Swearing By It

How would you handle a debt of a million dollars?

In this week’s episode, Sydney bravely dives deep into how she managed a million dollars in debt while building businesses, struggling with a difficult business partner, handling a rough pregnancy, and having a husband unable to work while he navigated applying for a green card... It was a lot. But she learned SO much.

Audrina and Sydney talk about the importance of relationships and why you shouldn’t burn bridges when you don’t have to. As Audrina neatly puts it, “Don’t set fire to the house you might want to come back to.” Relationships are a key foundation in business, not just with your employees and investors, but also your friends and family. Communicating when you can (almost to the point of overcommunicating) is so important.  

As business owners, whatever happens in your business goes into your personal life, and it can feel like there’s no real separation between. So, if you’re going through a similar situation to Sydney—such as navigating business debt or breaking up with a difficult business partner—the best advice is to really dig into self-care. Feeling stressed won’t make the outcome and results any better, so remember to look after yourself and give yourself grace.

In This Conversation:

• Sydney discusses what happened with her previous business partner who decided to close the business, leaving her with no cash and no business to run—just a literal landing page and almost a million dollars in debt.
• Audrina asks what business owners can do to protect their business name after Sydney came face to face with the issue. (Listen out for Sydney’s simple tips!)
• Sydney talks about her own personal values and how that meant paying the debt off was all on her… and how she actually did it.
• Audrina and Sydney discuss why you *shouldn’t* hire your spouse to work under you. (Hint: it’s just not worth it!)

For more unfiltered conversations about entrepreneurship, family life, and managing the daily demands of “doing it all”, click the Follow button so you don’t miss an episode! 

If anything we talked about resonated with you, we’d love to hear about it! Always feel free to reach out with questions, comments, or future topics you want to hear.

Connect with us:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swearingbyit/ 

LinkedIn:
Audrina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/audrinablackburn/
Sydney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydneymsherman/

When you think about the pivots you’ve made in your life and business, how have you managed your mindset? And what have you learned?

In today’s episode, Audrina and Sydney give the inside scoop on the pivots at The Hive, with a rapid-fire overview of everything that happened in the last six months. They’re actively going through so many pivots right now and shifting the entire business following all the lessons they’ve learned—both good and bad. (Sometimes things blow up… but that’s how you truly learn.)

Being an entrepreneur is so rewarding, but it’s definitely not easy. You really don’t know what it takes until you’re doing it! There’s only so much you can be taught because a lot comes from getting your hands dirty and learning as you go. Tears and overwhelm will happen, but you’ve just got to get through it and keep going with an open heart, curiosity, and faith in the process. We have control over so little, but we do have control over our mindset.

A key theme in this episode is taking care of yourself so you can show up as the best version of you. What can you do right now for yourself? It could be a deep breath, having a glass of water, taking a call on a walk—do what you can to reset your brain and you’ll feel better for it.

In This Conversation:

• Sydney talks about the harsh reality of how you have to go through a lot of hard lessons, but it’s the best way to learn what does (and doesn’t) work for you and your business.
• Audrina discusses the idea of gaining perspective on what you’re doing, and not making everything out to be a “life or death” situation when it really isn’t. You can’t think clearly when you’re stressed, so give yourself space to accept what’s happening. We all make mistakes, but it’s about figuring out how to fix them to make things better for the future.
• Sydney digs into the details about the most recent changes at The Hive, including the biggest pivot: switching to a fully virtual model. (And becoming solely package-based.)
• Audrina and Sydney talk about the importance of keeping track of what’s going on in your business—from your operations to your margins, and of course, pivoting. You need to carve out time to have conversations (even if it’s just with yourself) and to go and experience other things. You’re not in a silo!

For more unfiltered conversations about entrepreneurship, family life, and managing the daily demands of “doing it all”, click the Follow button so you don’t miss an episode! 

If anything we talked about resonated with you, we’d love to hear about it! Always feel free to reach out with questions, comments, or future topics you want to hear.

Connect with us:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swearingbyit/ 

LinkedIn:
Audrina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/audrinablackburn/
Sydney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydneymsherman/ 

Resources We Mentioned:

Insight Timer App

Much like Ross and Chandler trying to get a couch down a flight of stairs in Friends, are you embracing “pivoting”?

