00:00:26.979 --> 00:00:33.460
Like, I call myself a professional permission giver because I'm just like my website says permission to lead with truth.
00:00:34.179 --> 00:00:37.780
And what I get back is you gave me the permission I was waiting for.
00:00:37.939 --> 00:00:38.739
I love that.
00:00:39.060 --> 00:00:39.539
Permission.
00:00:40.099 --> 00:00:40.500
That's huge.
00:00:41.219 --> 00:00:46.659
So you have to be able to, like, because you need to give it to yourself, but you can't always give it to yourself.
00:00:46.739 --> 00:00:50.820
Sometimes you need someone else to be like, hey, it's okay to give yourself this permission.
00:00:51.060 --> 00:00:52.659
It's usually our husband itself.
00:00:53.060 --> 00:00:56.820
Yeah, so it's my husband or my coach, whoever I'm working with at the time, like or like your bestie.
00:00:56.979 --> 00:00:58.500
Yeah, or my business bestie.
00:00:58.659 --> 00:01:02.979
Like, they're the ones who are like, no, you get to, like, you get to do this.
00:01:03.219 --> 00:01:08.340
And yeah, and so like I love being that person for women because I love women.
00:01:08.420 --> 00:01:13.140
Like, like, I just love seeing them like peel back the layers and like actually be who they are.
00:01:13.299 --> 00:01:21.699
And rather than like what they built their business as, like, doesn't necessarily mean that's like who they are or what they want or what they're passionate about or where they want to go.
00:01:30.979 --> 00:01:33.620
Hey guys, welcome to this episode of OnlyFounders.
00:01:33.699 --> 00:01:38.340
I'm your host, Ann Gillespie, and I have a very exciting guest with you today, Abby Bradetic.
00:01:38.580 --> 00:01:40.419
Hello, we have to share our tattoos.
00:01:40.500 --> 00:01:44.740
Yes, we're just we're looking and we're like, oh wow, look at our arms.
00:01:44.900 --> 00:01:50.819
So we're sitting on the right side for you guys to be looking at the arms and enjoying the arm art today.
00:01:51.060 --> 00:01:52.979
Abby, you are a podcast host.
00:01:53.060 --> 00:01:53.300
Yes.
00:01:53.539 --> 00:01:57.139
You are a business coach, and you are a brand and marketing expert.
00:01:57.219 --> 00:01:59.699
And I see all of your beautiful creations on social media.
00:01:59.939 --> 00:02:02.580
And you, I know you do all of your own content and all of your own design.
00:02:02.659 --> 00:02:04.819
And so you really pride yourself in that, which I love.
00:02:04.979 --> 00:02:05.219
Yeah.
00:02:05.379 --> 00:02:11.060
Um, but why don't you tell me and everyone listening and watching what you do?
00:02:11.219 --> 00:02:12.340
What is your intro?
00:02:12.419 --> 00:02:13.219
What's your bio?
00:02:13.379 --> 00:02:15.139
How do you explain you?
00:02:15.379 --> 00:02:19.699
Because I don't want to script something that's gonna get lost in translation.
00:02:19.859 --> 00:02:21.139
Ooh, good question.
00:02:21.460 --> 00:02:21.780
Really good.
00:02:22.180 --> 00:02:26.419
And this honestly has been a whole development, especially this year.
00:02:26.500 --> 00:02:36.260
I feel like of me actually owning what I'm doing and where I'm going and like this new level of leadership that I didn't quite hadn't quite owned in my business.
00:02:36.980 --> 00:02:40.980
And like when I started, I was doing much more like done for you services.
00:02:41.060 --> 00:02:47.140
And so, like, it's almost like I've gone through this whole identity shift this year of from service provider to like leader.
00:02:47.300 --> 00:02:50.260
And it's a really, yeah, big shift.
00:02:50.340 --> 00:02:52.020
And it took me a while to like actually own it.
00:02:52.180 --> 00:02:54.819
So now I am like actually like, yes, I'm a business coach.
00:02:55.060 --> 00:02:56.500
You're embodying a leader.
00:02:56.980 --> 00:02:57.700
Embodying it, yes.
00:02:57.860 --> 00:03:01.060
And that is the thing is like embodiment is really important to me.
00:03:01.219 --> 00:03:09.219
So I do also say that I'm an embodiment and visibility mentor or brand and marketing expert also works because I have been in the design and marketing world for 15 years.
00:03:09.379 --> 00:03:12.500
So it is like heavy background for me.
00:03:12.740 --> 00:03:17.379
But yeah, now I'm like brand and web designer, more web designer.
00:03:17.539 --> 00:03:25.379
Honestly, I don't take on brand projects on their own, only if it's in with a website, um, because it's the full package deal.
00:03:25.620 --> 00:03:31.700
But yeah, really business coach, web designer, and then yeah, embodiment and visibility mentor.
00:03:31.860 --> 00:03:36.020
And so, what exactly do you want to coach as a business coach?
00:03:36.580 --> 00:03:37.140
Good question.
00:03:37.460 --> 00:03:37.860
Love this.
00:03:38.020 --> 00:03:38.340
Yeah.
00:03:38.500 --> 00:03:47.939
And for me, it really comes down to both the strategic and the energetic side of business because you can't address the business without addressing the human behind it.
00:03:48.180 --> 00:03:49.620
And that's the tough part.
00:03:50.819 --> 00:03:51.939
You can see why we're friends.
00:03:52.340 --> 00:03:53.219
We've actually been friends.
00:03:53.379 --> 00:03:54.420
I was on her podcast.
00:03:54.659 --> 00:03:56.980
This is there's there's a reason why we're here today.
00:03:57.379 --> 00:04:00.099
Yeah, it's very huge that you have to embrace the human behind the business.
00:04:00.180 --> 00:04:00.500
I love that.
00:04:00.819 --> 00:04:01.140
Absolutely.
00:04:01.219 --> 00:04:08.980
And like so many people, like they'll address the mindset part or sometimes kind of play around with like the frequency and the energetics, but they leave the embodiment part out of it.
00:04:09.219 --> 00:04:13.539
And as like I was a I used to be a professional dancer, I got my BFA in dance.
00:04:13.780 --> 00:04:15.860
Like that is literally movement, is who I was.
00:04:16.019 --> 00:04:17.060
Where'd you go to school for dance?
00:04:17.219 --> 00:04:17.779
TCU.
00:04:17.939 --> 00:04:18.099
Okay.
00:04:18.259 --> 00:04:19.300
Yeah, in Texas.
00:04:19.620 --> 00:04:25.620
And yeah, I got my BFA in modern dance, and then I danced professionally up until COVID after that.
00:04:25.779 --> 00:04:27.139
And then obviously COVID.
00:04:27.699 --> 00:04:29.459
What does professionally dance mean?
00:04:29.620 --> 00:04:31.139
Like, were you doing concerts?
00:04:31.300 --> 00:04:33.459
Were you like a backup dancer?
00:04:33.620 --> 00:04:35.060
What does dancing professionally mean?
00:04:35.379 --> 00:04:41.300
So in the modern dance world, I moved to Seattle after college and I danced there for three years, and that was much more freelance.
00:04:41.459 --> 00:04:47.060
So you're like getting cast in festivals or with different artists and not necessarily a part of a company.
00:04:47.139 --> 00:04:50.500
But when I lived in North Carolina after that, I was with a company.
00:04:50.659 --> 00:04:56.659
So I was a company member and we just exclusively danced with them and did productions and all kinds of things.
00:04:56.979 --> 00:04:58.019
And do you get paid for that?
00:04:58.179 --> 00:05:04.099
Yes, but not much, which is why I always like, I mean, that's just the unfortunate side of the arts world.
00:05:04.259 --> 00:05:07.459
And that's why I always did design and marketing alongside it.
00:05:07.539 --> 00:05:10.979
Like I always was working for a company or doing freelance work alongside it.
00:05:11.219 --> 00:05:11.459
Got it.
00:05:11.699 --> 00:05:22.099
Um, and have like, yeah, heavy background in even from college in design and marketing, and then just kept going with it because it was still a creative outlet, but like made more money.
00:05:22.419 --> 00:05:22.579
Yeah.
00:05:22.899 --> 00:05:27.139
So you were always freelancing in the craft while doing the dance thing.
00:05:27.219 --> 00:05:29.699
And then what about COVID made you stop dancing?
00:05:29.939 --> 00:05:32.019
Well, it just shut down dance for everything.
00:05:32.179 --> 00:05:34.419
And so, like, my company wasn't performing.
00:05:34.500 --> 00:05:37.539
We did some virtual stuff and like I kept up with that for about a year.
00:05:37.620 --> 00:05:41.139
And then in 2021 is when I started my business.
00:05:41.299 --> 00:05:48.419
So it was kind of just felt like this natural progression to let go of dance, even though like I still do it for myself.
00:05:48.500 --> 00:05:54.179
But like to let go of the actual like putting all my time and energy into that because I almost was doing that for free.
00:05:54.339 --> 00:06:00.019
Like, that's essentially like kind of and that's so I took all that time and energy and I put it into my business instead.
00:06:00.179 --> 00:06:01.859
And it just didn't feel like I could do both.
00:06:02.019 --> 00:06:07.620
And so, like, and especially because my business like took off in a way I didn't really expect in the beginning.
00:06:07.779 --> 00:06:11.620
And so I just was like, okay, well, this is this is where my energy is going.
00:06:11.779 --> 00:06:14.259
And yeah, it just kind of naturally developed from there.
00:06:14.500 --> 00:06:17.379
Okay, so your business took off 2021.
00:06:17.620 --> 00:06:19.060
Walk us through that year.
00:06:19.379 --> 00:06:21.620
What was the first year in business like for you?
00:06:21.939 --> 00:06:23.459
It was really interesting.
00:06:23.699 --> 00:06:31.060
I like I didn't know what to expect, which I think, I mean, we all go into it not knowing what to expect, but I did come into it with clients already that were freelance.
00:06:31.379 --> 00:06:34.019
And so I just, it was like complete referral basis.
00:06:34.099 --> 00:06:39.539
And it was like once I owned it, then it was like everybody was just like, here you go, here you go, here you go.
00:06:39.779 --> 00:06:42.099
And so yeah, I started at the end of 2021.
00:06:42.179 --> 00:06:46.019
So really 2022 is my first full first year in business.
00:06:46.179 --> 00:06:49.139
And it just like, I it was just amazing.
00:06:49.219 --> 00:06:53.699
I got all of these like like retainer clients and amazing like brand and web design projects.
00:06:53.779 --> 00:07:01.459
And it was you learned so much, especially in the first two years of business, of being like, who do I want to work with, who do I not want to work with, and like not just saying yes to everything.
00:07:01.539 --> 00:07:12.659
And it was just like that, I just didn't expect to like really make more than I had made from another job, or definitely from dance from my business in the first couple of years.
00:07:12.739 --> 00:07:23.299
Um, and I did build it up to six figures, not in the first year, but in the first couple of years, I I did get it up to six figures, and then that was when I burned half my business down and stopped doing quite a bit of a few.
00:07:23.459 --> 00:07:24.579
We were just talking about it.
00:07:24.659 --> 00:07:35.060
So we're talking about the eclipse, we were talking about all this energy shifting, and it started in 2024, which would be your six-figure year, it sounds like, and it was just crazy town.
00:07:35.299 --> 00:07:37.779
And so you burnt it to the half of it to the ground.
00:07:37.939 --> 00:07:38.099
Yeah.
