the conversation was surrounding that. So, who knew?

Lesley Logan  

Actually the intro should have been curious conversation. (Brad laughs) ... curious convo ...

Brad Crowell  

Oh, yeah. Listen to this curious conversation. That's what it should have been.

Lesley Logan  

Well, we missed that one. (Brad: I know) Brad, what are you doing here?

Brad Crowell  

Producer's fired. (Lesley: Producer is ...) I can't believe it?

Lesley Logan  

No, it's your first write up. (Brad laughs) All right, everyone, this has been a lot of fun. I'm Lesley Logan.

Brad Crowell  

And, I'm Brad Crowell.

Lesley Logan  

Thank you so much for joining us today. And all the days that you do we are so grateful for you. How are you gonna use these tips in your life? Which ones are you going to use? We want to know, so let us know by screenshot this episode or just sending us a DM, tag the @be_it_pod and with what your takeaway is, not only will it put you out there with what you're working on, and people be like, "Ooh," and they'll probably shower you with things that you could do and give you great ideas, but also know what your takeaways are and what what's landing with you and it really does help other people find our show. So until next time, Be It Till You See It.

Brad Crowell  

Bye for now.

Lesley Logan  

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 podcasts. 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!

Lesley Logan  

'Be It Till You See It' is a production of 'As The Crows Fly Media'.

Brad Crowell  

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

Lesley Logan  

Kevin and Bel at Disenyo handle all of our audio editing and some social media content.

Brad Crowell  

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

Lesley Logan  

Special thanks to our designer Jaira Mandal for creating all of our visuals (which you can't see because this is a podcast) and our digital producer, Jay Pedroso for editing all the video each week so you can.

Brad Crowell  

And the Meridith Crowell for keeping us all on point and on time.

Tina Tang is so real! Her life experiences of trading on Wall Street, quitting Goldman Sach's to open multiple jewelry stores in Manhattan, going through a difficult divorce, and becoming an inspiring personal trainer in her 40s shine through in her vibrant and joy-filled personality. She's recently started an online strength training program for other women in their 40s and you can hear her excitement for it in this interview.

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:

* Age doesn’t mean anything anymore, but yet it still does

* Growth comes from pain/rock bottom

* The intimidation of going to the gym

* Curiosity, self judgement, being present

* Switching careers

* The opinions of others

* The side benefits women experience by lifting weights

* Don't follow your passion, follow your curiosity

Episode References/Links:

* Tina Tang’s workout IG

* Workout website IronStrongFitness.net

* Tina Tang’s jewelry IG

* Jewelry website IronStrongJewelry.com

* Straight Up Strong Community Strength Classes

Guest Bio:

Former Wall Street trader and brick-and-mortar jewelry store owner and designer Tina Tang dove head-first into fitness at the age of 42, after some incredibly challenging life changes of a divorce and crashing economy. Now, seven years later, she’s coached thousands of training sessions, created the FS Formula to help mid-life women get stronger and leaner, and is a ‘Fit at 50’ coach.

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.

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

Social Media

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Tik Tok
• LinkedIn

Episode Transcript:

Lesley Logan  

Hey you, how are you? Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast. Welcome back! If you've been here before, I hope you've been having fun listening to all these interviews, you know, I kind of have to pinch myself, every time I get to do an interview with someone because I, it doesn't feel real, I actually had the mind to do a podcast for years. If you've been listening to some of the recaps, Brad and I talk about we've been wanting to do it for a long time. And, and now we're like in it. And I think, I think it's really you know, the Be It Till You See It mantra motto is, it's challenging because it feels a little fake and can feel a little cognitive dissonance. That's the word. And I, I want you to know that, like, you're not lying to yourself, you're acting as if. Right? And so you're just stepping into that place. And so if you are struggling on some days Being It Till You See It versus other days, just know that on those days, you're doing like you're doing it and on the other days, it's a vacation. (Lesley laughs) It's a day off. But I do I do hope you continue to see yourself in other people's stories, in these interviews and, and if something sticks with you, if something piques your interest or something like it makes you go, "What what is that?" you're gonna love this interview, because Tina Tang is our guest this week. And while I don't want to give away what her action step is, but you, you will love it. And it is so interesting, and it's pretty against the grain, and I'm excited about that. But Tina's interview is amazing, you're going to see some vulnerable, her so much vulnerability, you can see it on YouTube. So, but you'll hear it if you're listening to this on your walk with your doggoes. She's had a journey and she's had a life and it hasn't been all roses and unicorns and glitter, like no one's has, right? And I think it's really easy for us to see people on Instagram, see trainers or see influences on kind and think, oh, it must be nice or must be you know, like, so easy for them. You know, but what I love about this interview is you hear that it's not easy, actually none of it is. You know, but but what we learn from each thing that we do is really important and really incredible and it takes us on this place. And and so I really enjoyed this conversation. I hope you do too. And you can hear more about Tina, not only on this podcast, but you can go into the show notes, check out her incredible career journey. So for those of you who are like, "Ah, I feel like I'm bopping around from thing to thing," you know, that is divine and it's an appointment and in your in your in you I think you'll really enjoy it. She started as a Goldman Sachs person and then she owned jewelry stores and now she's an incredible trainer. And so I really wanted to have her on for those of you who are thinking of joining the next thing to leap into something. And you're wondering, "Oh, what people say, what people say". Well guess what it is only matter what they say. But that's a spoiler alert. You'll get to listen to this whole podcast right after this message.

Lesley Logan  

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  

All right. Hello, everyone. Welcome to Be It Till You See It with Tina Tang. Oh my gosh, okay, y'all there are my friend Erika Quest has been a guest on our show talks about divine appointments and I feel like this is one of them. We I don't know that we ever would have met had it not been for a mastermind that we are in together. But it's so funny as she and I shared this like love for jewelry. And and also I think in a past life before the recession, we may have actually even been working a while in the same industry and not even known it. So it's just really funny. So, Tina, I'm so glad you're here. Will you tell everyone who you are and what you're up to?

Tina Tang  

Yeah, so my name is Tina Tang and how I like to describe myself is I'm a 'Fit At 50' strength coach because I got into strength training, you know, in midlife, so that's why I guess I always like to point out age because people don't like to think about their age, but I think it's wonderful to celebrate age, especially as you're working on, I guess, being a stronger person.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, I love that you said that 50 fit at 50 um, I also just feel like, when is midlife anymore? Because you know people are living to they're a hundred. I just watched! There's an Olympics for like people who are in there like, a hundred years old. There's like an actual like race. And there was a 102 year old who's doing a 100-yard dash. And I (Tina: Oh my God) I think they might run faster than me. I actually ... (Lesley and Tina laughs) It was really impressive. So like, you know, I find it, I do understand, like, there's such a weird thing about age and it's so strange because I feel like, it doesn't really mean anything anymore. But for whatever reason, (Tina: Yeah) it does mean things, you know, and in our lives.

Tina Tang  

Yeah. There's one thing that I like in powerlifting and I think actually, in some other strength competitions, when you're 50 and older, you're called the master. And I'm okay with that name. (Lesley laughs) And I'm like, "This is the masters." (Tina laughs)

Lesley Logan  

Yes. Oh, my gosh. (Tina: Yes) I love that. That's better than like silversneakers, which is (Tina: Yeah) something that I really struggle with, because I'm like, but what if you ... like I will forever have red roots died. (Lesley and Tina laughs) I will always have my roots died because y'all, this is not my real hair color. (Lesley and Tina laughs) So, well, anyways, so you got into fitness later in your life. And, you know, I I love that because I think so often people think, "Oh, it's too late for me." Oh, you know, like, "Starting anything new is so hard." Can you talk about like, what prompted you to get started? And how did you overcome the idea of like, starting "later in your life," which is still early – y'all in life? (Tina: Yeah, I agree with you) For the context of this? Yeah.

Tina Tang  

It's what I think sometimes, whenever we make a change or transition, it's because we're in some kind of uncomfortable place. Right? When I did a career switch, but for strength training, I was going through a divorce at that time, and it was a very difficult divorce. So I would leave my apartment to not be lonely. And I would actually go to the local gym, and I wasn't a gym rat. I was it was just somewhere across the street that I could go. And I was like, "Oh, I'll try taking classes." And in those classes when I started strength training, like because the classes are there kind of HIIT, but it had a lot of strength, strength elements. And I'd always be asking the teacher questions like, "Well, how do you do this? And why are we doing that?" That's how I got started. I mean, I eventually ended up taking a personal training course, but for self enrichment, but that's how it started just being some in a position that was uncomfortable, and me just trying to figure stuff out for myself.

Lesley Logan  

So that's, you know, you're so right, I think that we so badly want to get out of pain, that like we're so focused on getting out of the pain, like, "Why am I in this situation?" And I can think of all the things that I'm so grateful for right now came out of those uncomfortable moments of like wanting to get out. And I think, you know, it's so easy for us to want to, like save our friends from something that's terrible, or family members, or I don't have a kid, but I see parents like really worrying about like, the mistakes our kids can make. And like, obviously, there's some things we don't want them to make, but like, at the same time, like you can't really take away people's like rock bottoms or because like, that's kind of where like beauty grows from, you know

Tina Tang  

Yeah, that is very true. Yeah, it's it's hard sitting in those moments where, where you have to just be whether you're feeling down, or like, or in pain, but without going through it. You can't really heal. I know that sounds so squishy, but it's always easier saying it after you've been through it, like, "Oh, yeah, I needed that."

Lesley Logan  

But like, I understand why because it's like, "Oh, of course, I'd say that because they're on the other side." But like when you're in it, it's true. You're in it, but you got curious and you're like, lonely and you wanted to get out of the house and there was a gym and so you you took that first next step without being a gym rat without. What was that like the (Tina: Yeah) first time like you're like, "Okay, I'm gonna go to the gym." Was that uncomfortable? Was that weird? Were you excited about it?

Tina Tang  

It is uncomfortable. I think a lot of women feel that way. Especially there's that part of the gym where you see the dumbbell, the the giant dumbbells or even the barbells. So I think that's why a lot of women probably take classes. It's a it's a nice transition where you feel like you're guided there's other women around. And then I guess and figuring out how you can go to the next levels when I get scared. That's why I actually took the personal, it was like an intensive personal training course because I was like, I want to know how to use all this stuff that we don't use in class, like the scary part of the gym. And, and unexpectedly, it's what kind of launched me into my fitness career. But yes, it was it is scary going to that part. And then once you have a little bit of guidance, because I think sometimes when we're younger, like younger, teenage boys might lift together, but teenage girls we're not...

Lesley Logan  

They don't. No. (Tina: Yeah) I was in sports no one, you know, I went to the gym because I had been studying some other runners and I heard them talk about what they did at the gym and I'm like, "Wait, they don't just run? They do other things?" And there was like so I did a lot of stuff to strengthen my whole body because when you're running, it's like, great strong legs, and then like your upper body is like dwindling. And, and so it's true, but no one, like I was one of few girls that were there and the other women that were there I remember at my gym when I was a teenager in high school, they were like these big power lifters like, 80s (Lesley laughs) you know, like, there's like the it was the whole thing. And I was like, "Oh, I don't, that doesn't look fun for me." But now, now I know differently and I, you know, I judge and I have a completely different way and I love to lift weights. But it was such an interesting, there wasn't anyone there, you know, to make me feel comfortable, because there just wasn't a lot of women doing it. So (Tina: Yeah) Have you always been that kind of curiosity? You know, like, is that something because I wonder about, you know, were you always someone who's like, "Oh, I'm really interested in this. Okay, now I'll go do this," or is it just something like because of the situation you're in, you got curious and then you wanted to know more?

Tina Tang  

I think, I think, I wouldn't ever categorize myself as like, "extreme curiosity person" but I think if I'm interested in something, I'll go try it out. I won't necessarily know if what it might turn into but I'll take a class or check it out. Or even if it's a book or a podcast, or whatever, I want to take a little - dip my toe in. But I think that's I think that's natural for people. It's I think it's just going in without expectations.

Lesley Logan  

You. No, you're I actually because I used to think that maybe I wasn't a curious enough person, which it's ... my my recovering overachiever at work y'all like this is litter. You can understand it's recovering, overachiever and not recovered. Because I'm like, "Maybe I'm not curious enough. I wonder how I get more curious." And I watch, like detective shows. I'm like, "How are they...so like, why are they think?" you know what I mean? And it's, it's I think a lot of it's actually just being present versus not being present. I think that general curiosity as human beings, happens, just when you're present versus not, and like, kind of going deeper than the statement or the judgment of your thoughts. But but I...

Tina Tang  

Yeah, wait. Wait, that's actually that's so on point. I think we all are curious. But then it's the thing that might stop us is the judgment, like your self judging, like, "Oh, I can't do that, or I'm not good at that, or whatever it is." (Lesley: Yeah) That will, we'll be we stop ourselves.

Lesley Logan  

... 100%. And I know that so you're a trainer now. And so basically, later in life, you've started to go into the gym, because you were looking to be around some people and the classes were fun. And then out of curiosity, you took a training, but now you train (Tina: Yeah) women. And you know, I think a lot of people. Like I grew up with a family where my parents are still doing the same job that they did, like when my dad's retired, but like, they just my mom's a teacher. She's been a teacher forever. Right? (Tina: Yeah) And I have I mean, I've been a Pilates teacher for 14 years. But like within being a Pilates teacher, then I got the business coaching and now I've got this and now I'm running this company. And it's like, I think a lot of people struggle with that whole like, well, most of the people they ever saw just did one thing. And then there's this like, judgment around when I'm supposed to find my one thing. And, (Tina: Yeah) and then but you like you had this amazing jewelry company. And now you have an amazing training business. What was it like for you to switch careers? And what was what was the impetus? Like what what drew you to becoming a trainer?

Tina Tang  

Oh, that's so... you know, again, it's like situation and uncomfortable situation. So let's see, I was I had my jewelry stores in Manhattan. And then that's when I was starting to go through the divorce and then 2008 happened the financial crisis. And you remember this for also when you were in retail? ...

Lesley Logan  

We were in both in retail at the same time. Yes, so you own (Tina: Yup) shops, and I was managing them and it was (Tina: Yup), you could see it, you could like see the writing on the (Tina: Yup) wall. This is not going well for us. (Lesley laughs)

Tina Tang  

Yeah, you know, what's so interesting Lesley? Is at that time, it was like 2008 and then I think maybe not on purpose that was the rise of Amazon too. (Lesley: Yeah) So it was like people were shopping online and there was a financial crisis. (Lesley: Yeah) And that was like a double whammy for brick and mortar. (Lesley: Oh, yeah) So at that time, I was like, Okay, let me just a downsize. I'll just have like a small booth within I don't know if you know, in New York City, there was a place called Limelight it became like a little ...

Lesley Logan  

Oh, it's like a mall without walls because that's what Fred Segal was. I used to work at Fred Segal. It was ...

Tina Tang  

Yeah ... it's actually in an old church. (Lesley: Cool! So cool) ... And that's when I had taken the personal training intensive was like several weekends long and then it was actually with Equinox, and they're like, "Oh, we if you're interested, it was a theater into their into their gym." So like "Oh, you can always apply to be a personal trainer at the same time." So I somewhere in my mind is like, "Oh, I can do both. I can run my jewelry company and then also do training." Which is actually not ... to make one thing grow you can't do two separate things.

Lesley Logan  

I'll tell you I thought the same thing as like, I'll become a Pilates instructor on the side to pay for my Pilates habit and I'll run this jewelry store over here. And then what ends up happening is like one of them is going to take more of your time. (Tina: Yeah) And I got so busy teaching, I had ... like downsize my time at the jewelry store and then that wasn't going to work. So I just ended up quitting and it was like, I was like, "Whoa, this is not the plan." (Lesley laughs)

Tina Tang  

Exactly, exactly. That's how it is like funny how life is like you're, you're trying when the, you didn't expect to go in this direction. But it's kind of like you tried it, and then your passions are bringing you there are at that time your interest is going that way. Like you were transitioning out of the retail and being in that business for so long. Yeah, that's totally (Lesley: Yeah) unpredictable.

Lesley Logan  

So did you end up working for them? Is that what end up happening?

Tina Tang  

I did. Yeah. So I was at Equinox for about three years. And it's a great place to start as a young trainer because they do educate people. (Lesley: Yeah) They don't pay well, but they educate you.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. Well, I always tell people, if you are, if you're in the States, where they're also in London, like, and you have the opportunity, it is a great way to learn how to run your own business because you have to get new clients, but they're all in a box. They're all right there. You just have to stand there and smile, you know, like ...

Tina Tang  

You work there for a little bit or you ...

Lesley Logan  

I worked there for six years. Seven years.

Tina Tang  

That's right ... Yeah, that's right. Yep.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, I work I worked are there in 2009. I left in 2016. So just like two months shy of it's been exactly on the dot. But yeah, I think it's it. You know, if you are afraid of talking people on the street, your business, it's a great place to, to get warmed up and get started. So so (Tina: Yeah) then so okay, so, you know, I think I think some of the things that hold people back from doing the next thing is like, what people will say, you know, what, how people perceive it like, "What if it doesn't work?" Wha... how was that for you? Like, did did was everyone excited for you? Did you have people going? What are you doing, Tina? Like ...

Tina Tang  

I'll tell you when I before doing jewelry I was, I worked at Goldman Sachs. I was a trader. And when I told I didn't tell my parents, I was thinking of quitting. I had just called them like, after I quit quitting like, "Hey, just letting you know, you know, I, I quit Goldman Sachs." It was completely silent on the phone, like so silent ... had I thought maybe I lost connection. "Hello, hello." So I think it's hard and also, in describing like being a trainer, when I had been divorced and started dating, I you know, I even went out with someone who said, "Oh, I hesitated contacting you, because you were a trainer." So I figured you would not be I guess he figured I might not be very smart to talk to you. So...

Lesley Logan  

Oh my God, what a jerk. And also like, you need he needs to meet more people. (Lesley and Tina laughs) You know, like ...

Tina Tang  

... Yeah, yeah, I think people there's just gonna be always some kind of judgment. Yeah, and he needs to meet more people.

Lesley Logan  

I mean, that's just that that's on him and a loss for him because he, you know, but, but also, maybe you surprised him and change the stereotype around how (Tina laughs) some of the smartest (Tina: I hope so) people I know are trainers, like, you know what I mean? Like (Lesley laughs) So, okay, so obviously, parents were not super excited about quitting (Tina: Yeah) at Goldman Sachs. So have your own jewelry stores were very successful because you had multiple, but so how did they take you? Because I think a lot of people like ... their parents opinion or thoughts, like really do keep them from doing that next thing or even just like their friends. And so how did they take it when you're like, "Okay, I'm a trainer now," like, had you worn them down? Like, were they like, "Alright, she's obviously just doing her own dance," or were they was there? Is there excitement? Are they excited that you're a trainer? How's it going?

Tina Tang  

Oh, I'm not sure. Remember, they're Asian parents. I'll give you story. (Lesley laughs) I was visiting them last year. This is like, a little bit pre COVID. We went out to lunch, you know, to somewhere where only old Chinese people would go. And they saw some friends. The friends came over to our lunch table. And my mom was like, "This is my homeless daughter, Tina." Because I rent, I don't own a house. So I'm homeless. No, I think it's just sometimes you're just never gonna be ... (Lesley: You're right) what they want you to be...

Lesley Logan  

You know, and I love thank you for sharing that story. (Tina laughs) And I'm sure people are like, "Oh my God, this woman's parents," but at the same time, like (Tina: but) they are who they are. (Tina: At the same time. They did say...) Go ahead...

Tina Tang  

Yeah. That's exactly it. Oh, no they say and say and then then she added on, "My other daughter, Dr. Tang is..." whatever she my sister was doing. So it's kind of like, you know, you're just gonna have ...

Lesley Logan  

But I again, I'm so glad you're sharing the story because like, it hasn't stopped you from going after what you are passionate about right now. And we aren't going to please everybody.

Tina Tang  

No. Yeah (Lesley: So...) I mean, it is really hard to, I think especially when parents don't, because you know, no matter even if like, I'm 50 I still, like, I still like, "Oh, how come my sister's birthday cards, my mom always make it to the wall and mine doesn't," you know, mine don't. (Lesley: Yeah) But I learned that she likes a certain kind of card. (Lesley laughs) Hallmark cards are her love language ... (Tina and Lesley laughs)

Lesley Logan  

Okay, so so I guess like, how have you like, have you reconciled that so that you don't, whether it's your parents or anyone else? How do you reconcile that? So other people's opinions of what you're doing don't stop you from doing it?

Tina Tang  

Oh, that, you know, I don't know, if there's a formula, I think I just because I want to do it. So I just do. You know, and then sometimes, you know, I think it's very human to sometimes question like, "Oh, if I had stayed with XYZ, would I be somewhere different?" But you know, we just have different paths, you know?

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, no, we, you're, you're 100% correct. And I, um, I think it's, I just I'm so glad you're sharing this because I just I just know that some of our listeners, like, they have this dream, but somebody questions it. And it puts a doubt in their mind. And I think it's like, you know, our friends and family their questions of doubt more, it has so much to do with them than it does with us...

Tina Tang  

Yes. Yes. Actually, that's really good point. So like, for my parents, they're judgy is because they fled a war torn country. And so for them, it's like security is a kind of job that has nothing to do with passion, but just straight up financial security. So yeah, anything they think is completely related to their own issues, exactly. And that's a hard thing, I think, to try to reconcile that. Like, oh, anytime someone says something to you, or they make a comment about the way you look, it's really like a reflection of what's going on inside them. And we just have to remind ourselves that.

Lesley Logan  

Right, right, that is, and that's the hardest thing, because especially if the thing that they hit was something that you're already self conscious about. (Tina: Yeah) That can be that can be, you know, I was talking with my therapist about something and she's like, it's, she said, you know, it was a situation and she's like, well, you, you, you being you triggered something in her. And that is her thing. (Tina: Yeah) And you have your things but that is her thing. And I was like, "Oh, that is true. That is her thing." And so when people are being themselves, and you being yourself trigger something in them, it is it is kind of okay to go. And that's that's her thing. And that's their thing, and that it makes sense that they would think those things because they, they would they know, they fought so hard, you know, and (Tina: Yeah) they're like, "This is what security is," and they don't know that there can be security in so many other things, you know? So (Tina: Yes) I want to talk about women working out and getting strong, you know, your passion is women over 40 or over 50. Who do you work with?

Tina Tang  

Over 40 but I think a lot because I'm 50 like I understand what especially going through menopause, I might even be post menopause right now, officially. But knowing these struggles, but I in knowing these struggles, I see even more so how important strength training is, at least starting in your 40s. Because sometimes by 50, when there's a statistic that that sticks out in my head, it's 67% of women 50 or 50 in their 50s have either osteoporosis or low bone mass, and that really sticks out my head. I'm like, "Oh, that means also that in order to not be that you'll have started have started some kind of weight bearing exercise before that age." So over 40s, over 50s.

Lesley Logan  

Awesome! So what do you think? Um, I mean, obviously, for so many reasons, bone health, and just general health is great. And that's why you should strength training but like, what do you see most change when women start to lift weights and, and work out? Like do you see changes and how they see themselves? Do you see changes in how they engage or go after things? Like what are some of the other byproducts besides like, being strong or strengthening your bones?

Tina Tang  

That's such a, oh, such a that's such a huge question. I love it. (Lesley and Tina laughs) I mean, it really is because especially since we're we we are coaches, we see it, I can tell you, let's see, I have a couple clients that are in their mid 50s. And they recently got to their first pushup. So literally, they're like, "I feel like I'm seven" and telling my mom like, "Oh my god, I did it. I did it." So I think it's just like this excitement and because it's something unexpected. They never thought they could do that in their 50s because they never did it before. So it's like surprised at how, at how at what they could do even at an age where it seems like you can't really you're just going downhill. You know, like technically people think ...

Lesley Logan  

That's they what tell us. All the media tells us ... they are going downhill after a certain age, (Tina: Yeah) they stopped selling you anything they stop... Everyone over 50 are not going to get those ads anymore for clothes or anything tasty ...

Tina Tang  

Yeah, you're saying "Hello, this is where the spending money's at?" (Tina laughs)

Lesley Logan  

Yes! Oh, there's a woman that I'm hoping to interview soon, she has a whole newsletter on products and businesses about that are actually directed towards women over 40. Um...

Tina Tang  

Oh, that's so awesome ...

Lesley Logan  

It's really cool.

Tina Tang  

I can't wait to hear that one.

Lesley Logan  

I know, I know, I gotta get the information. I wish I could shout her out right now. But um, but I don't have all of it. I just I'm excited about about talking with her. But it's it's such an interesting thing that there are so many women in that age group. That is where the expendable income is that the right word, like extra income is and, and people very few people target it, and they just "Oh, whatever, you've reached a certain age." And so you just like, it's, I love that. I love that they do a push up when they're celebrating because it is so true. Like, we think because we haven't done it. We can't do it. But it's actually like, well, because you haven't done it, but you can't do it. (Tina: Yeah, yeah) Um, so Okay, so, you know, I want to just touch base a little bit on anyone who might be like going through a divorce or any in something new I lost her job or something like that, because they're all very similar. (Tina: Yeah) What was it aside from like, was it the working out that helped you with that? Or like, what was it that helped you kind of like, get over that experience in your life? Like, what were the what was the what was going through your head that you're like, how did you feel about yourself? And then how did you get yourself to where you are?

Tina Tang  

First of all, anyone that's listening, that's getting a divorce or divorced, congratulations. I know, none of us want to hear when we're going through it. Nobody wants to hear "Oh, I'm so sorry." Like, no, "Congratulations. It's a new stage in your life." And I have to say it is probably for most people is for me, is one of the darkest times. So assuming that you're going to get through it smoothly is I mean, unless it was a very short marriage, you know, like, you know, like a quick mistake kind of thing like, "Oh, we should get married, oh nevermind," I think it's going to be the darkest time in most people, people's lives, which is okay, because then you come out eventually on the other side, you feel sad, you feel lost. You question like, "What was I thinking when I made that choice?" But at that time when you said yes, and wanted to it was right, you know, it was right, and all the things aligned with you and this other person at that time. And then it just whatever it was the reasons, the paths that we went through, just kind of diverged. So I think, and I for women, this is going to be most relevant since we have such a good support system. I would not have gotten through that without my best friend. I think I even stayed with her in her apartment for a month during that time. I mean, I know he went to the gym everything but yeah, I think it's just your your social support. (Lesley Yeah) Having an unjudging friend and most friends, I think best friends are not going to judge. (Lesley: Yeah) They're there, they're there for the, for everything.