In today’s episode, Sydney and Audrina discuss the importance of evaluating what’s working (and what isn’t) in your life and business. Pivoting doesn’t have to be scary—see it as a chance to improve with every single opportunity. It’s not always about burning everything to the ground and starting again, it’s about asking the right questions and actually listening so you can implement ideas to make things smoother.

Taking the time to work out where the “clunky” areas are in your business gives you the opportunity to fix them. The best advice is to constantly revisit the different processes and get feedback. Are you a solopreneur without a huge team to ask? That’s okay! Talk to current clients, past clients, and even prospective clients who said no, because every piece of constructive criticism is valuable (even the hard feedback). Be really intentional and embrace constantly pivoting.

Audrina talks about her process in her business, Summit Chasers Network, and how vital it is to step back and look at the bigger picture. As a business owner, think about how much your clients are paying you, how much your outgoings are, and what your margins look like, but, more importantly, how does your business make you feel? We are our businesses, so they need to make us feel good.

In This Conversation:

• Audrina touches on how a pivot she made in a previous company helped her team go from sending 10-15 email campaigns a day to sending hundreds of campaigns every single day. (Hint: It started with working out what needed to happen and then making it a reality.)
• Sydney talks about why we need the mentality of staying curious, asking the right questions, and navigating changes. Let the panic moments happen, but keep moving—and try to have faith in the outcome.
• Audrina and Sydney discuss the importance of using your intuition with real-life examples. Take time to process and analyze the feedback (instead of constantly changing everything off the back of one opinion), and don’t be scared to make hard choices. The sooner you do a hard pivot, the better.
• Sydney explains why you need to focus on not getting too down when things don’t go as planned and learning to accept that your business will be better for it in the long run. (She can’t think of a single time that a pivot negatively impacted her business when she took it with curiosity and intent!)

For more unfiltered conversations about entrepreneurship, family life, and managing the daily demands of “doing it all”, click the Follow button so you don’t miss an episode! 

If anything we talked about resonated with you, we’d love to hear about it! Always feel free to reach out with questions, comments, or future topics you want to hear.

Connect with us:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swearingbyit/

LinkedIn:
Audrina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/audrinablackburn/
Sydney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydneymsherman/

Do you feel your age? (Does anyone?)

In this week’s episode, Audrina and Sydney touch on their personal experiences with the interesting (and sometimes weird) process of aging. Even though we feel the same on the inside, we look different on the outside—and that’s something we all experience. Our bodies change as we age and go through life, from wrinkles starting to appear to allergies and food intolerances, through to the major physical undertaking that is pregnancy (and everything that comes with that). 

As women, the physical side of aging can be tricky to navigate because there’s so much weight wrapped up in what we look like and how we show up. We go through the strange experience of feeling “too young” and then “too old”… but really, it comes down to mindset. We need to shift from being hard on ourselves to being grateful for what we (and our bodies) have achieved. Getting older is a privilege—we won’t always look the same, but that’s a good thing. It means we’re continuing to evolve.

At the end of the day, age is just a number. It’s about how you feel on the inside and how you show up. We’re always adapting and growing, so it’s important to learn to fully accept and embrace ourselves as we are right now. We’re badass women who are constantly juggling so many things, so showing up and doing the best we can is all we can ask for.

In This Conversation:

• Audrina and Sydney discuss the importance of holding onto your playful, childlike side and how believing you’re still young makes you feel young. (Sydney even mentions a medical study that proves it!)
• Sydney gets real with her pregnancies and talks about the interesting dynamic of how drastically aging pregnancy can be at first, but then how the aging process sometimes seems to reverse…
• Audrina touches on the mental health impact that came with her allergic reaction, and appreciating how much strength it takes to continue to show up (even when you don’t look or feel your best) and not let anything hold you back from what you want—or need—to do.
• Sydney and Audrina discuss the slippery slope of “chasing perfection,” getting comfortable with your body’s changes, and the idea that: “Your body is a reflection of your lifestyle. If you’re happy with your lifestyle, you should be happy with your body.”    

For more unfiltered conversations about entrepreneurship, family life, and managing the daily demands of “doing it all”, click the Follow button so you don’t miss an episode! 

If anything we talked about resonated with you, we’d love to hear about it! Always feel free to reach out with questions, comments, or future topics you want to hear.