00:07:38.259 --> 00:07:38.819
What half?
00:07:38.899 --> 00:07:39.699
I'm I'm guessing.
00:07:39.779 --> 00:07:41.779
Was there a branding half and a marketing half?
00:07:41.859 --> 00:07:44.019
Or pretty kind of, yeah.
00:07:44.259 --> 00:07:54.899
So the half that I burned down was social media management and marketing and design retainers, which is like a lot of recurring monthly recurring revenue that I was just like girl, I did that service too in mind.
00:07:55.139 --> 00:07:58.419
Okay, I was like, I don't want to do social media management, I don't want to do marketing.
00:07:58.579 --> 00:07:59.699
I actually said this to marketing.
00:07:59.779 --> 00:08:02.419
I was like, we're done, we're just a branding firm, but yeah, continue.
00:08:02.659 --> 00:08:03.859
Yeah, and so that was basically.
00:08:05.859 --> 00:08:13.539
I had the brand new web design projects, which I still love, and that's why I still do them, even though it like I'm changed so much of the rest of my business.
00:08:13.699 --> 00:08:18.179
But yeah, I still kept those, but like I just I hated social media management.
00:08:18.339 --> 00:08:21.459
I had hired out for it, and that was a whole experience on its own.
00:08:21.620 --> 00:08:30.899
Like, and I had I'd built a little team, like I had two people working for me at that time, and I was just like, and one of them was leaving to because she had like graduated and was like moving on.
00:08:31.060 --> 00:08:44.259
And I had this just come to Jesus Moments and be like, okay, either I have to hire a fourth time for the same role, or I have to take all this work on back by myself, which I didn't want to fucking do, or I just let it go.
00:08:44.419 --> 00:08:50.100
And obviously, I chose what looked crazy from the outside because it was like, I mean, it's thousands of dollars in recurring revenue.
00:08:50.179 --> 00:08:58.820
Like, and with not even like not really having a clear direction, like back then I couldn't have said, Oh, I'm gonna be a business coach at all.
00:08:59.059 --> 00:09:01.220
Like I would have never known that this would have been where I was going.
00:09:01.299 --> 00:09:08.419
I just wasn't like business coaching was going to be a replacement service for you at the time of burning that part of your business diagnosis.
00:09:08.659 --> 00:09:09.939
You hadn't even had that concept yet.
00:09:10.259 --> 00:09:13.860
You were just like, I'm fucking out, I don't want to do this anymore.
00:09:14.340 --> 00:09:15.379
Yeah, just get rid of it.
00:09:15.539 --> 00:09:15.699
Yeah.
00:09:16.259 --> 00:09:16.340
Okay.
00:09:16.579 --> 00:09:18.980
And so with getting rid of it, you said you had two people.
00:09:19.059 --> 00:09:21.220
So did you let the other social media person go?
00:09:21.539 --> 00:09:23.139
She was a design, a junior designer.
00:09:23.379 --> 00:09:23.539
Okay.
00:09:23.779 --> 00:09:27.299
So I did eventually, but later, like in 2025, I let her go.
00:09:27.379 --> 00:09:31.699
Because I was just like, I'm shifting, I'm changing, I don't know what this is gonna look like.
00:09:31.860 --> 00:09:37.220
And I didn't want to just like carry her along because she wasn't, you know, like she was uh not doing a ton of hours.
00:09:37.299 --> 00:09:39.620
So I just was like, Yeah, I want you set you free.
00:09:39.779 --> 00:09:41.139
Go your team with your life.
00:09:41.539 --> 00:09:44.579
Did you hire them as 1099 and you only paid them by project?
00:09:44.819 --> 00:09:45.699
Yeah, that's smart.
00:09:45.779 --> 00:09:46.819
That's how I grew my business too.
00:09:47.059 --> 00:09:47.379
100%.
00:09:47.699 --> 00:09:56.980
I actually think this is a really valuable conversation right now to say what made you decide to not do W 2 and hire as 1099 when you were growing your team.
00:09:57.139 --> 00:10:51.809
Cause I have so many people asking this question, and I got asked so many times.
00:10:52.049 --> 00:10:59.170
I asked this question, and in growth groups and peer-to-peer and CEO groups and masterminds, and everybody's like, you know, I've gotten all the different advice.
00:10:59.250 --> 00:11:02.289
They're like, well, you you can't grow a business without having W-2s.
00:11:02.529 --> 00:11:08.369
You know, I don't understand how there's such a wide array of opinions on this, to be honest.
00:11:08.529 --> 00:11:09.889
It feels like pretty straightforward.
00:11:10.049 --> 00:11:15.649
But what made that decision for you to not hire somebody as a W-2 and just go into a 1099?
00:11:15.889 --> 00:11:17.329
I think it was a couple different things.
00:11:17.490 --> 00:11:25.009
I had always been hired as a 1099 for other people's businesses in similar kinds of roles, like doing the freelance work before officially starting my business.
00:11:25.089 --> 00:11:25.250
Yeah.
00:11:25.410 --> 00:11:27.250
So I was like, that makes sense.
00:11:27.410 --> 00:11:34.849
Um, because then you're not as responsible for all the things, you're just responsible for their payment and not all of the other like payroll tasks and taxes.
00:11:35.009 --> 00:11:38.529
And then I also talked to my bookkeeper, and that was what she suggested.
00:11:38.930 --> 00:11:39.410
Beautiful.
00:11:39.649 --> 00:11:40.849
So you have a bookkeeper.
00:11:41.009 --> 00:11:44.609
So you're already steps ahead of me as a business owner for having a bookkeeper.
00:11:44.930 --> 00:11:46.529
Oh, I got a bookkeeper so early.
00:11:46.849 --> 00:11:51.009
You so that was a lesson that I took a very long time to get into my head.
00:11:51.089 --> 00:11:52.289
And now I have a bookkeeper.
00:11:52.369 --> 00:11:52.609
Yes.
00:11:52.769 --> 00:11:56.049
But that was a service that I struggled with for a while.
00:11:56.210 --> 00:11:57.889
Um, and I was like, no, I'm fine.
00:11:57.970 --> 00:11:59.970
I can mean no, I wasn't fine.
00:12:00.049 --> 00:12:00.769
You're not fine.
00:12:00.930 --> 00:12:10.129
So if you're not an accountant and you're not a bookkeeping, savvy person, and you run your own business, that should be your first hire.
00:12:10.289 --> 00:12:12.609
Oh, yeah, take it from Abby.
00:12:13.089 --> 00:12:15.490
First hire, just get rid of that part of your business.
00:12:15.569 --> 00:12:17.329
It'll make everything easier.
00:12:17.490 --> 00:12:17.730
Yeah.
00:12:17.970 --> 00:12:23.490
I I mean, I got a CPA first because, like, my very first year in business, I tried to do my taxes and everything on my own.
00:12:23.569 --> 00:12:25.649
And then I was like, I'm never fucking doing this again.
00:12:25.889 --> 00:12:27.809
So I immediately hired a CPA.
00:12:28.049 --> 00:12:32.609
And then I have also worked with a ton of bookkeepers on like their websites and everything.
00:12:32.690 --> 00:12:36.769
And so, like, one bookkeeper and I, like, we just like hit it off and we were really good friends.
00:12:36.930 --> 00:12:38.129
And and we were, yeah.
00:12:38.289 --> 00:12:42.450
So I I've been, she's been with me since probably 2022.
00:12:42.769 --> 00:12:43.329
Amazing.
00:12:44.210 --> 00:12:47.970
Like, because yeah, after that first year of doing it all on my own, I was like, never again.
00:12:48.049 --> 00:12:53.009
And then, and then I understood like the value of bookkeeping because I had to express it in copy on a website.
00:12:53.250 --> 00:12:55.730
So, like, I was like, oh okay.
00:12:56.049 --> 00:12:57.089
I love that you just said that.
00:12:57.170 --> 00:12:58.289
I think that's really valuable.
00:12:58.450 --> 00:13:07.009
When you have a service as a client of yours, and your job is to express the brand of that service, which we're we're very similar services.
00:13:07.170 --> 00:13:10.609
We're both branding chicks who do websites and deep brand development.
00:13:10.849 --> 00:13:18.129
So when you have to explain and bring that brand, that service to life, I feel like you know it so well.
00:13:18.289 --> 00:13:23.649
I have actually hired my own clients in the same way and said, Hey, I've just finished your brand.
00:13:23.809 --> 00:13:24.529
You're awesome.
00:13:24.690 --> 00:13:26.049
I didn't know I was gonna need you.
00:13:26.210 --> 00:13:28.129
And hey, I need to hire you now.
00:13:28.289 --> 00:13:29.970
And so it's very much a two-way street.
00:13:30.129 --> 00:13:30.450
Oh, yeah.
00:13:30.690 --> 00:13:31.809
And I think that's really valuable.
00:13:31.970 --> 00:13:35.569
So, okay, let's talk about the burning it to the ground.
00:13:35.649 --> 00:13:39.170
So, so okay, you're like, I'm gonna take half my business and just say farewell.
00:13:39.250 --> 00:13:39.569
Yeah.
00:13:40.129 --> 00:13:42.690
What did that feel like to you at first?
00:13:43.329 --> 00:13:47.809
It felt kind of scary at first because I didn't know what it was gonna look like after.
00:13:47.970 --> 00:13:58.849
But like, I mean, my husband is just the most supportive person in the whole wide world, and he's the reason I started my business, and he's always the reason that, like, if I'm gonna do something kind of scary, he's like, you can do it.
00:13:59.170 --> 00:14:01.809
Hey, let's do a shout out to the husbands who are supportive.
00:14:02.049 --> 00:14:13.809
Um, we sound like we have similar relationships in the fact that I've faced so much scary shit with the backing of my husband, and oftentimes it's only my husband who sees me fully and knows what I'm capable of.
00:14:13.970 --> 00:14:28.289
And I think this also proves a point we talked about on another episode with another guest of how important our partnerships are as an entrepreneur because you don't realize that your spouse very quickly becomes your business partner, whether they're in the business or not, legally.
00:14:28.769 --> 00:14:30.289
They are in the emotional business.
00:14:30.450 --> 00:14:33.009
And oh my gosh, we have to have our tribe.
00:14:33.250 --> 00:14:34.450
I call it my truth tribe.
00:14:34.529 --> 00:14:43.889
We have our truth tribe members who are your besties, but then they become your business colleagues and your contacts and your clients and your fans who literally just want to lift you up in all of the shit, right?
00:14:43.970 --> 00:14:45.329
Because there's so much messy.
00:14:45.569 --> 00:14:46.690
So I love that you said that.
00:14:46.769 --> 00:14:48.289
Okay, so your husband's a rock star.
00:14:48.369 --> 00:14:51.569
He's like, Abby, absolutely you can do this, and then what?
00:14:51.970 --> 00:14:55.889
And then I was luckily I was still I was in a mastermind at that point.
00:14:55.970 --> 00:14:57.730
So that also obviously helps.
00:14:57.889 --> 00:15:00.289
I will always invest in coaching.
00:15:00.450 --> 00:15:05.889
And she had, I'd already been with her for like, I don't know, seven or eight months by the time I made that decision.
00:15:05.970 --> 00:15:10.609
So like I had a lot of back-end support for the next like four months while figuring it out.
00:15:10.769 --> 00:15:10.930
Yeah.
00:15:11.089 --> 00:15:17.009
And I didn't honestly, like, I just was like, okay, I'm just going full like balls to the wall on brand and websites.