Lesley Logan  

Oh, thank you for saying that. I do think it's like, I feel for people who go through it, because there's just so again, so much that the outside world puts on us about a divorce, like it's a failure, or it's like, like the like, "How could you let this happen? You must have done something," like, and it's like, why we don't look at them as successes. And like, that was the length of relationship and you did all of that with that person. And now it's like, you know, the next stage, and I am always impressed. And I think I fall into this like as an interesting way. Like, when I hear people like, my friends who celebrate 25 years of marriage, I was like, "That is amazing." But like, it's also amazing. If you had a 10 year marriage, and it ended like it's still an incredible time to be. So I think it's great for us to acknowledge that it's a celebration that you're on this next journey. And (Tina: yeah) so like, your I love that you said, lean into your support system. I think that's I think we withdraw. I think when we and I don't know if it's embarrassment, or just thinking that people might say something that they we have no idea what's going on in their minds. But I know when I left my ex, thankfully, I had a few people in my life whose couches I could stay on. (Lesley laughs) Which is very helpful because it's hard to it's hard to untangle and unweave a life you had with someone to get going and the next thing it's not like you just go, "Okay, I made this decision. And I could do the next thing." (Tina: Yeah) Yeah.

Tina Tang  

Yeah. Because there's like, it's like even and then I'm sure you think but now like when you look back at the relationship, like "Oh, God, that seemed like a different person too," you know?

Lesley Logan  

Right, both people. No, I am I share this a lot with people when they go through any kind of a breakup or like they will leave a job that they're like, "This is like the worst thing for me." It's like, one of the I remember I went through I had a different therapist at the time and I had quit her during during my relationship and I called her up when I left him, and I was like, I got into the meeting and I said, "Okay, you could just say I told you so." And she said, "Well, won't say that," she's like, "Because I had no idea what was gonna happen." She's like, "But you have to ask yourself," like, "What were the red flags you ignored in the beginning?" Right? Because there were ... there were signs that you ignored. And, and so what were those, and then you just have to add that way, when you go dating, or you go looking for another job, or whatever it is, you just ask yourself, like, "How red is this flag? Is it orange? Is it yellow?" (Tina: Yeah) And you can like pull the strings like I remember, I was on a date, and somebody says, and I was like, "Ooh, red flag," but instead of just judging it, I said, "Oh, tell me more about that." You know, "Explain that to me. What is that?" And so, and so I got to learn so much more about myself in that and then also I can see why the me before said yes to those things. And I can see why the me before went into that relationship. And I can see what the me before stayed in that relationship because like we we don't we forget that we were someone else, like we are constantly (Tina: Yeah) changing. We're constantly learning.

Tina Tang  

Yeah, it's, it's true. Like, whatever it was, at that time in your life, you needed that, whatever that energy was, or what they did and stuff. Like with my ex husband, I wouldn't have had jewelry stores without him because he was a he was an electrician who could build he was like a union electrician. So he built out most of my store. So I wouldn't have done that without him. You know what I mean?

Lesley Logan  

Oh, you're I wouldn't have read my book without my ex because he was one who was like, "You have to write this book." And I was like, "I'm not an author, (Tina: Oh, really?) like, who would read a book from me?" Yeah! (Lesley laughs)

Tina Tang  

Yeah. So it was we made we made the right decision. We needed that at that moment in our life.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, everyone, like, you know, everything is happening for us and it's all part of it. And you get to it's easier to connect the dots when you're on the other side. It's a lot harder when you're in it. So it's just... (Tina: Yes) You know, (Tina: Yeah) so I'm just so grateful for you sharing the story. I really think that like, you, you're you're living such a full life and you are exploring, and you're what you're passionate about. And that's becoming like, and that's the world you live in. I think it's really cool, Tina. I, I wonder like, What is, what are you? What are you excited about now? Like, what are you working on right now that you're that's getting you excited?

Tina Tang  

Oh, I have, I have a, trying to think of the way to describe it... It's an online strength class community that I founded with, actually this one woman I met also through our coach, our business coach, so we cofounded it together and it's basically live strength classes. And a community called Straight Up Strong. And we just it's been it's our one year anniversary, and I'm really excited to keep it growing. Because it's, it's just really fun to watch all these women. I think our average is like women, they're around 47. Like if you average out everybody, just getting stronger and doing all this stuff at home and feeling really good about themselves. So that's I think that's what I'm most excited about right now.

Lesley Logan  

Oh, that's so beautiful. We had on my guest Sandra Chuma and her father had said "You're successful mean nothing if you don't bring people with you." And ... (Tina: Oh, I love that.) Isn't that so good? And so when you share it, you're like... just knowing you and how passionate about bringing his own along and helping them strengthen you bring him in a group together. Like it just made me think of that, like, you know, like your because of how you're doing with these women in a group. Like it's just you know, your success is like unstoppable because of like you're bringing people with you on this journey.

Tina Tang  

Can I have you in my back pocket? So you can tell me good stuff like that all the time? (Tina laughs)

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. This is recorded. So ... (Tina and Lesley laughs)

Tina Tang  

That's why we are all listening to this ...

Lesley Logan  

Okay, where can people find you? Or can they stalk you? Or can they workout with you?

Tina Tang  

Oh, I love it. On Instagram, I'm @ironstrongfit and then my group classes and you can find on Instagram or on the website but is called Straight Up Strong. So that's the Instagram handle or the website is straightupstrong.com.

Lesley Logan  

Love that so much. Okay, so we ask every guest because I love people's stories. I think they're super inspiring. Like, they're, it's, you know, there's all lots of good stuff here. And then if people are sitting and taking notes, I'm sure they get some good things, but just in case, they need sound bites of like what are some things they can do right now, to prioritize Being It Till They See It? So I like to think of be it till they see it, I've made it bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted steps that they could take right now.

Tina Tang  

Don't follow your passion, follow your curiosity.

Lesley Logan  

Oh, oh, (Tina laughs) I like that. Tell me but tell me more like what? Why why follow why why not follow the passion because a lot of people go, "Oh, do what you're passionate about. You'll be like rich forever."

Tina Tang  

Because I think it's hard for people to sometimes know what you're passionate about. Like as a kid, I've always been artistic. So it's natural. I ended up designing jewelry but you know there's a lot of people who are like, "I don't know what I mean, I played this or I did that when I was younger." But you won't know what you're good at, or passionate about until you kind of test it out. Like, you know, I mean so ...

Lesley Logan  

You're 100% because whenever I hear those like memes about follow your passions, and you'll be happy forever, it's like, if you are on the depths of something like you just got out of a divorce, or you just lost your job. It's really hard to feel passion about anything. (Lesley laughs) (Tina: Yeah, yeah) So I appreciate your honesty there. That is such a good one, I think, um, can might pique people's curiosity.

Tina Tang  

Like I'm always surprised when someone's like, "Oh, I love pole dancing." Like how did they find pole dancing? They, you know, they obviously were curious about it. (Tina laughs)

Lesley Logan  

Right. That's amazing. That's such a good one. Well, Tina, thank you for that. I think everyone can start to be more curious this week. And just follow those and see where it leads you. And then do a huge favor a screenshot this tag @ironstrongfitness. That's was your handles @ironstrongfitness?

Tina Tang  

Oh, @ironstrongfit ...

Lesley Logan  

@ironstrongfit, excuse me, (Tina: Yeah) it's in the show notes everyone, messy action over here. Screenshot this, tag @ironstrongfit, and @be_it_pod and let us know what you're being curious about. Let us know what your takeaways were. So that not only can Tina hear what you loved about this, but other people can as well. And that's how we get this podcast out. And until next time, Be It Till You See It.

Lesley Logan  

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 podcasts. 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!

Lesley Logan  

'Be It Till You See It' is a production of 'As The Crows Fly Media'.

Brad Crowell  

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

Lesley Logan  

Kevin and Bel at Disenyo handle all of our audio editing and some social media content.

Brad Crowell  

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

Lesley Logan  

Special thanks to our designer Jaira Mandal for creating all of our visuals (which you can't see because this is a podcast) and our digital producer, Jay Pedroso for editing all the video each week so you can.

Brad Crowell  

And the Meridith Crowell for keeping us all on point and on time.

Brad and Lesley recall the previous episode's convo with LA based personal trainer, Danielle Pascente, and all the advice she imparted. They cover the support you may or may not get from your family and closest friends vs other entrepreneurs, the balance of taking your business from in-person to online, and why you should take messy action!

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:

• How to give back to first responders

• Habits vs how you feel

• Some of the challenges of moving your business online

• Taking small actionable steps

• Take messy action

Episode References/Links:

• OPC Consistency Challenge Early Bird Special Dates: Sep 8-15, 2021

• OPC Consistency Challenge Early Bird Special Link

• OPC Consistency Challenge Link to Sponsor First Responders (check, yes, it's a gift during checkout)

• The Artist's Way - Morning Pages

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.

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

Social Media

• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Episode Transcript:

Lesley Logan  

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  

Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co hosts in life, Brad and I are going to dig into the giggly convo I have with Danielle Pascente in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that episode, feel free to pause us now. Go back and listen to that one and then come back and join us. Look y'all

Brad Crowell  

Lots of giggles.

Lesley Logan  

There's a lot of giggles on this one. But also, I completely understand that if you are an iTunes listener, and you're like, "Wait a minute, what happened to the episode before that?" They have made it so that you have to manually go back to things to (Brad: Oh) listen to ones you've missed...

Brad Crowell  

I found a setting.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, well, okay, go into your setting.

Brad Crowell  

The setting is is about changing the order of unplayed episodes.

Lesley Logan  

You found that because I found ... I found a different setting.

Brad Crowell  

I found one where you can say play the oldest ones first.

Lesley Logan  

Stop right now.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, inside of the (Lesley: Why ... ) show itself.

Lesley Logan  

Why are you just now telling me that?

Brad Crowell  

I just figured it out.

Lesley Logan  

Well, I showed you something I figured out.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, I wanna I want to hear about it, Babe.

Lesley Logan  

Okay. So everyone, just so you know, if you would like to not hear it, whatever the newest episode is first in your series on iTunes, go into the podcast, and there's probably like three little dots. And then (Brad: Yep) you can ...

Brad Crowell  

Yeah there's the setting up there ...

Lesley Logan  

Choose your adventure with that setting. The next thing I discovered is, we were flying to Hawaii and we were flying to Hawaii and I... it was like this five and a half hour flight. And I had all these podcasts listen to. And I have everything - so I thought - on automatic downloads. By the way, like automatically downloading your favorite podcast is like such value to your favorite podcasters. You've no idea what that does for their business. So just quick note... but I thought I did this already. So I'm on the plane and like we're not even 40 minutes in and I can't listen to any of my podcasts because even though they're in my 'listen now' they weren't automatically downloaded and I'm like, "I don't understand, I did this, this is my thing." So I on our way back, I learned my lesson. And I was like, "I got to figure out how to download these things." When you are in your podcast and you click on it, there's a little dots on iTunes still and it will have like an arrow, arrow down or a checkmark. And if it's a checkmark, it means it's downloaded. If it's not checked, you got to check it and it downloads it. And then in your settings, you can say automatically download this and that will repay all your favorite podcast hosts with your with your little click of a button. So that's like total currency to us as podcasters. Anyways, that has nothing to do with this podcast, Danielle, or what I'm excited about right now. (Brad laughs) So um ...

Brad Crowell  

But that was great. Thanks for the quick announcement.

Lesley Logan  

Yes. If you know how to do this on Spotify, Google Play or any of the other things, let us know on the @be_it_pod DMs. (Brad: Yeah) We will we will teach that on the next episode. (Lesley laughs) Here to help you Be It Till You See It and use technology. Okay, so I'm frickin' stoked, y'all. Listen, we are in the Early Bird for my 100withme challenge which I want to talk about because, look, I know you hear about challenges all the time, and you think, "Oh, maybe I'm not good enough to be the challenge. I've never done Pilates before. I'm not in shape enough or whatever." But my consistency challenges are specifically to teach you, how to create consistency in your life from something you want. In this case, we're gonna use Pilates and if you've never done Pilates, don't worry, we give away the intro classes for those people to do, for those of you newbies in there. But our goal is to teach you how to use... create consistency in your life with positivity, community, connection and accountability. And then everything we teach you, you can just rinse and repeat with other things you want to do. And so we're currently in the Early Bird which means, (Brad: which means) instead of paying $99 for $1140 in value, (Brad: hmm) you get this for (Brad: $50) $50, so that's a limited time offer if you are by the next recap episode that is over and maybe by the next guest interview episode that's over, what date does that end, Babe?

Brad Crowell  

Yeah.

Lesley Logan  

Okay. (Lesley laughs) It's gonna be in the show notes. It's gonna end whatever Sunday is. That's when it ends. So anyways, you go to 100withme.com, it's a number 100withme.com. And here's the other thing, do you want to tell them? Or do you want me to tell them?

Brad Crowell  

No, you can tell them.

Lesley Logan  

Okay.

Brad Crowell  

It's exciting.

Lesley Logan  

Okay, so, um, we we really try to figure out how we can give back in different ways with our businesses and everything that we do. We we have adopted all the dogs. We can't right now. But we're thinking like, how do we help people and the reality is is that you know, as we all know, the first responders have been on a marathon like an elite hundred mile marathon ...

Brad Crowell  

I think like 18 months marathon

Lesley Logan  

That they never have to had trained for that's not what they went to school for. And um, you know ...

Brad Crowell  

And I'm sure you remember last year, they pulled medical students into hospitals, (Lesley: Yeah) because they needed help.

Lesley Logan  

And it's not stopping because between fires, hurricanes, everything around the world, because I know we have so many Aussie listeners, UK listeners, like everyone's first responders are really being ... beyond. And so the 100withme just so you know why it's called that it's about giving yourself a huner 100% first, and you just do it with me. (Lesley laughs) But the reason is that we have to fill our cups first, we can pour into other people's cups, (Brad: Yeah) you cannot pour from a half empty glass and our first responders I think are having to pour from other classes that they stored in reserves. And so what we we figured out to do is, we want to make sure that it's so easy for people who need this to sign up. And that means you can actually sign up a first responder in your life for $30. (Brad: Yeah) So better than the early bird price better than the full price. We are ...

Brad Crowell  

Basically, the way that we want you to think about this is to sponsor a first responder, (Lesley: Yeah) right. So the the reality is, it's hard to know how to give back. (Lesley: Yeah) And, we also know that first responders, they're overworked. And so the idea of creating a habit, a self practice of, you know, working out, will help that first responder fill their cup first that will help them prioritize themselves, even though they're, you know, being pulled down this crazy trail of taking care of people through all the different ways that first responders do. So we want you to sponsor your friends who are first responders. Nurses, doctors, fire fighters, police officers, even, you know ...

Lesley Logan  

Ambulance drivers...

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, but, grocery store clerks, like if it's someone who's been on the frontlines, helping the rest of us survive, you know, through this pandemic. And now through all these natural disasters that are happening, and you want to do something special for them, we think it'll be great because then you can sponsor them. And then the two of you can be accountability buddies together (Lesley: Yeah) during the challenge, and it's going to be so much fun. So, (Lesley: And I...) here's how you do it.

Lesley Logan  

Oh tell them how.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, and then, and then, sorry, for cutting you off. Here's how to do it. So on the, we've changed the website. Now, during the checkout, there's a little checkbox that says, "Is this a gift?" and you just go to 100withme.com, and it will take you to the registration form and you can check, "Yes, this is a gift." And then after you go to the next page, it will have a an email pop up, you'll do the payment. And then it'll have an email pop up that says, "Email your friend." And so you'll put in their first name, last name and email address, and then you write them a nice little message, "Hey, I'm so excited to invite you this thing. I'm sponsoring you in this..." however you want to your messages going to be and then they will get an email prompting them to sign up for free because you you've already paid for their registration. So we hope you get excited about that. We were trying to think how can we, you know, get our community to support first responders and we thought that this was a really great way to do it.

Lesley Logan  

Well, and just going back because you're like, "How can we help?" Right? And I think a lot of times people think like I lately I've just felt a little bit helpless, like (Brad: Yeah) helpless and in some cases hopeless. And, and it can feel really hard to even think about yourself right now when like so many people have it worse than you. And this is actually how you can do it because the reality is, is that with our challenge, there is so much community accountability, and I know you're thinking but how will they have the time, I barely have the time again, this is a consistency challenge. It's not (Brad: Right) it's not a like doub... like a two day workout challenge. This is where we're literally teaching people because I believe y'all I believe that when you do Pilates, you actually are practicing how to talk to yourself, treat yourself, pour into yourself, so you can do it in life better. And so they can do the 10 minute intro class on the busiest day. (Brad: Yeah) We have a in NP, who is a member of ours who on Wednesdays, she shuts one of the rooms, patient rooms and does our mat class ...

Brad Crowell  

Puts up her laptop and does her mat class during her lunch hour.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. So I do know that it is possible for these human beings to have this time, but sometimes they don't even know that this is out there for them. (Brad: Right) And this is a way for you to give back. You don't have to like, "What's the right charity? What's the right thing?" No, you can actually go to the person, the person, you know, the person who's helped you, the the friend of a friend. And you can say, "Here, this is for you and I bought this for you." And ...

Brad Crowell  

And also, you know, again, like I said, I think it's gonna be a lot of fun, because it's something that you can do together. (Lesley: Yeah) Right? So you can be on IG together and tagging each other and commenting back and forth. And we were just thinking, how could we make it you know, more of a community thing, plus support our first responders. So we're really excited about this. We hope that you get excited about this. If you don't know any first responders yourself, ask someone, "Hey, do you know a first responder? I want to sponsor them."

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, I love that. Okay, so that's the 100withme.com, that's where you can get your early bird ticket. And that's where you can sponsor a first responder, essential worker. All right, my Love. Before we get into our recap, we have an audience question.

Brad Crowell  

We do. This is fun. I love that we get questions. If you have questions yourself, please just DM us on the @be_it_pod. What's the question?

Lesley Logan  

Okay. So "Hello, Lesley. I hope you are well." I am thank you. "I have a question for your podcast. Do you find morning pages the hardest to do when you feel okay/good? I've started to do them after picking up all the subliminal messages from your podcast..." basically, those were not subliminal, y'all, those were direct. You should do these. But I'm glad that they worked. "And have found them to be very therapeutic. I've ...

Brad Crowell  

The morning pages she's talking about

Lesley Logan  

Morning pages, yeah. (Brad: Yeah) "I have signed up for your habits webinar already." Oh, if you want to know that's, that, that happened a couple of days ago, but I'll be teaching that stuff. Side note, there's a parentheses in here. I'll be teaching that throughout the challenge. If you missed it, don't worry, you're going to get it for 30 days and that challenge. So she signed up for the habits webinar already and she is find and she's busy. When she finds she's "busy and I feel okay, it's easy to let them slide." So, Babe, we were talking about this ...

Brad Crowell  

So the question actually was, "Do you find morning pages the hardest to do when you feel okay or good?"

Lesley Logan  

So glad you're here. (Lesley laughs)

Brad Crowell  

Yeah. So because I know it's like, "Wait, where were we?" Did you ever play that game of like, how did we get to where we are in the conversation and you try to retrace your conversation back?

Lesley Logan  

I don't, I only do it in my head because I actually, well like be I'll think of (Brad laughs) something else. I'll think of something else. And I'll just go blah, blah, blah, blah. And you're like, "Where is this coming from?" And then I have, so I have to do it for myself. (Brad: Oh yeah) Not with others. (Lesley laughs)

Brad Crowell  

That's really funny. Okay, anyway. So okay, so "Do you find morning pages the hardest to do when you feel okay or good?" First off morning pages, for those of you who are unaware, it's a an idea that you basically get all of the crazy thoughts out of your head, not necessarily crazy, but that mess of morning thoughts that happens when you wake up and you're like, "Blaaahhh" it's all inside your head, you get it out of your head onto piece of paper, and then you literally shred that paper and it's gone. And you don't have to worry about it anymore but it's a really great tool.

Lesley Logan  

It's in the book, The Artist's Way. (Brad: Yeah) There's a whole, if you want to do the book, but you can also just do morning pages and you do it as soon as you wake up because if you remember from our episode with Katie Miller, (Brad: Katie) Katie Kerner-Miller, (Brad: Katie Kerner-Mil, Katie Miller-Kerner) Yeah, Katie Miller-Kerner. Okay, we're just gonna change the order of her name. (Lesley and Brad laughs) Anyways, she is a hypnotist and she talks about the brainwaves being in theta. And when you first wake up, that's why meditation works or, or morning pages, because you're not fully awake yet. So you're not like in your head about it, you just brain-dump, and you write for three legal pages ...

Brad Crowell  

So that's episode 21, by the way, (Lesley: Thank you) for those of you who are wondering.

Lesley Logan  

So um, so anyways, um, so the question is, "Do you find that hard to do when you feel good or okay?" because she finds it very therapeutic. So we Bad and I are talking about this, because while he was doing morning pages, he is a songwriter. And so, do you want to share about that ...

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, I do. So, honestly, I would say it has nothing to do with how you feel, right? The the purpose of doing morning pages or writing music is not to do with how you feel. And I can personally guarantee you that when you feel good or normal or fine. You will skip your morning pages or not write songs because you're not sad and mopey and feeling like you have something to share or sing about. Right? So I did that for a long time and I would like write for like a year and then I wouldn't write for like a year and then I'd write again for a year. You know, and when I ended up going to school, I had to take a songwriting class, and I had a lyric writing class and basically, my teachers gave me homework. Write a song. When? By next class. When next class? In two days. What? You want to write a song in two days? That was terrifying, right? But the point of it was that it was an exercise you get into the habit of doing your morning pages, you get into the habit of, for us, we do something called pre-writing, right? So before you sit down to write your song, you actually do an exercise called pre-writing, it's very similar to morning pages, just helps kind of get the juices going, you know, and get that creativity flowing. So, anyway, honestly, it really has nothing to do with how you feel. And if you let it be contingent on how you feel, then you will not do them. Right?

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, because you get out of the habit of it. So um, so in my webinar that I did, which is, are expired my loves, but again, we'll talk about it during the 100withme challenge. It's not about like, if I, if I can't do three pages, I don't do it. That's actually that's kind of the myth of habits that if you, you have to be able to do the whole thing. 100%, this is where perfectionism comes in and thrives. So what I would say is (Brad: hinders) hinders,

Brad Crowell  

Perfectionism hinders.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, it totally does. So what I would say is, make the habit that you are going to sit down to write a page, (Brad: Right) every day. And so even if you're busy, you still have time to write one page, because it really if your brain dumping right, when you wake up, it's going to take less than two minutes. (Brad: Yeah.) And then if you ever do all three, that's extra credit. So you actually just make the habit smaller. So you could always do it. And this way, on those busy days, it's still being done. And then the other thing you should do is, even if you miss them, like you wake up late, and you legitimately can't do them, because you need to be in the car in five minutes, is you celebrate the fact that you thought about it. (Brad: Yeah) And here's the thing, our brains are very much designed to run the fuck away from, from pain, and like, lean into (Brad: Sure) pleasure. And so if you talk to negatively yourself, talk negatively to yourself, or you have any, like, "Ah can't do this, I'm just so busy, you know, I'm feeling fine, don't need them," your brain doesn't see them as a positive thing. So it's not going to find time or space to do them because it doesn't see that as positive. But if every time you think about doing them, when you're creating the habit, or on a busier time, or maybe you're traveling and it's just not possible. Like when we travel to Cambodia, it's not like I have "morning pages" time, it's a different day. So, but, I don't go I don't talk badly to myself, I just go, "Okay, I'm so awesome for remembering the things that are important to me," and you say things like that to yourself, one, you're gonna feel frickin awesome, it's gonna uplevel yourself confidence in a huge way, two, it's gonna solidify that as a habit. But by making the habit be, "I'm going to do one page or even one paragraph half a page." (Brad: Yeah) And that if you do more, that's extra credit, you're going to find that it's always there. And here's the thing, if we only lean on things to help us when we're not feeling good, the chances of you going towards the when you're not feeling good are less likely because you're gonna have to remember that that makes you feel good, which is a like an advanced way of self awareness. And B you're not in the habit of doing them. So then you have to find the space to do them which is going to create a whole other upheaval in yourself, so I would just say is like, make the habit smaller, make yourself like saying I'm going to do one page or (Brad: Yeah) half page.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, great.

Lesley Logan  

I love that question.

Brad Crowell  

That's, that is a fantastic question. Thank you so much for sending that in ...

Lesley Logan  

Send your questions to the @be_it_pod on Instagram. We will answer them on the next recap.

Brad Crowell  

Okay, now let's talk about Danielle Pascente. (Lesley: Yeaahh) That was a really fun episode to listen to. By the way, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I know the two of you probably had to like slow it down because when you two get going is like, "blalalala" (Lesley laughs) so I was laughing, I did enjoy it. Danielle Pascente is an established personal trainer in Los Angeles and the creator of the Danielle Pascente Training Guides. She can be found as the lead trainer for the FitOn App, 30-Day Fat Burn series on BeFit and guest trainer on Studio Tone Up. She is a fitness expert and lead trainer for PopSugar. And she was recently named as the a trending fitness star by Shape Magazine. Wow! Her clientele ranges from celebrities to CEOs as well as large weight loss and event prep clientele. So anyway, I was reading this going, well, I don't actually... because I only know Danielle from the gym. (Lesley laughs) So like ... I didn't know ...

Lesley Logan  

... he had no idea.

Brad Crowell  

I mean, I knew she ran an online platform and I knew she was like, you know writing the books and stuff but like I was like, "Holy shit," like, "What? How did I not know any of this though?"

