Have you ever made a boatload of money in your business and had nothing to show for it? You're hitting high six figures, but you're not taking a salary. If you have started to run a business and chased the ever-elusive " more sales, more sales, more sales!" chances are that what's happened with those increased sales is increased expenses.

That means you're not making money in your business, which can feel horrible. The emotional toll of feeling like a fraud, like you're hiding and as if nobody knew-is a common business experience.

Today's guest, Ciara Stockeland, will break this down for us in a way no one else has. Ciara is a speaker, author, 4x Ironman, and Fractional CFO for inventory-based businesses.

Ciara is a third-generation entrepreneur. She started her first business at 13 and moved to retail to open a maternity baby store in 2006. She then built up a boutique business and franchised it.

With the second location, the expenses grew too. A second location meant more stuff, which meant the need for a forklift and forklift driver. On it went. At the time, Ciara was getting national recognition, which included speaking at the White House for small business advocacy.

“On the inside, I felt like a fraud. I was like, I feel trapped. I don't know what to do with all this debt. This is out of control,” says Ciara.

To make matters worse, Ciara noticed on social media that one of the franchisees had rebranded the store. A group of franchisees was running two point-of-sale systems and not paying royalties. Ciara filed lawsuits for trademark infringement and breach of contract.

“We won on paper, but we lost everything,” says Ciara. “And so in a year's worth of time, I went from being at the White House speaking on behalf of small business to being on my couch with no business, no team having to move because we lost our home, everything.

Ciara looked at the numbers.

"I wouldn't have pushed so hard to grow top line revenue, but instead, I would have focused on profitability and paying myself, I probably wouldn't have sold franchises to the wrong people," she says.

You have all the puzzle pieces when you understand your profit and loss statement and balance sheet.

“Looking at [the numbers] gives us reality. And when we have reality, we can make a plan,” says Ciara. “If we don’t look at it, we can’t move forward.”

Regarding profitability goals, most people either try to increase sales or cut expenses. But if you don't have the foundation for more sales, your whole business could collapse, and cutting expenses won't actually help your business grow.

Ciara likes to focus on margin instead.

“There's always options,” says Ciara.“We can not sell as much. We can sell more. We can payless for our sales. There's lots of ways to slice and dice those five categories. And I think understanding those buckets, sales, cost of sales, margin, expenses, profit. What can I do in each of those buckets to move the needle in the right direction?”

Check out Inventory Genius: https://www.ciarastockeland.com/inventory-genius-ebook-ad  

Connect with Ciara Stockeland: https://www.ciarastockeland.com

Other GoG episodes you might want to check out:

How The Abundance Academy Changed My Life: https://sarahwalton.com/abundance-academy-changed-my-life/ 

The Secret to Your Business Numbers Will ChangeEverything: https://sarahwalton.com/understand-business-numbers/

You can check out our podcast interviews on YouTube, too! http://bit.ly/YouTubeSWalton

Thank you so much for listening. I'm so honored that you're here and would be so grateful if you could leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts by clicking here, scrolling to the bottom, and clicking "Write a review." Then, we'll get to inspire even more people!

(Watch this quick tutorial if you need help leaving a review.)

#KnowYourBusinessNumbers#ProfitAndLoss#NetProfitGoals#FinancialSuccess#RevenueGrowth#FinancialManagement#SmallBusinessOwner#AskExpert #SalesCoach#ProfitabilityGoals

If you want to make a difference based on your passion, experience, or expertise, and you're looking at 2025 thinking, 'What the heck are we going to do?" Let's talk about the top three trends you're going to see as an online business owner in 2025. 

The first trend is AI; it's not going anywhere. How are you going to use it? Have you noticed how many people are starting to sound the same? I want you to look at your AI-produced content and remove the words "unlock" and "embark." I don't want any rockets in your copy. You know what I'm saying?

Don't have it be obvious. 

As you're looking to build your business, make enough money to pay yourself, make sure your family has what they need, hire the right people, hit new financial goals you've never seen before, and have enough time to create beautiful content, use these tools that we have access to.

They can help you brainstorm. That's where I'd love to see you use them the most: give me ideas for different ways to say this. How many people are actually suffering from this? What are people searching for when they're upset about XYZ? Those are the different ways you can use AI to support your content creation.