00:15:17.089 --> 00:15:19.089
I was like, this is just gonna be my jam.
00:15:19.250 --> 00:15:27.730
And I really didn't develop anything else for like, I don't know, like six or eight months until I was like, oh, I'll do like some content coaching.
00:15:27.889 --> 00:15:32.690
Like, I'm like, okay, but how successful were you when you just did brand and websites?
00:15:32.849 --> 00:15:33.569
What did that look like?
00:15:33.730 --> 00:15:37.809
Did that take off and grow, or was it kind of lackluster not what you were expecting?
00:15:37.970 --> 00:15:46.529
It was about the same as what I already had, which it had already grown a lot, which is why I was like, I can let go of these other services because brand and websites were already brinking in a lot.
00:15:46.609 --> 00:15:50.369
Um and that was your service, so you didn't have to contract anyone out for that.
00:15:50.529 --> 00:15:51.970
Yeah, because I do the copy too.
00:15:52.210 --> 00:15:54.210
So everything is handled in-house by me.
00:15:54.289 --> 00:16:00.609
And like, and especially once I let go of the junior designer, then it was like, I don't really have any expenses except like for myself.
00:16:00.769 --> 00:16:05.009
But I'm not gonna like 2025 was a awful year in business for me.
00:16:05.089 --> 00:16:14.369
Like it was the lowest income I've had, and like partially because of letting go of the offers, but also because like then the like demand for brand and web design changed too.
00:16:14.529 --> 00:16:14.690
Yeah.
00:16:14.849 --> 00:16:20.289
And I mean, that you know, we can go into the economy and all of that shit that kind of that affected it as well.
00:16:20.529 --> 00:16:28.129
But yeah, so I was like in this place of just like being like, okay, I'm still getting like this is still working, like it's always kind of worked behind the scenes.
00:16:28.210 --> 00:16:33.569
It just wasn't at the level that I it had been the year before that I was expecting it to be at.
00:16:33.649 --> 00:16:35.730
Um, and then I had let go of all the everything else.
00:16:35.809 --> 00:16:41.329
So there was definitely moments where I was like, fuck, should I like go back and like do this work again?
00:16:42.609 --> 00:16:43.970
Should I go get a part-time job?
00:16:44.690 --> 00:16:47.889
That's how many times has that thought as a business owner crossed your mind?
00:16:48.049 --> 00:16:51.009
Should I go get a part-time job to supplement my entrepreneur journey?
00:16:51.410 --> 00:16:53.410
No, last year a lot.
00:16:53.730 --> 00:16:57.329
Like, and that was probably the only real year that I really felt that.
00:16:57.490 --> 00:17:02.450
Because, like I said, like the first like two, three years of my business, like I was just like going up, up, up.
00:17:02.529 --> 00:17:04.049
Like there was like no stopping.
00:17:04.210 --> 00:17:15.649
And then it was almost like I had to hit this like energetic ceiling of like, okay, you've like hit, you've had like the 15k month, like you've been up at this high level of income.
00:17:15.809 --> 00:17:18.849
Like, and then and at the same time, like I'd gotten engaged.
00:17:19.009 --> 00:17:23.170
Like it was just like all these big things happening, and then it was like the immediate opposite.
00:17:23.250 --> 00:17:46.289
And it and that is why the mindset and embodiment and energetic work is so fucking important because like it made me face parts of myself and thing limiting beliefs that I didn't realize I still had to deal with in order to like then, like I said, like this year, like actually finally let go of this like service provider helper, like identity that I've held on to for four years.
00:17:46.369 --> 00:17:55.810
And like, and and it's why I'm so passionate about helping women where like I was two years ago, because I'm like, it is like you're letting you're losing an identity.
00:17:55.890 --> 00:17:59.890
And it's okay, like you do kind of have to grieve that in order to move forward.
00:18:00.050 --> 00:18:04.690
And like, but it's a big fucking shift and it's scary to like actually claim.
00:18:04.850 --> 00:18:09.330
And so that's why I started like, you know, really small with like, oh, I'm gonna do content coaching.
00:18:09.490 --> 00:18:12.530
And then like I started like kind of because you kept yourself in your box.
00:18:12.690 --> 00:18:15.890
Yeah, and so you're like, well, I'm a content creator, so I can be a content coach.
00:18:16.050 --> 00:18:21.170
So then why not just not blow that up and let's just coach the thing that I feel safe in.
00:18:21.330 --> 00:18:21.490
Yeah.
00:18:21.650 --> 00:18:25.330
And you just walked us through the process of what I speak to, which is share your fear.
00:18:25.410 --> 00:18:25.570
Yeah.
00:18:25.730 --> 00:18:35.730
And you're sharing your fears of what you're actually afraid of is the hidden truths that you haven't said out loud because you're afraid of what that truth is gonna make you, and it's a huge identity shocker.
00:18:35.970 --> 00:18:36.210
Yeah.
00:18:36.370 --> 00:18:41.410
And so all of the things that are true about us as people, we shift, we're on cycles, right?
00:18:41.490 --> 00:18:43.330
We're there's years and years and phases of life.
00:18:43.410 --> 00:18:44.690
We're gonna continue evolving.
00:18:44.770 --> 00:18:46.370
We're evolutionary beings, right?
00:18:46.450 --> 00:18:51.730
So we're gonna keep growing, healing, changing, losing, shedding patterns and layers.
00:18:51.810 --> 00:18:57.810
And I think that this is so important to say, look, you your truth was screaming at you that you didn't want to keep doing that.
00:18:57.890 --> 00:18:59.090
It was out of alignment.
00:18:59.250 --> 00:19:03.490
You knew you were made for something bigger, which is the business coaching.
00:19:03.570 --> 00:19:08.370
And it's the embodiment of your energy and your mind and your strategy as a business owner.
00:19:08.530 --> 00:19:08.770
Yeah.
00:19:08.930 --> 00:19:16.530
But these were things that you were experiencing yourself, and you are experiencing the sharing of the fears and saying, holy shit, this is actually a truth of mine.
00:19:16.610 --> 00:19:21.810
And you're trying to suppress it and you're trying to flick it away and just say no, because you're afraid of that identity.
00:19:21.970 --> 00:19:22.050
Yeah.
00:19:22.210 --> 00:19:27.570
And so then it was embodying the identity, which is what you help women do with your coaching.
00:19:27.730 --> 00:19:34.530
You literally take them to this is where you are kept right now in this safe little box, and this is the container.
00:19:34.770 --> 00:19:38.370
And then let's actually break that box open, but you need to do it slowly.
00:19:38.450 --> 00:19:39.570
You can't just bust out.
00:19:39.730 --> 00:19:43.890
I love how, like, there's so many coaches that they're like just bust through and break.
00:19:44.130 --> 00:19:49.250
It's not sudden, it's not huge, it's not one moment, it's not one session, it's a series of moments.
00:19:49.410 --> 00:19:52.450
I call it back peeling back the layers, it's how it felt to me.
00:19:52.530 --> 00:20:03.810
That's how I always describe it because I'm like, okay, I I feel like I've dealt with this, and then something else is like, okay, here's another because that next layer knows how to handle the next layer, yeah, and that your previous layer didn't know.
00:20:03.970 --> 00:20:04.130
Yeah.
00:20:04.290 --> 00:20:05.650
And so that's why that makes sense.
00:20:05.730 --> 00:20:05.890
Yeah.
00:20:06.050 --> 00:20:08.610
That whole compounding of layers, you're like, well, I didn't even know.
00:20:08.690 --> 00:20:14.370
That's where the grace comes in because giving yourself grace of holy shit, I didn't even know what I didn't know.
00:20:14.610 --> 00:20:14.850
Yes.
00:20:15.010 --> 00:20:19.410
That all these sayings have really deep meanings if we just let them have the meaning.
00:20:19.570 --> 00:20:20.930
It's like you didn't know what you didn't know.
00:20:21.250 --> 00:20:24.210
No, and you can't figure it out by just like jumping.
00:20:24.450 --> 00:20:27.330
You're not gonna, you're not gonna jump five steps ahead, I promise.
00:20:27.490 --> 00:20:32.450
And like, and what I think was really hard for me too is like they always say, you know, like don't put a timeline on things.
00:20:32.530 --> 00:20:34.130
I'm like, I'm so fucking impatient.
00:20:34.210 --> 00:20:36.610
Like, I always am like, if I want it, I want it now.
00:20:36.690 --> 00:20:41.410
And I'm like, so like, whenever I made these shifts in 2024, like I wanted to know what the next step was.
00:20:41.570 --> 00:20:43.490
I wanted to know what the next evolution was gonna be.
00:20:43.570 --> 00:20:49.090
And like, I just there was no way then, even a year ago, that I could have guessed where I am right now.
00:20:49.250 --> 00:20:58.210
And and so it's like, it's been like two years in the making of me like getting to this point of like, yeah, really actually like owning this leadership in a whole different way.
00:20:58.450 --> 00:21:08.050
And like it's opened up for business coaching and then the retreats that I've been hosting and like expanding into building community and events, and it's just like it fills my soul so fucking much.
00:21:08.210 --> 00:21:11.490
And like I could have never guessed this two years ago.
00:21:11.570 --> 00:21:17.970
And so that's where it's just like it is so cliche to be like, don't put a timeline on your evolution, but like don't fucking do that.
00:21:18.370 --> 00:21:23.410
Well, it's funny too because two years ago, you were keeping yourself gainfully employed and that was it.
00:21:23.490 --> 00:21:24.690
You were providing yourself a job.
00:21:24.770 --> 00:21:27.570
Yeah, and that's where I was probably five years ago, four or five years ago.
00:21:27.970 --> 00:21:29.570
We were keeping ourselves busy, right?
00:21:29.730 --> 00:21:34.370
We were paying ourselves money and we were employing ourselves, and that was it.
00:21:34.530 --> 00:21:34.770
Yes.
00:21:34.930 --> 00:21:38.290
And then we both evolved to like, we're gonna grow a business.
00:21:38.370 --> 00:21:39.170
Like, this is a business.
00:21:39.250 --> 00:21:42.450
So now I'm gonna hire some people that are delivering services that I don't do.
00:21:42.610 --> 00:21:42.850
Yeah.
00:21:42.930 --> 00:21:47.810
Um, but we're gonna just subcontract and then pay, and then you're gonna add to my client offer.
00:21:47.890 --> 00:21:48.210
Okay, cool.
00:21:48.290 --> 00:21:50.690
So now we're growing a business, we're growing a team, look at us.
00:21:50.850 --> 00:21:53.650
And then it's like, oh, this feels like a lot of work.
00:21:53.810 --> 00:21:58.610
That do I really want to be managing a business, which is like managing people?
00:21:58.770 --> 00:21:59.010
Yeah.
00:21:59.170 --> 00:22:12.290
So you're like, are you are you growing a business where you like the admin function of the CEO role of I'm managing teams and processes and systems and all that, or do I really want to be doing the work?
00:22:12.450 --> 00:22:14.210
Now there's a hybrid, you could do both, right?
00:22:14.290 --> 00:22:19.010
We could still do our craft on some of it and then still elevate and manage people.
00:22:19.170 --> 00:22:19.410
Yes.
00:22:19.570 --> 00:22:31.890
But your administration at that point, you're growing a business, you're managing people and client projects and literally like the order of the ship versus like delivering your craft, which was what you once were, right?
00:22:31.970 --> 00:22:33.090
It's the book emith, right?