Lesley Logan  

My friends are really amazing. (Brad and Lesley laughs)

Brad Crowell  

She is really amazing. (Lesley: She's incredible) And I met her husband one time at the chiropractor how random, Matt (Lesley: Yeah) and ... yeah

Lesley Logan  

We always, we run into him a lot of the chiro... we run into a lot of people at the chiropractor, that is like ... (Lesley laughs)

Brad Crowell  

Kind of hilarious. Anyway, yeah, she's really inspiring. She definitely is very real. I liked that about about her a lot. So it was a lot of fun to listen to.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, it was a fun podcast, I'm so glad she was, you know, this is the power of amazing friends as like as like, "Hey, I'm sorry to podcast. Will you be on it?" And she's like, "Of course, of course," she's just the coolest. So she's super fun. One of the things that I love that we talked about was support from your family and closest friends versus entrepreneurs. And, you know, she talked about like, we ...

Brad Crowell  

Well, this the difference between them, yeah.

Lesley Logan  

The difference between them. And, and, you know, a lot of times I think, no matter what your goal is, or whatever you're working on, maybe want to go back to school, maybe want to start something new, maybe you want to start a new workout, or go, like go a hiking on weekends or something like that, like, we tend to worry about what our friends and family are going to say, because we think we need their support, to do the things that we're about to change. And the truth is, is that while I love, we have amazing family, several who work with us, but so they totally support us. But the truth is, is that often times, that's actually they don't know how to support you in the way that you want. And you're going to be a little disappointed or frustrated. And the reality is what you're doing, what you want to do, what you want to be, it really actually doesn't have anything to do with them. And so waiting for their support is probably actually going to hold you back or hinder you or make you worry and, and really she's talked about entrepreneurs, but I would just say like, "Lean into people whose reality in life are not affected by the change that you're making." (Brad: Yeah) And, and, and, and go with them, because they're gonna be like, "Oh, I've been there before, you're gonna love this, you're gonna feel so good." And then what's really cool about family and friends is they just want you to be happy. And when they see that this new change is actually making you happy and that you don't need them to, to do it. They're, they're going to be actually really happy for you.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, I think I think that the, when you first start something, you know, who do you know? You've got your closest friends and your family. So you're gonna tell them, "Hey, I'm gonna do this thing." And they're gonna be like, "That sounds so great." But when things get challenging or difficult, or, you know, whatever, going back to the friends and family is hard. They want to be there for you, but they don't really understand what you're doing. And so they're not going to necessarily be, you know, as as, what's the right word? Commiserating, I think is a good word as other people who are in a similar space as you, who would actually understand what it means to lose a client. (Lesley: Yeah) Like the ramifications of it, or the the win that you you know, that you just should be celebrating when you get a client, right? Or something like that, ... where we're like, you know, you say to your family, like, "Oh, yeah, I just sold a 10 pack." Like, that doesn't mean anything. They're like, "Great, honey, good job." Right? But no, that's like a massively big deal.

Lesley Logan  

Well, if, for example, a couple of examples, one, when we were going to Cambodia, and we told my grandfather, "We're heading to Cambodia," he wasn't like, "Oh my God, that's so cool." (Brad: Right) Like other people who ...

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, he was like, "We're going to Cambodia and we're taking a whole bunch of people." This was his response.

Lesley Logan  

"It's really dangerous there. Are you sure you should be doing that? You, that's actually really a bad idea. Like, like, I don't know, that just that's really unsafe."

Brad Crowell  

And it was like, "Well, we've (Lesley: Whoa!) literally sold tickets, ... and everyone has plane tickets, and we're going. So..."

Lesley Logan  

Way to (Brad laughs) shoot my parachute, pop, you know, and here's the thing love him for... He he only wants us to be safe. Right? (Brad: Right) The another example is this and Brad talks on like business terms. But, um, so I know not all of you are here for any business. You're just here to how to Be It Till You See It. But but I was getting a facial from a I'm trying to make friends in Vegas. And I'm gonna have her as my facialist on his podcast to talk about your skincare and all this stuff because you know, your money maker definitely can help you Be It Till You See It. (Brad: But she's a badass.) She's also a badass. So anyways, I was getting my first patient with her and I said, "Oh, how long you've been open?" She's like, "Well, I signed the lease February 2020." (Brad: Ugh.) So exactly, Brad and I were instantly like, "Oh, gosh, that sucks." But like anyone else who's not in business and understands they probably would have been like, "Oh, wow, you've been open a year and a half." They may not and most likely you wouldn't have had the guttural, like the my guttural like heart sank for her.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah. (Lesley: Because) Because she signed that a month before COVID hit (Lesley: Month before COVID) Right? So ...

Lesley Logan  

And her business is facials. And so ...

Brad Crowell  

It's clearly in person, you're touching someone, I mean. Yeah.

Lesley Logan  

Yes. So so anyways, whatever it is that you are wanting to add in your life or do in your life, whether that's a business or a hobby, or a habit or routine, you know, it's okay to know and share with your family what you're up to. But don't do it in a way that you need them to, like, pat you on the back and be your cheerleader, lean into the people, and they might be strangers who are doing that thing already. Because they remember what it's like to start, (Brad: sure) they remember what it's like to be nervous about it. They also know what it's like when you're on the other side of it. And you're going through the hills and valleys of what of what life is in that thing. So I just love that. What did you love?

Brad Crowell  

So, I really liked the point that she was talking about. I guess I always think about business. (Lesley: Yeah) So I always ...

Lesley Logan  

It's okay

Brad Crowell  

... pick this thing. So ...

Lesley Logan  

Some people are gonna create stuff for etsy. So all of these are applicable ...

Brad Crowell  

Also, this is like very the cop to topic of conversation was obviously all about online fitness business. So that makes sense here. But she talked about transitioning her in person client business, to an online business. And the process of how, how that happened, you made the comment that she didn't go all in, meaning she didn't just like cut all of her private clients, and just only focus on online, because, you know, we it's a longer term process to build a business like that. But she kind of balanced that she had all of her clients and started working on this, and then slowly was letting go of clients while her online business was beginning to grow to the point where probably now it's similar to how we did it, you only teach a few clients that you love. And then if people come into town, you know, you might be willing to offer them a session kind of thing. And I think that she's in a similar space. And I thought, I thought it was a really great point to say, you know, there's like a, you know, I talked about the different where your money comes from and the way that you are, where it's coming from like source A and your starting source B, you're going to run out of time, you can't have both source A and source B making you all the money that you need, because you don't probably don't have enough time in your life to do both of those things full time. So you're going to have to like slowly switch the two as it's happening. I know that's like, epically hard to do when you have a full time job.

Lesley Logan  

You also can't see what he's doing if you're listening.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, if you're watching YouTube, you can see me.

Lesley Logan  

But Brad's doing like scale. So think of scales. (Brad laughs) And like, one scale would be like, the way you make money today. And the other scale is the way you want to make money in the future. And then sometimes at some point, you're picking things off of the heavy scale moving into the lighter scale ...

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, that's a great visual

Lesley Logan  

And then they equal out and at some point, you're gonna have to just frickin' leap. (Brad: Yeah) But. (Brad laughs) But you it's, it's not a zero to 60, you do definitely have a foot on a canoe and a foot on an island and tell you can't do the splits.

Brad Crowell  

So yeah, there's that. (Lesley laughs) Anyway, I thought it was great because, you know, and we could definitely endorse that approach, too, because that's literally how we did it too, is we took a look at the income and said, "Alright, if all of our income is coming from personal clients, but we want to start something else out down the road. How do we begin to switch the two?" And it was a slow process, it took, you know, a couple of years, to be honest, for us to really be able to pull your schedule back to the point where you weren't feeling overwhelmed with teaching one on one. (Lesley: Yeah) And, and and also, I would, I would say that it's okay for to go that way. So if you're in the thick of it right now, and you're feeling like completely overwhelmed, you know, it's not sustainable to be doing both things too much. You, you need to make that slow adjustment of letting go of some clients or letting go of some teaching hours so that you can work on your long term business plan.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, I know, we have a lot of members who have their day job. And then they have this thing that they're wanting to start. And the same thing is like, you know, you can only do your day job when the day job is asking you to work. And so you have to carve out time to do the other things. And it's a matter of knowing your numbers, right? If you know what you're trying to replace, then you can set yourself up, create a path of like, "Okay, what are the bills that I have to pay? What bills can I get rid of?" And like, "What is the, like, monthly nut that I have to make?" And so then you can start to see a light at the end of the tunnel and figure out like, when is it that you can make that leap? And for us like I think a lot of people are surprised that we've had OPC for over for three years now, like (Brad: Yeah) New Year's anniversary right now. And they thought, "Oh, did you go online because of COVID?" like, it was actually already online and we actually had plans in 2020 for me to be more fully focused on our online business. It just so happened that COVID was like, we're just gonna rip that band-aid off for you. (Brad: Yeah) Like, we're gonna make this a much easier transition. And I was like, "It is easier."

Brad Crowell  

Well, it wasn't easier (Lesley: It wasn't easier) but there is a much faster transition. We were forced to ...

Lesley Logan  

I didn't have to have a lot of tough conversation. That's true. (Lesley laughs) I it was a, it was definitely it was all in the plans and in the works and we were on our way there. It was just a bigger jump than I probably could have made. (Brad: Bigger) bigger.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah. Babe, good job

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, I was picturing like, I don't know why I was picturing this, like Indiana Jones, like when you have to like, it would have been like a leap across a rock. And this was like one of those like jumping up to a rock and like grabbing on my fingertips, (Brad: Use the whip, grab the thing, pull yourself up!) Yeah, and like with my fingertips somehow miraculously be someone who can climb a rock, but that's what it felt like and, and so anyways, that's just I like that you pulled that out, because I think a lot of people here might be thinking about a side hustle. And it's good to know that the people you see on Instagram who seem like they're killing it, they didn't, they didn't, they weren't born killing it. They, they worked their way up, and they're consistent. And they slowly took some time from one thing and put it towards another thing.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah.

Lesley Logan  

Okay.

Brad Crowell  

All right. So finally, let's talk about the Be It action items from your conversation with Danielle Pascente. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo? I'm going to jump in first here, she she had two very clear, very concise recommendations. And the first one was to take small actionable steps to build that bigger picture. And I thought that this was really, well visualized, when she said, you might look at my business and wonder, why are people signing up for my stuff, and they're not signing up for your stuff. And she said, but you are looking at my business in chapter 12 of my novel. I've been doing this for five years online and years before that. Right? And so if you're just getting started, and you're you're looking at me, you know, feeling frustrated, you shouldn't do that because you're you need to start at step one, I started at step one years ago, and I'm, you know, now I'm further down the path than you are. Right? So the smallest actionable steps will help you in, in so many different ways. You know, such as, you know, the perfectionism thing, take a small step forward, just take a small step forward, right, or the overwhelm. If you're feeling overwhelmed, take a small step forward.

Lesley Logan  

It goes back to the question that we had this week. It's like, maybe, you know, I feel I'm busy. I can't do the morning pages. Well, so just do the, like, do half page (Brad: Yeah) towards the bigger picture of making it consistent, and making sure you have time all the time. And so I think people think it's got to be all or nothing, and nothing is all or nothing.

Brad Crowell  

Nothing is all or nothing. (Lesley and Brad laughs)

Lesley Logan  

That's my quote card. But like, you know, what I love about this is I always work backwards from the ultimate goal. So like, Be It Till You See It, the person place business life you want to have in the future, we work backwards (Brad: Sure) until we get to where you are today and then you just do little tiny steps. I heard somebody talking about his whole thing is like you have a 30,000 foot view. So like you're flying over your life, and you get a big picture of like, what you want to be or like think about when you're flying, I picture flying in LA. I can see, I can see the buildings of downtown and I can see the tops of the corridor, and I can see the ocean, actually can't see that that street specifically is Ashton Avenue. Like where we used to live like, I can't see that I can just see the buildings that landmark that. Right? But then when you land and you get to where you're going, you're in mouse steps, like you're in the map, right? So you're just taking, he talks about 30,000 foot view and then making mouse steps. I wish I could tell you who it was. I have no idea. But (Brad: I'll look that up, we'll see if we can find it.) whatever your bigger picture is, you work backwards and you take those small actionable steps. I love that. Thanks for bringing that one up.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, sure. So what about you?

Lesley Logan  

Oh, of course, you know, I loved her 'take messy action.'

Brad Crowell  

I know. I was like, "Yeah, why would that not click?"

Lesley Logan  

I mean, thanks, Danielle. It is in the intro. (Lesley laughs) (Brad:Totally is) It is in our merch, but everyone if you didn't know we have merch that says "Take Messy Action." And, you know, my, the reason I say this is like, I had someone say to me, I was teaching them a session and they and I was saying, "We just have to like it's gonna be okay for to be ugly and not be perfect." And she's like, "I am an oldest child," as and I was like, "Me, too." (Brad: Me, too) She's like ... yeah, Brad, too. And she's like, "Yeah, but that's it has to be perfect." And I said, "I'm just gonna tell you right now, that that's a story that you're telling yourself," (Brad: Yeah) and you can live with that story, but it's going to keep you from actually doing the things that you want to do because you're waiting for perfection and our bodies. Just like any project, you're working on it, they take time for the connections from your brain to the muscles you're not using to even work. Like if you've never used that muscle in the way they're asking to be used. It's not gonna be there. (Brad: Yeah) You know, so, so I'm the oldest child of two oldest children. (Lesley laughs) So the pressure was real and I'm not saying that as a slight to my folks, but like, I, I literally would cry when things weren't perfect. And I would be frustrated and I would just not do things because I would literally get an F instead of turning in a half written paper. And so Brad's laughing because I think that there was probably some tears when our ...

Brad Crowell  

There were tears when I was younger, too, because I'm also, I don't consider myself a perfectionist, but I don't like failure. (Lesley: Yeah) So that's a (Lesley: Yeah, and...) yeah, there were tears.

Lesley Logan  

There were tears. So here's the thing. I get it my perfectionists and overachievers I see you, I understand when I say take, take messy action that that is like nails on a chalkboard for you. (Brad: Sure) Here's I'm going to say, the more you do it, the easier it gets. And even just saying it, just saying take messy action, like just take like, just throw ingredients in a smoothie thing and see what happens if you don't like it, add more honey, it's gonna get better. (Brad laughs) But like, the the thing is that, like, if you don't take that messy action, you will take no action because nothing (Brad: Right) will ever be ready and when it is ready with it ever becomes ready. The truth is, is that it's no longer gonna make the impact you want to make because that means frickin everyone was doing it. And now you see the path forward, so you can just copy and paste and it's not gonna feel authentic to you. And you know, so anyways, I, whatever you have to do write it on a chalkboard. Take messy action. Take messy action today.

Brad Crowell  

Take messy action today.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. All right. Well, I'm Lesley Logan.

Brad Crowell  

And I'm Brad Crowell.

Lesley Logan  

Thank you so much for joining us today. We are so grateful you're here. How are you going to use these tips in your life? Screenshot this podcast, tag @be_it_pod with your with your takeaway or your messy action you're taking.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, (Lesley: And... ) the messy action. Send us a screenshot with your messy action.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, when you whenever you tag us, it actually just DMs us automatically. That's the coolest thing about technology and tag to @be_it_pod and we will catch you on the next episode.

Brad Crowell  

Alrighty, talk soon.

Lesley Logan  

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 podcasts. 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!

Lesley Logan  

'Be It Till You See It' is a production of 'As The Crows Fly Media'.

Brad Crowell  

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

Lesley Logan  

Kevin and Bel at Disenyo handle all of our audio editing and some social media content.

Brad Crowell  

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

Lesley Logan  

Special thanks to our designer Jaira Mandal for creating all of our visuals (which you can't see because this is a podcast) and our digital producer, Jay Pedroso for editing all the video each week so you can.

Brad Crowell  

And the Meridith Crowell for keeping us all on point and on time.

Today Lesley is joined by Danielle Pascente, an established personal trainer in Los Angeles who has successfully transitioned her business from in-person to online over the past five years. Together they discuss topics such as confidence, running a business with your spouse, the support of family and close friends, being a recovering perfectionist and the road blocks that can put in your path, and much more.

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:

• Transitioning a fitness business from in-person to online

• Where did the confidence come from to start a business?

• Online businesses are an ever changing puzzle

• Support from your family and closest friends, vs other entrepreneurs

• Recovering perfectionism 

Episode References/Links:

• James Altucher's podcast

• Danielle Pascente’s IG

• Danielle Pascente’s website

Guest Bio:

Danielle is an established personal trainer in Los Angeles and the creator of the Danielle Pascente Training Guides. She can be found as the lead trainer for the FitOn App, 30 Day Fat Burn series on BeFit, and guest trainer on Studio Tone It Up. She is a fitness expert and elite trainer for PopSugar. Danielle was recently named as a trending fitness star by Shape Magazine. Her clientele ranges from celebrities to CEO’s as well as large weight-loss and event prep clientele.

Danielle was a multi-sport athlete her whole life so she truly believes there’s an “inner athlete” inside everyone. She has a B.A. in Psychology from Arizona State University and is a certified personal trainer/group exercise instructor. Danielle is an ambassador for the fitness apparel lines Carbon38 and Vie Active. She is recognized as a top fitness model representing some of the most elite brands in the industry such as Nike, Asics, Adidas, Reebok, Skechers, Saucony, Brooks, Mizuno, Dicks Sporting Goods, Speedo, Muscle Milk, Hyperice, P-90X and Eastbay to name a few. Danielle has been featured on the cover of Runner’s World, Scottsdale Health, and Max Sports & Fitness. Danielle’s approach as a trainer is tough love meets athletic coach. She’s no nonsense, and will go above and beyond to help you meet your fitness goals.

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.

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

Social Media

• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Episode Transcript:

Lesley Logan  

Hi, how are you? Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It podcast. Ah, y'all when I started this podcast and I made a list of the women that I wanted to have on, that I wanted to inspire you and empower you. And to help you see what's possible for you, Danielle Pascente was on that list. And here's, here's what she did, which is awesome and I have to share it because it's a tip with that without even me in the podcast and the tip. So she told my assistant, she said, "Absolutely 100% I can't do it until June." And we asked him like March. And so my assistant totally was like "Respect, love that. Here are the dates in June that you can record." So I just had to share that because what I love about her and why we are friends is - we have boundaries. And we also want to support each other. And it's really, I think, it can be really hard to say, "No," to someone, when you like want to support them, or you want to be part of them and don't want to miss out on something. But it's okay to say "You know what, now I can't but here's the time I can do". And trust me, the people in your life who love you, respect you, support you, they will so understand that. And so I've been able to look forward to this interview for months and it does not disappoint. I can't wait. There are tips throughout the whole darn thing. And and so you will probably hear more multiple gems than just what's at the end. But again, what I really wanted you to hear was, you know, just just a journey that this woman has made and you get to check her out on Instagram, her handles in the show notes, but it's Danielle Pescente and you can like literally see where she's come five years later. But again, listen to all the tips, listened out the things and also, you know, extra tip... it's okay to say "No" to something and give people other options if you want to support, but now's not the time. All right. We're gonna get to the interview after this quick message.

Lesley Logan  

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  

(Lesley claps) They make me do that. Isn't it so funny? (Danielle: ... it sounds funny) I feel like such a crazy person. So I'm like there's so much there's a mic here. I'm on the person who's going to knock the mic off the table. (Danielle laughs) So thanks, Kevin and Jay for editing things. All right, so hello everyone, welcome back. I look I'm really I know I say this a lot. But I'm so stoked about today's guest because she is really one of my favorite best friends in the planet. We voice message each other all the time. And also just randomly and she just gets it when I'm like "Danielle what is this workout you're making me do right now?" Anyways, I'm gonna let introduce I'm gonna have her introduce herself in a second. But I just have to say I when I met Danielle Pescente, she I was in awe of her. First of all, she's tall, she's beautiful. She's got this long flowing hair. I was like trying to grow my hair out. So it's one of those 17 ugly stages that you just happens when you're growing your hair out everyone it just, there's gonna be a stage. And she and she sat so confidently in front of a group of amazing fitness instructors were all part of Carbon 38 teams, Team 38 and she shared just like willingly all these tips on how she does what she does. And I was like, "Oh my god, this is so amazing. Look at this beautiful woman who's just giving, like just giving information away." And that's just because she's such a generous heart in such a wonderful person and I don't know why she let me work out with her one day but she did and then for like about two years we worked out together almost weekly, multiple times a week and it was just so fun because we both work on fitness businesses online and it's not everyday that you meet someone who does what you do, in a different capacity, to work together. So Danielle, welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast. Thank you for being here.

Danielle Pascente  

Thanks for having me. I actually really missed our workouts like in person. You know, you can move back whenever you want.

Lesley Logan  

Just it was a hundred and twenty in the car today so I think I will be trying to make maybe I'll rent out an apartment in your in your condo building (Lesley laughs) this summer.

Danielle Pascente  

Wait, wait. It's literally 75 degrees. (Danielle laughs)

Lesley Logan  

I I'm not gonna lie like during we moved to Las Vegas during the pandemic during lockdown. I was like, (Danielle: Yeah) "Okay, it's gonna be hot like, but I was like we're inside anyways, you can't go anywhere, but now that we can go places, it's too hot". (Daniell: It's hot) I gotta go. We gotta have a summer (Daniell: Yeah) house. (Lesley laughs)

Danielle Pascente  

No, I just got back from Arizona and it was like 115 in the three days before we left, and I was just like counting down the days because it's so uncomfortable. Like, as runners because we're both runners, (Lesley: Yeah) it's uncomfortable outside, you literally have to be up at 5am if you stand a chance.

Lesley Logan  

It was at 5am this morning, it was 93. (Danielle: Yeah) And so I have decided to have a summer schedule where I walk with a hiking pack of water. I walked two miles with my dogs (Danielle: Yeah) at 5am. And I'm like that and we'll get on the Peloton like that's the cardio for the summer. And then when winter (Danielle: Yeah) comes around, you have to run because it's too cold. And then just trying to get used to this (Danielle: Totally) desert life. (Danielle: Yeah) (Lesley laughs)

Danielle Pascente  

Yeah, it's kind of interesting, too, because it gets colder there than it does here in winter. So...

Lesley Logan  

Oh, and you know, I do it my sister lives in Arizona, and I like to make fun of her and also Erica Hood in Palm Springs, our mutual friend. (Danielle: Yeah) I like text them like "It's hotter where you are just saying! Just (Danielle: just saying) just saying it's not hot that here." (Lesley and Danielle laughs) Anyways, okay, so basically, you've just experienced being on a phone call with Danielle and I let me have her introduce herself. (Danielle: Yes) Danielle, who are you? Where you, where are you living? What are you excited about right now?

Danielle Pascente  

Okay, well, thank you for that intro. I'm Daniel Pascente and I am a personal trainer, fitness expert in Los Angeles. I've been out here for over a decade, which is crazy. Because it feels like just yesterday. But yeah, I'm on year 11 of living in Los Angeles. And, you know, I started out as a trainer, where I did house calls, and I had my clientele. I started out at a gym before that. And then I took my business online about five years ago. So I've been in the online business, creating training guides for women, creating programs for women to do - strength training, HIT based training, and kind of just like rockin' the online thing now, for years. It feels like a long, longer time than it's been. But five years is pretty long time.

Lesley Logan  

I you know, I totally and I and I think that some people will they have that negative connotation when you say it feels like it's been longer, not in a bad way. It's just that like, you can't really remember what your life was like before it or that like just felt (Danielle: Yeah) longer ago like a different lifetime.

Danielle Pascente  

It is it's an entirely different life too. And the online business is not for the faint of heart. So, to that end, I say I've just like worked so hard for five years, harder than I ever have in my life. But it's also been incredibly rewarding and it's so cool to see it all grow. So that's kind of where we're at now. My husband helps me run the business as you know, Matt helps me run the business so it's been really cool to just watch it grow and morph into what it is right now.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, I I you know, because Brad works on... Brad came on full time with my business in 2019 December. We thought that'd be a good time (Danielle: Yeah) to have him get rid of his income. Just come on (Danielle: Yes) full time before pandemic you know, and but it is really fun to... it's... not, not everyone can do online business and not everyone can do it with their spouse. (Danielle: Yeah, yeah) It definitely takes (Danielle: That's true) there's a lot of special like that it's a lot it's a lot to balance but in the best way if you if you like and it's what your heart's calling. So, I do want to go back... um, you know you were going to people's houses and you were teaching in gyms and I know you were very successful doing that and that's the hardest thing like when you, when it's almost easy to make the money, doing the thing you were doing and you had this calling so what was what was going on inside that made you go, "I want to do online." Like, what even made you want to attempt that?

Danielle Pascente  

Yeah, it's funny because Matt actually is the one who got me to do it because I was so resistant, leaving my comfortable business that I had built up in person. I was like, "What is the need for this?" I don't like (Lesley: Yeah) I have everything I could want. I have a steady clientele. I'm making decent money however there was a cap to it. There was a cap to being a trainer because I can only reach so many people in one day. But he just he saw other people doing it like the Kayla Itsines of the world, or the Tone It Up. Like, (Lesley: Yeah) he saw it happening and he thought "Okay, you can do this. We can do this. We just need to go for it." And I was like no weekend. I know nothing about the online business. I don't even I mean Instagram wasn't a thing. Really in 2014-15 it was just starting to get like even remotely a platform where you can promote yourself, (Lesley: Right) so to speak...

Lesley Logan  

Right. Most people are just posting pictures of their food... (Danielle: Yeah, random, Yeah.) Like, here's my sunset... (Lesley laughs)

Danielle Pascente  

And sunset. Yeah, totally. I would like to collage and they were like, "Two miles today!" Period. That's it.

Danielle Pascente  

Yeah. Nothing like it was just a picture like that was all you posted that's like, (Danielle: Yes) no conversation.

Danielle Pascente  

Totally. And so I didn't really have followers or I just didn't know where to start, you know. And so it actually took a year to convince me to do it a full year where he was just on me every day. And I had got a coach in between that time and kind of tried to figure some stuff out like basic stuff, like starting an email list, or shooting an E-book, shooting content and all that stuff. So kind of dip my toes in for a year. And then I decided, "Okay, I'm going to create an E-book", which was a large undertaking at the time, it took us probably a year. And we took our time with it, and we learned and then we launched and nothing happened. Like, nobody was listening. Nobody was buying. I had like, 10 people buy my first E-book that was like, 10 dollars. So you know, (Lesley: Yeah), I made a killing. 