Use these tools to help craft an outline of what you'd like to say. And if you're going to use ChatGPT (or my personal favorite, Claude), don't just copy and paste it. It's really transparent when someone uses AI copy that they haven't put themselves into in any way, shape, or form.

All of these tools are going to get smarter and better. Still—don't copy and paste it. I want you to ask yourself if that's how you talk. If someone's reading it, can they hear your voice? Does your brand shine through? Are you actually speaking to them, or is AI speaking to everyone because that will kill your business in 2025?

The second trend is micro-communities. We have all these different people teaching very similar things. So, how the heck are you supposed to stand out in 2025? What you can do is start to think of your people as a tight little baby community or micro-community.

What I mean is that you know who you're speaking to. It takes work to understand your micro-community—many people call it niching down (but I don't like that!). We're talking to people. 

So, micro-communities have similarities that bring us together. Making more money in business is mine. I have heart-centered, passionate women who've started to have some success in business, but they're hitting plateaus and not growing. Those are my women.

We talk about that, your next 90 days, how we're going to get you to hit your next big, huge financial goal, and what that will take from you if it calls to you. You know you're one of my people. That's my micro-community. 

Listen in for the third trend. Before I wrap up this episode, there's one more thing I want to leave you with: Find the joy in your business again. Daily, who are you looking to help? How do you want to change this planet? We have a lot going on, and I really believe we probably need you and what you're here to offer.

You're here to do what you are here to do and don't let anyone take that from you. In 2025, it is time for you to shine as yourself and grow your online business. Because over here at Team Sarah, it's our job to put more money in the hands of more women. Happy New Year, and let's make this one great. 

Other GoG episodes you might want to check out:

How to Use ChatGPT Without Losing Your Personality with Leanne Shelton https://sarahwalton.com/how-to-use-chat-gpt/

How to Increase Revenue In Your Business, Quickly https://sarahwalton.com/increase-your-business-revenue/

You can check out our podcast interviews on YouTube, too! http://bit.ly/YouTubeSWalton 

Thank you so much for listening. I'm so honored that you're here and would be so grateful if you could leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts by clicking here, scrolling to the bottom, and clicking "Write a review." Then, we'll get to inspire even more people!

(Watch this quick tutorial if you need help leaving a review.)

#BusinessTrends2025 #FutureBusinessTools #MakeMoney2025 #2025 #OnlineBusinessTrends #SalesCoach #BusinessCoach #AskExpert #WomenInBusiness

Can we just be honest about something? Everybody just thinks they're supposed to know how to be a parent, and then they freaking hand you this kid in the hospital, and you go home, and you're like, where's the manual? If you have been struggling with parenting, and you are struggling to run a business it’s not for the faint of heart. 

Today's guest, Holly Swenson, is an award-winning and best-selling author of “Stop, Drop, Grow, & Glow”, a revolutionary book on conscious parenting. 

She’s also a wellness blogger and perpetual student of life. Formally trained as a registered nurse and mother to four incredible sons, she brings her wisdom and lived experience to the forefront of her writing as a means to help others on their parenting and personal path. 

In today’s episode, Holly drops tools, tips and talks about the five rights of parenting, which is a pattern and a method she picked up from being a nurse. 

Holly says becoming an author stemmed from having her four children and wanting to create a book that would serve other parents. 

“I think parenting is one of the most intense initiations you will ever face in life,” says Holly. “You know, it's awesome, it's beautiful, it's joyful, but it can be messy and trying.”

She says self-awareness is a good first step, as many parents are so busy and don’t necessarily have the time to slow down and pause. When you’re giving and giving for your family, you can forget to check in on how you’re doing as a person.

Holly drew from her background in nursing to develop the 5 rights of parenting – an homage to the 5 rights of medication administrating. This check in asks that you’re doing the right thing and not causing harm (the right medication, the right time, the right dose.)

In the same vein, the 5 rights of parenting is a way to touch base with how you’re presenting as a parent. They work to ensure you're doing the right thing and not causing unnecessary harm to your child or yourself in the process. Here are the 5 rights of parenting:

Right now: This speaks to being in the moment with your child and being present. Right intent: This is being intentional about the choices you make, the guidelines you set, and how you treat your child. If you don't know why you're doing what you're doing, it might be time to reevaluate your parenting strategy.