00:22:33.330 --> 00:22:34.130
Are you the technician?
00:22:34.210 --> 00:22:35.170
Are you the manager?
00:22:35.410 --> 00:22:46.530
And I really think this is important because now you've shifted from not growing a business, not a business owner, which is funny because I even asked you, Abby, what's your business name?
00:22:46.610 --> 00:22:47.810
What do you want to say on the show?
00:22:47.890 --> 00:23:00.370
And she's no, it's Abby Raditic, because it's it's the personal embodied identity of this business leader or coach who's now sounds like growing a movement.
00:23:00.610 --> 00:23:02.290
You are a movement maker.
00:23:02.370 --> 00:23:13.330
You are growing things with community and connection and events and literally coaching women through these massive processes, but it's not you're not growing a business of coaching.
00:23:13.650 --> 00:23:21.810
You're not growing a coaching business, which is so fun because you have to get into all Identities that is the entrepreneurship journey of what it is that you're creating and what you're working on.
00:23:21.890 --> 00:23:24.850
And I think it's fascinating that you once were okay.
00:23:24.930 --> 00:23:27.490
I'm a brand and marketing worker.
00:23:27.810 --> 00:23:29.970
I'm gonna just employ myself, but I'm the worker.
00:23:30.050 --> 00:23:30.210
Yeah.
00:23:30.450 --> 00:23:31.970
Then I'm gonna grow a business in that.
00:23:32.130 --> 00:23:32.450
Okay.
00:23:32.690 --> 00:23:35.170
Then I'm going to just ditch it all.
00:23:35.330 --> 00:23:39.410
And then I'm gonna fully embody what I do and what I know.
00:23:39.570 --> 00:23:41.250
And now it's the business is gone.
00:23:41.330 --> 00:23:42.370
And now it's Abby.
00:23:42.770 --> 00:23:50.450
And now it's Abby is here to build the mission, build the room, build the community, and take women through it in group and one-on-one settings.
00:23:50.610 --> 00:23:50.930
Absolutely.
00:23:51.170 --> 00:23:52.770
Which is a really beautiful evolution.
00:23:52.930 --> 00:23:53.170
Yeah.
00:23:53.330 --> 00:23:54.130
But it's fast.
00:23:54.290 --> 00:23:58.130
I do want to say, like it's only been what, four years, five years?
00:23:58.450 --> 00:23:59.890
This is coming up on the end of my fifth year.
00:24:00.050 --> 00:24:01.090
I mean, that's really quick.
00:24:01.330 --> 00:24:04.050
No, it's looking back, you're like, I'm like you.
00:24:04.130 --> 00:24:06.770
I'm like, no, I just want it, I want it done yesterday.
00:24:07.170 --> 00:24:09.410
I had the idea, so it should be there today.
00:24:09.650 --> 00:24:17.010
And but you're looking at this going, okay, that was a five-year evolution of your identity, which is pretty quick.
00:24:17.170 --> 00:24:19.890
Um, and then we're talking about the eclipse starting in 2024.
00:24:20.050 --> 00:24:20.930
We're like, fuck it.
00:24:21.170 --> 00:24:25.170
Everything was like, we're growing this and we're changing this and it's done.
00:24:25.330 --> 00:24:39.970
And then now, like the end of this week when we're recording is the big closing and it's the lunar eclipse to kind of close this season of shedding, which is really cool because both of us are kind of in a similar journey, it sounds like, of shedding old layers and old identities.
00:24:40.210 --> 00:24:48.610
And now we're just embodying this new magnetic, yes, you know, very much superpower of just like leading it, yeah, coaching leadership.
00:24:48.690 --> 00:25:05.730
And it's it's been a collective like shift because last year, even with like the year of the snake and everything, like everyone was shedding identities or other things that like they had held on to because it kept them safe or it was familiar, and like it's almost like this collective, but it felt like I just was like everything was so strongly felt in my body.
00:25:05.890 --> 00:25:14.050
And it what's really like what's great about it is like I'm a three-five in human design, which means I literally teach from having already experienced it.
00:25:14.210 --> 00:25:18.930
And so that's what makes me good at what I do now because I'm like I have done everything.
00:25:19.010 --> 00:25:26.610
Like you said, like I did it on my own, I built a team, like I scaled the business and then I burned it down and I started doing all these other things.
00:25:26.770 --> 00:25:36.130
And like that is why I'm able to guide and teach from there because I've experienced it all, and that's literally how I'm created to guide other people.
00:25:36.370 --> 00:25:50.290
And what was really interesting is like right around in February this year, when we were like doing the Chinese New Year like shift from the year of the snake to the fire horse, and like I was working with one of my mentors who's like human design and astrology, which I'm like huge into the last two years.
00:25:50.370 --> 00:25:53.490
Yeah, also why it's like my life has completely changed.
00:25:53.810 --> 00:25:57.410
And she was like really helping me understand this shift from service provider to the leader.
00:25:57.490 --> 00:26:01.490
And she literally told me, like, you're here to gather women around a world view.
00:26:01.650 --> 00:26:05.410
And that's like kind of essentially like what you just said of like I'm creating movement.
00:26:05.490 --> 00:26:19.650
And that's like, and and seeing that, and it was, I just remember it so clearly because she sent me this whole long thing about it when we were doing like a coaching intensive together, and I like listened to it and I read through it, and I was just like, I don't fucking know what to do with this right now.
00:26:20.610 --> 00:26:24.290
I'm just gonna like put it over here and just push it away.
00:26:24.530 --> 00:26:26.690
Yes, because I was just like, and she was that tomorrow.
00:26:26.930 --> 00:26:38.770
Yes, and the best thing she said was like, you know, sometimes you just have to sit in the discomfort, and like that's not a fun place for anybody, and also like I felt like I was at this point where it was like, I spent the last year in discomfort.
00:26:38.850 --> 00:26:41.010
Like, why the fuck do I still have to keep doing this?
00:26:41.090 --> 00:26:51.570
Yeah, and like that's where like the impatience comes in and stuff, and like, and it just was one of the best things I could have done was to sit in the discomfort and just be like, okay, I'm just gonna like sit and see what comes up.
00:26:51.730 --> 00:26:56.530
Cause like yeah, a lot of times my, especially as a manny gen, like my immediate reaction is like action.
00:26:56.690 --> 00:26:58.930
I go from idea to action like so fucking fast.
00:26:59.090 --> 00:27:04.130
And so, like, whenever I hear it or like feel it, like I want to be able to act on it.
00:27:04.290 --> 00:27:08.210
And what was even more interesting about this evolution is like I felt that in like February.
00:27:08.370 --> 00:27:11.890
And then I really wasn't ready to evolve my coaching offers until June.
00:27:12.050 --> 00:27:13.010
And it really took that.
00:27:13.490 --> 00:27:14.530
We're on such a similar track.
00:27:14.770 --> 00:27:16.290
I'm a generator, I'm not a manny genome.
00:27:16.690 --> 00:27:19.170
So it takes you're a little bit slower, but still you move.
00:27:19.490 --> 00:27:31.410
But in fact, in January, February, it was total, total embodiment and total shift of identity at that point to holy shit, I'm not just a CEO and founder and brand strategist of a branding firm anymore.
00:27:31.490 --> 00:27:40.130
After 12 years of fix and form, it was like crying and releasing and grieving that identity, and like, what do I do if I'm not that?
00:27:40.610 --> 00:27:43.490
And then it's like, no, you are a keynote speaker.
00:27:43.570 --> 00:27:43.730
Yeah.
00:27:43.810 --> 00:27:46.050
I'm like, but I'm not, but you are, but you will be.
00:27:46.450 --> 00:27:48.770
But my keynote speaking business is only seven months old.
00:27:48.930 --> 00:27:55.970
And I then was able to brand and embody that in March to where I'm literally ready to activate on everything come May, June.
00:27:56.450 --> 00:28:03.890
And it it was kind of a same cycle, which is interesting, because then it was generating and then finally fucking June hit, and I was like, We're a speaker.
00:28:04.130 --> 00:28:08.610
And then literally, people are looking at my website, my branding, which I had to do all on my own.
00:28:08.690 --> 00:28:20.530
So all of angulespi.com is my work, which I'm not a website developer, but I built my second company and exited my second company that was all based on AI platform and AI tools to speed up the branding process.
00:28:20.610 --> 00:28:26.450
So I learned enough over the last two to three years of AI that I'm now using some really phenomenal AI products.
00:28:26.610 --> 00:28:40.210
Lovable is my brand partner on literally designing and creating and writing, but I knew the prompts because I spent 12 years with my team and in client calls managing the creation of websites with my website developers.
00:28:40.370 --> 00:28:48.770
And so I think hearing that enough, I was like, I know exactly what terms to use, what language, how to prompt all of the design cues, all of the shifting.
00:28:48.930 --> 00:28:49.810
It was crazy.
00:28:49.890 --> 00:28:49.970
Yeah.
00:28:50.130 --> 00:28:51.570
And I didn't think I could do it.
00:28:51.810 --> 00:28:58.290
And I think that I needed to build this brand of my personal embodied Anne, just like your Abby.
00:28:58.610 --> 00:29:02.770
Of I, it's funny, as a brand person, I was like, this has to have a name.
00:29:02.930 --> 00:29:04.210
We have to have a container.
00:29:04.370 --> 00:29:07.250
And so I filed a fucking LLC for Anne Speaks.
00:29:07.410 --> 00:29:12.850
And then I was looking at this for a while, and this was like April as I was kind of doing the embodiment tour.
00:29:13.170 --> 00:29:14.370
Like, what are we doing?
00:29:14.610 --> 00:29:20.050
And I was like, so am I trying to blow up because when you're a brand person, you get in your own way every day.
00:29:20.130 --> 00:29:20.290
Right.
00:29:20.450 --> 00:29:20.690
Every day.
00:29:20.850 --> 00:29:22.290
And you check your brand every fucking day.
00:29:22.530 --> 00:29:24.690
Don't change your brand if you know how to change your brand.
00:29:24.850 --> 00:29:26.290
Don't change your website every day.
00:29:26.530 --> 00:29:32.930
So I was like, are we doing and speaks or are we growing and gillespie?
00:29:33.170 --> 00:29:35.810
And like when you walked in today and I said, Well, what is your business?
00:29:35.970 --> 00:29:38.930
I know your podcast, I know who you are and what you do, but what is your business?
00:29:39.010 --> 00:29:40.770
You go, that's not really a thing.
00:29:41.170 --> 00:29:44.690
That resonated with me because I was like, that's not really my thing.
00:29:44.770 --> 00:29:47.170
I'm not now growing and speaks.
00:29:47.570 --> 00:29:50.690
I was like, Am I supposed to be blowing up everything on Ann Speaks on the front end?
00:29:50.850 --> 00:29:53.490
But then our branding strategists were like, Well, what's on the back end?
00:29:53.810 --> 00:29:54.370
What's operational?
00:29:54.450 --> 00:29:55.570
And then what's on the front end?
00:29:55.650 --> 00:29:58.370
And what are we like, you know, giving a facelift to, right?
00:29:58.450 --> 00:29:59.730
There's just so many questions.
00:30:00.050 --> 00:30:04.930
And when it comes to yourself, you're like, like, I'm actually not growing a business anymore.
00:30:05.010 --> 00:30:06.130
No, the business is me.
00:30:06.210 --> 00:30:06.370
Yeah.