Danielle Pascente  

Yeah. So like a year of work, and you get a hundred dollars. And then you lost money (Danielle: Exactly) to Stripe or PayPal or whatever.

Danielle Pascente  

Exactly. And we just, yeah, we had no clue what we were doing. But that was kind of the start of it. And so because we decided to do that, again, you just take more steps along the way, of course. And I didn't immediately quit my clientele. So it was one of those things where, because I had a steady clientele I thought that I could kind of do both. And I'll keep this part of it, because it's a steady income. But I'll be doing this as a side hustle, right? The online business. (Lesley: Yeah) So it wasn't until year three, or like two and a half, three that I let go of all my clientele and I started to dwindle it down. And just kind of like trim the clients that maybe didn't respect my time, or I was like driving all over LA to train them. And then I finally got it down to zero where we could spend full time online. So it was to answer your question, it was definitely a transition. It wasn't something I was immediately comfortable with. It was really hard to leave that steady income, but we kind of hustled it together, and hustled it at the same time while still having it obviously. And then slowly got rid of it.

Lesley Logan  

Thank you for sharing that because I think first of all, Brad made me do YouTube videos. And I was like crying in between takes I was like literally in tears. People are gonna say something about like, I'm gonna get mean things like "Who am I to even do this?" Like, I've only been teaching at the time, I've been teaching like, seven years. And I was like, I you know, there's people been teaching for 30 years, they should be doing this. Like, I just don't I was having such a hard time. And they're terrible videos, and we've left them up on YouTube. So those of you who want to see what it looks like to start, you can see that. (Danielle: Oh, yeah) Yeah. (Danielle: Oh, yeah.) But I love that you shared how you, you didn't go all in. And I think that that is something that a lot of people struggle with, because they're like, it's this or this, or they're like, "I don't have enough time to even have a side hustle". And you're like, well, I got rid of some of the people that weren't respecting my time, or I had to go too far. Or like when you you know, if you're going to people's houses and you go, okay, it's a half an hour to go there, then it's like a 15 minute training. It's a half an hour to get back. That's two hours, like, you know, (Danielle: Yeah) maybe really, what if you found someone who's closer for an hour instead, like there's like different things you can do but it is tricky because I was in that business, it was really hard for me... Like, I convinced myself for over, it took me about three months convince myself, like, "Okay, in April of 2020, you're going to fire these clients," And I say... fire is (Danielle: Yeah) so hard, because if they're listening, I love you. But I was just like these, I cannot do these times anymore. Because that's that's when I should be doing my online business. And then you know, COVID took care of that for me. It was really thank you for that silver lining there. (Danielle: Yeah) It is hard (Danielle: Yeah) because that money is so consistent. It's (Danielle: Yeah) like those velvet handcuffs. I had friends who who used to be leads on the strip and they had this stunning dream house and they were like performing six nights a week, you know, and they're like, but it was hard for them to leave because it was like this dream house, you know, like this everything is here (Danielle: Yeah) and these velvet handcuffs. And so it sounds like you did a great job trying to navigate like, "What keeping things safe, but going through something risky". What I wonder though, (Danielle: Yeah) like, there are struggles it's like hard because when it's your work and you're the brand it's like, it's hard not to take things personally, it's hard not to like worry, like... So what were like how did you convince yourself because, I know he convinced you a lot, but how did you con... yourself, convince yourself that you like could do this? Like what was some things you saw or said to yourself?

Danielle Pascente  

Yeah, I think I think because I worked in the industry for so long as a trainer, filming workout videos and, you know, working as a model on sets and stuff like that. I in my head, I knew that I had it. Like I knew I could be a presence online, I knew I could be the face of a brand. And so I think that actually gave me the confidence was knowing that I had already done some like, quote unquote, "bigger projects". And so it was kind of the baseline of where my competence came from. But when it came to the actual online business, I was 0% confident because I didn't know what I was doing. And so I think the confidence came from doing, practicing, learning, YouTubing, googling, getting a coach like, because that's the most humbling part of it, (Lesley: Yeah) it wasn't my expertise. I never questioned that because I was an experienced trainer. (Lesley: Yeah) So I already had five years under my belt, I had confidence in that department, but it was really the online business and starting that that was incredibly humbling, because I just did not know what I was doing. So practice, honestly.

Lesley Logan  

That but you know what you said that sticking out so much and I hope people heard it, it's like, you basically leaned on where you were confident and like, figure that out, and then and use that confidence to take you to the next level, which was like, "Okay, who do I need to hire? What I need to research? How do we need to try this?" And then by doing that, that's just the thing, right? We get confident by doing the thing that we're (Danielle: Yeah) not confident to do. And you start to realize, like, after I did about seven YouTube videos, and I didn't actually get anyone telling me how awful I was then I was like, "Oh, this is so much easier, people like it!" Like, you know (Danielle: Yeah), you just got to do it. Yeah. Um, so you know, in the five years, you've been doing your business, it has evolved and grown. And I'm wondering, and you know, I didn't ask you this beforehand. So I have no idea the answer is going to be, y'all. But like, what are you excited about right now? Like, what are you hoping to take it to now that you have more confidence in the online space, you've been doing it for five years, it feels like it's been longer in a good way, like what's next?

Danielle Pascente  

I mean, I think the opportunities are kind of endless online. That's what I love about it, because you can continue reaching more people. So I never, ever in my wildest dreams, like, if you had asked me five years ago, I would not have ever thought I'd have this loyal of a community, this large of a community, I never would have thought it would turn into that. So for me, now, I know that that's possible and I want to continue growing and reaching new people and new audiences, obviously. But I also see a growth for the brand and a lot of different directions, whether it's like pop up bootcamp, or merch, or new challenges or challenges on the app, or a possible app in the future. There's just so many directions, we can take it and now that people are listening, and I have an audience, it does feel like the opportunities are endless, because I know that whatever I launch, my people will buy it, or they'll get excited about it, right? (Lelsey: Yeah) And I think that's the biggest struggle up front is you don't know who's gonna buy it and and who's going to even listen to what you're saying, right? (Lesley: Oh!) I mean, you know, (Lesley: I know) you know...

Lesley Logan  

You know, and you're always it's like, it's a puzzle, right? So it's always a puzzle. And I think if you're listening to us, and you're like, "I don't know what my next thing is, I don't I'm not a fitness trainer." You don't have to be a fitness trainer to go online. I (Danielle: No) mean, my mom is a teacher and she can sell things like online, she sells like they can sell their their plans or lesson plans to each other online, like, it's like kind of crazy, anything can be a business. I have just recently bought air plants that are glued to selenite, because I was like, "Oh, I want more crystals. And I want some more plants. And they're doing it together." Like anything can be a business, but (Danielle: anything). Anything, anything like and that's where it's like, I think people discount what comes easy to them as it comes easy to other people. You know...

Danielle Pascente  

Yeah. And people also discount the steps that it takes, like, if you look at my business now, and you don't know me, and you don't know the journey, you'd be like, "Ah, how come hers is so seamless? Like, how come everyone signs up for her thing?" Right? (Lesley: Yeah) Like, because of course, I would say that too, if I was just looking at someone's chapter 12 but it's like, this has been years of grind and years of hustle and years of honestly, consistency showing up literally when nobody was clapping, nobody cared, you know. (Lesley: Yeah) So it's, it's years of that and I think I think what people always have, what I would want anyone to take away from this is that you're gonna go through really tough times and times that will like knock you down as an entrepreneur multiple times over even when you get successful, you're gonna have those times I mean, both Lesley and I have gone through some really dark times in our business together. And we've always had each other to lean on which I love that about our relationship, but it's like, find people that support you and find a group or a tribe of people or whatever where they know what you're going through. Because honestly, a lot of my friends from college, they have kind of your traditional nine to five, whether they're working in finance, or a doctor or whatever else, and I respect all their jobs. But I don't think they totally understand like, what I do and what the online businesses is, and so to have a group of mentors to have a group of just friends that are doing, what you're doing is literally going to be a game changer for when you're down. Because when you're down, you need to talk to someone that has been there that can bring you up.

Danielle Pascente  

Thank you for bringing that up. I think that is I mean, we were very lucky. I wasn't really familiar with your entire business when we when we met. And I don't think you realize what mine was either, because I was still I was still doing in person training while having two online businesses, y'all cuz I thought you should, I should have two hustles at the same time. (Danielle laughs) And I'm an overachiever recovering and (Lesley laughs) (Danielle: Yeah). So but it's true like, I remember, and especially in the last three years, I was very intentional in changing my friendships, and not that I was like "byeee" to people, but I was just like, (Danielle: Yeah) all them about like, you know, what we're planting in the backyard. And I'll talk to them about what's exciting, but like, they're not the person I can call when like, "Hey, you know, iTunes took a like eight weeks to do something that they're supposed to take weeks to do". And so now I'm launching a podcast, and a new website and a deck of cards at the same time, like you would understand like, Oh, that's (Danielle: That's a lot.) that's a lot. And everyone's like, but it's all, like you wanted it all, like I did, but I did want all of it. But it was supposed to happen at different times and now it's happening at the same time. And when I call like, this is a perfect example. And if my mom's listening, I love you. But yesterday I called her I was like, "I finally had a moment to call you, how's it going?" She's like, "Oh, good, what's going on?" I said, "Oh, the podcast is launching four weeks late, on top of the deck and on top of like, this website that we're supposed to be three months ago". And she's like, "Oh, you're just doing such great things".

Danielle Pascente  

I know... same things...

Lesley Logan  

I'm like, "I I agree. Thank you. Thank you so much. But I just need you to go that's a lot."

Danielle Pascente  

Well, yeah, a 100%. I have to sometimes tell my mom that I have to be like, she'll say the same thing. She's like, "Yeah babe, you really need a break. Like, honey, you need a break." I'm like, "I can't just take one right now, mom!"

Lesley Logan  

Right. This would be this is not the time because there's actually a scheduled break. Don't worry, we, y'all we... I definitely I know, I know for a fact she does. But I definitely schedule and break, she might not see them, because I probably just won't go "Bye to the Instagram." (Danielle: Bye. Yeah) But (Danielle: See you later) but it's so you know, to your point, it's like, it might take you some time. Like I definitely had to put myself in situations where I didn't know people. Some of them paid, some of them free and just try to find other people that I could like really relate to and call upon. And so last year, when we had this really epic moment, you know, Brad called his parents and they're like, "Oh, that's great." And then we called my parents and we're like, we're gonna move, we had this moment, we're gonna move and he's like, "Oh, well, just make sure you do this." And I'm like, none of these people are giving me what I want. And I was like, "Call this guy," because we call this guy Brooks, his wife is in the online fitness space ,and we called him up and we told him what happened. He was like, "That's amazing! That is so cool!" And I was like, that's exactly what I needed. That's exactly what I need right now.

Danielle Pascente  

...Yes and all your online friends won't give you that. 23It's funny, because when you first start the business, you think your most loyal number one supporters are going to be your family and friends and it's actually not true. And, gosh, I wish I would have heard this advice more because a lot of times I was seeking validation from those people, I wanted my family to understand and support, I wanted my friends to understand and support. But it actually wasn't like that. And so when I stopped chasing that, and stop giving a "F" about what they thought I actually did better. So I don't know if any of you are in this position where you feel like you're constantly trying to please or have acceptance from the people closest to you. But those often will never ever be your customers and they certainly won't be paying for it.

Lesley Logan  

No, because they're they think that they should get it for free. And you know what? (Danielle: Yeah) To their point, like, I just get my family. I'm like, I signed you up, you're signed up (Danielle: Same) and like, you know, but it's you know, it is true, we are, I think it's, it's human nature, you could have like, what, 10 people comment on your posts, and it's all positive and one person goes, "Do you even know what you're doing?" (Danielle: Yeah) And you're like, on a good day. You're like, "Fuck I do". And on a bad day, (Danielle laughs) you're like, "Who is this person?" and you're going down like looking up who they are like, what they found (Danielle: Yeah, going down to rabbit hole) Yeah but it's true. It's like you you know if I think everyone's family and friends out there want the best if you would ask them or they want the best for all of us. (Danielle: Of course) But there is this subconscious thing like, "They're gonna leave me behind." Or, "What does this mean for me?" or you know, and then often they're not the person you're trying to help anyways. And so just like let them be part of the journey, but you have to find the friends who, like legitimately are in the space. And also, like you said, (Danielle: Yeah) who've been there before? I forget who it is, I want to say it was James Altucher. I heard this a years ago, I was on a run and he said, "You...Everyone needs a plus, a minus and an equal on their lives." So they need someone who's above them, who's been there before, (Danielle: Yeah) either hired or just happens to be a good friend. They need someone who's an equal who'd like, is in is in the same trench as them and then they need someone (Danielle: Yeah) that is below them that A, they can see how far they've come. And B, they can get confidence by giving advice back. (Danielle: I loved that) Not cool? (Danielle: That's good.) Yeah. So I was like, I remember going, "Who's my plus? Who's my minus? Who's my equal?" I really was like, "Oh, I don't have these ones." So I went out seeking for them like, that was my mission. (Danielle: Yeah.) Yeah. (Danielle: That's interesting. I like that.) Yeah. But it's, you know, I think, what I what I wanted to bring you on here, if so much for is, besides that you're just the coolest chick and I fuckin' love you - and any excuse to see your face - is where we're at right now. (Danielle laughs) But, but, you know, I know just from our own journey, like, it doesn't happen overnight. And you, your story that you shared already is just so great. It's like, you had to be convinced, it took a lot longer than you probably like anyone probably sees and a lot of effort and like what people see now is chapter 12. And it's, you know, not even the end of the book. We're like, still going, and this is a series. (Danielle: Yeah.) And so I just thought, like, if anyone can hear that and go, "Oh, I've been wanting to do something and I, everyone says I should do it and I'm just a little scared." It's like, you don't have to go all in tomorrow. You just gotta (Danielle: No,) gotta make one E-book.

Danielle Pascente  

Yeah, yeah. (Lesley: Start there) You have to take, small, that that's what I always tell people because your want and need might be "Let's do it all", you know, like, "Let's do it all at once." And if you could just take the tiniest of step every day, right? So today, I'm going to sign up for MailChimp. Not even I'm not going to write an email. I'm just going to sign up and make an account. Tomorrow, I'm going to research websites, how what domain will I use? What? Again, you don't have to do it, you just have to research it. Right? So it's like, small actionable steps every day add up to the bigger picture. (Lesley: Yeah) So try not to get overwhelmed by all the things you have to do to be at chapter 12. When that is literally possibly 6 to 10 years down the line. You just have to take small steps every day.

Lesley Logan  

There's like so many gems that you've already just put out there. So we're gonna we're gonna pull them all together in a second. And I'm gonna make sure that everyone is following you all over the gram. You're going to y'all I love seeing her posts, I read all of them she's like me we hit 2200 characters plus (Danielle and Lesley laughs) so... (Danielle: We don't know when... shut up.) We're like I tried to edit it. I'm like, "Nope, this one staying, this one staying this long." Alright, Danielle, where can they find you? I know you are, you are all over it on one place. What's your favorite place to be found?

Danielle Pascente  

On Instagram for sure, that's where I'm all over it on @daniellepascente P A S C E N T E. And that's literally where I live most days on stories. Doing stories, doing post. That's where you can find me.

Lesley Logan  

Her stories are the most fun; I laugh out loud. and I have to just say like, you film your life that like... mine looks exactly the same, but I don't, I just like, I forget to pull the camera out. But, I was dying laughing yesterday because I was walking, I went to get my lashes done. These are not mine everyone, just so you know, this is I don't like to do my makeup. So this is why we have them. (Danielle: I don't have on right now... make up) And yeah, so I so I get into the chair and I looked down I had slippers on. Like legit, I left the house and slippers and I (Danielle: Welcome) was like, "You know what Danielle would do right now? She would probably make this a story." So I totally did. I like channeled my inner Danielle and I was laughing. I was like you know the world might be opening up but clearly I need retraining like I am not ready (Danielle and Lesley laughs) like not even like not even like cute slippers like ugg slippers, in 110 and I show.... (Lesley laughs)

Danielle Pascente  

That's me! That is me. I just I don't know what it is about after I turned 30 but I just don't fucking care. (Lesley: Yeah... No) I'd like everybody needs to know that there's a lot happening behind the scenes here. I actually think that's another awesome thing for people to know is like share your journey, share your life because people are oftentimes buying or because they liked you and not necessarily the product. Now I put out a good product don't get that wrong, but people want to just feel connected like (Lesley: Yeah) you're a real person.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, you're so good at that. And I have I have gotten so much better in this last year because I'm first of all, I don't live in a (Danielle: Yehey) 500 square foot apartment. So there's a lot more to show. Like, I have a hallway (Danielle: Yeah) that I can walk down. (Lesley laughs) And it's not like... (Danielle: I got whole hallway.) Is the bed made? Because how far can I turn to the... (Lesley laughs) (Danielle: I know, I know, I know) Oh, my husband's still in it? Yeah, we're not showing that. Anyways, so... Okay, we've, you've given some great gems and if you want to repeat any of them, that's fine. But I have to ask at the end, just in case, there's those people who like to skip to the end. For the Hot Tips, what are your favorite, like, if anyone could tell you five years ago, you know something today? Like what would it be to Being It?

Danielle Pascente  

So I am going to repeat this, but to take small actionable steps every day, even if it's the smallest thing, like the smallest thing is still going to get you where you need to go. So take those small steps. The second thing I would say is take messy action.

Danielle Pascente  

Hey, that is like a podcast. That's a literal podcast mantra around here, take messy action. (Danielle: Yes.) Thank you so much.

Danielle Pascente  

Yeah, I mean, and I think entrepreneurs would agree or have heard this from their coach or someone but it's not gonna look good. At first, it's not gonna be pretty. And if you're a perfectionist like I am, ... that's an issue. At first, it's a hurdle, you really have to get tough to put out work that maybe isn't perfect, right? (Lesley: Yeah) So take the messy action, because that will lead you to this whole learning process of how a launch works and how you can get better and how you can get more sales and blah, blah, blah. So small steps. Take messy action.

Lesley Logan  

I couldn't agree more with those. I'm not kidding. Like, we literally have take messy action merch and (Danielle: Love it!) and then you can't tell because there's a mic, so it reads correctly in your camera test "Perfect is boring." But when you actually look at it, like in real life, it is backwards, so you actually can't read it (Danielle: Oh, that's fun...) Yeah. So zoom in Instagram really pissed me off because they're ruining my merch, but it's fine. It's fine. It's fine. Because I, I'm a recovering perfectionist not recovered. It's an "ing"... I think it's gonna be there for a (Danielle: Same) while. I think (Danielle: Same) if I put the recovered then I'm being a perfectionist. Like that's kind of the catch 22...

Danielle Pascente  

Yeah, I'm always recovering. Always. (Lesley: And...) It always creeps back in.

Lesley Logan  

Oh, yeah. And also overachiever, 100%. Like I have to, like everyone on my team is like, "I hope you're celebrating right now". I'm like, "Oh yeah..."

Danielle Pascente  

Celebrating? (Lesley: Celebrating....what?) I don't know what that is. What's the next project?

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, let's go. Next one. What's next? So, Danielle, thank you for being here. And just being your honest, wonderful self. Everyone, this is exactly who she is on the gram, off the gram. And I'm just so grateful that you took time out of your day to be here to inspire so many. So, thank you, thank you. Please everyone screenshot this. Share it on Instagram because that's where she's gonna see it with your takeaways (Danielle: Yay) tag @daniellepascente tag to @be_it_pod and let us know and also share with a friend who like this needs to hear like "Hey, tiny steps is for the win." I'm so grateful (Danielle: Yes) to you and everyone until next time, Be It Till You See It.

Lesley Logan  

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 podcasts. 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!

Lesley Logan  

'Be It Till You See It' is a production of 'As The Crows Fly Media'.

Brad Crowell  

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

Lesley Logan  

Kevin and Bel at Disenyo handle all of our audio editing and some social media content.

Brad Crowell  

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

Lesley Logan  

Special thanks to our designer Jaira Mandal for creating all of our visuals (which you can't see because this is a podcast) and our digital producer, Jay Pedroso for editing all the videos each week so you can.

Brad Crowell  

And to Meridith Crowell for keeping us all on point and on time.

Brad & Lesley recall the last episode's interview with coaching savant Kareen Walsh. They cover tons of book and podcast recommendations (see below!), evaluate the roles they each play in their business, and taking a moment to look back at how everything is going.

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:

• Brad's book recommendation
• Lesley's many, many book and podcast recommendations
• Kareen Walsh is a Jedi Knight
• What role do you want to play in your business?
• You don't have to be the CEO
• Take a moment to look back and evaluate your business
• Taking a pause

Episode References/Links:

• FREE Habits Webinar with Lesley (Sep 7, 2021)
• The Replaceable Founder by Ari Meisel
• Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor
• The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Bernadette Dunne, Priya Parker
• Unlocking Us podcast with Brené Brown
• Kareen’s podcast, Your Badass Journey
• Kareen’s Reflections Journey
• Happiness from the Inside Out: The Art and Science of Fulfillment by Robert Mack

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.

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

Social Media

• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Episode Transcript:

Lesley Logan  

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  

Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co hosts in life, Brad and I are going to dig into the entrepreneurial conversation I had with Kareen Walsh in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that interview, well, you can pause this, you can find it, listen to it, and just put this up in the queue next, there's like a way to go play next. Or you can listen to this. Go listen to that one. Or you can start any order you want. This is your life and we are just here to help you Be It Till You See It. So

Brad Crowell  

That's true.

Lesley Logan  

Is literally what we're here to do. Okay, hun, guess what's happening?

Brad Crowell  

Tell me!

Lesley Logan  

Oh, you know.

Brad Crowell  

I know (Lesley: Okay) it's coming up in five days.

Lesley Logan  

Five days. Alright, y'all, I am on a mission. I'm on a mission because I want to help you Be It Till You See It. And I know that is so easy to be inspired to hear all these takeaways and then go to put things in action and then somedays you don't feel motivated to do what you want to do. And other days you just feel like the world against you. And also there's a whole situation on how long does it take to like make this become something that's routine, sort of think about it - because decision fatigue. And anyways, I'm about to blow your mind for free on September 7, in our Myth Busting Habits webinar. Again, it's free, it is on September 7, there is a three day replay. And you all can join me on this hopefully live, I really hope so we try to pick a time that most parts of Australia are awake. Sorry, Perth, I just don't even know what timezone you're on. I love you and I really am trying but if I go too much later, then we lose all of Europe, all of it. (Brad: It's true) And so this is the best we can do. It's a one hour webinar, you go to OnlinePilatesClasses.com/habits, that's OnlinePilatesClasses.com/habits to sign up for this free webinar and... (Brad: Plural) Yeah, it's plural. (Brad: Yeah) Yeah, it's also in the show notes, just click the link in the show notes. You just do the little swipey-up thing and like hit it and you can sign in. It's because it's free. You don't even have to have your credit card handy. You can do this on your phone. And then set a time to watch it if you're not gonna watch it live with us because there's a three day replay "only." (Brad: Yes) But it's gonna be a lot of fun. And I I want you to join live as you can, because I would like you to, to say, "This what I've been trying to make happen and I can't make it happen. Let's break it down!" We're gonna have time to do that with everyone's desire. So anyways, I'm ready. Ready!

Brad Crowell  

I'm excited. I mean, I think it's gonna be great to to dig into how we actually make habits.

Lesley Logan  

I think that you are actually gonna really love it. I haven't... To be honest, y'all, while we live together, work together, and we are married. I haven't really been sharing a lot of this with him. (Brad: No) He just hears me chat about it with the team. I'm like, "We got to do it like this. We got to do it like this, because it's gonna help people make it easier, make it a habit." And they're just looking at like, I'm crazy. And so everyone's gonna get their mind blown on September 7.

Brad Crowell  

Mind blown.

Lesley Logan  

Mind blown. In the best way kind of mind blowing up version. So anyways

Brad Crowell  

I love it.

Lesley Logan  

What was our question this week?

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, we actually had a great audience question this week from Helen Lamphere. She DM us on the IG. (Lesley: Yeah) And the grammage...

Lesley Logan  

@be_it_pod is our handle for the podcast on IG.

Brad Crowell  

And you can ask any question that you want from us about anything and we will, you know, happily work it into episodes that are coming up

Lesley Logan  

Life, business, romance, Pilates. (Brad: Hmm. Spicy) Spicy. (Brad: Ah) Love, I love dating advices. It's really fun for me.

Brad Crowell  

Today's question from Helen Lamphere is, "What are your favorite books that you would recommend?"

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, okay, well, you go first.

Brad Crowell  

Okay, cool. So as you know, I'm a process guy that's like my jam. I definitely like the the idea of getting out of the way and letting automation take over. So we use a tool for our project management that allows us the the, the option of replacing ourselves, and that's a weird idea. And that idea is explained in detail in a book by Ari Meisel called The Replaceable Founder. That was very inspirational to me. It's only a it's a quick read. It's a short book. It's an easy audio listen. And the general idea is create a systematic approach to the things that you're doing so that you can think through how to do it well, right, easy, whatever. And then how can you replace yourself in that. Now, whether you're replacing yourself with full blown automation, or you're replacing yourself with another person on your team who's joining your team, the idea is as the founder of a business, you can't do it all and you basically need to swap yourself out in a way that is manageable by somebody else. So that is an amazing book for all you entrepreneurs out there that I would recommend.

Lesley Logan  

Cool. And you know what, even if you're not an entrepreneur, and you are someone who has a lot of things to do, and you are wishing that people would help you around the house, around your life, around things, I still think it's worth watching, reading. (Brad: Yeah) Watch it, you read it, or you can listen to it on audible. Because you can think about "Gosh, I can never have someone who cleans my house the way I cleaned my house." Well, you can (Brad: You totally can) if you do this approach from that book. So just for the non entrepreneurs out there, that's still a good read. Okay, well, I'm gonna I have a few books because (Brad: Oh) I love to read...

Brad Crowell  

She does. She reads all the time.