Connect with us:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swearingbyit/

LinkedIn:
Audrina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/audrinablackburn/
Sydney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydneymsherman/

If you were watching a film of your life right now, what would you be screaming at the TV for the main character (aka you) to change, do, or stop ignoring?

In this week’s episode, Audrina and Sydney reflect on what they’d like to stop ignoring, change, and do in their businesses and personal lives. They both get real and raw, with relatable truths around taking yourself—and your work—way too seriously and the anxiety around finding out answers you might not want to hear.

You’ll be nodding along to this episode as Sydney and Audrina discuss being human and giving yourself grace (because we’re all just doing the best we can). They wrap up this honest episode by talking about what they’re afraid of and why it’s no longer going to hold them back.

As female entrepreneurs, we often struggle with making the ask and charging what we should be. Audrina and Sydney go behind the scenes into what’s changing at The Hive and dive into the mindset shifts we need to go through to help us recognize (and own) the value we bring.

In This Conversation:

• Sydney dives into what she’d be yelling at herself to stop ignoring (spoiler: it’s about feeling all the feelings). She’s going to put in the effort to not hide from the uncomfortable parts, because they all have something really important to say.
• Audrina discusses the journey she’s on with the way she talks to herself—it’s something we can definitely all relate to. We wouldn’t speak to our best friends like that, so why do we talk to ourselves like that? Audrina talks about calling yourself out and actually being proud (instead of the default: being brutal).
• Sydney and Audrina chat about the importance of stepping away from yourself and the impact of objectively looking through different perspectives (hello, meditation!). 

Audrina and Sydney are planning on revisiting these questions in a few months, so watch this space to see how their answers have changed!

For more unfiltered conversations about entrepreneurship, family life, and managing the daily demands of “doing it all”, click the Follow button so you don’t miss an episode!

So, if you were watching the film of your life right now, what would you be screaming at the main character to change, do, and stop ignoring? Have a think and reflect on it, and if you feel comfortable, come and share your thoughts on Instagram or LinkedIn!

If anything we talked about resonated with you, we’d love to hear about it! Always feel free to reach out with questions, comments, or future topics you want to hear.

Connect with us:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swearingbyit/

LinkedIn:
Audrina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/audrinablackburn/
Sydney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydneymsherman/

What happens when life is moving at full speed and you’re expected to manage running a business amidst the chaos? 

In this week’s episode, Sydney and Audrina delve into the real challenges they’ve experienced while continuing to show up as the face of their business. From the small, daily struggles of crying children and very vocal dogs to large-scale, terrifying natural disasters, we go behind the scenes of what it takes to keep moving when clients are counting on you—and how to prioritize your own well-being in the process. 

Life actually happens! Any entrepreneur knows it’s a constant balancing act to be present in your business and in your personal life. There are times, though, when one side weighs more heavily. In these times, it’s essential to be aware of the support system you have—who can you delegate some tasks to, who can take over if you need some recovery time, and who can provide a shoulder to lean on?

As women, and especially as mothers, we often feel like we need to do everything all the time. It’s so important (and healthy!) for us to be able to ask for help. Building your business is consistent work, and one person can’t do it all. Creating schedules and systems might feel restrictive, but in actuality, it will help clear your mind because all the tasks in your head are now down on paper and organized. Trust us – it works! 

In This Conversation:

• The importance of a healthy mindset – techniques and tools we use to regain composure when sh*t hits the fan. 
• Setting yourself up for success by starting to practice these techniques before you need them. Breathing, eating well, and exercising are some of the most effective ways we manage our physical and mental health. 
• When you don’t want to do something, try these tools: The power of calling out the “feeling of after” and reminding yourself of the positive outcomes, and The Opposite Game to swap your mindset from negative to positive.  
• Creating systems within our business to schedule tasks, and allowing ourselves to ensure we have some time for self-care. When creating this schedule, take notice of how you feel at different times of the day. You can then acknowledge these feelings, determine when you need a boost, and build a routine of healthy habits that work for you.

For more unfiltered conversations about entrepreneurship, family life, and managing the daily demands of “doing it all”, click the Follow button so you don’t miss an episode! 

If anything we talked about resonated with you, we’d love to hear about it! Always feel free to reach out with questions, comments, or future topics you want to hear.