Right use of speech: This can be one of the toughest rights to implement. As a parent, your voice is a tool of creation; you have the power to uplift or tear down.

Right use of power: This is something that you want to wield with care. You are the one responsible for setting boundaries, the discipline, and as the parent have the final say in whatever you might arise.

Right use of love: Holly says when you let your child know how much you love them and are there for them, it will help plant their spirit in deep, rich soil as they grow.  “Reflection is really that superpower in personal growth and in parenting,” says Holly. Reflection helps you take more ownership of who you are as an individual. Holly says even when you’re going through a hard time, rather than avoid the moments, try to align yourself and work through it. Try to become braver, stronger, better, kinder.

Connect with Holly Swenson : https://www.liveyourglow.live | On Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/hollyswenson_liveyourglow/ 

Other GoG episodes you might want to check out:

How to Deal With Mom Guilt and Balance https://sarahwalton.com/albiona/ 

Top Strengths of the Highly Sensitive Entrepreneur https://sarahwalton.com/highly-sensitive-person/ 

You can check out our podcast interviews on YouTube, too! http://bit.ly/YouTubeSWalton  

Thank you so much for listening. I'm so honored that you're here and would be so grateful if you could leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts by clicking here, scrolling to the bottom, and clicking "Write a review." Then, we'll get to inspire even more people!

(Watch this quick tutorial if you need help leaving a review.)

#ConsciousParenting #ParentingTips #SupportForParents #MindfulParenting #FamilyWellness #Family #EmotionalRegulation #Mindfulness #Parenting #AskExpert

Being a CEO is no joke. If you are running a business, you are a CEO. You may not think of yourself that way, but when you're a CEO, you must learn specific skills to make the business grow and remain healthy and strong.

Today’s guest Sena Wheeler has the best story about the one skill she doubled down on to increase her revenue to keep her family's business afloat. And it's something she still uses every single day. Her family's mission is to make sure that we get really healthy, pristine, beautiful food, specifically fish on our plates.

It was on an eight-hour drive to Thanksgiving dinner, where she was talking to her husband and suggested how to market his fishing business, and he reeled her in. 

It was a good fit; Sena had studied onboard handling techniques that correlated to flavor and quality attributes. She knew how to market the Copper River salmon he was catching.

“I took [Marie Forleo and Laura Belgray’s] B-School and just set up the business while we had the site going, and we were selling fish by the time he left for Alaska. … So it was actually like a pretty, pretty fast,” says Sena. “And if it hadn't gone fast, I think I probably would have overthought it.”

Sena says that first summer was a lot of trial and error. There were weeks where Sena was tempted to quit, but she says her husband telling her, “You’re the CEO” helped change her mindset. She would ask herself, “what would a CEO do?” when she felt like she wanted to quit. 

“It forced me to be like, have we exhausted every avenue? Is there something else to try? Let's try this.”

She started writing emails for her small but growing list every other week. 

“I would get like $500 of sales on an email,” says Sena. “Very early on, I could see that that was the needle that's making the business move, you know, when not many other things are.”

She leaned into writing and did The Copy Cure. It took a bit of time. Sena says when you’re writing to a list there are levers, how good the email is and how many people are on the list. 

“My best emails, I sit down to write one thing, and I write something else, and something else just comes out and, and it just starts going in a new direction,” says Sena, who finds consistency in imperfection. Getting a first draft done, even a terrible one, is better than not writing at all. Now she’s sending emails every Monday and started a Fish Friday email, which is a recipe and link to the featured fish. 

“I'm going to say like 30% of the time, I'm like, ‘oops, well, this is the email that came out. So this is what we're doing.’ ”

Sena says she sets a challenge for herself to see what she can tie back to her business when she writes. Writing helped open the door for people to understand where their food is coming from and that connection provides value. 

“When we have kids over, I'm going to feed them fish, right? …  I will talk about Rich and how he caught it. And maybe my kid’s right there. They were out on the boat, too,” says Sena. “Just bringing that connection immediately changes how they how they perceive the food.”