Lesley Logan  

I'm usually reading between two and three books at one time. So first up, Breathe, James Nestor, you're welcome. Changing your life, you're frickin' welcome. I am actually taking a breathwork certification because I'm obsessed with this book. So I don't care if you're into Pilates movement or not. It is awesome. Next book that I recommend to everybody, (Brad: everybody) everybody that's how many people, The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks. Ah, if you do listen to that one on audible, I highly recommend at least 1.4 maybe 1.5. He is like a grandpa reading you a story. And I the reason I say listen to it is if you are someone who is a perfectionist, overachiever, who's super hard on yourself, you're going to read that book with this tone of voice. That's a little bit like judgy. And why I like his voice is he's "grandpa" and he's like giving you stuff, but it does needed to be sped up a little bit. And it's all about how we get in our own way when we get outside of our comfort zone. So we all are told, "Life happens on the other side of the comfort zone," but then it's scary. And so some of us like self-deprecate when that happens to bring ourselves down, we worry, (Brad: Sure) I'm a worrier. As soon as something goes good, I start worried about something else. It's gonna go bad. And I've been, I don't know, I'm pat myself on the back, I'd say "I've been doing pretty good" since acknowledging that. But there's a bunch of other things maybe you pick fights with people when life is going really good and you get a fight with someone - that's called upper limiting yourself. So highly recommend that for anyone who is wanting to be recovered perfectionist and overachiever. I'm gonna keep going because this is my show. (Brad laughs) I also really am super super into as far as business books go, I've just started The Messy Middle and obsessed. Obsessed everyone. (Brad: Yeah) It is...

Brad Crowell  

I just downloaded that. I haven't started it yet but... (Lesley: I know) she told me yesterday, "You got to read this book..."

Lesley Logan  

Gotta read this book. (Brad: Okay) I'm like nine pages in and it's like making my whole world, makes sense because we're in the middle right now. And sometimes I just feel like, it's like a frickin' bipolar of emotions. It's like up, it's down. It's up. It's down. And then you just go "Oh, that's that's actually how business is." So for those of you who are trying to make something in your life or business and you're like, "Somedays are good, Somedays are hell." Yep, you're in it. Welcome to the middle. (Brad laughs) So I just wanted something that would like make me feel good about myself. And then lastly, as this is coming out, you know, towards the end of like, it's like, what is it almost the fourth quarter? It's called The Art of Gathering and it is by Priya something. Her name is not coming to me, but she's amazing. I heard her on Brené Brown's podcast and to be honest... (Brad: Priya Parker) Thank you! Priya Parker.

Brad Crowell  

The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. So it literally goes into details about having like if you're going to have a small dinner party, what are the size and this is not like Suzy homemaker, what are the sizes... (Brad: What are the size?) the size of the party, like if you're... (Brad: It's what is the size of the party?) what is the size, like if you're gonna have people over for a home dinner party, the size does matter, too small and it's like a double date, too big and now it's a party and then there's different things and it goes over like how to be a good host because if you're not a host, someone will become a host because it's just how human beings are and that can upset the applecart and just she shares all these different things. She also has a... I'm just gonna put this out there. Priya, if you're listening, or if anyone knows Priya Parker (don't tell her I didn't know her last name...) And I I want her on the show because I I really, she has this incredible life y'all. She was raised by two, like her parents got married but they like on religious reasons, get along on no levels. Like one of them was raised, like from India, so like, doesn't eat meat, her dad's from the Midwest and he's like super Christian. And like, somehow they got married. And then she became this like, negotiator for the government because obviously, like she grew up in like a household, that'd be negotiated all the time. And so she wrote this book, and she shares her personal stories, and I don't care if you're in business, or just someone who wants to have people over your house. Great book!

Brad Crowell  

Cool

Lesley Logan  

Okay

Brad Crowell  

Right

Lesley Logan  

That's my list.

Brad Crowell  

Amazing!

Lesley Logan  

Thanks for that question.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, that's a great list, I am in. (Lesley: Yeah) We'll make sure to put all the links to those in the show notes. So you don't have to worry about writing them down or kicking the table. I mean, or anything else like that. (Lesley laughs) (Lesley: Sorry, I kicked the table) (Brad laughs) All right. Let's talk about Kareen Walsh here. If Jedi Knights were real, Kareen Walsh would be one of them. She has this uncanny ability to envision the possibilities around any venture that you map out with her. She uses that foresight with her clients, whether coaching one on one or working with a trillion dollar company. Yes, I said trillion with a T she works with more than one, to make your life easier and more fulfilling, while staying efficient and productive. Her coaching has changed our lives. And we are so, like lucky to have been able to coach one on one with her because she works with C level execs from these massive, massive companies that have you know, like 10,000 employees and stuff like that. So having her take a look at what we are doing was mind blowing.

Lesley Logan  

So, clearly Brad writes the Bios (Brad laughs) on this, (Brad: Yeah) because I have no idea what a Jedi is (Lesley laughs)

Brad Crowell  

I definitely referenced Star Wars in there. (Lesley: I can't wait for you to hear this.) 

Lesley Logan  

Um yeah, no, Kareen definitely changed our lives. And this is like the power of just being connected to people and also believing that everything happens for you like what we got to do with her in 2020, I mean, I can't even imagine how it would have happened, the other way that was planned - it like was it was totally different. So anyways, that has nothing to this podcast, but just a side note of like she she did change our lives and and, you know, you just got to trust how all the dominoes fall. So here's something I want to talk about that I loved. What role do you want to play in your business? You talked about this a bit. And, and she would do like details on on like, you know, evaluating it and all this stuff. And, and when we say she changed our lives, y'all I used to be the CEO of our company and I, I had crazy imposter syndrome around it. It was really like, causing me stress and anxiety. I everything I would read about CEOs. In fact, I was actually listening to Brad's current CEO coach, like I had downloaded all of his freebies, I listen to every podcast he was on, and I was like, "Okay, I'm learning how to hug a cactus and be a CEO," and I just hated it. And we met with Kareen. She had this this simple thing and when we did it, he's... Brad is the CEO. I was like...

Brad Crowell  

She's like, "By the way, have you thought about switching roles?" (Lesley: Yeah, yeah) And we're like, "Can we do that?"

Lesley Logan  

Can we do that? Can I not be the CEO of my own company? And it's and it's so funny, because I've now met so many female founders who aren't, they are the visionaries. And (Brad: Yeah) and so I left that meeting being the CPO and that felt really good.

Brad Crowell  

CPO stands for Chief Product Officer.

Lesley Logan  

Or we call the Chief Pilates Officer because it just sounds like more applicable, applicable. And anyways, I changed my role this year.

Brad Crowell  

When did you do that?

Lesley Logan  

Just a couple weeks ago, actually, (Brad: Yeah) like maybe a month ago, I was just like, evaluating how things felt to my body and how the business felt. And I and then I heard that Simon Sinek said, "There should be a CVO," and I was like, "Tell me more. I'm already interested." Chief Visionary Officer, I'm like, that's exactly what I do. And I am stoked about it. So it's so no matter how big or small your businesses, pick the title that makes you feel like you can show up and shine. No, don't pick the one you think you deserve. Pick the one that makes you feel you can show up and shine. And that's what I'm so glad she brought that up. What did you love that she said?

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, well, I just wanted to comment on that a little more. I definitely you know, if you are a small team, or a one person team, this, the I.. the idea here is you don't need to wear all the hats. Again, going back to my book reference, you know, you don't have to be the website builder and the video editor and the you know, instructor and the, you know, finance person, all that kind of stuff. You can definitely switch roles and, you know, become something that actually lights your fire inside of your business. And so it was a weird permission structure, I mean, it sounds so obvious when you're talking about like this, but we were stuck in this preconception that, you know, well, Lesley started a company, so therefore, she's clearly the CEO. And then my history, my background is operations, so I must be the COO, you know. And, and what we, what we identified was it that wasn't serving the business. And it was easy, it would make way more sense to literally change hats and and then that allowed us to immediately begin restructuring workload and changing things out. So it was a major change for us, it actually made life easier for both of us. (Lesley: Oh, 100%) And move the business forward. So yeah

Lesley Logan  

It leaps and bounds.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, cool. I really loved actually, you just literally hinted at it. Kareen said, an annual evaluation. And I thought, this is interesting, to, you know, how, how often do we, you know, just keep living and doing and whatever. And we don't actually take a moment to, to look back at our last year, and evaluate right. And what she was specifically referencing was her. She had a very explosive, corporate career prior to becoming an entrepreneur and doing all these amazing things she's doing now, she at a very young age and early 20s was like, like jumping the corporate ladder with leaps and bounds. And she said how she did that was she was, was definitely not. She never felt stuck in a position, right? She was like, "Is the position I'm in? Is the role I'm playing? Is it serving me? Have I learned what I need to learn from it? Have I outgrown it? If I mastered these things? What would I like to be learning next? And what is the opportunity that would provide the learning that I want?" Right? And so it wasn't this, like, hope that they give me a raise, and maybe I'll get more responsibility. And like, you know, I'm on this career path of 10, 20, 30 years. No, she was extremely aggressive. And in that, and when she felt that she had gotten everything that she needed out of the role, she started figuring out how to move on and move up. And so she changed companies, she moved around the country, she moved from San Francisco to New York, like did all these kinds of things. And I think they moved to Colorado in there somewhere. Anyway, they were not feeling they weren't, they weren't stuck. And I thought that was really incredible, to... I think that it's worth putting this on your calendar as an annual event. Now, whether that's over the New Years, or whatever, but like, there needs to be a moment of reflection, looking back on what it is you're doing. Why are you doing it? Are you still doing it for you know, the reasons that you, you know, we're doing it the first time because we change, life changes, situations change, that affects everything. And, you know, looking at, "Is this still serving me? What would I rather be doing?"

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, it's just such a good thing. And I and I, when I've heard her story a few times now between her podcast, our podcast and just knowing her. She had this like, natural drive to go, "Okay, well, I've, I've gone as far as I can hear, I gotta, I gotta go on." And I think a lot of times, we tend to wait, like, we're like, (Brad: Yeah) "Oh what's gonna happen? Maybe I should wait." Or I see a lot of people waiting to be kind of almost like, recognized or promoted as something that like, doesn't, it's not there. And there's, there's reasons to continue waiting, like maybe the reflection you're like," I'm not ready to move on. I'm not ready to move." I'm not you know, and that's also fine, too, but so important that it's an annual evaluation, because otherwise...

Brad Crowell  

I don't think if I don't think that I would have stayed in my old job as long as I have had stayed were I evaluating every year. Because I probably would have gone, "Who am I anymore? I don't even know myself. I can't believe what you know where what path I'm on right now. This doesn't fit me, doesn't serve me." But the only thing I could see was I got I get a paycheck here and I need to pay my bills and I have debt. So I've got I've got to stick around because this is a secure income.

Lesley Logan  

Oh my God, can you imagine that people do this in like relationships and stuff? Because I think (Brad: Right) my previous relationship, how I'd done an annual evaluation I probably wouldn't like "Woo." (Brad: Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's...) Maybe don't sign that lease together. (Brad and Lesley laughs)

Brad Crowell  

Yeah. Well, and I think if you're a fitness instructor, which I know a lot of you are listening to this, you know, maybe it's a, maybe it's like group classes, and you're like, "I don't really enjoy these," you know, so you can stop. Maybe it's teaching out of your home, maybe it's teaching, maybe you're driving to somebody else's house to teach them, maybe it's one specific client is no longer serving you because they're insane. And they cause you a ton of stress. Like, I don't know what it is. But when you when you take a closer look at what you're doing, why you're doing it, you know, is it still serving you? (Lesley: Yeah) So

Lesley Logan  

I'm into it. I'm into it.

Brad Crowell  

I thought it was powerful.

Lesley Logan  

I really I hope if you if you listen to this, you decided to annual value evaluation for your life. I definitely want to know, and I want you to set the date, screenshot it, make sure it says repeat and it has it on there. It's yeah, I mean, there's another girl that I've been wanting to have on the podcast who has an evaluation that she does monthly. And it really because it's you know, and I won't give it away, but there's just different ways to do it. So pick one, whether it's Kareen's, or someone else who you love and, and do it so that you're not just like waking up one day going "Woo, it's been four years of this job and now I have no idea where I want to go."

Brad Crowell  

All right, well, finally, let's talk about the Be It action items that you discussed with Kareen. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from that convo?

Lesley Logan  

I'm going first.

Brad Crowell  

Do it. (Brad and Lesley laughs)

Lesley Logan  

Um, my biggest takeaway was, I mean, we just kind of talked about a little bit, but it's taking a pause. She talked about taking a pause. (Brad: Yeah) And using her retrospective exercise, which by the way, is in the show notes. So click on it because she has some great freebies y'all, just like dive in. I don't care entrepreneur or not go through it, because her retrospective exercise is something that I use.

Brad Crowell  

It's a great tool

Lesley Logan  

I must use it weekly sometimes because it involves celebration and I'm really big on that right now. And also like just being aware, so I kind of do it as a weekly thing. And also, like on a monthly thing that goes for the year. It's a whole thing that I do but anyways, have fun...

Brad Crowell  

She's got she's got a free PDF, you can download. It's in the show notes. And it allows you to, it's kind of a guided process of reflecting, like we were just talking about.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. So anyways, and also just taking a pause, we just came back from a Maui trip. And it's, it's so good to just get, just get out of your routine, get out of your regular four walls, get out and just, it just take a moment to see what you miss, to see what you really like. And I just there's a lot that happens in pauses, like I get the best ideas, not like head down in my computer (Brad: Yeah) you now kind of thing. What did you like most your Be It action item you wanna talk about?

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, so she said at the very end, "Be it, being it is truly showing up in your truest version of yourself." And the way she said it, I was like, "Yeah, yeah, that." And then I was thinking I was like, "What the hell does that mean?" Right? Like, like, "What does it mean to show up in the truest version of yourself?" Um, and it...

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, I just want to say, I think like, a lot of people listening probably heard that. And, and I agree, it's like, "Yes, absolutely be the truest version of yourself." But I think some times we nod our head then we absolutely have to be myself....

Brad Crowell  

To be the truest version of myself. But then it's like, well, what, what is the truest version of myself and, and for me, personally, I find it a little harder to identify, like, "This is who I am, concrete in the sand." But I, I found it a lot easier to reflect back on situations where I clearly knew I was not being the truest version of myself. For example, my old job, you know, we did a lot of things with my old job that I wasn't comfortable with, when it came to morality, and like contracts and partnerships and all this stuff. You know, and, and I'm not going to get into the specifics of digging up, you know, all this old stuff. But the the truth is, when I was doing my job, I consistently disagreed with my boss, consistently, for years. And I was like, "That's not how I would do it. That's not how I would do it. That's not how I would do it." Right? But again, I felt like I need to get paid, and I'm here to do a job and I told him, I would do it, so I'm gonna do it. But then the way that we went around doing it, I was not excited about, you know. And it it caused me stress and it caused me anxiety sometimes, you know, and, and, and sometimes it wasn't like, like, we weren't, we weren't out there intentionally, you know, messing people over, but it also like, sometimes it was like, if I'm going to hire a team, and I'm going to let the team do, you know, work together, I'm gonna let the person who's running that team, hire the team, instead of me hiring him and going, you work for her now. Right? And because then now you're saddling two people together, they might not actually work well together, you know... stuff like that. There was so many situations where I was like, "That's not how I would do it." Anyway, when I, when I finally left that job, it took a solid six months for me to decompress and decide what was a normal amount of stress again, and then move forward with, you know, running my own businesses, and then eventually joining Lesley. And now, today, it has, it's a night and day difference between who I was even four years ago, and who I am today, even though I'm doing actually quite similar things, and in the process of how I'm doing, it's just now the way I'm doing it is it fits with who I am. (Lesley: Yeah) So that's a long winded response to how do you identify the truest version of yourself, but I think that you can look at what made you uncomfortable in the past, and you can at least start there.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, I think that's actually for a lot of people, it is harder to identify what is and versus what's not. And so, you know, focus on what you're not. And then you know, you'll start to see the truest version of yourself. And also, I think, focus on your values like that, if you can get really clear on what your values are and (Brad: Yeah) what they're not, that really can help you show up as your truest self because you won't, you won't change who you won't change your you won't, you won't show up as having values that you don't, or like normally resonate with. So anyways, that's another tip on on that, but I hear you, it's really, it's really hard. When you feel like, "I've got to do this on social media, or I've got to do this to get people in my classes or I got to do this." And one of the things I tell people all the time is like, "Do not wear a cropped-top on social media if you don't wanna wear a cropped-top." Like...

Brad Crowell  

Oh, I was just thinking about Erika Quest and her her comment about wearing skimpy clothes (Lesley: Yeah) and like, you know, is that ... is that her MO like, clearly it's not her vibe, and that doesn't make her feel comfortable. So she doesn't do that.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. So like, honestly, if it, if it is easier to figure out, like what doesn't vibe with you? And then you can start to like look at things and get really clear and maybe it's it maybe that's your own journey that you've got to go on the next few months is like, "When do I feel like I'm actually my the most truest version of myself?" Yeah, Rob Mack's happiness, health and values, it's the same thing with what you can do the same thing with like, your when do you feel like your truest version of yourself. So think about people in your life, that when you show up, do you feel like you'd put on a show or you feel like you'd be somebody else, and then people places in your life where you feel like you are the most version of yourself and then just start to identify what those are so that you can go on this exploration of feeling what that is, because I agree with Kareen, being it is truly showing up.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, you know what, I didn't even think of the family context. But I have I bet that is way more relatable to most people than a work context, you know, and in... (Lesley: Thank you) Yeah, and in most in most situations, you know, there is like an ob... obligation to, to be there and put on a smiley face and whatever, but, but um, you know, it doesn't have to, you know, you can limit the amount of time you're talking, spending with family, if it really is a lot of butting heads. And if you're working in a job that you are consistently feeling like, "This is against my morality, the way we're doing things here." You have, you can leave, (Lesley: Yeah) you can leave and I know that it's a scary thing. But there are other options out there and whether that is getting another job or working for yourself or whatever. You know, the only way you're gonna get out is if you start planning an exit strategy now. (Lesley: Yeah) So...

Lesley Logan  

Well, this is so fun. I thoroughly love talking to Kareen. I was honored that she would say yes, and y'all there are so many (Brad: Yeah, she's awesome) ways you can connect with her. Whether you're an entrepreneur or not, like you got gotta go and binge out on her Badass Journey podcast. She's got a new situation coming out, but there's some great, great episodes in there. So please check her out. And you know, let us know what your what you're doing here. Okay, I'm Lesley Logan.

Brad Crowell  

And I'm Brad Crowell.

Lesley Logan  

Thank you so much for joining us today and all the days that you join us. We are truly grateful to do this podcast for you. Please screenshot this episode. Put your takeaway on there, tag @be_it_pod. And until next time, Be It Till You See It.

Brad Crowell  

See you soon.

Lesley Logan  

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 podcasts. 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!

Lesley Logan  

'Be It Till You See It' is a production of 'As The Crows Fly Media'.

Brad Crowell  

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

Lesley Logan  

Kevin and Bel at Disenyo handle all of our audio editing and some social media content.

Brad Crowell  

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

Lesley Logan  

Special thanks to our designer Jaira Mandal for creating all of our visuals (which you can't see because this is a podcast) and our digital producer, Jay Pedroso for editing all the video each week so you can.

Brad Crowell  

And the Meridith Crowell for keeping us all on point and on time.

Kareen and Lesley take a close look at what we do, why we do it, and talk about evaluating if it’s still serving you. They ask questions about moving on, replacing yourself in the process, being in your zone of genius, following your strengths. Your hustle should never become a hassle!

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:

• Evaluating your own role that you're playing in your business
• Are you in your zone of genius?
• Annual evaluations - is this still serving you?
• Is your hustle now just a hassle?
• Morning routines

Episode References/Links:

• Kareen’s podcast, Your Badass Journey
• Kareen’s Reflections Journey
• Kareen’s IG
• Human Design Assessment
• CliftonStrengths (formerly StrengthsFinders 2.0)

Guest Bio:

CEO of Revampologist with 17+ Years entrepreneurial and executive experience leading and advising industry leaders in companies of all sizes. Clients include trillion dollar companies like BlackRock to Start Up Companies getting ready to launch and scale their business. I approach each business with a lens on People, Process, and Technology and hyper focus on Leadership to move the needle. I believe when you focus on operational optimization, leadership, and creative strategies, your company can survive any market fluctuation. When you focus on business growth mastery, you create unstoppable momentum in how you extend your reach and impact your clients. As a seasoned coach/mentor/and start up adviser, I love helping people align with their core values that allow them to thrive, leverage lessons learned, and build habits that keep them in action daily. https://www.kareenwalsh.com/gueston - for more info on Kareen.

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.

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

Social Media

• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Episode Transcription:

Lesley Logan  

Hello you, thank you for being here. I'm so excited for you to listen to this interview with my friend, I'm gonna call her my friend, Kareen. She is a coach of mine as well. And she is, well, you're gonna hear, you're gonna hear she has a soothing voice, she has this incredible way of looking at things. She doesn't, she doesn't just like do anything without pausing and asking a question. And in the best way, she shares such a great such great tips, multiple tips and multiple ways that you can connect more to who you are, and really figure out where you want to go. And she is literally the person that changed the trajectory of what Brad and I were going through when 2020 started, in fact, oh my gosh, y'all, so little story about this. So, she and I were introduced by a mutual friend. She got on an hour long conversation with me, which was like fucking just how generous and abundant she is. And then she did a call with my husband. And I was like, Yeah, I want us to work with her. She is our like, missing link to where we want to go and where we want to grow. And we were like, yeah, jazzed about it. We had breakfast on my birthday of 2020. And so amazing breakfast like, wouldn't have happened if I hadn't forgotten that I had to teach someone. I totally did forget. And I was totally at breakfast with her. And then ran into a friend of my friend's new fiance. He's like, look, I got engaged yesterday was crazy morning, right? And then not an hour later, we get the news that Kobe Bryant had died. And then like, you know, that was an interest as like, what an interesting way to start the year and you'll hear cream talk about how she believes like, New Year's is like her birthday, I always have treated my birthday is like my New Year's I'm like, well, we're just not going to see any of this is like, like what a weird time like I had a birthday with a woman I truly believe is going to change the trajectory of where I'm going help me make, like really helped me be step into what my power is. And then all this like it happened. And then two months later, we know the pandemic. Um, we got to... Brad and I got to still find time and ways to work with her. And the question she had us ask ourselves and the tool she gave us are literally why I live in this house I live in. And the reason and how this podcast is even here and how Brad and I work together and how we get OPC into your bodies and all this stuff. So I'm so grateful for her enough about how much I love her. Let me just tell you why you're gonna love her. So, in this interview, you're gonna hear like, just epic tips and questions you could be asking yourself right now. And so if you are on a run, or you're out doing errands, just save this episode and re listen to it. I still want to listen to it now because I do think that some things are going to get your mind going. But no, thank goodness, it's a podcast, you can really listen. And also make sure you check out at the end. She has an awesome tip you can do right now but also a great resource link for you with all of her resources, which I promise you will dive into and fall in love with. So Kareen is well, she is just an incredible light and she is also she's also a amazing strategist strategical coach. So some words that I promise you, I will learn on this podcast as you listen to me. I want you to see your entire bio in the show notes cuz I promise you'll be like, Whoa, what a badass. And she truly is. She's also the host of Your Badass Journey podcast, which I listen to every single week. If you follow me on Instagram, you know, I shared a lot because there's always a takeaway that I get out of it. And she really helps. She really loves helping people align their core values and help them thrive. And you will so see this and this you all she has been the CEO of Revampologist that she is that's her business, and she has been in 17 years of being entrepreneurial. There's so many things if you're not an entrepreneur, this is still a podcast for you. Because I promise you the question she asked, she asked herself every year when she's reflecting and everything are things you should be asking yourself, no matter if you work for someone or you work for yourself. So without further ado, I could just keep going on and on. But I just want you to hear her words and hear her tips about life and what you should be doing right now and I can't wait to hear your takeaways. So while we're here with interview and just a quick second.

Lesley Logan  

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  

All right, everyone. Okay, I just, I'm gonna, I'm definitely going to fangirl and also like, probably talk a little more nervously because this woman is one of my dear friends but also a woman that like I, she inspires me each and every week on her podcast, Your Badass Journey. And she has helped my husband and I and our business in so many ways. But she's also just an amazing friend. And I'm beyond grateful and so excited to bring her to you. Her name is Kareen Walsh. And I met her through another friend, this is power of networking. One of my dear friends was like, Oh, you know, you need your life, you need Kareen, you just need Kareen. I don't even know what time of the evening she texted you. But all of a sudden, there was a group text back and forth. We were on the West Coast or on the East Coast. And then within two days, I had an hour long conversation with you. And I was like, Brad, we have to hire this woman. And the way that fate works out is exactly the way it's supposed to. And we got to have an amazing weekend with you. You're such an incredible helper of all all people like but you specifically really do help people strategize and, and really make sure that their business is working for them. But we have so many things we could talk about. So Kareen, thank you for being here.

Kareen Walsh  

Oh, Lesley, well hanging out with you is always a highlight for me. And what I love the most is when we can like Marco Polo each other energetic like, "Hey, thought of you. This is something that you need to," you know, "just like hug on," or I mean, we were all our dog pics, the whole thing. But thank you so much for having me on your show. Congratulations for launching your podcast. I'm super excited to be able to serve your audience today.

Lesley Logan  

Oh, yeah, I really have no doubt that you will. I mean, but you're right. I love our Marco's and we you have a dog named Kaia. I have a dog named Gaia. They're two peas in a pod they haven't met but they're...

Kareen Walsh  

They're spazzing out in energy across the US right now by coastal doggy energy happening. I love them. They're so great.

Lesley Logan  

Absolutely! They're awkward ways of being on a couch. It's just like, it's like, were they born by the same? They say mom dog? Because it's like, how did you think that would get you on the couch? Anyways, if you're a dog lover out there, you totally understand. So, um, Kareen, you know, we met because of what you do with businesses. And, um, and it's if people who don't know, like Brad and I used to do different roles in the business, I was called the CEO. I was like, the, like, everyone went through and I'm like, I hate this. This is terrible. (Kareen: Yeah) I'm not happy in my business and and just by you giving me an Brad and I permission to the shift our roles and actually step into that in a different way. It's beyond it's been crazy, helpful and insightful. And I just wonder, like, Can you can you check cuz I think there's a lot of people out there who are happy, like they are doing what they want to do, but they're not happy in that. And what is that shift of a of the role mindset?