Connect with us:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swearingbyit/

LinkedIn: 

Audrina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/audrinablackburn/

Sydney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydneymsherman/

Resources We Mentioned: 

Insight Timer App 

Minute Moments: Master of Time Blog Post

What does it really mean to be an entrepreneur? It’s not the lavish lifestyle you might think—Spoiler: it’s a whole lot messier. 

In this week’s episode, Audrina and Sydney dive into what their days as busy founders entail, without sugar-coating anything. Before becoming entrepreneurs, we all pictured the ideal lifestyle: relaxed mornings by the pool, afternoon pilates classes, and restful evenings – with a full night’s sleep! 

Now we know better! While we think it’s a great lifestyle to aspire to, we’ve learned that running your own business is A LOT of work. You need to prepare yourself to embrace the reality of entrepreneurship; it’s consistent outreach to build a community, practicing your pitch and gaining confidence in selling your services, and learning new skills you never thought you’d need. 

But we promise you it is still the best choice we’ve made—this life is 100% worth it for us.

Sydney and Audrina discuss their top tips for getting comfortable with sales and the importance of asking good questions, to yourself and your clients. We explore the length of time it really takes to get your business off the ground, and whether you start strong or have slow growth, don’t get discouraged—it usually takes more time than you’d think! This time period, though, has the ability to show how resilient and flexible we can be in both our business strategies and our mindset. 

What has surprised you the most about being an entrepreneur? 

Let us know in the comments!

In This Conversation:

• What is your sales style? How can you lean into what you’re good at to feel more confident on your sales calls? We also discuss our process for preparing for sales calls, how we structure the call, and how we maintain a lens of curiosity during them. 
• The financial complexities involved in owning your own business. Often, as a founder, you’re the one making the least money and doing the most work—we talk about what steps you can take to plan ahead and prepare yourself for these challenges.
• The amount of work that goes into building your business. You’ll be continuously connecting with potential clients, doing social media marketing, learning how to manage your finances, and more. All while maintaining your sanity! It’s a lot of work, but we know you’re capable! 

For more unfiltered conversations about entrepreneurship, family life, and managing the daily demands of “doing it all”, click the Follow button so you don’t miss an episode! 

If anything we talked about resonated with you, we’d love to hear about it! Always feel free to reach out with questions, comments, or future topics you want to hear.

Connect with us:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swearingbyit/

LinkedIn: 

Audrina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/audrinablackburn/

Sydney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydneymsherman/

What made you start your own business, and what keeps you going? Is this whole thing even worth it? 

In today’s episode, Sydney and Audrina explore the circumstances that led them toward entrepreneurship—and what keeps them there. They discuss how their past has shaped their businesses, the rough patches behind the scenes, and the lessons they’ve learned along the way. 

As entrepreneurs – and women – we often have different responsibilities and priorities to manage in addition to building and maintaining our business. It can be difficult at times to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but when we look back, we can see how far we’ve come and how much we’ve grown since beginning this journey. The ways we have changed (for the better!) can sometimes go undetected, but we encourage you to stop and think about this—you’ll be surprised to see how many skills you now have! 

Entrepreneurship allows us to dictate our future. It provides more flexibility, the ability to channel your passions into your work, and the opportunity to see other people interact with your creation. Your business reflects who you are and will show you just how strong you can be. You have one life to live—make the most of it and do what makes you happy!

In This Conversation:

• The conversations we need to have and the hard questions we need to ask, in order to lay the foundation. How do you communicate, receive feedback, or show appreciation? Discussing key mindsets and personal preferences up front can determine if this business or partnership is the right fit and if this is the direction you want to take. 
• The questions we should ask ourselves to decide whether this entrepreneurial path is for us. What would need to happen for you to give up your business? What are your limits – and how do you know when you’ve reached them?
• The risks we experienced throughout our business, how we navigated them, and the ones we didn’t see coming. Understanding that entrepreneurship ebbs and flows is important in order to keep going. 
• How do you create and foster the self-confidence, resilience, and growth you need to keep going when things get tough? We talk about our experiences using affirmations, investing in ourselves, connecting with peers, and listening to our intuition when making decisions. (Check out Episode 2 for more on intuition!)  

For more unfiltered conversations about entrepreneurship, family life, and managing the daily demands of “doing it all”, click the Follow button so you don’t miss an episode! 

If anything we talked about resonated with you, we’d love to hear about it! Always feel free to reach out with questions, comments, or future topics you want to hear.