Connect with Sena Wheeler and download free cookbook: https://www.senasea.com 

The Copy Cure: https://www.marieforleo.com/the-copy-cure 

Other GoG episodes you might want to check out:

How to Write Sales Copy That Sells https://sarahwalton.com/how-to-write-sales-copy/

How to Use ChatGPT Without Losing Your Personality https://sarahwalton.com/how-to-use-chat-gpt/   

Does Your Story Matter? (More Than You Know) https://sarahwalton.com/your-story-matters/ 

You can check out our podcast interviews on YouTube, too! http://bit.ly/YouTubeSWalton  

Thank you so much for listening. I'm so honored that you're here and would be so grateful if you could leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts by clicking here, scrolling to the bottom, and clicking "Write a review." Then, we'll get to inspire even more people!

(Watch this quick tutorial if you need help leaving a review.)

#EmailMarketing #HowToBuildEmailList #EmailListBuilding #BusinessOwner #SmallBusinessTips #EmailList #AskExpert #WomenInBusiness

Do you understand your own relationship with fear? Have there been moments in your life where you knew there was something you wanted to do, and you kept not doing it because it just seemed too big?

Today's guest, Candy Motzek, waited 10 years before she decided to pursue her dream of being a coach, and she knew she was going to be a great coach. She calls coaching a calling, but she had to overcome fear and deeply understand her relationship with fear before she could begin this journey.

Candy is an author, podcast host, and business coach for life coaches. She helps her clients get unstuck and feel more confident and clear so they can play bigger, sign clients, and create more meaningful success. She is a "recovering" corporate executive and engineer who combines practical strategy and mindset in her calming, unique approach.

"There's something really magical, for me anyway, in that one-on-one conversation with people, like there is a connection, and I see them … the essence of them and who they really are," says Candy. "And there's something super powerful in that."

For Candy, coaches call their clients out to live that bigger life, which requires them to be courageous and face things they might be scared to do in service of who they are becoming. It's one of the reasons she says it's important for coaches to have a coach. 

"You just don't have that perspective on yourself that somebody else can have, and they can see those patterns that you have where you're not living to the thing that you said you wanted to do," says Candy. "You get your results faster when you have somebody that holds you as fully accountable."

It took Candy 10 years to pursue coach training. It was never convenient, and it was expensive. How would she find the time? These were some of the things Candy told herself. 

"I had all the great excuses, but really, it was my ego and just my fear saying, "Oh, don't rock the boat. Don't do anything too crazy," says Candy. "There's this tension that happens."

But Candy says it's not an all-or-nothing thing. You can just start. 

"We can just take the training, and we can just say, 'You know what, I'm going to have three clients. I can do three clients.' Right?" says Candy. "Or I could use these skills in another way in my life."

Coaching is a skill, so if you're thinking of starting a business, you first want to get a little training. Coach as many people as you can, get that skill, practice that skill, and then you start to feel like a coach.

Candy recommends coaching for her clients who are new to coaching. Do not build the website or start an email list. Create a program and deliver it. You watch people transform, learn from that, and make a little bit of money. So now you're ready for the next step.

Visit Step Into Success for free resources: https://stepintosuccessnow.com/pages/free

Connect with Candy Motzek: https://stepintosuccessnow.com/ Podcast: She Coaches Coaches: https://she-coaches-coaches.captivate.fm/listen

Other GoG episodes you might want to check out:

Overcome Fears in Business to Safeguard Your Freedom and Independence https://sarahwalton.com/fears-in-business/

Can Coaches Really Make Money? BTS With MY Coach Kelsey Murphy https://sarahwalton.com/can-you-make-money-as-life-coach/

You can check out our podcast interviews on YouTube, too! http://bit.ly/YouTubeSWalton

Thank you so much for listening. I'm so honored that you're here and would be so grateful if you could leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts by clicking here, scrolling to the bottom, and clicking "Write a review." Then, we'll get to inspire even more people!

(Watch this quick tutorial if you need help leaving a review.)

#ScaredToStart #FightThroughFear #BecomeACoach #FirstCoachingProgram #NewtoCoaching #CoachingBusiness #HowToStartACoachingBusiness #AskExpert #WomenInBusiness

So many things need your attention daily as a business owner. How do you know what you're supposed to be prioritizing? How do you know which tasks are actually going to move the needle?