Kareen Walsh  

Yeah, so I think what happens when we bark, embark into like, entrepreneurial ventures, right, like or thinking we want to start our own hustle, or even in our own career life, we either feel like we have to do it all because there's no one else because it's our idea. And we think that there's a way that if we don't do it, it's not going to happen the way we want to do it. And I think that that we forget to pause and ask ourselves, is this actually what I want to be doing? Am I am I in my zone of genius? Am I at the highest level fulfillment in it? And? Or do I want to grow into what's next? Like, I think that was part of what was happening when I started working with you and Brad was, you had an amazing platform you had built, there has been amazing brand building that has occurred you're constantly on both of you are constantly on and it's amazing energy, like, that's what I feed off of when I hang out with you both. It's like, what are these to get it from? It's like, non-stop, right? What we realized when there was dissatisfaction or the undertone of, "Yeah, I can do it all. But it's kind of like draining me" or I'm feeling that when I do these things, these specific things of how I plan my day, and do my day because I think I have to do it for my business. I'm actually not feeling energized about it. I don't want to show up in it at all. And then I'm frustrated. I'm showing up in an energy that is not me. Well, when that happens, it's really good to just pause and reflect on where are you spending your time? Does it fill you up? And do you actually want to continue doing that? Then there's the guy with the lens of me as a coach, someone who has worked in so many different businesses helped so many other companies scale, my own business included, and like how I self manage to just give you the lens of what is needed in the business that you're in, what are the roles that are required, so you almost like take care yourself out of it. And if you were to look at it from the outside in, what are the roles required to actually optimize the business that I'm running? And then to ask yourself, what's the role I want to play in it? And then can I go enlist the help for everything else. And what was beautiful about working with you and Brad is that you both have, you're both creators, you both are genius at like coming up with solutions coming up with new ways to connect with people, different methods of of connection through Pilates, like both of you have very creative ways of showing up in life. But then you also have your own internal interests that are very different into what fuels you. So like, Brad, for example, is very operational, and he can like, see it and execute against it. And then for you, you're like, you see it, you want to design it, but you're like anyone else can execute, I'd be happy with that, I just want to, I just want to be able to talk about it, share it, connect with others, and like be in the moment of this experience that we're creating. And when we identified that in our time together, it was like, oh, aha, one of you has the product creation mode of like, this is our brand, this is what we're about, these are the partners we want to work with, this is how we want to do it. And the other one is like, I will run execution of all of that, but we can together be creative. But now you had clear separation of role and both are needed in your business. The other difference too is Lesley, you started your business on your own and Brad had a whole different career. And when you decided to come together as partners, and I why I bring this up is that when you enlist the help of others coming into your business with you to help you scale, you really want to be clear on that role that they play. And when you two initially had started together, there were a lot of assumptions underlying assumptions on how you each needed to show up. And it wasn't until we created the dialog for me to facilitate between, you know, the three of us to say, Well, what this is what's needed in the business. If we look from the outside in, what role do you want to play? And and asking that question, I think was super critical for you both to have clarity, and express it to each other. And this goes for any type of partnership and business and I personally see all team-building and accompany as partnership because it's a choice to be there. And so whether or not they report into or it's lateral, whatever, from a leadership standpoint, you're all partners in it to scale your business.

Lesley Logan  

Um, it's, it's so fun to like, kind of go back to the journey. And I hope that it even if you don't know who Brad and I are, you just dropped in, this is your first time hearing, it's like, it's important, because you know, from the outside, it might look like everything is just like going on all cylinders and it's perfect. But like, really, that's good, good work that we did. But we definitely had tons of assumptions. And also when you start to work when you start to partner up any time. I think a lot of people do with friendships, or they do it with like another co worker, and they decide to go out on their own. And most people skip that conversation, because no one tells you to have it like you didn't see it happen in the business that you're in or with other people. And then if you are married to the person, it's also very fascinating. It's like, I don't want to be your boss.

Kareen Walsh  

Not only that it can it can bleed into the relationship. You know, like Jeff and I, my husband and I, we tried to launch a business a few years back. And this is like that startup game where we were, we were launching an app and he was the product creation of it and I was the backend operations of it. And yes, that that is our zone of genius, but the way it started to affect our relationship was not good. So after going through that exercise of launching that company and, and and launching the app, etc, we actually identified it is not healthy for our personal relationship to actually be in business together, we can support each other and advise each other, but partners in business, not a fit. So not everyone has that, you know, ability to have really strong personal relationship and also be in business together. But I love that about you too.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, I I definitely think we are meant to do something together. And I think that he and I will probably always have multiple different projects going on. But (Kareen: yeah), I wanted to go back because you talked about self managing, you asked like you, you put out some questions that we should ask ourselves and first I want to go back over those questions. And maybe a little bit about how you came into these questions. Because I think when someone hears it, it's like, oh, yeah, I should ask myself like, do I want to grow into this? Like, when you hear them it's like duh, why am I gonna ask myself this but like, also how do we even know when told us you should ask when I was never trained like, check in with yourself. How are you doing right now?

Kareen Walsh  

Yeah, most of our work life, right. Like if you think about initial work life, it starts with doing a job for someone now so it's very rare occurrence from a young age that you're taught to be like great something and go sell it. Now it's a little bit easier and more available, I'd say to younger generations because of the digital platforms we live in. However, most work ethics and like how we show up in a working life is because someone else hired us to do a job that they outlined for us to do. When you're conformed under that energy, you don't question. You don't ever question or pause... Is this a fit? Like, does that is this what I like? Unless you are evolving personally to realize that what you truly desire matters. And like you said, for my podcast, it's all about aligning what you love with what you do. Like that's what I'd love to share all these guests on their badass journey. And like showing the fact that what you once might have learned or were conformed to do in order to earn something doesn't necessarily mean it has to fit on top of you for the rest of your life. So there's a power in that pause. Right? There's a power in evaluating and I generally would start the evaluation process certainly happens around my birthday. Like it's, it's more as opposed to like New Year's eve, I consider like my birthday, my New Year's eve like because a whole new year starting. And I used to do this self evaluation for my career life. It's why I had a very aggressive growing career life was because I would always pause and say, is who I've become in this past year, and where I've been spending my time... Have I outgrown anything? So that's something to ask yourself, it's like, Do Is there something I've been doing, but I've just outgrown? Like, it doesn't fill me up to do it anymore. I've mastered it, and I'm seeking something else have outgrown it. Because when you ask that question, you're giving yourself an opportunity to realize, oh, cool, I've mastered that. But I don't want to do it anymore. So now it's time for a growth spurt. Like, what else? Do I and then that's the second question, what would I like to be learning next? Or where would I like to be taking my expertise next, in order to evolve? Like, what do I want to step into? And so then you're asking yourself that question, which then leads to the next question, which is like, well, what is the opportunity that would provide that learning for me? And the same thing happens when you're running your own company, because sometimes, especially in this digital world, we live in this whole entrepreneurial hustle. And we can talk about that too, on how I'm like on the total opposite of hustle lately, because I really am about being more than anything, but that's my evolution. I'm in my mid 40s. And I have done a lot in my career. But it's not about that as much anymore. The point being is that when you answer those questions for yourself, you're starting to set your, your intentional path for where you want to grow into in your career life. And career life is defined by the things you want to be known for in this world. So there's a package of skill sets, you can learn over time, that allow you to have that impact and that earnings or whatever that potential is, but it could show up in so many different modalities these days. It's really asking yourself the question to set yourself on that path.

Lesley Logan  

So I love that you do this on your birthday. Because I also like when people are saying their new year's resolutions or goals for the new year. I am I'm always very honest. I'm like, I kind of do it on the first like I like around December you know, I do a reflections thing. I love yours. We'll have to make sure we make if you're listening when you're listening to us. Go check out Kareen. She's got this reflections journey that I love. And I do it every month. It's really fun. But I like to reflect in December I do I try to get all my work done. So the December is gonna like what what are we doing next year, like, what fit what we like? And then I use because my birthday is in January. So it's at the end. And I use the first few weeks to kind of try on things. I'm like, do I like this? Do I like this? How's this working out? And then on my birthday, I'm like, Okay, so what are we really doing this year? Like, what are we wanting to do? But these questions, you know, you mentioned that you had you did this even early on, and like it really helped propel you to have an aggressive growth in your career at a young age. And I just wonder like, Was this something that you like, learned from your parents? Like, where did you pick this up? Like, where did you go, "Hey, let me check in and not just like sit in this job," like was there just like a it was an inside of you.

Kareen Walsh  

So I would say what drove me from a young age was I knew that if I could not figure out like my own financial wellness, then I couldn't create the life that I wanted. And at that time, I had a very traditional type of upbringing. It's like, you know, went to I was fortunate to go to private schools and then got had college paid for even more fortunate and but I was also told that as soon as I graduated from college, I was on my own and so from, throughout all College I always worked, I was like build up experience because when you come from a truly financial privileged background that I had growing up in the area I did where pretty much anything I wanted or asked for I could have had, I was not that way I always liked to earn it to have more value and the things that I receive that is probably more innate than anything. When I, when I took my my parents seriously when they were like, "Look, graduate college, that's all we're paying for you're on your own," kind of thing. I was like, Well, shit, I gotta go figure that out, right? So I appeared, I was also very much a seeker, I think I have an explorer energy in me. So I took every opportunity as like, tools in my toolbox to then go leverage in order to earn the answer is NO to the question of did I did I always pause in and like prepare, right or pause and think about like the next steps. What I was more so aligned with was observing behaviors of others the environment I was in, and how how my health breakdowns, actually demanded that I start to pause and question, how best to do this. Because if you can think about this fear of like not having enough financially to have food on the table, right, which a lot of people go through, and I definitely even coming from, like the affluential background I came from. that's how I felt, when I was first starting my career that I was on my own, and I had to make it for myself. I made some really bad choices that were quite unhealthy. And it took me to a point where, yes, my career was kind of climbing, but my health was declining. And that forced me to pause and really become more selective around what I said yes to when it came to my work life, and my career life so that I could find more alignment around it all.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, I like the way you brought up being an observer. And I think that that's something a lot of people could probably try to practice a bit, I think it's easy to just like, look, and then assume and make judgments. And when you when you mentioned, you observe people at work, and you observe them in their life, it immediately made me go, of course, this is why you ask questions, because when you're observing all you can ask questions, "Well, I wonder why they did that? Well, I wonder what, wonder how that's gonna work out." Like, that's what observing is. And it's something that I've been challenging myself to do more of, in the last like, I think it's been about four years, I had one of my mentors was talking about a person who said, well, I and she said to our mutual mentor, she's like, well, I don't be disappointed, but blah, blah, blah. And the mentor said, "How can I be disappointed? I'm just an observer in your life." And I was like, "Huh, what does that mean? How do you how does one be an observer of life?" And like, and it was, it was a fascinating exploration for myself, like, how often I observing and like, what does that look like? And it does change the way you see things? And then the questions just come out of you because your brain is always looking for answers. Um, I want to talk a bit about you being a time bender. I've heard you mentioned this on your podcast. And I, this intrigued me because I'm like, I love creating time. Like I in the book, the big leap, he talks about like Einstein time and Newton time and like, you can actually like create time when you're in the flow. So can you talk about how you became How does one become a time?

Kareen Walsh  

How would I get typed as a time bender? Well, time bender is the actual term used when you do the Human Design Assessment. There, I'm a manifesting generator and we are typed as time benders like it is this ability to visualize the future what that manifesting energy is, like you're always kind of forward thinking or when you're in when I'm in creation, like solution mode, it's always 10 steps ahead, and then my mind just goes there. And in essence, that's time bending, because I can put myself in that future state and then bring it into the now that's how I define it. That's the manifesting side and then the generator bends time because it's all about the doing and the efficiency around process. So if you could imagine you could speed up time as a generator time bending energy because not only have you seen already where you're going, but now you can help get it there faster due to efficiency, so I didn't really understand that part of me or articulate it that well about myself until I did the Human Design assessment, but I freakin loved it. I'm like, Of course I'm a time vendor like it has never been it's never been explained to me that way. But I so see it now even clearer having that terminology because like, like, we started talking about your sessions and time with me, the reason why we connect so well is because I'm amazing listener. But as I'm listening, I'm actually visualizing on your behalf when you when you're telling me because I'm asking specific questions on like, where you're trying to go. The reason why I'm a strong strategist and help businesses grow and scale is that I visualize where you're headed, and then know what to ask to help you bend your own time to get there. Like I love helping people save time and money, achieving what they want. But I didn't know that that was actually part of my like, my birth energy, because that's how far back you know, these the Human Design goes, because it's based on idea.

Lesley Logan  

I'm gonna I gotta do this because I'm, I'm nerd about that and I it's like, when you when I did StrengthsFinders 2.0. And I'm like, Oh, well, yes, yeah, of course. (Kareen: Yeah, yeah, yeah) Of course some positivity, significant and woo, like duh. But like, you don't really you don't like it's like, you almost need someone to point that out to you. Because it's that whole thing. Like, you can't see what's on the label when you're on the inside of the bottle. Right? So

Kareen Walsh  

That's right! Yeah, it gives you a good like language and relatability and understand, I love different tools like that. So this one is just been the most recent one that I've done. And I work with my coach/mentor, making sure that I stay in that stance, because what has happened is that I've been more of a generator for most, I have a feeling to that you and have Brad do it because I think he's a manifesting generator also is, is that I've been too much in my generator side and not enough in my manifesting like visualization for myself, I do it so easily for others. But when it comes to me, it's something that I haven't given enough time to. And so it's been really fun this year, because that's the focus I've had is to sit in that visualization a little longer, before the doing.

Lesley Logan  

So that's the, I do think Brad is, because I'll come up with I want to see what I am just to see how it works. (Kareen: Oh you got to do both. I did Jeff's too. I did both) Yeah, gotta do it, for sure. Because I, I can get the ideas and he, like, he lights up and all and it's like, I can see it happening in his mind. And then he's like, "Okay, this is how..." like old computers are like printing out, "This is how we're gonna do it." And I'm like, "Perfect. Thank you so much. That's wonderful." But I'm glad that you brought up like that it's you were sitting in the generator side too much and I think, you know, we all have unique strengths. And I think it's easy for us to sit into one or another. And it's like any other muscle then even though that is something that's innate to you, and it's part of you, it doesn't mean that it's as strong. If you don't use it. If we just all sat here all day long, our legs would not be strong. (Kareem: Yeah, yeah) So what are what are some things that you are doing to sit more in your manifesting side, your visualization side.

Kareen Walsh  

So what's great is that my my coach/mentor that I work with now gave me a format, like a format, where it's like you sit in visualization for longer, and then you energize that vision. And then, and then you enlist for help or start visualizing, like, who do you need in it, and then you start to enlist the help. And then you start doing like it she gave me she had to give me a... generators need a formula, right? Like, I need steps so that I know that because I was leaping, I was going from visual to doing, visual to doing and I will tell you that it resulted in a lot of half baked situations, because I wasn't sitting in the true essence of visualizing it, standing in it. Like in my meditations, I now like I sit in it. And it's so much easier to just play and visualization for longer until I truly feel it like now's the time to act in it. That has been the game changer in that regard for this awareness, especially for this new business I want to launch it requires sitting more in visualization. And really, while I'm sitting in it, assessing where I'm resistant, because previously, I wouldn't listen to the resistance in me and I would just go do. And then that created its own ripple effect of pain and suffering, I would say you know, like where you say yes to the wrong services or you say yes to the wrong employee or you say yes to that, you know, like, because I didn't sit enough to visualize it, it turned into that type of response. And so that's been really great to to lean into more now.

Lesley Logan  

I can understand that a lot because I'm a little bit impatient, a lot impatient. So like, I'm like, Oh, we got it. Let's just go. And it's um, and I too had health issues early on. I think I probably would have a hustler longer if my health had been like you got to stop because we are not keeping up and and it's really funny, like how your body will start screaming at you if you just don't listen to it. And so I too, and like, I think there was a there's a time for a hustle. And then you got to like, you got to know when to put the brake on and like get into the groove. (Kareen: Yeah) Like taking the site, take the scenic route. And so I I, for many years was not listening to the resistance. And even now I can find myself like going, you should be doing this, like you should listen to what's happening right now. And there's that that's a push pull inside what it's like, No, but I really like that's just, it's gonna be fine. It's like, every time I look back, I'm like, you know that one point, you could have paused.

Kareen Walsh  

YEAH. SO HERE'S THE MEASURE FOR THAT, THAT I LIKE TO SAY IS LIKE, THE HUSTLE SHOULDN'T TURN INTO A HASSLE. SO IT'S LIKE IF YOU'RE HASSLING TO GET IT DONE, YOU'RE NOT HUSTLING LIKE A HUSTLE IS, IS THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE FOUND SOMETHING THAT YOU ARE SO BRILLIANT AT THAT WHEN YOU SNAP YOUR FINGERS AND WANT TO PUT IT OUT THERE IT IS SO ALIGNED, LIKE TRY AND FOCUS ON ALINGNED HUSTLE, BECAUSE I'M HUSTLING ALL THE TIME. BUT THAT'S ME STANDING IN MY HUSTLE IS REAL, LIKE IT IS SOMETHING THAT IS INNATE TO ME NOW, BECAUSE I KNOW MYSELF SO WELL. AND, AND IT'S TIRESOME TO SEE PEOPLE CALLING HASSLE, THEIR HUSTLE, WHEN YOU KNOW, IT'S BROKEN ON THE OTHER END, WHETHER IT'S BREAKING ON THE INSIDE BECAUSE THE HEALTH MANAGEMENT HAS GONE TO SHIT FOR WHATEVER IT IS YOU'RE TRYING TO ATTRACT BUSINESS WISE OR CAREER WISE. AND THEN THERE'S THE THE ALSO THE HASSLE THAT SHOWS UP WHEN THE CLIENTS AREN'T RESPONDING A CERTAIN WAY IS BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT STANDING IN LIKE VIA LIVE ENERGY TO TRULY SHARE WHAT YOUR HUSTLE IS. HUSTLE DOESN'T HAVE TO BE NEGATIVE. BUT I'VE BEEN SEEING SO MANY NEGATIVE RESPONSES LIKE OF HOW IT'S SHOWING UP IN THE WORLD BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE HASSLING NOT HUSTLING.

Lesley Logan  

That is my favorite even make a shirt or I'm making shirt and put your name on it because like that is exactly, that's exactly it. There's a difference in the hustle and a hassle. Oh, okay. One more question. Because, I mean, you're just a genius. And there's just so many things that we could talk forever. I you (Kareen: Anything you want) I think it was so many, there's so many tips, go ahead and listen to her podcast, because you're, there's gems every week. But, um, you are one of the few people I know who has a morning routine that's longer than mine. And and I'm also one of the people who like kind of gave me permission, because I had this long routine, but I was like trying to shove it into the tight like I was really (Kareen: Stressing yourself. Right?) Yeah. And it was like, my morning routine is stressful. And then I don't know, one day, I don't know, I heard you talk about but you talk about your morning routine. And I was like, Oh, why don't I just start my day later? And then I have all the time. So which sounds so obvious, but you have to hear it everyone. (Kareen: Yeah, you do.) So can you can you talk about how you started this morning routine and like how it's grown and kind of how you decide to add in things?

Kareen Walsh  

Well, what I realized that is that if I don't recharge myself and get connected to myself first thing of the day, that I'm disconnected for everything I'm doing all day long. So that was one thing was just like knowing that I had to do take care of me first thing in the morning. The second thing was if I am rushed, like if I have the stress of rushing, I get this amazing pit in my stomach and anxiety forms and my cortisol levels go off the chain. So I had to give myself enough time to gracefully move through my routine to feel myself. So I would say that it wasn't until maybe. And I do this whenever I travel too. But I think I've been in this routine now for almost, gosh, has it been like almost four years, like I'm last year was such a time warp that I'm (Lesley: I know), it's like for, for, and even through last year I continued like it's this, this has become so much a part of me. I don't know how I won't turn it off. I can't it's a part of me. But the routine itself is very simple in that it starts the night before where in the evening, I put my phone on airplane mode. I play my favorite sleep meditation music with a timer on for 33 minutes. It used to be 24. But for now, lately, it's been 33 I don't know why but this is what comes to me and then automatically goes off at that 33 mark and I'm in my sleep and I like to sleep for a good at least seven and a half, eight hours in order to feel rested. Then I do not start my interaction with other people, including my husband sometimes. Someday he'll give me a good morning but he knows that my my morning time is my space until, no meetings basically, with for work related or external until 11am. There are exceptions of course if I'm on client sites, etc. This whole routine just starts earlier. But I wake up around like, 7, 7:30, generally. And then I go into my, I take my supplements in the morning, and then I change and I start my meditation routine. And then I move into my movement routine. Sometimes during that I'm either doing a sorry, in between, I'll do a journaling, like my gratitude and forgiveness is very key on a daily practice, I think to recharge you as well. And then I do my movement routine, get ready for the day, have my protein shake, and then my meetings can start. So I really try to block my time in the morning until 11am. That's just for me. And that's the way I gift myself.

Lesley Logan  

Thank you for getting granular there because I think it's I think it's people can learn more from that, like, you hear that you're like, oh, oh, I could have you can put, Oh, I should put that order. Or I may try that out. Like you can try things on for size and whatever, like piqued your interest, like, ooh, she's a forgiveness journal. Like, try it out. I think that's so fun. I'm a big I'm a big believer. I actually after we're done with this, I'm gonna have to take you and show you I got this new lamp that does the sunset. (Kareen: Yeah.) And then it does (Kareen: Sunset was nice) the sunset. And then it does a sunrise. And oh my gosh, I have not hit snooze. Not one time since I've had this. And it is excellent because I would just wake up and I'm like, well, Hello, good morning. Like I am the person who's like writing in her morning pages. I hate the morning. Why am I up? What day is it? And then by the end of my morning pages, I'm like, Okay, let's go. But like (Kareen: Yeah) That's how I open my eyes.

Kareen Walsh  

I'll tell you though, I don't even set an alarm anymore Lesley, like, I allow my body to wake up when it needs to. And it's always at the right time. Because (Lesley: Yeah), that's just how my body needs to respond today. Like it's really only when I'm traveling which hasn't been for a year but what I know I'm on my body's gonna need to get reconditioned post pandemic trying to travel again, different time zones and like be be available to others and other times, but I still do this routine. Like everywhere I go, this is my routine, because I know that if I don't take care of me first, I cannot serve all day long. Which is what my business and just my general nature is.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, no, I'm a big believer, I always tell you know, my members on OPC. I'm like, if you don't give 100% to yourself first, you cannot give to others. Like there just isn't like that doesn't that's not how it works. All right, so Kareen, where can everyone find you? Because now they're falling in love with you. And they're gonna want to have way, way more contact with you. So what's the best place to find you on?

Kareen Walsh  

So if you want to connect with me, and like DM me, I'm on Insta. So it's at Kareen the letter Z Walsh. And then if you want the retrospective exercise that Lesley talked about earlier, is on my website. So that's kareenwalsh.com/links, and you can find other workbooks I have there and other ways we can engage and access to my podcast there as well.

Lesley Logan  

You, you're amazing, everyone go check that out. We'll put it in the notes. So it's easy to click, but I promise I've used many of your resources. And it has, it's why I have this house here in Vegas. Like, we didn't even get into that y'all. But like (Kareen: Oh that's right) this is is the woman that in the beginning of the pandemic, Brad and I like rewrote our vision for the year. And then not two months later, where we live... like moving, which is (Kareen: It was beautiful) so definitely get that. So um, okay. So I, I really want to make sure that every time I do this, every listener gets some actionable steps, because it's really inspiring, there's so many great takeaways. I mean, you gave so many great questions. But I think it's really important that people who resonate with what you said, get some tips on how they can Be It and I think that being it is anything that's bold or executable or intrinsic or targeted. So what what would you suggest they could do?

Kareen Walsh  

So to be it to like, in a way where I would add is yourself like it's being it is truly showing up in your truest version of yourself. And so the biggest tip is to if you haven't paused for a while is to take a pause and really use my retrospective exercise. But just give yourself a moment to ask yourself exactly where you are right now what's working for you what's not working for you and figure out what you really want to be doing and come up with a plan that aligns who you truly are against it all because it'll always be out there. Whatever it is you want to achieve or bring into your world is out there for you to have. You just need to pause to see it sometimes and evaluate the direction you need to go in, in order to step into it and and really make it happen for you right now.

Lesley Logan  

Oh, I love that. Thank you so much. I love you so much, (Kareen: Thank you) Brad and I to just think of you and Jeff and Kaia all the time. And we're so grateful that our paths crossed and we had the year that we had because there was so many things that came out of it because of you. And so thank you for being here. Thank you for sharing all of your wisdom and everyone until next time, make sure that you Be It Till You See It.

Lesley Logan  

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 podcasts. 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!

Lesley Logan  

'Be It Till You See It' is a production of 'As The Crows Fly Media'.

Brad Crowell  

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

Lesley Logan  

Kevin and Bel at Disenyo handle all of our audio editing and some social media content.

Brad Crowell  

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

Lesley Logan  

Special thanks to our designer Jaira Mandal for creating all of our visuals (which you can't see because this is a podcast) and our digital producer, Jay Pedroso for editing all the video each week so you can.

Brad Crowell  

And the Meridith Crowell for keeping us all on point and on time.

Meet Uma Naralkar, a nutritionist and health coach who moved to California from India in her 20s to go to college. Her journey of producing movies in Hollywood took her to a dangerous place with her health, so she decided to make changes. Today she’s a proud mom who teaches others how to build their health tripod - explained in this episode!