Connect with us:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swearingbyit/

LinkedIn: 

Audrina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/audrinablackburn/

Sydney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydneymsherman/

Resources We Mentioned:

The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer

Do you ever stop and think about how all your past decisions led you to where you are now?

In Part Two of this episode, Sydney and Audrina continue their discussion on how their choices have shaped their present careers, future career paths, and personal relationships. Being an entrepreneur is in Sydney’s blood! She was born into a family of entrepreneurs, as both her parents are business owners who made sure all their children grew up knowing what it takes to run a business. She explores how her life experiences have formed the ideas for multiple businesses, including The Etho and The Hive.

The path of entrepreneurship is not usually a linear journey, it ebbs and flows with each decision you make. We’ve discovered that the people we meet along the way have a huge impact on the success of our businesses. Hiring the right people makes all the difference! Sydney explains that her team is the reason The Hive was able to keep running while she was going through some life-changing events with her family. 

Being an entrepreneur gives us the ability to work for ourselves in a way that is true to our values, and more importantly, the ability to not work for a company making decisions we don’t agree with. From struggling to success – we’ve been through financial difficulties and broken relationships on the way to having the companies we have now. Don’t worry, we’ll go through the details of each (and how we made it out the other side!) in future episodes!

In This Conversation:

• Sydney shares her backstory––from starting a business in the midst of getting a college degree to managing a business with a partner she didn’t align with, entrepreneurship, and the independence it offers, has been a consistent driving force in her life. (Listen to Part 1 to hear Audrina’s story!) [link to episode]
• The ups and downs of running a business while managing the challenges of family relationships and raising children.
• The difficult situations and decisions that have to be made behind the scenes of building a business––Sydney takes us through the journey her businesses took during the pandemic and childbirth, and how she relied on her team and family to keep the companies afloat.

For more unfiltered conversations about entrepreneurship, family life, and managing the daily demands of “doing it all”, click the Follow button so you don’t miss an episode! 

If anything we talked about resonated with you, we’d love to hear about it! Always feel free to reach out with questions, comments, or future topics you want to hear.

Connect with us:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swearingbyit/

LinkedIn: 

Audrina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/audrinablackburn/

Sydney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydneymsherman/

Do you ever stop and think about how all your past decisions led you to where you are now?

In this week’s episode, Sydney and Audrina discuss how their choices have shaped their present careers, future career paths, and personal relationships. Audrina dives into her experience being laid off from a company where she was an instrumental part of their growth and felt secure in her position. She explains how she felt blindsided by the decision, but can see now that it was the push she needed to get out of a company she didn’t align with.

This exit from the corporate world made Audrina realize she had become complacent in her career and forced her to refocus on options she hadn’t considered before––like entrepreneurship. Becoming complacent is often one of the worst things to happen in your job because it stops you from moving forward and reaching your full potential. The main tip here is to listen to your gut! 

Both Sydney and Audrina discuss how manifestation and vision boards play a large part in their future planning, enabling them to achieve their work and life goals. By thinking about the future as if you already possess the skills, finances, or position you’re envisioning, your brain activates differently, allowing you to move in that direction without even realizing it! 

In This Conversation:

• Audrina shares her backstory—how she went from a professional ballroom dancer to the Vice President of Business Operations, overcame an unexpected and emotional layoff, and started a new career in entrepreneurship. 
• The stigma surrounding being let go from a position, and how we often attach our self-worth and identities to our career title. 
• What happens when you feel yourself becoming complacent in your current position, how to move out of an industry you don’t enjoy, and trusting your gut to guide you on your career path. (Listen to Episode 2 to hear how we learned to listen to our intuition)  https://open.spotify.com/episode/1JMklG4G6hAZ6ALjTdY7pP?si=ViP6uc1cQeCQDfhv3j4ZMw

For more unfiltered conversations about entrepreneurship, family life, and managing the daily demands of “doing it all”, click the Follow button so you don’t miss an episode! 

If anything we talked about resonated with you, we’d love to hear about it! Always feel free to reach out with questions, comments, or future topics you want to hear.

Connect with us:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swearingbyit/

LinkedIn: 

Audrina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/audrinablackburn/

Sydney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydneymsherman/

Resources We Mentioned: 

Saving for the future self: Neural measures of future self-continuity predict temporal discounting 

You can read more about this research and Hal Hershfield here.