Amber De La Garza is the Productivity Specialist! With over a decade of experience helping small business owners maximize profits, reduce stress, and make time for what matters most by improving their time management and increasing productivity! Amber is the host of the Small Business Straight Talk Podcast and creator of Leverage Lab®.

While coaching highly successful people, Amber noticed they would come back to sessions without having done the homework or taken action—the running theme was, "I don't have time to work on my business."

"I actually shifted to productivity because I wanted to focus on the actual behavior and the skill set of managing themselves and managing time and managing others."

Amber's definition of productivity is when we're investing our best time into our best activities. This is purposely a framework because my best activities will be different because my goals are different from yours.

The best time is to focus uninterrupted and deep dive into the work.

"I just want to follow that up to say that I also believe we are not meant to be productive all day, every day," says Amber. "If you think you're going to truly be productive all day, every day, then you're diluting your high-value activities."

All tasks and activities are not created equal. Productivity is different from organization or organization.

"Have you ever met somebody that has a color-coded calendar, perfectly clean desk, and not reaching their goals? Yes," says Amber. "And have you met somebody that looks like they're practically buried behind piles of paper, but they can get into some deep work and do amazing things and slay their goals? Yes."

Amber says it's important to honor both sides. She needs a clean desk to focus on, and she generally starts her day by clearing her inbox and checking in with her team and clients before starting that deep work.

When you invest your best time, you show up your best. It's your job to find out what that is and then purposely create that environment, create that time in your schedule to show up at your best, and then focus on those high-value activities.

Amber says there are four buckets on which business owners should regularly focus their time, which will move the needle. She calls them buckets because the idea is to fill the first one and have it cascade and overflow into the next. And you don't own the bucket; if you have a team, they can help fill it as well.

The first is marketing and visibility, how you let the world know what you do. The second is sales. The third is servicing your clients or product development. And then, fourth is leadership.

Listen in for how Amber breaks down that framework and how you can use it in your own business.

Take Your Business to the Next Level Quiz: https://www.Amberdelagarza.com/quiz

Connect with Amber De La Garza: https://www.AmberDeLaGarza.com

Other GoG episodes you might want to check out:

Overwhelmed? Plan Your Week to Reclaim Your Time https://sarahwalton.com/importance-of-weekly-planning/

Take Back Your Time Every Day https://sarahwalton.com/heather/

You can check out our podcast interviews on YouTube, too! http://bit.ly/YouTubeSWalton

Thank you so much for listening. I'm so honored that you're here and would be so grateful if you could leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts by clicking here, scrolling to the bottom, and clicking "Write a review." Then, we'll get to inspire even more people!

(If you need help with how to leave a review, you can watch this quick tutorial.)

#ProductivityHacks #TimeManagement #WorkSmart #SuccessTips #Productivity #AskExpert #BusinessCoach #EntrepreneurLifestyle #WomenInBusiness

If you've been feeling this pressure as you age to stay the same, if you've been feeling stuck, like "this is it," today's episode will help you start to see beyond what you think is possible in a way that could change how you spend your life on a daily basis.

I know that sounds grandiose. But what if we could take that step by step and actually cause it to happen? Today's guest, Sue Willoughby, does that as she works with Equus Coaching.

She brings horses into the coaching process because horses have a profound ability to help people heal. They do that because they know the truth, they sense it, they feel it, and they know when a human being is not actually saying what's happening on the inside.

Sue Willoughby is the founder of Willoughby Coaching, where women over 40 confront obstacles and change their lives' trajectories through Equus Coaching.

"I've always been in sort of a leadership role and a mentor role," says Sue. "That background combined with the horses just really resonated with me. Horses are so intuitive. They've helped me so much in my life. I want to bring that to other people."

Finding the window or door outside of a person's comfort zone so they can step out of a place of fear—be it fear of success or failure or even just knowing where to begin—can be broken down into small steps.

If you have a dream or desire that feels too big, the usual objections might sound like you can't afford it. I'm too old. No one's going to buy anything from me.

Sue says whether it's a financial situation or maybe leaving a toxic relationship, a lot of coaching involves asking people to question themselves so that they can understand what's really going on behind the story. Where did that story you're telling yourself come from, and is it the truth?