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:

• How the body is clever (warning signs, it tells us things)
• Her experience with food when coming to the US in her 20s (healthy food vs McDonald’s super size meals)
• Shifting your identity to who you want to be (James Clear Atomic Habits book)
• Language barriers
• Therapy, Nutrition, Stress Levels, Sleep… it’s wholistic, it all ties together
• The Tripod of Optimal Health… your health sits on the tripod of:

  • What you’re eating

  • Your movement

  • Your mental health or mindset

Episode References/Links:

• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• Uma’s website
• Uma’s IG
• Uma’s 10 Week Challenge

Guest Bio:

Uma Naralkar is an integrative nutritionist with a thriving practice in Los Angeles, California. She works at home and abroad, helping her clients optimize their health with small shifts in their diet and lifestyle. Most of her clients are women in the age group of 25 to 55. She specializes in hormonal health, digestive health and optimal fat loss, and her mission is to help others change the way they are eating, moving and thinking to reverse their symptoms and live a happier and healthier 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.

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

Social Media

• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Episode Transcription:

Lesley Logan  

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  

Hello, welcome back to the Be It Till You See It podcast interview recap where my co hosts in life, Brad and I are going to dig into the thought provoking convo I have with Uma Naralkar. In our last episode, if you haven't yet listened to that one, pause this now, figure out how you get to that one on iTunes, Spotify and Google Play might be easier. Some of you are on Pandora. There's also Audible and whatever, wherever you are listening if you're on YouTube...

Brad Crowell  

I mean, I'm pretty sure Facebook and You... and Amazon are gonna have pods now too. (Lesley: Yeah) Amazon definitely does, I'm sure.

Lesley Logan  

And on YouTube, you know what, it's an algorithm maybe just go to the channel. So

Brad Crowell  

Anyway. We're wherever you listen to podcasts.

Lesley Logan  

Where wherever you listen, and you are allowed to listen in whatever order you want, you wanna start with number one, my mom got to seven, and we'll find out if she's listening still, when she hears this episode. You get to do you, binge out or listen as they come out. That's me, "I'm an as they come out kind of girl", because my app doesn't ever go back to the old ones I missed. (Brad laughs) So anyways, enough about podcasts. (Brad laughs) Brad...

Brad Crowell  

Tell me!

Lesley Logan  

Okay, so first of all, I'm so excited because in less than two weeks, I get to nerd out with people on all the things that I've been studying that they're doing wrong, and they don't even know it about their habits and routines. I'm excited.

Brad Crowell  

Well, I'm happy that you're excited. (Lesley and Brad laughs)

Lesley Logan  

Thank you. I'm sure you all heard the sound of a husband wonderfully congratulating his wife and validating her feelings right there. (Lesley and Brad laughs) Okay, but seriously, so obviously, Brad and I have been together a long time and so he knows...

Brad Crowell  

... I was a little distracted. I got I got a foot, I got kicked under the table. So... (Brad laughs)

Lesley Logan  

... to kick the table. Cause I'm not allowed to kick the table.

Brad Crowell  

I'm so grateful that you didn't kick the table.

Lesley Logan  

Y'all, so just so you know, we get notes from our producers and peeps, and it's constantly like, please don't tap or kick the table or touch the table and for sure, they're all for me. Every single one of them because I can't sit still. And I I I just I really want to sit on a couch that would be amazing. In my dream life, we're recording on a couch. 

Brad Crowell  

That's interesting.

Lesley Logan  

In next next (Brad: Okay) season but...

Brad Crowell  

Habits webinar! (Lesley: Yeah) Awesome. So here's the deal, peeps. Everything that we know about forming habits, it's a lie. (Lesley: Ha! Totally lies) Yeah. I totally said it - you better watch out. (Lesley: Yeah) But what's really cool is Lesley now knows that it's a lie and she's explaining the truth.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, I am. And if you're listening to this, you couldn't see me like do a little dance

Brad Crowell  

She did she like wiggle her shoulders like tootootoot

Lesley Logan  

Make a little noise, we're gonna get down with our habits in a real way, y'all because you don't need 21 days. You don't. And there's a lot of examples have had that to prove that that theory incorrect. And you don't you can't rely on motivation. I'm sure you all have like said you want to do something. And you then don't feel motivated and you're like, "Oh, well, it must be assigned". (Brad: I mean) That you wanna do it...

Brad Crowell  

You know, New Year's coming. So I'm definitely going to make changes with the new me.

Lesley Logan  

Oh my Lord, do not even new resolutions. BS-ness. Anyways, y'all so this webinar is free because I can't not share this information. I am so excited...

Brad Crowell  

I'm so proud of your double negative.

Lesley Logan  

I knew he would talk about it. (Brad laughs) You want how I get in when I wanna get Brods attention I just say double negative and boom, he is present. Not that he wasn't already but here's the deal if you want in on this free webinar, it's only gonna have a replay for three days. So if you're someone who's listening to this, not today or two weeks from now, it's gone. But if you're listening to this as it comes out, hey, (Brad: As it comes out) ... for those of you who do, this free webinar, you can snag your spot at https://OnlinePilatesClasses.com/habits. That's https://OnlinePilatesClasses.com/habits (Brad: slash habits) slash habits. And that's one s not and the others. And, (Lesley laughs) what else can we say about habit? So OnlinePilatesClasses.com/habits free webinar, it's gonna happen on September 7, (Brad: Septiembre) at 12pm PST, if you don't know what that time is for you, there are things to Google out there that will tell you but there is a three day replay for those of you who can't watch it live because it might be 3am your time, I hear you, I see you...

Brad Crowell  

Kai pram boowan.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, way to go. That has Khmer y'all, for those wondering. I don't think we're tracking there yet. (Brad laughs) But for our Cambodians friends, I hope you love that. So anyways, make sure that you sign up. It'll be on September 7. It's a one hour webinar, I keep it short, quick and get you ready to go. There'll be a special offer situation going on if you watch that live, so you want to if you're watching on the replay, there's still something good for you. So just (Brad: true). Sign up, snag your spot https://OnlinePilatesClasses.com/habits, because I can't wait to share this with you.

Brad Crowell  

Awesome!

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. So babe, what's our question this week? We got one.

Brad Crowell  

Okay, we totally got one. And the question was, "If you were not teaching Pilates or doing what you're doing now, what would you be doing instead?" And I kind of thought this was fun. I thought this was a nice like, like, (Lesley: keep on...) what what if, dream kind of situation here? But why don't you, why don't you tell us what you would be doing instead if Pilates wasn't your jam. And I think I'm gonna go with like, not what not what would you be stuck doing, you know, in like, if you didn't take the life path that you took... I'm gonna go with like, if you could just like swap lives with anybody else. What would you want to be doing?

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, I mean, I took this as like, what would I be doing and my next life. (Brad: Yeah) So y'all... (Brad: There's that) Tequila sommelier and a hard kombucha bar.

Brad Crowell  

Oh, that's so fun.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah both. I already know where I need to go to school. I know how much time I need to have, you can better believe I've already tried to figure out how to hack my work schedule so I can spend some time in Oaxaca for (Brad: Oaxaca) I... minimum one month, but I would love to go for two because I want a special certification. That will be my tequila sommelier situation. And then, one day in our backyard we will have a whole patio by this beautiful mural that we already have because Be It Till You See It, y'all. And I'm going to put in a bar and it will have hard kombucha on draft that I will brew myself and a whole thing of tequilas, my favorite ones. And I will be able to literally be the person who talks people goes, "Oh, this is the tequila for you." Like that's the dream. That's the dream. That's what I'd be doing if I like in my next life after my Pilates life. And that doesn't mean I won't be teaching Pilates. It's just that that's my next life. So I just changed the question.

Brad Crowell  

I love it. (Lesley laughs) Okay, we're gonna... (Lesley: What would you be doing?) So I find that really interesting. So I always imagined when I was younger, that I would open up a jazz bar, (Lesley: Oh) and so... slash restaurant. Uhm...

Lesley Logan  

Well, can I be your tequila sommelier? Does... do people who listen to jazz drink tequila? (Brad laughs)

Brad Crowell  

Sure, we'll go with that. (Lesley laughs) I'm sure they do, why would they not? So, so basically, that's kind of that's kind of where my head, my heart is at. And I've always, I've always thought that that would be a fun thing to do. Maybe when I'm older and I'm like, not trying to galavant around the world. And I'm looking forward to to kind of chillin'.

Lesley Logan  

I, I can see it! Babe, we live in Vegas. This is not, this is not a hard thing. We could actually probably open up, you know, in the arts district.

Brad Crowell  

I would love that. I think that'd be really amazing.

Lesley Logan  

And we'll just ride our bikes down there. And I mean, there isn't one down there right now. So you, you may just be able to be the first.

Brad Crowell  

All right. Well, thank you very much for that question. That's a great question. Definitely fun to dream to think and to to kind of visualize all that.

Lesley Logan  

Agreed! I can't wait. I'm excited to go to school. (Lesley laughs)

Brad Crowell  

I want to go live in Mexico for a couple months. (Lesley: Oh wow) And do a sommelier course...

Lesley Logan  

Wasn't going by myself. (Brad laughs) So y'all can send your questions in DM to @be_it_ pod on Instagram. Whatever the question is, just send it in. We'll answer on the next recap.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, curious about anything? DM us.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah!

Brad Crowell  

Please do it.

Lesley Logan  

I'm into it.

Brad Crowell  

Alright. Now let's talk about Uma Naralkar. Uma is an integra... integrative. That's so funny. I didn't butcher her name, but I'm butchered integrative.

Lesley Logan  

I think it's integrative.

Brad Crowell  

Integrative, integrative (Lesley laughs) integrati... integrative (Lesley: Leave it in!) integraton. Uma is in integrative nutritionist (Brad and Lesley laughs... I love you so much!) with a thriving practice in Los Angeles, California. She works as a... at home and abroad helping her clients optimize their health, with small shifts in their diet and lifestyle. Most of her clients are women in their in the age group of 25 to 55. And she specializes in hormonal health, digestive health, and optimal fat loss. And her mission is to help others change the way they are eating, moving and thinking to reverse their symptoms, and live a happier and healthier life. That's pretty amazing, actually.

Lesley Logan  

Well, you know, I'm all about this. I mean, after spending 10 years with stomach issues, when I meet anyone who is helping people reverse the problems that they have in their life and live a healthier life... I thought I was living a really healthy life and my stomach wasn't digesting stuff, so I really was absolutely drawn to her when I met her. (Brad: Yeah) And anyone helping people solve problems like that I'm all about bringing to you. Because the truth is, is that so much of what we want to do in this life is affected by how we feel, and how we feel is affected by how we eat. So...

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, stress. Yay, it's a party.

Lesley Logan  

It's a party. Okay, so here's the deal. There was so many things I loved. I mean, it's Uma and she's amazing. And there was what we talked about a lot. I have to say, I'm so proud of myself, because I asked her a question no one's ever asked her. So pat myself on the back as a new podcast host when I interviewed her. Anyways, I'm super humble. Don't worry, my husband will tell you. (Lesley laughs) So I was, I was looking back on this conversation and something that I really, you know, like that she was talking about was like her experience with food when she came to the US in her 20s. And she, you know, like, we don't think about it, we think about the way we eat with our family is like, that's the way people eat, and then you go somewhere else. And she came here and she had these like super sized meals and like, how that affected her. So interesting because when I was studying with my Pilates mentor, for a year, it's 12 people and we are together. Every few months, we meet, like people fly in to work with this guy. And, and, and I lived down the street. So it was just like, "All right, I'm walking down to go study with my mentor". And these, the all these people came in from around the world. And we went to this restaurant and it seemed like a healthy restaurant. It was not an American based restaurant, it was definitely like more of an Asian leaning restaurant, and they order their food and the food comes out. And they all were like, "Um, can I get it to go box?" (Brad: Yeah) I think I should split a meal next time. And I'm looking at this bowl of food and I'm like, "That's too much?" I was like, really and and I had traveled a lot, but I had not... I guess I just you just keep when you're traveling, you're like, "Oh, let me taste all this stuff." So I didn't realize that this portion sizes were so big. And seeing our food from people visiting the our areas ... eyes. I was like, "Oh, wow, yeah, that's... they're big. They're big meals."

Brad Crowell  

Yeah. Well, it's, I mean, so Uma actually moved here from India. And she said that, mostly food was cooked at home. It was it was healthy and that was on purpose. They ate very little meat and meat was like a treat for them. And they would get it on the weekends, kind of thing. And then she moved here and as a college student, and you know, she's doesn't have that much money and, what's the cheapest option? (Lesley: Yeah) Is a supersize meal and she was like, "What is... this is an insane amount of food! How is this the cheapest option? What is happening here?" And I think I think that that was a mind blowing experience for her. And so anyway, yeah, that's pretty funny. I definitely, I definitely remember when we were traveling a lot, noticing the difference when we go elsewhere. (Lesley: Yeah) When we're not in the United States, and we ordered dinner, and I'm like should I order... should I order more? I think the reality is we just eat too much.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, I know. I'm been working on that. I'm just making, I think even recently, we are both ordered one last roll of sushi and I was like, "Look at us (Brad: Yeah) having just the right amount of food." (Brad: Yeah yeah yeah) and not being stuffed.

Brad Crowell  

I mean, that's a hard thing. You know, I I was definitely taught, like, clean your plate, you should have no food, all that stuff. And so and also, I still have this like mentality of... I remember being so proud that I was able to eat more when I was a teenager, right? And my mom being like, "He's a growing boy," you know and like, I was like, "Yes, I am." And I was like, "I'll have another piece of chicken or whatever it was." And I and I always I have this became a badge of honor where I was like, "I eat more than everyone else here at dinner". And I've done that now for you know, most of my life. And you know, now that I'm in my late 30s I don't actually feel good when I eat like that. I just kind of feel like, waaa...

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, it's true. Like, I think you were the one of the few people who said, you know, "It's okay if you don't finish all the food," And I was like, "But there's people starving out there". (Brad: Right) Apparently, I eat for them. So I...

Brad Crowell  

So what... that's the story we tell ourselves, right?

Lesley Logan  

And it's not like, you know, whatever you want to do, y'all, I don't want to I don't want to tell anyone what they should... I'm not a nutritionist like Uma is, but, it's really about how you feel and I don't feel good when I overeat. And so I'm not necessarily like, the, the trophy, like the the model of a healthy eating, but I'm definitely trying to just not feel like I over ate. (Brad: Yeah.) Because then I want to go for the dog walk and I love the dog walk. (Brad: Sure, totally) Anyways, what did you love that she said?

Brad Crowell  

Okay, this was, this was really she's kind of slipped this in there and I thought it was really incredible. She talks about the tripod of optimal health. And I love this visual and her tripod, how she describes it is, leg number one is what you're eating. Leg number two is your movement and then leg number three is your mindset and mental health. And basically, when it comes to overall optimal health, she said, obviously, you need to be working in all three of those spaces or you're unhealthy, you can be the fittest, you know, most jacked, you know, gym-rat person who's like intense about your, your food. And if you're, you know, beating yourself up mentally, then overall health, isn't there. (Lesley: Right) Right? Or any two of the three or one of the three or none of the three? I mean, I thought this was a really, really great way to just think about, you know, am I am I being healthy? Am I living in a healthy manner?

Lesley Logan  

Well, as same as the people who like eat super, super healthy, they even work out and they beat themselves up. They judge themselves, (Brad: sure) they're trying to be perfectionist. (Brad: Yeah) Like it tha... like, you just can't do that. And so actually, this is really interesting. If you are listening to this tripod of health and going "Wow, I think I'm, I think I've got my movement down. I think I've got my eating down, but I want that health, mental health or mindset down". My habits webinar, it will be really good for you or vice for on any one of those things, because it's um, it's that's a hard tripod ... I feel like to attain, but then once you're there, I think you could keep it with good habits and routine.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, I mean, I think I think that that's a that's a valid point and habits would you know, and routine across all three legs of the tripod. I mean, for example, working out, obviously, you got to be consistent. And it's the same with eating, you can still, you know, put in splurge days, but you know, as long as you're being conscious and consistent of it, you know, so...

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, I think it's like it's really just about eating. It's like fueling, you know, and just being conscious about why you're, why you're choosing what you're choosing, you know,

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, and I like the mental health and mindset side of things, because I feel like it's the easiest one. First off, I don't think that it's something that we're ever taught, you know, as growing up, right? You know, we all go to gym class, and then we, you know, we're taught about the food pyramid, which is a crock of shit. (Lesley: Lie...) (Lesley laughs) But but but the but nobody ever talks about like, Hey, how you think about yourself, treat yourself until later on in life.

Lesley Logan  

I agree. No one was like, "Hey, Lesley, stop being so hard on yourself" when you're like, I feel like they're like, "Oh, she's just try so hard". She's such a hard worker and you get... I got so much affirmation for being a hard worker. And being a perfectionist that like (Brad: yeah) like, you know, no one was just like, "It's okay for you to get that wrong". It was like you got to B? I got marched back to the teachers. You know, I think I might have had to see in there but still, like, there was no if it wasn't straight days, that it was not so and...

Brad Crowell  

I don't even think I heard the word "mindset" until I was in my 30s. (Lesley: Right) Like, never, I don't know, like I heard about mental health, but it was always like, "Oh, that person is crazy. They don't have good mental health." (Lesley: Right) You know, (Lesley: It wasn't...Yeah you...) you're either like fine, or you're a crazy person and that's not reality. That's (Lesley: No) like mental health. Like, yeah

Lesley Logan  

Y'all, please no one, no one for the mental health of the apps sponsors the show, but please, please, please, I'm such a big fan of therapy. I think everyone should have it and I think that please find either one of the apps that you know you can do, or get an actual therapist or...

Brad Crowell  

You can connect with someone and chat with them.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, yeah, please because it's, it's it's a key thing that we... we're not, at least in the States. No one's been like, no one talked to my 10 year old self and was like, "Hey, chill out." (Lesley laughs)

Brad Crowell  

This is part of your tripod of optimal health.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. Anyways, I think that's such a good one. I am, you know, what this made me think of is if you think back to um Amy Ledin's episode she has, she has this really interesting thing that she does with people which is behavior habit. You want to like work on a activity habit and a nutrition habit and a growth habit.

Brad Crowell  

That's episode five. (Lesley: Episode five) If you're trying to look that up everyone.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, she she has these things where she helps people pick one out of each of those things. So behavior, activity, nutrition, growth. And that is a great way to think about your day. Like, what's one thing you want to do for activity? "Hello movement". One thing you want to do for nutrition? "Hello eating". What's one thing you want to do for growth of behavior? That's mental health and mindset. Boom! So

Brad Crowell  

That's the tripod right there.

Lesley Logan  

It's your tripod. (Brad: Oh Yeah) Okay. Well, we love that. All right.

Brad Crowell  

Amazing. Well, finally, Babe. Let's talk about the BE IT action items that you covered with Uma.

Lesley Logan  

There are so many good ones.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, actually, she she had a full list. (Lesley: She did) And so I feel like we're not going to cover all of them. So it's definitely go back and listen, she she's lovely and she has a lot to say on these things. And also what I loved was the things that she said were all of them were free. (Lesley: Yeah, free.) You could literally do them you don't need you don't need to buy anything, do it. Like it's just a step a series of steps. So anyway, what bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items did we take away from your convo with Uma? The thing that I gravitated to was cooking at home, or at least at the very least getting involved in the in the cooking process. And I I actually really enjoy cooking, it's something for me that is relaxing, and creative. And, you know, I get to I kind of get to nerd out in the kitchen and put my music on and you know, I think it is more creative than anything else. But there's also that of course the science behind it making sure that it's cooked properly, right? So but what she was talking about was getting involved in what it is that you're eating is going to help you with your health, your your food part of your optimal tripod, your health tripod.

Lesley Logan  

I love that and I it makes me want to figure out how we can get it so you can cook more because I love I love your meals, especially when it gets colder. I'm just putting it out there. I would like more carrot soup. (Brad and Lesley laughs)

Brad Crowell  

That's a good soup.

Lesley Logan  

It's a good soup. Um, okay, well, yeah, I agree her I really did love that all of her be it action items were free because sometimes, you know, we I never know people are gonna say for the be it the things and sometimes like, "Hire a coach". And it's like, well, (Brad: right) You know... Yes. And I remember when I was first starting out that was hard or like, "Have a therapist." Yeah, but if you don't have health insurance that covers it. I understand those are expensive. So all of her things were free and one of my favorites, which should not surprise anyone who knows me is get sunlight on your face in the early hours. Y'all...

Brad Crowell  

Vitamin D, baby.

Lesley Logan  

I even woke up late the other day because I didn't set my alarm, my sunrise emulation alarm. I never set it the night before I just fell asleep. And luckily, I've changed my life so that that happens. I'm still gonna be okay. But I woke up at an hour later than I normally don't I was like, "Oh my God, did August have to get walked!" And my dad who's still living with us, he is like, "I already walked them" and I was like, "Well, I need to go for a walk." So I took a dog cuz I just... it's really important to me that in the morning I get a walk outside and not just because it gets hot here in Vegas, but also like I just think that that morning air, that morning sunlight is so important to have and it really does change like I woke up a little bit stressed out and on that dogwalk not stressed. (Brad: Yeah) It wasn't like "Oh my God, I'm running late. I started the day" like nope, I got this vitamin D which is like a total positivity drug. It's amazing what our bodies can take out in us and and it reset my day. So even if you're someone who wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, you know, like you you get that that vitamin D that sunlight on your face in the early hours and something I'm really committed to before the end of this year is getting us like outdoor furniture. So that I can go and enjoy our outside (Brad: Yeah) in early hours before it does get hot here, but also before the workday starts just so that you can like, really e... be present in your day, so big on that one.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna chime in with some vitamin coffee, vitamin C.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, we are we we actually, you know, what's really funny is that we did a, there was an interesting ... there that we're not editing out, that's everyone. Are you drinking coffee right now?

Brad Crowell  

Yeah. (Brad laughs)

Lesley Logan  

It's 7pm.

Brad Crowell  

It's good.

Lesley Logan  

Oh, my God. Okay. Well, one thing I'm committed to doing is I really on the other day, we went for a walk in the middle of the day. (Brad: Yes.) And while we real... truly cannot do that, June, July, and most of August, on the days that we can't I think it's really good for us to go do that together so that you sir can get some sunlight on your face.

Brad Crowell  

Yeah. Yeah. (Lesley laughs) I've been I've been breaking up my my day a little bit and putting a walk in there. It's been nice.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah. It's so nice and you know, I love 10,000 steps a day. That's me! Well, all right, everyone. I'm Lesley Logan.

Brad Crowell  

And I'm Brad Crowell.

Lesley Logan  

Thank you so much for joining us today. We are so incredibly grateful for you. How are you going to use these tips in your life? Let us know by sending us a DM to the pod on IG. All you have to do is screenshot this episode, type on the episode what your takeaway was, (Brad: Do it!) tag @be_it_pod and it will automatically show up in my DMs. I love seeing them, it truly makes me so happy because it shows me that what we're doing here is helping you Be It Till You See It.

Brad Crowell  

Bye now.

Lesley Logan  

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 podcasts. 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 TILL YOU SEE IT. Have an awesome day!

Lesley Logan  

'Be It Till You See It' is a production of 'As The Crows Fly Media'.

Brad Crowell  

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

Lesley Logan  

Kevin and Bel at Disenyo handle all of our audio editing and some social media content.

Brad Crowell  

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

Lesley Logan  

Special thanks to our designer Jaira Mandal for creating all of our visuals (which you can't see because this is a podcast) and our digital producer, Jay Pedroso for editing all the video each week so you can.

Brad Crowell  

And the Meridith Crowell for keeping us all on point and on time.

Meet Uma Naralkar, a nutritionist and health coach who moved to California from India in her 20s to go to college. Her journey of producing movies in Hollywood took her to a dangerous place with her health, so she decided to make changes. Today she’s a proud mom who teaches others how to build their health tripod - explained in this episode!

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:

• How the body is clever (warning signs, it tells us things)
• Her experience with food when coming to the US in her 20s (healthy food vs McDonald’s super size meals)
• Shifting your identity to who you want to be (James Clear Atomic Habits book)
• Language barriers
• Therapy, Nutrition, Stress Levels, Sleep… it’s wholistic, it all ties together
• The Tripod of Optimal Health… your health sits on the tripod of:

What you’re eating

Your movement

Your mental health or mindset

Episode References/Links:

• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• Uma’s website
• Uma’s IG
• Uma’s 10 Week Challenge

Guest Bio:

Uma Naralkar is an integrative nutritionist with a thriving practice in Los Angeles, California. She works at home and abroad, helping her clients optimize their health with small shifts in their diet and lifestyle. Most of her clients are women in the age group of 25 to 55. She specializes in hormonal health, digestive health and optimal fat loss, and her mission is to help others change the way they are eating, moving and thinking to reverse their symptoms and live a happier and healthier 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.

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

Social Media

• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Episode Transcript:

Lesley Logan  

Hello, welcome back to Be It Till You See It. I'm so happy you're here. I really am. This interview with Uma Naralkar Naralkar. She is a breath of fresh air and also has an incredible story that she shared. And actually in this interview, y'all, I asked her questions she'd never been asked before. And she'd never told that story before. And so I'm really honored that you'll get to hear it in this interview. I want you to look at the show notes, you can get all of the links to everything that she has going on, she runs challenges, she has an incredible nutrition website. And you're going to want to follow her on Instagram for best tips on just really be taking charge of your health. But, what I wha why I really wanted you do hear from Uma is, when I met her, she, I didn't know her before I met her obviously, that's how it works. So, so brilliant. But when I we met in this really interesting way, we were both sitting next to each other in the front row of this group. And she had no problems just like talking to me as if we had known each other and like asking me questions as if we'd known each other and I just really loved that about her. I loved that she wasn't holding back or like, "Oh, I don't know this girl," Someone had asked this girl anything like she literally, if she had a question she asked it. And as someone who I tend to be someone who's like little like sits back, you would never know it, I know. But like, I don't often ask questions from people. I've been trying to change that about myself - hence this podcast. But like, I just it would be in these groups. And I'm like learning from these amazing people. And I just wouldn't ask the question. And she having her sitting next to me constantly asking questions really made it seem like it was totally possible, and kind of got my gumption up to ask questions. And so I'm really grateful for her. And I'm grateful that we got to connect. So I can't wait for you to dive into this interview. And please, please, please check out how you can get to know more about her and work with her and the show notes below. Because I promise even if you just follow her on Instagram, you're gonna learn so much more about how you can take care of your health. And so until further ado, after this brief message, the fabulous interview with Uma.