00:30:06.450 --> 00:30:08.210
And I'm fucking growing Ann Gillespie.
00:30:08.290 --> 00:30:08.450
Yeah.
00:30:08.530 --> 00:30:12.130
Which is why I just like Anne speaks, it's like, that's not even the thing.
00:30:12.290 --> 00:30:12.450
Yeah.
00:30:12.690 --> 00:30:13.250
The thing is me.
00:30:13.490 --> 00:30:15.330
Because you were trying to put yourself back in another box.
00:30:15.410 --> 00:30:15.970
And it's safe.
00:30:16.210 --> 00:30:17.010
Because it feels safe.
00:30:17.090 --> 00:30:18.610
You're like, okay, this.
00:30:18.850 --> 00:30:23.410
But like being, like being the brand, being like the personal brand or whatever you want to call it.
00:30:23.490 --> 00:30:26.690
Like it just it opens up your world to possibilities.
00:30:26.770 --> 00:30:30.290
And this is the same thing, like in 2024, is when I started my personal brand page.
00:30:30.450 --> 00:30:33.810
Like I had a business page and I was like, I'm changing.
00:30:33.890 --> 00:30:44.770
And it just like felt like freedom to be like, okay, now I can just like play and have fun and show up and like and then allow that to just like naturally evolve into whatever felt good.
00:30:45.010 --> 00:30:53.570
And like that's I really deeply believe that's part of why I got where I am now, is because I had given myself that freedom instead of trying to permission.
00:30:53.650 --> 00:30:54.530
And yes, the permission.
00:30:54.930 --> 00:30:55.650
Permission to play.
00:30:55.810 --> 00:30:56.050
Yes.
00:30:56.210 --> 00:30:58.690
The permission to play with what could be.
00:30:58.770 --> 00:30:59.010
Right.
00:30:59.090 --> 00:31:02.050
And I think us recovering perfectionists really struggle with that.
00:31:02.210 --> 00:31:06.290
So like I can't launch it into the ether until it's perfect and I know.
00:31:06.370 --> 00:31:08.130
And I have to have a knowing to do it.
00:31:08.290 --> 00:31:08.530
Yes.
00:31:08.690 --> 00:31:11.890
And that's been a huge shift for me this week, literally, this week.
00:31:12.210 --> 00:31:13.410
This has been a lesson of this week.
00:31:13.810 --> 00:31:13.890
No.
00:31:14.290 --> 00:31:14.610
I hear you.
00:31:14.850 --> 00:31:16.050
You there's unknown.
00:31:16.210 --> 00:31:16.690
And you know what?
00:31:17.090 --> 00:31:18.290
I felt that this week too.
00:31:18.370 --> 00:31:25.490
I was like, because I haven't said this to anybody where you're they're like, because if somebody asks me like my business up until now, like I'd be like, Illuminescence creations, like, that's my business.
00:31:25.570 --> 00:31:26.290
Like that's what it is.
00:31:26.450 --> 00:31:28.770
I was like, I get emails from a business name, Abby.
00:31:29.090 --> 00:31:29.970
What's the business name?
00:31:30.210 --> 00:31:31.890
Well, it's like my name, yeah.
00:31:31.970 --> 00:31:35.810
But no, I know because and like because I haven't like But we're honestly doing that.
00:31:35.890 --> 00:31:40.370
So no, this is me like actually like claiming this, honestly, because I haven't really said this to anybody.
00:31:40.770 --> 00:31:43.010
I'm the fake person you claim this to.
00:31:43.250 --> 00:31:44.050
You heard it here first.
00:31:44.210 --> 00:31:45.010
I heard it here first.
00:31:45.170 --> 00:31:51.010
No, because I'm like in my head, I'm like, I filed LLC, I paid for a trademark, like I did all this work to build this business.
00:31:51.170 --> 00:31:56.050
And like, and so then for me to be like, I don't want to use it anymore.
00:31:56.130 --> 00:31:57.810
Like, that's a scary thing to admit.
00:31:58.290 --> 00:31:59.170
Can we just pause right there?
00:31:59.250 --> 00:32:00.130
I'm sorry to interrupt this.
00:32:00.770 --> 00:32:04.610
This is such a huge issue on so many other levels that hit the same thing you just said.
00:32:04.770 --> 00:32:06.930
I just asked this question the other day on my socials.
00:32:07.090 --> 00:32:08.930
Okay, you've paid for something.
00:32:09.010 --> 00:32:15.570
Yes, you put energy and attention and money into something that once served you and an old version of you.
00:32:15.730 --> 00:32:24.130
And then you realize it's the wrong room, it's the wrong networking group, it's the wrong service, it's the wrong tool, it's the wrong place to start growing and showing up.
00:32:24.370 --> 00:32:25.730
What do you do?
00:32:25.970 --> 00:32:29.570
Well, that's the permission to change your mind.
00:32:29.810 --> 00:32:32.690
And this is huge because I just went through this too.
00:32:32.930 --> 00:32:40.050
I've paid for services, I've paid for apps, I've paid for networking groups annual, like the full I'm in, I love it, right?
00:32:40.130 --> 00:32:41.010
And I did annual.
00:32:41.170 --> 00:32:48.850
Let this be a lesson to you as a recovering cheap ass who's trying to save all the money and say, Oh, you get 20% off if you go annual.
00:32:49.010 --> 00:32:56.850
Fucking don't go annual on things unless you're sure that you've tried a month or two of it and you know that it serves your purpose, okay?
00:32:57.090 --> 00:32:58.930
Because you are going to evolve and change.
00:32:59.010 --> 00:32:59.170
Yeah.
00:32:59.330 --> 00:33:05.490
And maybe that 20% is worth you having the freedom and flexibility every single month as you go to change your mind.
00:33:05.570 --> 00:33:05.810
Yes.
00:33:05.970 --> 00:33:06.210
Right.
00:33:06.290 --> 00:33:08.050
But that is permission to change your mind.
00:33:08.370 --> 00:33:15.890
You said, I paid for a trademark, I paid for an LLC, I set up business formation because that's what I do, because we're responsible business women.
00:33:15.970 --> 00:33:18.130
And then you say, Oops, I don't want that.
00:33:18.290 --> 00:33:18.530
Yeah.
00:33:18.690 --> 00:33:19.090
Never mind.
00:33:19.170 --> 00:33:20.050
And then so what do you do?
00:33:20.130 --> 00:33:23.570
How do you how do you pivot from there and say, whatever?
00:33:23.890 --> 00:33:24.690
I'm not sure.
00:33:24.850 --> 00:33:30.450
I I mean, I think I've naturally like slowly been making this pivot anyway, because everybody knows me as Abby Braditic.
00:33:30.610 --> 00:33:35.410
Like, which is a whole other story because I got married last year and I'm like, do I change the name?
00:33:35.570 --> 00:33:38.050
Like, because I'm like, everybody knows me as Abby Braditch.
00:33:39.250 --> 00:33:39.570
Yes.
00:33:39.730 --> 00:33:44.050
So it gets stickier, but like that's just operationally behind the scenes.
00:33:44.210 --> 00:33:45.810
Your accounts are your married name.
00:33:45.890 --> 00:33:46.130
Yeah.
00:33:46.290 --> 00:33:47.570
But the face and the marketing.
00:33:47.890 --> 00:33:51.970
Yeah, it's pretty much like I'm like, this is it.
00:33:52.130 --> 00:33:52.930
It is what it is.
00:33:53.170 --> 00:33:57.410
But uh yeah, so it's like I and this is what I mean, like, I don't know yet.
00:33:57.570 --> 00:34:13.090
And that's what's so interesting because I'm like, I like I haven't even told my husband, like, oh, I don't know if I'm gonna keep using this name because it's like my website is set up at that, and like everything I have is like connected through that business name, except for my like my socials aren't like interesting.
00:34:13.250 --> 00:34:14.690
I that's all my name.
00:34:14.769 --> 00:34:21.170
Like, and I still have this like small account for the business that I'm like, I don't ever use, like it just sits there.
00:34:21.250 --> 00:34:23.650
So I'm like, why do I haven't half this anymore?
00:34:23.730 --> 00:34:28.929
Like the good news is, Abby, this episode will probably go out in another few weeks, maybe a month.
00:34:29.010 --> 00:34:30.210
I don't know our production schedule.
00:34:30.289 --> 00:34:32.769
I have to look, but you've got some time.
00:34:33.170 --> 00:34:41.010
So by the time this airs, I really hope that you have some answers figured out and you're like, yeah, look, that was the first place that I shared it.
00:34:41.170 --> 00:34:41.490
Yes.
00:34:41.650 --> 00:34:46.449
And then now, look at two to three weeks into blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
00:34:46.769 --> 00:34:47.090
Right.
00:34:47.329 --> 00:34:47.970
And I love that.
00:34:48.050 --> 00:34:50.369
I love that you're confidently sitting here in this unknown.
00:34:50.530 --> 00:34:51.970
You're like, I don't know.
00:34:52.130 --> 00:34:52.369
Yeah.
00:34:52.530 --> 00:34:53.250
And that's okay.
00:34:53.329 --> 00:34:54.369
But you know what's really powerful?
00:34:54.449 --> 00:34:55.409
This is what I lean on.
00:34:55.490 --> 00:34:55.650
Okay.
00:34:56.369 --> 00:35:06.530
If that decision or that money you spent, or that place that you put your time and energy in your commitment, a contractual agreement with, you say, this no longer serves where I'm going.
00:35:06.849 --> 00:35:09.490
For me, this is what's really helped me with that decision.
00:35:10.130 --> 00:35:18.210
For money spent, for energy for time, I say that was time, energy, and money in the past that's already gone.
00:35:18.369 --> 00:35:20.769
And there's no way I can get any of that back.
00:35:20.929 --> 00:35:21.250
Yes.
00:35:21.409 --> 00:35:30.690
So why waste more of my future bank account of time, energy, and money on that decision when I know it's done?
00:35:31.090 --> 00:35:40.130
So is there anything recurring with it that I need to go pause or cancel or ask for a refund with to close it and then just leave it and then move forward?
00:35:40.289 --> 00:35:47.170
And that's actually let me kind of untether my shame boat to fuck, I I messed up, right?
00:35:47.250 --> 00:35:48.130
It felt like a wrong choice.
00:35:48.210 --> 00:35:49.250
It wasn't a wrong choice.
00:35:49.410 --> 00:35:49.570
No.
00:35:49.809 --> 00:35:54.930
It was actually a pivotal step that needed to happen in that version of me to help get me here.
00:35:55.090 --> 00:35:55.410
Exactly.
00:35:55.570 --> 00:35:58.530
And then it just kept kept feeding me alignment of like, no, this isn't it.
00:35:58.690 --> 00:36:09.010
It's just like when you get rejection and you hear no's, it's that same shame boat of like untethering that shame and saying, that wasn't a bad move to ask for that sale.
00:36:09.170 --> 00:36:13.170
That wasn't a bad move to ask for that thing for what you wanted.
00:36:13.570 --> 00:36:18.610
You're just getting further alignment of the next version of you of what else needs to be there.
00:36:18.769 --> 00:36:19.010
Yeah.
00:36:19.170 --> 00:36:19.410
Right?
00:36:19.650 --> 00:36:20.289
A hundred percent.
00:36:20.450 --> 00:36:20.610
Yeah.
00:36:21.010 --> 00:36:21.250
No.
00:36:21.490 --> 00:36:24.769
And that's powerful stuff because as women, our shame like sits.