The magic of horses can help people she coaches be more vulnerable. As prey animals, horses are always alert and awake, even when calmly grazing in a field. They have amazing intuition and survival skills.

"So being in their presence really brings people out of their head and back into their bodies," says Sue. "I can see the emotion. Can you sit with that and tell me where it's coming from? Where did it originate? And horses, you know, they feel they're very comforting, and they will mirror what they're getting from you."

Horses respond to the truth within, not the truth coming out of your mouth. Horses can sense when you're not being congruent.

"So it really puts people in a big place of vulnerability to be with a horse," says Sue, who also offers retreats.

Sue believes midlife is one of the best times to make big changes. Whether you've had some longevity in your career or raised a family, it's that natural point in our lives where, after taking care of others for so long, the question becomes, what do you want for the next 10 years of your life?

There are so many resources available now to women. Options and opportunities exist for anyone who might have felt stuck in a situation. In Sue's case, she's able to collaborate and offer retreats with any horse—not just her own. She clarified that no horse is riding while she is coaching, so no experience is necessary.

Mentioned in this episode: The Go-Giver Series: https://amzn.to/4elOx8k

Free 30-day workbook/blueprint on how to embrace discomfort and step out of your comfort zone: https://willoughby-coaching.myflodesk.com/podcastgift

Connect with Sue Willoughby: https://www.willoughbycoaching.com/

Other GoG episodes you might want to check out:

Ready to Reinvent Yourself? https://sarahwalton.com/reinvent-yourself/

The 5 Stages of Healing https://sarahwalton.com/stages-of-healing/

You can check out our podcast interviews on YouTube, too! http://bit.ly/YouTubeSWalton

Thank you so much for listening. I'm so honored that you're here and would be so grateful if you could leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts by clicking here, scrolling to the bottom, and clicking “Write a review.” Then we’ll get to inspire even more people!

(If you’re not sure how to leave a review, you can watch this quick tutorial.)

#EquineTherapy #HorseTherapy #EquusCoach #HealingWithHorses #AskExpert #BusinessCoach #IntuitiveCoach #WomenInBusiness 

Have you or someone you loved received a cancer diagnosis? Chances are you just said yes. If you've ever felt talked down to when you are not feeling well or someone says something really unkind, this episode goes deep on how much we need people and how we can tell when we don't need some people in our lives.

Deb Krier is an entrepreneur, cancer advocate, and the visionary behind TryingNotToDie.LIVE. With a background in communications, marketing, and public relations, she's navigated diverse roles, from spearheading communication strategies for large corporations, small companies, and nonprofit organizations to founding her own marketing agency over 20 years ago.

It wasn't the game plan. It wasn't on her vision board. Deb says she was sailing along at her marketing firm when she had a nasty diagnosis pop up. She'd gone in for her annual physical and had a mammogram. The office called her before she'd even got home from the appointment.

"What they discovered was not a lump, not a bump, not anything easy to find. They found microcalcifications," says Deb. "The vast majority of the time, they flit away and never have any problems. ... They start gathering, and when they gather, that's when there is a problem."

Deb was initially diagnosed with zero-stage breast cancer, which is sometimes called pre-cancer. She saw a specialist and did some biopsies that came back negative, but her surgeon suggested checking her lymph nodes to be sure.

Eight of 12 lymph nodes came back as cancerous.

"We decided, you know, let's really kill this and do it really hard. Well, they about killed me. I got a complication," says Deb. "I ended up with septic shock and was this close, as in hours away from dying. My doctors were fighting about it. The one surgeon didn't want to do anything because I wasn't going to make it through the day. And the oncologist said no. And I remember thinking, excuse me, I get a vote."

Deb started working with a business coach, who pointed out to her that she didn't go through everything she went through without using it to help others. This push led to the creation of TryingNotToDie.LIVE.

"The try not to die part comes from the fact that when we have anything that is very serious, or even if it's just how we live life, we are living just to try not to die. And that's what we're focusing on," says Deb. "And the live part is we've got to focus on living our life five hours, five days, 50 years, whatever it is, we absolutely have to live our lives."

The concept is to build a support system for anybody who has cancer. Deb says one of the biggest questions she receives is what to do when someone you love gets diagnosed with cancer. What tends to happen is that people do nothing because they don't know what to do.