Lesley Logan  

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  

All right, well, I am so pleased to finally bring to you Uma Naralkar. She is someone who hopefully I said her last name really well. But also who I got to meet because we both were in we were in a mastermind together, she was the first person I sat down next to, and we kept getting put into groups. So no matter how many different ways I counted off group, we always were in the same group together. And I found her just her passion and her energy and enthusiasm were like contagious. And also, I just feel like you know, no bounds. Like there was no scarcity mindset in talking to you. And it really helped me out and I wanted to bring you on to all the people listening. I'm so inspiring and so Uma, will you please tell everyone a little about yourself.

Uma Naralkar  

Oh my gosh, first, I just want to say thank you for that intro. That was beautiful. And before I got on, I was just thinking about that day it was you know, we were the base front row of that mastermind, you remember that? And we were sitting right next to each other. That's how we got introduced. And you're absolutely right, we just kind of kept getting the same group. And it was a beautiful way to connect. And I also want to say that I really appreciate you everything you're doing. You know, your work and how passionate you are. With everything that you do. I get inspired every day, even if you're just doing a workout. If I'm watching a workout video, I'm like, okay, that's so motivating, and I appreciate it. You're like 100% and everything that you do, and I just want to say that I admire that about you. And I appreciate that. About me.

Lesley Logan  

That's amazing. I mean, if I just brought you on for the compliment.

Uma Naralkar  

I provide an intro for you next time. I don't know where to start. What what do you want to know about me? Ask me.

Lesley Logan  

Well, I mean, I mean, so you know, we met because you run your own business. And that's really cool, but I guess like well, what started you right to create your own business, like where were you that made you go, you know what I'm gonna do this thing that's my own and I and also a bit, I know you do a lot with health and fitness. So I want to make sure we get into nutrition and that kind of thing, because you are the expert in that.

Uma Naralkar  

Ah thank you. Okay, so I have a couple of different things. So I am a nutritionist, and I work with functional MD's in LA and now we'll be doing all over the country and a few different parts of the world where I do a lot of maintenance work, right. So if someone has a hormonal disorder, like PC, ODPC, OS, or just other functional disorders, like maybe type two diabetes, I work with patients to help maintain their lifestyle so that they, they can get off medication or reverse their conditions. So that's one thing that I do, I also work with. So I do a lot of group challenges just to motivate people to move and to, you know, start start to start with the health and fitness journey. And I work and partner with multiple brands on social media. So those are my three different businesses. And my most important job is and I'm a mom, I have two amazing kids. And they're still you know, they're 8 and 11. So that's a big part of my, what I do. And the way it all started, was I'm gonna give you the shorter version of the story. I had a corporate job in Hollywood. And it was really high stress and a lot of work weekends, late nights, a lot of clients servicing, and it kind of took a toll on my health. And because I was much younger, and very ambitious, I kind of let it slide, right. And before I knew it, my health was completely compromised, I was overweight. But more than that, I had like functional issues, I had high blood pressure. And it's it's so interesting. I feel like we all know when something's off, right? Our body's so clever. It's constantly telling us, you know, you have a headache, your clothes are not fitting you the way they used to, you're not sleeping well, right. And we kind of ignore all that till something happens. And that's exactly what happened to me. We were in our late 20s and trying to start a family. And I couldn't get pregnant, I couldn't conceive. And after, I think a year of trying, we went to see a fertility specialist. And she asked me, she said, "Are you aware that you have put on over 25 pounds in just this last 12 months?" And I was like, "Wait, last 12 months? Are you sure? Like isn't it... hasn't been longer than that"? She said no, like, I'm just looking at your chart. And she said your hormones are off your blood... It was just I was completely at a rock bottom as far as my health was concerned. And I think at that point, I was just like, I can never forget, you know, that moment where you're like, this has nothing. I mean, forget having babies, you know, if I want to live and if I want to live live long enough, I really need to change something. So I started making, you know, I started doing all the research and making changes in the way I was eating and moving and surely enough, you know, I saw changes and how I was feeling. And the weight went off, I got pregnant naturally and my entire life changed. I was just so much happier. It was like the fog lifted. And I think everyone around me saw that. I feel like that's how it all started. Because people are asking me what I'm doing. Why am I you know, looking better? Why have I lost the weight? How did I get pregnant without IVF. And I just started sharing with, like my neighbor, my cousins and people who I know. And it just went from there. And then it was the reference. And people started asking me I literally I think there was a point when I was like, "Huh, maybe I should charge for this." And I was like, it literally was like I think I started charging like $100 for like the whole thing like my entire consultation. And I'm like, yeah, sure, call me whenever you want. We'll do as many follow ups as you want. There was no business concept next to it. And so that went on for quite some time. I did a lot of free work, I showed up everywhere. And I just loved doing it. And then there came a point when I was like, this is great, but I'm doing it for 10 hours a day with two babies. So I think I should get paid for it. So then it became a one-on-one coaching thing and then slowly evolved into an online business and then came all the scaling up. But the moral of the story is that I think that all of us know that, you know, we need to change, I feel like that sense is there when you see your health depleting. And I see it again and again and all my clients, and I'm sure you see it too, it's like, people will come to you when they don't have a choice, right. And they, they're like, at a point where they've been diagnosed with something, or they're so severely compromised, that they have to change. And I wish that that changes. And we start from the beginning, you know, we it becomes a part of who we are. And we don't have to get to that point.

Lesley Logan  

I couldn't agree more. I think it's, um, you know, it's definitely like, I don't have kids, but I'm sure that the way you raise your kids is to put their health and wellness first and like, because if you learn that at a younger age, like I didn't I, no offense to my parents, they did the best they could, but like, I didn't learn about boundaries. I was like, "Oh, I'm getting offered another promotion." So you say yes. And it's like, you know, the extra, like, you're rewarded for the extra credit, the extra work to get the A plus, like, what do you know what I mean, but you, so I was just trained to do more and more as if more was better. And it's probably why I love Pilates so much, because it's all about quality, not quantity. I, I definitely had a similar thing or my career where I should have been the happiest I could be I was super young, and like so known. And I was my health was ruined. Stress had really taken over everything. And and I had to get so clear on like, what was causing everything and like unpeel the layers that had I put on stress to figure out like, what was the cause because it takes such a toll on our bodies. And I'm sure that you find like, if you go back to when you before you were this, you know, when you eat differently, and when you're working out, you're putting your health first I feel like I have way more confidence on days that I feel myself better than on days that I didn't. Right?

Uma Naralkar  

Well, 100% absolutely. And, you know, I also feel talking about the society, right, or how you're brought up and what he was saying about, you know, of my parents too. And in fact, I was born in India, so country where education and success and doing more and resting less is definitely like a badge of honor. And I definitely took that with me when I started working. And I worked at as a producer in Hollywood, so it was excruciatingly stressful. And I think, you know, we take pride in the longer hours and the lack of sleep and the working on weekends. And when you are in your early 20s. It's really not as those hormetic stressors, they're there, but you're so much more resilient to them, right. As you start entering your perimenopausal years, which is anything from 35 to 55. That stress amplifies and then you will see people having all these, like HPA axis issues and sleep problems. Like I cannot sleep no matter what I do, right? And it all it's just it adds up. It's like, you know what you did for the last 20 years? You can't just rewind it in two months.

Lesley Logan  

Right? Like, okay, well, I'm Uma, I'm sleeping eight hours a day and like it's not getting better. It's like, well, how many days have you done that? And compared to how many years you didn't?

Uma Naralkar  

Yeah, I mean, it's like Lesley, I just I did Pilates yesterday. I don't see my abs like, you know...

Lesley Logan  

I know. Well, usually I say well, I'm not in the kitchen with you. (Uma: Yeah. That's a good one) I so okay, you know, because you're from India, when did you come to the US? And I just wonder like, because I was born and raised California girl. So that is an interesting life on its own. When I went to the East Coast. I'm like, What is... why are all these states so small? Why are people working in one state and living in another? You know, so I find like, people's childhoods and life is very interesting. So how old were you when you moved here? And then? Like, what, what what do you remember? Like, when do you remember kind of like putting yourself out there a little bit more? And kind of, you know, what was that like for you?

Uma Naralkar  

Oh, that's such a good question. I mean, no anyone's ever asked me that. So I moved here when I was 20. And it's interesting because I'm moved from one country to another country where I have no family, no friends, and I moved to San Francisco actually. And I lived there for seven years. I went to film school there and then I was there for a little bit longer. And it was all different. But I think the most the biggest difference for me was the food, right. So in India, we have a lot of health, inherently, there is health and cooks and food is never something that I had to even think about. So that's the reason why it was always so well balanced and healthy because it was like home cook Indian food and all the beautiful dals and vegetables. And it was primarily really vegetarian, we, we ate meat on the weekends as like a treat. Dessert would always be homemade, something made and ghee, like very, very, like decently portion. And I came to America where everything was supersize, right? And I was a student. And I mean, I was first it was shocking, then it was exciting. And then it was kind of like, I didn't have a choice, I was hungry and how to eat. And I was a student. So it was like McDonald's and all the other. And it was truly exciting. I have to say at the beginning, because I was like, "What is going on? Why are these people eating so much?" But it was a huge adjustment and you know, when you're asking me about how I you know what, the thing that I had to kind of like get over and just be like, I'm going to embody this. I am, you know, the book Atomic Habits. Have you read that? James Clear. (Lesley: Yeah) Yeah, he talks about shifting your identity to who you want to be? How do remember that part of the book of what he's saying is that if you, you know, you, if you want something, if you truly believe that you want something, you need to believe that you have it. And you need to shift your identity in the sense that, you know, I am a confident 20 year old girl in the United States where I don't know shit about this country. And I truly don't understand half the words that they use. And at 20 was I clear about what I'm saying now? No, not at all, because it was nerve racking. And the reason why I'm bringing it up is because the biggest obstacle apart from the food, my biggest challenge was speaking, or just speaking out in class, or just raising my hand or just standing in front of an audience and saying, like, anything, it was something that I didn't grow up with, in India you never get an opportunity to speak anything. Everything is crowded and they don't have time for anybody speaking. So I think it was a true challenge. That sounds so... it doesn't sound like a big deal. Because my children, both of them grew up here. They're Californians. And, you know, I can see how speaking is so inherent, right? Like you're, you're in a group setting, or if you're in a big crowd, just saying what you feel is pretty standard. It's not considered like, you know, a big deal. But for me, it was, it was my accent, it was understanding what the other person is saying, 'cause a lot of times I would be like, my English was all very British. So I didn't understand the caliber, you know, some some words, I just didn't get what they say.

Lesley Logan  

No, if you don't put s's and words, we put z's there, it's a whole thing.

Uma Naralkar  

I'm just like, What did she say? And now what am I going to say like, so bad. The point is that even without knowing or understanding that I'm doing that, James Clear technique, I was like, I am this confident woman, I literally wake up every day, I had membership to the silly, shady gym that I used to go to. And, you know, because that's what I could afford. And then I would like get something from Chipotle or McDonald's, slightly different, but still kind of on the same budget. And then I would be like, I'm just gonna go, and I'm gonna make conversations with these people. And if I don't understand what they're saying, I used to do this weird thing where I used to record what people are saying. So if you said something to me, and I didn't get it, I would be like, can you please repeat that? And I would put it on my phone, like as a voice note, and I would go home and be like, you know, at that coffee shop, the guy asked me, "For here or to go?" And I'm like, "What?" He's like, "For here or to go?" And I'm like, "What is he talking?" And I was just like, I was like, "No, no, no, no coffee. Goodbye." So I would make voice notes and go home and be like, this is what this shit means. So next time when you say is for here or to go, it is for here or to go, whatever. (Lesley: It's, go ahead.) I mean, I don't it sounds ridiculous, because this is like 20 years later, and so much has happened. But those two years, the first two years when I was in college, yeah, we're, we're hard and intimidating.

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, but you, you were like, Okay, I'm going to go out there and I'm going to try to do all the things that I feel like I should be able to do. And then I'm going to do and I'll go back to my room and try to figure out how to break it down in it that way. James Clear says what there's so much research on it. A lot of people are like well when I have the job, then the promotion then I will go to the gym and take care of myself or when I, when I'm, you know, I've had different kinds go, Oh, well, when I'm about to have a baby, then I'll get better about my health and it's like, all the like you to have the thing you want to have you have to be it now like you have to be and do the things now. And that's because it puts you in a mindset that makes you actually make the decisions based on the person who has the thing already versus the person who doesn't have the thing. Right. So

Uma Naralkar  

Exactly. That's exactly. That's exactly. That's how he he explains it, but I just I'm fascinated because I read that book pretty recently, right? It wasn't there 20 years ago, but I feel like that's what I was doing without even knowing it. So

Lesley Logan  

Yeah, I, I mean, it's really I think, as human beings are really incredible. Sometimes, like, as far as survival goes, we'll come up with different things. But that is definitely, I feel like a great story, because so many times people are like, well, I don't know how, like, I've told this story before but, you know, running my own companies, I'm like, why is I don't know how to be a CEO. Like I remember getting frustrated, like, I don't know how to be a CEO. And then I was like, Okay, I heard someone say on a podcast like, well, if you act as if you are the CEO or whatever, then like, what would that CEO who doesn't know how to solve this problem do? And so I had to go, Okay, if I'm, let me just pretend to be this person that I don't feel like I am yet. And what would I do right now. And so it makes you just make way different decisions from a place of control and confidence versus scarcity or victim or it's impossible, you know?

Uma Naralkar  

Yeah, absolutely love that. I just feel that there's one thing to it, though, which is, so being that person or and and manifesting your future. You know I think it's beautiful. If you are open and willing to do the inner work, right. Or if you have, if you're coming from a place where you are healed, you're happy, you're ready to receive, right? If you are this bitter person holding some kind of anger, or, you know, if you are not there yet, as far as your development yourself, self development goes, then I feel no matter how much you embody, no matter how much you manifest, and then you're like, just sitting there being like, oh, why am I not, you know, getting this, and you're not looking at what's happening inside. And this is, again, it's a pretty standard pattern, which I see in your clients where it's like, it's been three months, I'm doing all things that you're telling me to do, but I hate my stomach, like, you know, and I'm like, first off, if you're talking about your body with hate, and you have so much anger, and so much inbuilt frustration, it's gonna be really hard to see the results you're looking for. It's not just the food, you know, your mind and your stress levels have so much to do with your outcome. And so it is a combination of I feel you can manifest and you'll definitely need to believe that you are it to get there. But you do need to pay attention to what's going on inside your head and the healing and the inner work.

Lesley Logan  

100%, it's, I mean, I think we've all seen even movies, if you've never seen in real life of like people who are in leadership roles who like just should be there, you're like, this person should not be there. And they're, and they're also not even appreciating the things that are around them. Um, when it comes to So, you know, I think people say inner work, and I'm wondering, like, I know, for me for a long time, I was like, "Okay, I'm gonna do the inner work," like, "what does that even mean?" So I would read books, because that's what I could afford at the time. And I was like, oh, I hope this is the inner work. And then podcasts came out. I was like, thank goodness for this free. (Uma: Yeah) Free way of getting some work for me, like it was definitely working with a somatic therapist actually was really, really good for me. For you like for clients that you've worked with? Obviously, nutrition is a, I don't think people realize a way that nutrition plays mind games on us. And so what would you say is like, is it nutrition? Is it is it therapy? Like? What are some of the what are some of your go-to ways for people to figure out that inner work they need to do?

Uma Naralkar  

First off, yes to therapy, I think all kinds of therapy is I appreciate all of it. And I think people it's still it's very interesting, still people have a lot of resistance to see a therapist or to you know, just to open up and talk to someone else about what's going on. So I guess to kind of be but more than that, yeah, nutrition, what you're eating is going to be foundational movement and how active you are and what you're doing there. As well as your stress levels, your sleep. All that I think ties in it is pretty holistic. I don't think it's one or the other and I have a lot of really fit client who are like, I mean, as fit as they can be, were miserable, who are so unhappy, who are who are, they like constantly looking for ways to, you know, get to the next level. And quite frankly, they don't even know what the next level is. So I think it's everyone's very different. And for one person, maybe it's like, you know, your nutrition is seriously lacking. And we need to make some switches so that you start, like having a better relationship with food. But for someone else, it might just be something as simple as you know, like doing yoga or getting out in nature. Someone who's like stuck in front of a computer all day and doesn't even like realize it. Like for example, like the best, I think the best example I can give is like being in a casino, right? Like inside a casino, like, how clever is that? It's like, the lights are always the same. It's always bright, it's always entertaining. There's enough blue light to keep the melatonin out. So you're always in that cortisol rush, they want that because they want you to play. But that's how we are pretty, pretty much living our life. Like like we're in a casino, right? Because we're indoors, we are in front of the computer, then you're watching something, and then we expect to have a good night's sleep. So I feel like it's it's just it all ties in. And it's not one thing I call it, I call it the tripod, actually of optimal health, which is what you're eating, how what your movement, you're like activity, your lifestyle, and then your mental health or mindset, right, they all tie in, and then your health, it's sort of like sitting on that tripod. So if one of those legs is like wobbly, then the whole thing is gonna collapse.

Lesley Logan  

But it's an incredible visual, and it's an eye and you're right, because you mentioned like, it's holistic, because some people could be listening going well, you know, Uma and Lesley, I do yoga, I do Pilates, I eat like this, and then still not it's like, well, if your mindset is it, (Uma: yeah), like your movement might be there and your nutrition might be there. But if your money mindset is lacking, or your, your, the way you see other people trying to help you like all those things, you have to you have to work on all the parts of the tripod, I that's really a genius way of describing it. You know, I, I find like, with a lot of people, they start to go, Well, this is like, this is really nice, but it's either very expensive to think about that. Or it's very time consuming, which is, you know, expensive. So, you know, for someone who is maybe lacking in time, do you have any like go-to tips for working on that tripod with just like, you know, like, quick, easy, not that anything's easy, but just ways to kind of get started. Because I think once you get started, it's like a snowball, and you start to find more time because you start to crave doing more.

Uma Naralkar  

Yeah, but you're absolutely right. I think starting small and you know, getting those successes, and putting those checks on that small list for your health. It always it's, it's super motivating. And what you write is like a ripple effect and you feel like doing more. For starters, things that that are absolutely no money. The first thing I would say is circadian fasting, all of us can do it. It does not cost any money. I think that's the reason why it's so you know, not popular because the pharma companies are nobody's making any money out of people fasting. So that would be one, sunlight, getting some fresh sunlight, like on your face in your retina like in the early hours of the day, just to think that circadian clock also obviously for vitamin D, for energy, that would be a good thing, starting to cook at home. Or even if you are not a cook, just getting involved in the process of cooking, maybe sitting and creating a menu together or just maybe have a couple of nights and the week where it becomes a thing where you are like experimenting with food with a glass of wine or something. I feel like the more involved you are in the process of picking your food, prepping it, eating it and I know everyone can do it. And it is time consuming. But it doesn't have to be every day. It's just it gets you gets you closer. I think it's a part of mindful eating. Like it's not just Oh, sit down in a comfortable place and make sure you are smelling your food and looking at all the colors and like eating it has, that's beautiful. But you should also know where the food came from. Right? And I think doing it even once a week. It's like a beautiful exercise. Sleep doesn't cost anything most of the time unless you're at a point where you need a lot of sleep aid. But most of the time you're always trying to get to sleep on time, staying away from blue light, staying away from media and staying away from this toxic toxic media more than anything as as well as just a lot of like chat and conversations which can kind of hurt you in any way. Because you know, all of us have those, right? where, you know, talking to mom makes me feel this way or, you know, talking to certain cousin Julie brings up this side and me. So maybe not doing that like right before going to bed.

Lesley Logan  

I mean, there's a genius because I think people are like, Oh, I'm going to be screen free. But then they like, yeah, call their sister who makes them feel like not super great about themselves, or they get off the phone with their mom. And it's like, just kind of before bed not doing any of those things that don't make you feel good.

Uma Naralkar  

Yeah, any of those things, at least an hour. And it doesn't have to be you know, too long, you can do a lot of things other than talking to toxic people are watching TV. Right? So I mean, it could be listening to something, it could be a podcast, or music, or maybe maybe actually talking to people who you live with or (Uma: Are talking to people you live with?) Which is like everyone's just on their own media. So which is why I have to intentionally make my kids do that, because they are that age where media is everything. So talking to people at home is actually a part of a bedtime routine. So it's like they get time on the television. So it's, it's, it's watching and talking. That's what we call it. So watching time is where they can be on the iPad or on TV. And then it's talking time, so they can talk to each other or they can talk to us.

Lesley Logan  

I think that's so cool. Because I think there's probably a lot of moms listen there. And it's like, how do you get them off, but you're they get to be on their screens. It sounds like until their... It's bedtime routines. And then it's like, you get to talk to us, or you could talk to each other or you anything to that.

Uma Naralkar  

Yeah. Yeah, or they have other options, they have Legos to play with. It's just not screen, screen time is over that point. And it just, it's so inherent, it's now they know it. So they will be talking and playing something really cute. Could be could be drawing and talking. So yeah, I think as you said in the beginning, that, you know, these are the kind of things that I really, I think they're important to me, and I want them to learn them from the beginning. As against, later

Lesley Logan  

But what what great tips because not not one of those things cost any money, they just cost like making the decision and being intentional about it. And, you know, it's I find that when you make those, those steps, it really is that I said it before, it's like a snowball like starts to use, it starts to gain more speed and it allows more space, you'll start to see more opportunities for either free ways to take care of the three things on the tripod, or, you know, you might - because you have more time - you start to explore other things. I mean, I remember thinking when my surgery morning pages, I'm like, I already have to wake up so early. Like, I can't even do this. And I'm like, "Look, this is a free thing that you're very expensive therapist has suggested you do, just give it a try." And now it's like it doesn't take that much time. It does start the day off really, really well and you and helps you with every everything else that I do all day. So, so thank you for sharing those just like off the top because I think that it's been really helpful. Okay Uma so everyone is in love with you now. And they want to follow you and and work with you. How can they do that?

Uma Naralkar  

A couple of different ways. I have a website, it's called Arm With a Twist, and you can put a link for that. (Lesley: On the show notes) And then I'm on Instagram that's where I mainly hang on social media. So you can definitely catch me there. Right now I'm actually doing a free challenge starting March, sorry not March, May, right? May 17. It's what five days. So it's a free mind and body challenge. And I'm sharing one hit workout, one mindset exercise which you can do in less than 20 minutes every day for five days. And then I have a free food list with that which you can use to just complement what you're doing. So if you're interested, I will also give you a link to that and you can put in the show notes. I'd love to have you guys there.

Lesley Logan  

Oh my God, this sounds so fun. Do you run challenges often so that anytime people are listening to this, you know down the road they can jump on?

Uma Naralkar  

Yes. So this one is a free challenge. I also do my 10 week challenge. It's called the Om Can Be Challenged, which is every three months. I do private coaching. I do group coaching. So there's different opportunities to work with me and it's all on my website.

Lesley Logan  

Oh, amazing. We'll have all that in the show notes and how you can get in touch with her. And if you are like I don't even know which one of these things I mean, you'll just dm her on Instagram and she'll help you. Okay, so I asked everyone this because I think it's so important that anyone listening to this who resonate with your story who heard you know how you got here to this country and like how you started your business, and they're like, this woman really resonates with me, I really want them to have tips from you. So, what are, you know, some tips you can give to our, our listeners about how they could Be It Till They See It, it could be something bold or executable, or how they can find out what their intrinsic motivation is or targeted.

Uma Naralkar  

Alright, so as I said before, the first the most important thing is to make sure that you are starting from a really healed and grounded place, right, you want a really good foundation to build on that's important. And you will know it you know, when you're when you when you feel it. And if you're not. And if you need some work that you need to do, then, as we talked about, therapy is great. But also things like tapping, or breathwork, or just more time in nature, where you can let go heal and create the space to invite all those things that you want to be. That's one thing, and then once you do that, it is truly important to believe that you have it and I feel like even affirming to it, you know, saying it out loud, I am, whatever it is that it is like, for example for me, right now I am in the process of trying to be a little more mindful of how I spend my money and spend like during COVID, I was just going a little out of control. And I caught myself and I was like, you know, I need to know, I need to literally I need to train my mind to be more mindful about money. So one of my affirmations is that I am the kind of person who saves. I'm the kind of person who saves and it is so effective. So every single time I want to spend more than a $100, I just did that I'm like, I'm the kind of person who saves and a lot of times I change my mind. And so it's just as affirmations really help in getting to where you want to be. And yeah, I mean, I feel like at the end of the day, if you don't believe you can do it, no matter what anybody else tells you, it's not happening. So you better believe, and you better 100% trust the fact that you are and you can do it.

Lesley Logan  

That is I love all of those so much. But the affirmation thing is something I've recently started doing, because we're making a lot of changes. And I was having this like identity crisis about about like being that person and I was like, we just have to start telling ourselves that every single day because you got to get that, that subconscious to believe it. So thank you for that. I love all of these tips so much. And I'm just so grateful for you. I'm grateful that we we met I love that the universe has made sure we're in the same room at the same time. It's so fun to see what you're doing. And I'm so grateful that you were able to share so generously with those of us who those who are listening because I think that a lot of people are working so hard on who they want to be. And oftentimes they don't realize it's actually not buying something or it's not the next educational thing you need. It's really taking care of that health tripod. And I'm so, so grateful for you. Everyone, please do us a favor, screenshot this. Share it on your socials and tag us both so we can see your takeaways. Make sure you follow Uma and I will until next time be it till you see it.

Lesley Logan  

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 podcasts. 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!

Lesley Logan  

'Be It Till You See It' is a production of 'As The Crows Fly Media'.

Brad Crowell  

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

Lesley Logan  

Kevin and Bel at Disenyo handle all of our audio editing and some social media content.

Brad Crowell  

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

Lesley Logan  

Special thanks to our designer Jaira Mandal for creating all of our visuals (which you can't see because this is a podcast) and our digital producer, Jay Pedroso for editing all the video each week so you can.

Brad Crowell  

And the Meridith Crowell for keeping us all on point and on time.