00:36:25.570 --> 00:36:26.210
We should know better.
00:36:27.170 --> 00:36:29.490
We should know that shouldn't have I shouldn't have done that.
00:36:29.570 --> 00:36:30.050
I shouldn't have.
00:36:30.289 --> 00:36:35.090
It's like, no, the shoulds and the shouldn'ts should not rule your life.
00:36:35.329 --> 00:36:36.050
No, ever.
00:36:36.210 --> 00:36:39.970
Oh my god, if somebody tells me I should do something, I guarantee I won't.
00:36:40.050 --> 00:36:41.809
It's going the opposite way.
00:36:42.130 --> 00:36:46.850
That's what that's what kind of role does your podcast play in your you brand, right?
00:36:46.930 --> 00:36:47.650
The brand of Abby.
00:36:47.730 --> 00:36:49.809
Like, so it's the unfiltered CEO podcast.
00:36:49.970 --> 00:36:52.450
Is that still the media arm of you and your essence?
00:36:52.610 --> 00:37:02.690
Have you evolved the podcast to now meet you in your personal brand, or does it still stand on its own as it has and it's serving just your media thought leadership platform of you?
00:37:03.010 --> 00:37:03.490
A little bit.
00:37:03.570 --> 00:37:07.170
I feel like the biggest thing from my podcast has been community building.
00:37:07.329 --> 00:37:19.650
Like the relationships I've got from it, like opportunities, the clients, like that's I've never worried about like where the podcast is gonna go or what it's gonna look like or monetizing or anything because I'm like, this that was never the point.
00:37:19.809 --> 00:37:20.130
Yeah.
00:37:20.289 --> 00:37:29.809
The point was for me to have the opportunity to express myself more freely, which then was another layer I had to peel back in order to express myself more freely in my content.
00:37:29.970 --> 00:37:33.650
I think I know what you're saying with that because I did the same thing, but tell me what you mean by that.
00:37:33.970 --> 00:37:44.610
Unfilter, whereas on social media, like I was still filtering, even though I thought I wasn't, like, you are still filtering and so it gave me the freedom to be like, okay, I first of all, I know what the fuck I'm talking about.
00:37:44.769 --> 00:37:47.170
You're kind of hiding behind the show at that point.
00:37:47.329 --> 00:37:47.490
Yes.
00:37:47.890 --> 00:37:52.610
Like, no, I'm doing this for the show's brand, not actually for my brand or whatever.
00:37:52.850 --> 00:38:13.650
And so yeah, it gave me that freedom, like, because you can just do so much more long-form content and it allowed me to address topics that I did wasn't sure how to like touch on in my content, like being divorced or smoking weed or like whatever, like things or not talking to my family, like things that necessarily had like I didn't find ways in in my content, but on my podcast, I'm like, I'm a fucking open book.
00:38:13.730 --> 00:38:16.130
You want to hear about whatever I will tell it to you.
00:38:16.289 --> 00:38:24.530
And so it's really kind of I would say the evolution this year was that like I still do mostly interviews with with amazing women.
00:38:24.610 --> 00:38:28.850
It's just been like the light of my life to be able to just like talk to amazing women.
00:38:29.010 --> 00:38:50.050
Um, but the evolution this year is I added a solo episode every month that I call real-time reflections because for me, having like the real actual behind the scenes look at someone building their fucking business or building their brand or where they're going and sharing both the ups and the downs is so like it's a huge part of like my values is being really open and honest about it.
00:38:50.289 --> 00:38:55.650
And so it's like a short like 30-minute episode every month that I literally record the day before it goes live.
00:38:55.890 --> 00:39:02.610
And it's very just honest, like, okay, this is what I've been doing, this is the shifts in my business, this is the mindset shit that's come up.
00:39:02.769 --> 00:39:04.930
This is like what I'm dealing with right now.
00:39:05.090 --> 00:39:12.769
And like, because even when you have a high in your business, like like earlier this year, I hit a 10K month, which I hadn't done in a while, and I was like amazing.
00:39:12.850 --> 00:39:17.650
And like, still mindset shit was coming up on the opposite end of that.
00:39:17.730 --> 00:39:21.010
And you see the 10K months online and it's this highlight reel.
00:39:21.090 --> 00:39:23.090
I'm like, I'm so anti-highlight reel.
00:39:23.250 --> 00:39:25.090
So I'm like, okay, yeah, it's amazing.
00:39:25.170 --> 00:39:28.530
I hit this 10K month, but here's all the limiting beliefs that came along with it.
00:39:28.690 --> 00:39:32.850
And like let's talk through those because it's not consistent.
00:39:33.170 --> 00:39:38.130
It's not the same and what a kind of a brain fuck that is when you go, oh shit, I didn't do that again.
00:39:38.289 --> 00:39:44.210
Yeah, yes, because it's so much, and like, and so like sharing that realness has always been really important to me.
00:39:44.289 --> 00:39:53.010
And like that's really, I feel like why I made the podcast, along with like building relationships and community, but it was just like an opportunity for me to just share.
00:39:53.170 --> 00:39:58.530
And so that's the main evolution this year is just like actually having that like dedicated time each month.
00:39:58.690 --> 00:40:05.730
And honestly, I'm so fucking glad I did it because I'm like, wait until I get to the end of this fucking year and I listen to January or February's fucking episode.
00:40:05.970 --> 00:40:13.329
Like so Only Founders was rebranded this year as well, and it was started with the co-host and a whole different vibe and a different mission.
00:40:13.490 --> 00:40:15.809
And then OnlyFounders is now all mine, my baby.
00:40:15.970 --> 00:40:22.610
And so we started publishing, I'm on episode eight of my solo, and now we're publishing back up to Tuesdays and Thursdays every week.
00:40:22.690 --> 00:40:23.809
So eight episodes a month.
00:40:24.050 --> 00:40:26.050
And I have guests and I also have solo.
00:40:26.370 --> 00:40:32.530
And so now I've gotten into a routine where I interject one solo episode of my own and then a guest.
00:40:32.690 --> 00:40:45.890
So pretty much every week we're getting to that habit now of one uh weekly episode is with a guest and it's longer, and then one is just mine, and it's anywhere from 15 to 30 or 40 minutes, depending on how long I've talked and how much coffee I have and what I have to fucking say.
00:40:46.050 --> 00:40:46.210
Yes.
00:40:46.530 --> 00:40:52.930
But it's literally every week you're gonna get just Ann's thought leadership, and then you're gonna get a really fun conversation with a really cool guest.
00:40:53.090 --> 00:40:54.850
And that was what I wanted.
00:40:55.090 --> 00:40:59.730
And I feel like the I'm in the podcasting world for the same reason you are.
00:40:59.970 --> 00:41:06.130
I don't, I'm not here to monetize this shit and get all this ad sponsorship and promotion right now, this phase of life.
00:41:06.289 --> 00:41:16.930
This was started as a place for me to serve long-form content and also have a place to record these amazing thoughts that are hitting me rapidly.
00:41:17.250 --> 00:41:20.769
When you're in a growth phase, you could be a different chick from an hour ago.
00:41:20.850 --> 00:41:24.769
And you literally come out of the conference room and you're like, fuck, dude, I'm changed, right?
00:41:24.850 --> 00:41:27.329
Like, like shit hit me on Friday of last week.
00:41:27.410 --> 00:41:32.690
And then I had this amazing like dance session on Saturday of two hours of I couldn't stop.
00:41:32.850 --> 00:41:34.610
It was like somatic release, totally.
00:41:34.690 --> 00:41:41.090
It was like bawling and on the floor kneeling in like arms open, like literally, literally one with God.
00:41:41.170 --> 00:41:47.250
Like God's my business partner in this speaking business, which is crazy because I've never been more mission-led in my life.
00:41:47.410 --> 00:41:51.570
And then it's like this full release of all these old identities and these shifts.
00:41:51.650 --> 00:41:56.210
Like I went home on a Friday, and then come Sunday, I'm like, I'm a new bitch.
00:41:56.450 --> 00:42:06.610
So I don't know what's happened, but this week has been a total week of okay, this is the last week in this closing of this eclipse, and I'm a cancer, so I'm like greatly impacted by the moon.
00:42:06.690 --> 00:42:08.610
And I'm just like, what is happening?
00:42:08.769 --> 00:42:09.010
Yes.
00:42:09.329 --> 00:42:11.250
And we're new bitches, like every hour.
00:42:11.329 --> 00:42:13.890
It's almost like this episode we call like every hour a new bitch.
00:42:14.370 --> 00:42:30.289
Because you're when you start leveling up and you embody that leveling up, you're just like, I mean, I and and then you realize all the things that blocked you even that morning of what you couldn't even get through for whatever reason, like that stupid project or that stupid task.
00:42:30.370 --> 00:42:39.650
You're like, I don't even know, like, I don't understand how to, and it just disappears because something in you unlocks and you had to go through something else to get to the next level.
00:42:39.809 --> 00:42:43.170
It is crazy when you go through that shift and growth finds you.
00:42:43.329 --> 00:42:46.370
But I also think it's so important to work with a coach all the time.
00:42:46.610 --> 00:42:46.930
Yes.
00:42:47.090 --> 00:42:56.690
Which is why it's it's really important to work with someone like Abby who has been through it, who has lived it, who's done it, who survived it, and also is thriving on the other side of it.
00:42:56.769 --> 00:42:57.410
Yes, right.
00:42:57.570 --> 00:42:58.690
Because and has clarity.
00:42:59.010 --> 00:43:03.250
Because they think that every woman, every you know, businesswoman's story is going to be so different.
00:43:03.490 --> 00:43:07.570
But it doesn't matter if you've experienced that and you say, hey, I see you in this.
00:43:07.650 --> 00:43:12.050
It's giving that safety and that permission, which I feel like you and I are in the same mission with that now.
00:43:12.289 --> 00:43:12.610
Absolutely.
00:43:12.850 --> 00:43:23.570
Regardless of public speaking and, you know, doing these sessions that I do, I also do one-on-ones, but then working with Abby as a business coach and getting the community and the event and the space.
00:43:23.650 --> 00:43:24.610
It's the container.
00:43:24.769 --> 00:43:27.410
We're now producing containers of safety.
00:43:27.490 --> 00:43:27.730
Yeah.
00:43:27.890 --> 00:43:31.170
And we're literally holding you in the messy middle.
00:43:31.250 --> 00:43:31.410
Yes.
00:43:31.570 --> 00:43:36.210
And we're sitting in the shit with you, which I say all the time in guest lecturing students, which they love it.
00:43:36.850 --> 00:43:39.329
Every time I guest lecture, I'm like, we just sit in the shit together.
00:43:39.570 --> 00:43:43.809
Like, yeah, yeah, we sit in the shit together because there's so many messy middles.
00:43:44.050 --> 00:43:45.170
It's not even a messy middle.
00:43:45.250 --> 00:43:49.970
It's like a messy beginning, middle, and end, depending on what the arcs are and what you're going to bookend it with.
00:43:50.050 --> 00:43:50.210
Yeah.
00:43:50.289 --> 00:43:51.250
It's like there's always middles.
00:43:51.490 --> 00:43:52.530
No, it's just journey.
00:43:52.690 --> 00:43:53.490
It's a messy journey.
00:43:53.650 --> 00:43:53.730
Yeah.
00:43:54.130 --> 00:43:55.250
And I think it's really important.
00:43:55.329 --> 00:43:59.170
So, okay, who's your favorite, favorite person to coach?