Sometimes, the elephant in the room is small, and occasionally, it is giant. But it is there, so don't ignore it.

"When you do go to them, don't just say, tell me if there's anything you need," says Deb. "Our little brains are so full of trying to not die that we can't think about that. So say, 'Can I bring you dinner on Thursday? Can I take your kids to the park?' Give them something specific to say yes or no to."

She also encourages people to feel anger. It's okay to get angry. Deb recommends visiting the Mayo Clinic and the American Cancer Society rather than consulting Dr. Google if you're given a specific diagnosis.

"But remember you are in charge, not your doctor, not your spouse, not whoever you are, the one in charge," says Deb. "So research it and do what YOU want."

Free Gift: We are proud to offer our "Bear Hug" Care Package™ as a way for someone to show their support to a friend, loved one, co-worker, etc., as they are on their cancer journey.

Featuring a cuddly stuffed bear named Warrior, the care package comes with essential items for someone who is bravely fighting. Use code 10SPECIAL for a 10% discount: https://tryingnottodie.live/bear-hug-care-package/

Connect with Deb Krier: https://tryingnottodie.live/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1465660477225232

Other GoG episodes you might want to check out: Don't Believe the Hype: You're Not Special https://sarahwalton.com/notspecialv

You can check out our podcast interviews on YouTube, too! http://bit.ly/YouTubeSWalton

Thank you so much for listening. I'm honored that you're here, and I would be grateful if you could leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts by clicking here, scrolling to the bottom, and clicking “Write a review.” Then, we’ll get to inspire even more people!

(If you’re not sure how to leave a review, you can watch this quick tutorial.)

#CancerDiagnosis #CancerStories #CancerSurvivor #Cancer #Health #WomenInBusiness #IntuitiveBusinessCoach

Have you noticed people cannot talk to each other? Have you noticed there is a them versus us? Andrea Goulet has studied empathy and she has studied it in a way I don't think I've ever seen before and she’s going to share her framework with us.

Andrea Goulet is on a mission to make empathy a core technical skill in software development.  She is a sought-after international keynote speaker, experienced software entrepreneur, and award-winning industry leader. Her expertise centers on using empathy and effective communication to modernize legacy and mission-critical software systems. 

She is currently working on her first book, Empathy-Driven Software Development, where she aims to provide detailed mechanisms and system schematics of empathy's inner workings in a way that makes sense to engineers.

Andrea started her career in strategic communications where she had a technical understanding about empathy and organizational psychology. She was approached by a friend to help build a software company and lead it as the CEO. 

They landed on doing consulting together, and also ended up falling in love with each other. (Hollywood screenwriter, where are you?)

“What we ended up having in building this business was the stereotypical dynamic of the salesperson and the engineer,” says Andrea. “They don't get along professionally. I did not understand how his brain worked. I had never worked in software.”

It was 2009, and they wanted to have a software company where empathy was at the core of the organization. She says they were advised not to do that to avoid being “laughed out of the industry.” Andrea doubled down.

“[Empathy] was the thing that drove business profitability, that drove business efficiency, that contributed to organizational effectiveness,” says Andrea.

And it wasn’t just in working with clients – empathy was needed in her daily operations with her now husband and business partner, Scott. She recalls an incident where she needed to pull Scott into a client meeting, and walked over to his desk. Her ask pulled him out of his work process that led to a visceral reaction.

When they sat down to discuss why he was so upset, he likened it to the movie Inception – saying he was nine levels down, and the action of interrupting him had ripped him from the solution he was on the cusp of solving. 

The feeling of being completely ripped out of something Andrea could understand. And together they came up with a way to move forward, which became the subject of Andrea’s keynotes at software development conferences.

Over the course of her work, Andrea realized there was no consensus as to what empathy meant. Phrases like walking in someone else’s shoes, treating people how they want to be treated were often heard. 

“The reason that we have evolved empathy as a species is so that we work together. And as a species we don't go extinct. So we are a hyper social species,” says Andrea. “Empathy is the mechanism that enables collaboration.”

She defines empathy is a functional system of emotion, cognition, regulation, and motivation that is influenced by external factors such as culture, context, capacity, and skill.

To make empathy more concrete; she uses a model called structured reappraisal.  A reappraisal is a psychological term for taking a beat before you act. And the pause can be learned and practiced.