00:43:59.329 --> 00:44:02.130
Like, tell me about them, like a character, build them.
00:44:02.289 --> 00:44:03.250
Who do you love coaching?
00:44:03.490 --> 00:44:04.610
That's me from two years ago.
00:44:04.850 --> 00:44:05.090
Yeah?
00:44:05.250 --> 00:44:05.410
Okay.
00:44:05.730 --> 00:44:07.170
Add into 2020 for a year.
00:44:07.329 --> 00:44:07.730
Oh yeah.
00:44:07.890 --> 00:44:11.809
No, and it was so funny because like this summer I worked with a coach who was just phenomenal.
00:44:11.970 --> 00:44:19.250
And like, and I did a deeper, like a deeper like dig into the ideal client for each of my offers for my mastermind and my private mentorship.
00:44:19.410 --> 00:44:29.650
And like it's really like the woman for my mastermind where it's like you just know, like, you've done all the things, like you've probably been successful, and but like it doesn't feel right.
00:44:29.809 --> 00:44:33.170
Like there's something that you need to give yourself permission to let go of.
00:44:33.250 --> 00:44:38.690
And that was like so where I was, even though you don't know what the next step is or where you're gonna go after that.
00:44:38.930 --> 00:44:42.930
And being able to support women who just like they just know they're meant for more.
00:44:43.090 --> 00:44:49.010
And like, because I've felt that calling for so long and like denied it for longer than I like should have.
00:44:49.250 --> 00:44:54.850
Or and like it just being able to actually, yeah, just like give yourself the permission to do that.
00:44:55.010 --> 00:44:58.610
Like, I call myself a professional permission giver because I'm just gonna- We do it.
00:44:58.769 --> 00:45:01.570
My website says permission to lead with truth.
00:45:01.890 --> 00:45:05.890
And and what I get back is you gave me the permission I was waiting for.
00:45:06.050 --> 00:45:07.730
I love that permission.
00:45:08.050 --> 00:45:08.690
That's huge.
00:45:09.329 --> 00:45:14.769
So you have to be able to like, because you need to give it to yourself, but you can't always give it to yourself.
00:45:14.850 --> 00:45:16.850
Sometimes you need someone else to be like, hey, it's okay.
00:45:17.329 --> 00:45:18.850
Okay to give yourself this permission.
00:45:19.170 --> 00:45:21.250
It's usually our husbands, it sounds like yes.
00:45:21.490 --> 00:45:25.010
Oh, it's my husband or my coach, whoever I'm working with at the time, like or like your bestie.
00:45:25.090 --> 00:45:26.610
Yeah, or my business bestie.
00:45:26.690 --> 00:45:31.170
Like they're the ones who are like, no, you get to like you get to do this.
00:45:31.329 --> 00:45:31.970
And yeah.
00:45:32.130 --> 00:45:36.370
And so like I love being that person for women because I love women.
00:45:36.530 --> 00:45:41.170
Like, like I just love seeing them like peel back the layers and like actually be who they are.
00:45:41.490 --> 00:45:49.570
And rather than like what they built their business as, like, doesn't necessarily mean that's like who they are, what they want, or what they're passionate about, or where they want to go.
00:45:49.809 --> 00:45:55.170
And that's I I feel like it's because I worked with so many of those women on like the the brand and website.
00:45:55.329 --> 00:46:03.809
Like I always worked with women when they're rebranding, when they're like several years in business, they've done this, and it just like it's not fucking working anymore.
00:46:03.890 --> 00:46:05.010
It just doesn't feel like them.
00:46:05.170 --> 00:46:08.210
It's just not matching where they are, where they're going.
00:46:08.370 --> 00:46:24.530
And so I think like that work is partially why I love working with these women and also because like I've been through that and I just love empowering women to actually like be who the fuck they are and allow that to be enough because that also is permission you have to give yourself.
00:46:24.690 --> 00:46:26.289
And that's one of the hardest things to do.
00:46:26.530 --> 00:46:26.850
Yeah.
00:46:27.570 --> 00:46:28.210
I love that.
00:46:28.769 --> 00:46:29.170
Love that.
00:46:29.329 --> 00:46:30.610
So you just did a retreat.
00:46:30.690 --> 00:46:31.410
Tell me about the retreat.
00:46:31.650 --> 00:46:32.210
How did it go?
00:46:32.530 --> 00:46:33.329
Fucking amazing.
00:46:33.490 --> 00:46:34.850
Absolutely a hundred percent.
00:46:35.010 --> 00:46:35.570
Oh my god.
00:46:35.730 --> 00:46:37.890
I was like, I mean, I put it together.
00:46:38.050 --> 00:46:42.050
I like launched it in April, no, end of March.
00:46:42.210 --> 00:46:44.130
And then it was in the end of July.
00:46:44.210 --> 00:46:50.370
So like it was a pretty short time frame, and like like planning wise and all that stuff, like it just felt really natural to create.
00:46:50.530 --> 00:46:56.610
And the only sticky part was like a couple weeks up before it, I just crazy, like just stress in my body.
00:46:56.690 --> 00:47:01.250
Like it was just like I could feel the anxiety ramping up, which like I haven't had in a long time.
00:47:01.410 --> 00:47:03.730
And so I was like, okay, like we're just shutting down.
00:47:03.809 --> 00:47:09.730
We're just gonna like conserve energy because I knew I think it was just like the anticipation is always worse than the the doing.
00:47:09.809 --> 00:47:09.970
Yeah.
00:47:10.130 --> 00:47:16.930
But even all through those like couple of weeks leading up to it, where I was like, okay, I gotta remind my nervous system, I'm not being chased by a fucking bear.
00:47:17.010 --> 00:47:19.410
Like, we're just doing something we haven't ever done before.
00:47:19.570 --> 00:47:19.730
Yeah.
00:47:19.890 --> 00:47:22.210
And the whole time, like, I'm taking care of myself and doing those things.
00:47:22.289 --> 00:47:28.769
That, but even underneath all of that, there was just this really deep fucking self-trust that I was like, when I get there, I'm gonna fucking crush it.
00:47:28.850 --> 00:47:32.690
And I I just knew deep down in my body that I would, and I fucking did.
00:47:32.769 --> 00:47:34.530
And it was just, it was amazing.
00:47:34.690 --> 00:47:39.890
The group of women there were so like open and vulnerable and supportive and like cried on the first day.
00:47:39.970 --> 00:47:51.410
Like it was just like so like willing to go there, which is the type of people I want to work with, are the people who want to go there and be open to getting uncomfortable and sharing the shit that's coming up and whatever is in their past.
00:47:51.490 --> 00:47:54.050
And like they were just such a special group.
00:47:54.210 --> 00:47:57.730
And then also like me getting to guide a movement session.
00:47:57.809 --> 00:48:13.809
Like, I did a couple of those and like was so special for me because like I have the resources, like I, you know, create them for my clients, like, and I'll do it a little bit on calls and things, but like getting to be in person and guide a whole like half hour movement session for women, like it was just like amazing.
00:48:14.050 --> 00:48:23.570
And what was really cool is my mom was there with me and she was like my assistant helper and like everybody fucking loved her, which I wasn't surprised about because like I am basically my mom.
00:48:23.650 --> 00:48:30.050
Just like I went through all the shit that she went through at 55, I went through at 25 because we were allowed to in our generation.
00:48:30.210 --> 00:48:30.530
Yes.
00:48:30.690 --> 00:48:41.650
But yeah, it was so cool for me to have her there because like she joined in in places that I didn't expect her to, like, because I gave her full permission to do whatever she wanted as long as like she helped me with the things that I needed.
00:48:41.809 --> 00:48:45.250
And she like participated in the movement session, which was really cool for me.
00:48:45.410 --> 00:48:57.890
Like she it was really cool also that she got to see me in my element because it's so hard for them to understand what I do because it's such a nebulous like idea, like, oh, okay, she helps women, but it's like you don't know.
00:48:58.050 --> 00:49:11.010
And so for her to get me to see me in that, and then even like we were talking to my aunt and uncle this weekend about like they were asking about how it went, and like for my mom to like speak up and be like, you could really see the shifts like right away with women, like you could see all this stuff happening.
00:49:11.090 --> 00:49:14.769
I was like, how cool for me to like have her be able to do that.
00:49:15.090 --> 00:49:18.769
She's such a close source of feedback for you because she's your mom.
00:49:19.090 --> 00:49:21.170
Yeah, and like it was just we're so close.
00:49:21.250 --> 00:49:23.170
Like, she's one of the people I'm closest to in the world.
00:49:23.250 --> 00:49:39.890
And like she also participated in the breath work session that someone else led, and she shared afterwards like this huge like shift that she felt in her own worthiness, which is something that she struggled with her entire life, and something my sister and I have always liked been like, you're amazing, you deserve the best.
00:49:40.050 --> 00:49:43.329
Like, you need to like believe in yourself and like know, trust that.
00:49:43.410 --> 00:49:49.809
And like for her to feel that on her own, I was like, It was so cool that's like the world's not client to be with your mom.
00:49:49.970 --> 00:49:52.530
I am envious of that because I'm estranged from my mom.
00:49:52.610 --> 00:49:59.410
Yeah, and I think that for me hearing that, I the little girl in me is so lit up right now because I'm like, that's so fucking cool.
00:49:59.570 --> 00:50:06.370
Because I think that our relationships with our mom, not only are you getting validation from your mom, but she's seeing you in your craft.
00:50:06.450 --> 00:50:06.610
Yeah.
00:50:06.850 --> 00:50:08.450
And she wants to be there.
00:50:08.530 --> 00:50:08.850
Yeah.
00:50:09.170 --> 00:50:21.410
And you helped your mom go through a huge release, which is almost like the best client you didn't ask for for the work that you're doing with your own mom, which is so powerful because then that's going to continue to aid your relationship.
00:50:21.570 --> 00:50:30.289
So I think a dream of mine is I don't plan to ever, you know, fully be happy about estranging from my mom and the need for it until she's dead.
00:50:30.370 --> 00:50:35.010
Like there everything's it's just so awful and like you have hate for a person that you're estranged from.
00:50:35.090 --> 00:50:41.250
And I want to just say this of what's coming up for me in what this beauty of you and your mom doing this first retreat together.
00:50:41.490 --> 00:50:47.490
It's like there's so much love and grief and sadness and hope and estrangement that people forget.
00:50:47.570 --> 00:50:50.690
And you can love and forgive in the same breath of estrangement.
00:50:50.850 --> 00:50:57.329
And you, the estrangement is protecting you moving forward, that you're not going to still access the abuse and the toxic relationship.
00:50:57.490 --> 00:51:00.610
But the forgiveness and love exists for all of the past and the letting go.
00:51:01.010 --> 00:51:05.329
But the hope exists of I would love to experience something like that with my mom.
00:51:05.410 --> 00:51:11.650
And it sounds like your mom did some amazing work in her midlife, which is something I've craved from my mom to do.
00:51:11.809 --> 00:51:22.690
And it's just like I feel like with family members, you love them so much and you have that hope of like the little girl in you saying, I want this for you, mom, because you're the most important person for me in my world.
00:51:22.769 --> 00:51:23.090
Yeah.
00:51:23.329 --> 00:51:26.690
And how beautiful was that that you could give that to her.
00:51:26.930 --> 00:51:31.170
And I'm I'm sure your relationship is stronger now, even from your retreat.
00:51:31.250 --> 00:51:31.410
Yeah.
00:51:31.650 --> 00:51:33.890
Which is amazing that you can be fully seen by your mom.
00:51:33.970 --> 00:51:34.130
Yeah.
00:51:34.289 --> 00:51:35.090
Like that safety.
00:51:35.410 --> 00:51:40.690
I don't know what that feels like to be fully seen in my element in all of my glory of Anna at 42.
00:51:40.930 --> 00:51:44.690
And then have my mom see all of that because I don't feel safe there.
00:51:44.850 --> 00:51:46.450
And actually, like reflect it back to you.
00:51:46.610 --> 00:51:46.769
Yeah.
00:51:47.010 --> 00:51:50.130
It was really, it was absolutely like one of the things I didn't like.
00:51:50.210 --> 00:51:55.090
I knew it would be cool to have my mom there, but I didn't expect it to be as like special as it was.
00:51:55.250 --> 00:51:57.809
And like, yeah, and just like to get it.
00:51:57.890 --> 00:52:05.410
And how open it seemed like she was to experiencing you and your gifts, which is also like a mom is, well, I'm the parent, I'm the mom.
00:52:05.490 --> 00:52:07.010
I should know, I'm the guider.
00:52:07.170 --> 00:52:10.610
You know, so it's like, well, I'm going to help my child because they need help.
00:52:10.690 --> 00:52:12.769
So it's like they need me to go help them.
00:52:12.930 --> 00:52:17.090
It was like she got to this place of, I don't need there to help Abby.
00:52:17.250 --> 00:52:18.130
Abby's in charge.
00:52:18.210 --> 00:52:19.170
This is Abby's work.
00:52:19.250 --> 00:52:24.050
And then she allowed the openness of Abby's work, grown daughter, to then affect and impact her.
00:52:24.130 --> 00:52:24.289
Yeah.
00:52:24.530 --> 00:52:25.329
Which is so beautiful.
00:52:25.570 --> 00:52:26.289
It was so special.
00:52:26.370 --> 00:52:26.530
Yeah.
00:52:26.610 --> 00:52:36.450
And I think that should be your whole like podcast episode of the retreat reflection of like your mom and what that means for so many of us, because we don't have these relationships with our parents.
00:52:36.690 --> 00:52:37.970
Yeah, no, for sure.
00:52:38.130 --> 00:52:42.610
And it's so, yeah, it was really just so special for me to get to experience that.
00:52:42.690 --> 00:52:45.170
And I really think it was partially because I left it open.
00:52:45.250 --> 00:52:46.769
Like I had no expectations for her.
00:52:46.850 --> 00:52:49.329
And I was just like, you do what you feel called to.
00:52:49.410 --> 00:52:54.610
And like I think also because of like the group of women there that like she felt, and I mean they loved her.
00:52:54.690 --> 00:52:59.170
So it was like easy for her to feel like she could be included in everything.
00:52:59.410 --> 00:53:05.010
Um, but yeah, I was just, I did, yeah, just record a little solo episode yesterday and talked all about it.
00:53:05.090 --> 00:53:07.090
And because I was just like, I fucking love her.
00:53:07.490 --> 00:53:08.610
You and I say the same thing.
00:53:08.690 --> 00:53:13.570
It's you the human presence in a business is truly what exists, right?
00:53:13.650 --> 00:53:18.530
And I think we've spent so many years shying away from what's human in business to be buttoned up.
00:53:18.610 --> 00:53:19.490
And you and I are the same.
00:53:19.650 --> 00:53:19.890
Yes.
00:53:20.130 --> 00:53:26.610
You unbutton that shit because the human that comes out is the business that is the advantage.
00:53:26.850 --> 00:53:28.850
And I don't know, I think that's beautiful.
00:53:29.010 --> 00:53:34.930
I think the women at your retreat who attended who got to see you and your mom go through that was probably very healing for a lot of people.
00:53:35.329 --> 00:53:36.610
So when is your next event?
00:53:36.930 --> 00:53:43.090
Next retreat, I'm actually, I came back and like I had already had two retreats planned for next year, one for May in North Carolina.
00:53:43.170 --> 00:53:46.530
I'm co-hosting with someone, and then another one in Colorado in September.
00:53:46.610 --> 00:53:52.690
And then I came back and after like processing and everything, I was like, waiting nine months until May seems really long.
00:53:52.930 --> 00:53:55.809
So now I'm planning one for January in Colorado.
00:53:55.970 --> 00:53:56.289
Yeah.
00:53:56.450 --> 00:53:57.329
I'm really excited.
00:53:57.410 --> 00:54:13.809
It's gonna be like I don't subscribe to like New Year hustle, but I also know like there's really a lot that can be said for getting alignment and momentum at the beginning of the year so that you're not just like starting another year feeling behind or like you have to change everything just because it's January 1st.
00:54:13.890 --> 00:54:20.690
Like you're actually like going to like reconnect with yourself and check in and make sure you're going in the direction you want.
00:54:20.769 --> 00:54:23.970
And then, like, yeah, some pretty deep coaching and stuff in that retreat.
00:54:24.050 --> 00:54:27.010
So I'm finalizing the details now, but I'm really excited about that.
00:54:27.170 --> 00:54:27.650
I love that.
00:54:27.730 --> 00:54:31.250
You know what's funny is my years I've found energetically are summer to summer.
00:54:31.410 --> 00:54:35.329
And so because I'm a mom, I have three kids in school, the summer is always a pause.
00:54:35.410 --> 00:54:42.130
And so I actually kind of ramp up November, December, January, and I get really motivated and I hibernate and I want to do shit.
00:54:42.210 --> 00:54:42.370
Yeah.
00:54:42.530 --> 00:54:50.690
And the kids are in school, and then we have like a nice holiday break, but it it's it's it's, I guess, more motivation for me in that time of year.
00:54:50.769 --> 00:54:55.090
So I've never subscribed to that in years, like the whole cyclical annual on a calendar year.
00:54:55.170 --> 00:55:02.130
It mine is actually been, I think my energetic fiscal year is summer to summer, where it's like every summer there's a pause, there's a reset.
00:55:02.210 --> 00:55:05.410
There my nervous system's like, oh shit, I have the kids home all summer.
00:55:05.490 --> 00:55:06.450
What am I gonna do with them?
00:55:06.530 --> 00:55:08.130
And so I'm forced to slow down.
00:55:08.210 --> 00:55:08.450
Yeah.
00:55:08.610 --> 00:55:11.010
And then it's like all this ideation comes.
00:55:11.170 --> 00:55:13.329
It's what I'm speaking about tonight, permission to pause.
00:55:13.490 --> 00:55:19.809
And so in the pause, you then have the freedom to create and to think and to check in and have the awareness.
00:55:19.890 --> 00:55:24.130
Does this still serve me as I'm selling it or as I'm marketing or as I'm displaying?
00:55:24.289 --> 00:55:31.250
Um to get the clarity that we so like it's so hard to get the clarity when you're in the weeds fucking doing the shit every day.
00:55:31.570 --> 00:55:37.329
So then usually like Q3 is a massive turnover, uh burn it, growth, pivot, transition.
00:55:37.410 --> 00:55:38.370
I've noticed this theme.
00:55:38.450 --> 00:55:40.690
And then Q4, I'm like fucking balls to the wall.
00:55:40.850 --> 00:55:44.930
Q four, we're ramping up, and everybody else is like, we're not buying, we're not doing, we're planning.
00:55:45.090 --> 00:55:45.250
Yeah.
00:55:45.410 --> 00:55:49.809
So you're planting a lot of visibility seeds and networking and just getting that impression.
00:55:49.890 --> 00:55:53.809
And then, and then like Q1, they're like, Okay, let's hit the ground, we're running, we're ready.
00:55:53.890 --> 00:55:56.050
And then Q2, I'm like, okay, this is feeling a little stale.
00:55:56.289 --> 00:55:59.650
Summer's coming, but I'm crushing, but I'm also like, ah, do I like this?
00:55:59.730 --> 00:56:00.530
And then summer.
00:56:00.610 --> 00:56:01.010
I love this.
00:56:01.170 --> 00:56:01.970
So that's interesting.
00:56:02.130 --> 00:56:05.170
Okay, what kind of a guest are you looking for on your podcast?
00:56:05.730 --> 00:56:06.370
Kind of a guest?
00:56:06.530 --> 00:56:06.769
Yeah.
00:56:07.570 --> 00:56:08.289
Like, that's a good idea.
00:56:08.450 --> 00:56:10.530
Invite people to join your your show here.
00:56:10.769 --> 00:56:21.329
Yeah, I would say women who are willing to get real and vulnerable, because we it's kind of like this sort of vibe, very conversational, very like human and business.
00:56:21.490 --> 00:56:28.050
So, like, I'll you know, steer the direction toward like what you are an expert in and where your zone of genius is.
00:56:28.210 --> 00:56:36.050
But also, like, I always ask people, okay, but what are like the human stories and the things you've worked through on that side of things that you can bring to the podcast?
00:56:36.130 --> 00:56:44.450
So people who are just willing to go both places, because there's so many podcasts out there that do the strategic like business tips side of things.
00:56:44.610 --> 00:56:48.130
And I'm like, great, but we talk about real shit over here.
00:56:48.210 --> 00:57:05.730
And like, like when you came on and sharing your story, and then like we taught us both talking about like our relationships with our families and things like that, like that I think is really important because the more someone can hear it and see it, like the more it normalizes it and makes it so that they also know that like they're not alone.
00:57:05.809 --> 00:57:09.329
And that's really important to me, as just yeah, that's beautiful general.
00:57:09.650 --> 00:57:10.210
Okay, Abby.
00:57:10.370 --> 00:57:11.730
So, where can everybody find you?
00:57:11.890 --> 00:57:13.650
Share all of your info and your links.
00:57:13.730 --> 00:57:15.250
Where do you want people to go to find you?
00:57:15.490 --> 00:57:18.690
Instagram at Abby Bratitich is really where I hang out the most.
00:57:18.769 --> 00:57:22.450
I've recently we'll have her spelling in the the show notes, by the way.
00:57:22.610 --> 00:57:28.210
Okay, it is a little complicated, but also I recently have been on Threads and have been fucking loving it.
00:57:28.450 --> 00:57:29.329
Threads is awesome.
00:57:29.490 --> 00:57:30.690
I hadn't been on there in a while.
00:57:30.769 --> 00:57:36.690
Like I took like a couple, like I sort of was there and then I went went away, and then I just recently came back, and I've been loving that too.
00:57:36.769 --> 00:57:37.730
So same thing.
00:57:37.890 --> 00:57:41.730
Um yeah, and then all of my links and everything are from Instagram, so I just kind of like to point people there.
00:57:41.970 --> 00:57:43.730
Love it, and we'll have them in the show notes too.
00:57:43.809 --> 00:57:44.130
Awesome.
00:57:44.210 --> 00:57:48.289
Well, Abby, thank you so much for your conversation today for your time, for your energy.
00:57:48.769 --> 00:57:49.410
It was great.
00:57:49.490 --> 00:57:53.890
It actually energized me from a day that we were both slower and a little bit tired today.
00:57:53.970 --> 00:57:57.010
We started, and now this is just a very energizing conversation.
00:57:57.170 --> 00:57:58.130
So thank you, guys.
00:57:58.210 --> 00:57:59.890
That does it for OnlyFounders today.
00:57:59.970 --> 00:58:00.610
Thank you for joining us.
00:58:00.690 --> 00:58:01.970
We'll see you next time.