What to do once you pause is where the structure comes in. The three rules are: collect, connect, and communicate. Listen in for ways to practice this framework.

Empathy can help us navigate through all of those different systems and then create something that is more effective through these experiments and through implementing these improvements. But you can't get there unless both people are willing to do it.

Connect with Andrew Goulet : https://andreagoulet.com 

Other GoG episodes you might want to check out:

Top Strengths of the Highly Sensitive Entrepreneur: https://sarahwalton.com/highly-sensitive-person/ 

The Art of Self-Control: https://sarahwalton.com/take-back-self-control/ 

You can check out our podcast interviews on YouTube, too! http://bit.ly/YouTubeSWalton  

Thank you so much for listening. I’m so honored that you’re here and would be so grateful if you could leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts by clicking here, scrolling to the bottom, and clicking “Write a review.” Then we’ll get to inspire even more people!

(If you’re not sure how to leave a review, you can watch this quick tutorial.)

It can be terrifying to reinvent yourself and then need to tell other people -- whether it be your work or your coworkers, your significant other, or your family members -- that you are trying to do something different or you want to go in a different direction.

Those moments are real and they happen to all of us. And today's guest, Anita Rombough, will help you walk through these one by one. As a gentle yet bold change agent, Anita helps fellow big-hearted dreamers discover and align with their soul or “sole” purpose to achieve their version of Soulful Success, the  sweet spot where personal fulfillment meets impact and financial prosperity. If you recognize this ache that so many people are feeling towards wanting more, but not necessarily more stuff, not necessarily more money, but more life, more joy, more connection and more love – this episode is for you.

Anita says she’s done a lot of things – her current career is a reinvention. Her love language is soulful success. So many of us have kind of chased that path of “should”, have gone through the motions of what we think the definition of success should look like.

“We're putting all this emphasis on the external part, right, like what we call ourselves at work,” says Anita. “We judge each other based on that, you know, our paychecks, what kind of flashy things we have, all those kinds of labels and accolades. … But I also, more importantly, want to feel fulfilled and impactful.”

Anita says this is what she unlocks for people, but to do that, she needed to go through it herself. She has three psychology degrees, and she was an occupational therapist. But she wanted more. She went back to school and got her MBA then worked in the corporate world for 10 years. 

“I couldn't help but think, is this it?” She realized the one piece she hadn’t integrated yet was her spiritual and intuitive background. 

“My background is Indian. I come from this rich ancestry of yoga and meditation and, you know, all this, this beautiful goodness that I embodied on a daily basis, but not for the external world to see.”

She says there's also those expectations and pressures from your own heart. Especially as women, we get trained at a very young age not to listen to that soft voice, because it usually tends to make other people uncomfortable.

To take a stand for the softest voice in the room can be really challenging. It's a skill like any other that we have to practice and learn how to lean into.

Entrepreneurship, reinvention, pivoting, whatever life choices you make, if they're different, it's not for the faint of heart. But it is so liberating when you can march to the beat of your own drum and just and find your own path. Anita says it’s key to listen to your energy, which is like your gas tank. You always want to keep it on high. It's about elevating your vibration, tuning into your emotions, your energy. That is the clue that you're heading in the right direction. 

Mentioned in this episode:

The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer: https://amzn.to/3UGjQD3  What Happened to You by Oprah Winfrey and Bruce Perry: https://amzn.to/4a7rL0y 

Connect with Anita Rombough: https://www.anitarombough.com/ 

Free gift: Quick Dopamine Hits and Spiritual Lifts: https://anitarombough.lpages.co/dopaminehits/ 

Other GoG episodes you might want to check out:

Carve Your Career Path and Make More Money https://sarahwalton.com/women-career-path/  Overcome Societal Expectations of ‘You’re Not Enough’ https://sarahwalton.com/societal-expectations-for-women/ 

You can check out our podcast interviews on YouTube, too! http://bit.ly/YouTubeSWalton  

Thank you so much for listening. I’m so honored that you’re here and would be so grateful if you could leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts by clicking here, scrolling to the bottom, and clicking “Write a review.” Then we’ll get to inspire even more people!

(If you’re not sure how to leave a review, you can watch this quick tutorial.)

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